NotSheep

Picked up on dillo towers; I had to do this one because it includes my all-time favourite book. It includes some rubbish too, but any list with Robertson Davies, Margaret Atwood and more than one John Irving is okay by me

Look at the list of (100) books below.
Bold the ones you’ve read.
Italicise the ones you want to read.
Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.
Movies don’t count.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davies)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Only five Harry Potters in there though; there oughta be seven

I got tagged by Hazel. I think this meme is intended for families who lean more towards school-at-home, but I’ll give it a go.

1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED
I’m not sure what this means - a book about homeschooling? A textbook that we’ve used? I couldn’t really choose. I suppose if I had to choose one book about education, it would probably be How Children Fail by John Holt. Or maybe Free Range Education.

2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT
It seems a lot of people have said “the internet”, and while I will agree with them, it might be for different reasons. The internet is what keeps me sane. It’s where most of the home-education support I’ve received has come from. It’s where I connect with other people who think similarly to me (because there aren’t very many of them around here).

Some of the others who’ve done this have said the internet answers all the questions they can’t answer. Well, I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t. I spent nearly two hours in a car with Jack this evening - just him and me - and I can tell you that the internet couldn’t have answered one-tenth of what he asked. “Why is that bridge there?” “Why are we not on that bridge?” “Is this a motorway? Why is it not a motorway?” “Why are you not driving faster? I like faster.” “Why does that man in the mokorbike put his foot on the ground when he is stopped?” “Where are they going?” (this said with an expansive sweep of his hand to encompass the perhaps-300 cars we could see at that moment). I actually encouraged him to sing the Bananaphone song, just to stop him from asking questions for a couple of minutes.

Believe me, the internet is wonderful. But Jack might make it implode some day.

3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
I can’t actually think of anything. I’m sure there are lots, but my brain is fried (see answer to #2).

4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR
I think it would have to be our local science centre, which probably isn’t what the person who made up this meme had in mind when they wrote this question. I’m also thinking “year” as in “2005″, since we don’t do “school years”.

5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
I wrote a post recently about what we’re using now (amongst other things). I don’t know what we’ll be using in 2007. Home-education is a bit like that

6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
A bigger house, with a library. And a study. And soundproof walls. And a maid.

7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED
The money for #6. Though more home-ed families locally would be even better.

ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOGUE YOU ENJOY READING
I’ve never even touched a “homeschooling catalogue”. Those I’ve seen on-line tend to carry resources which are… er… not really my thing. I think the closest thing to a home-ed catalogue that has passed through my hands is probaby the Opitec one

9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
There aren’t any that I use regularly. There are a lot that I’ve bookmarked so that I can find them when I need something specific, but they aren’t all home-ed sites, and I don’t visit any of them regularly. Unless you count email lists. Not that I’m on very many of those, oh no, not me.

10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS
I think nearly everyone I would tag has either been tagged or would be offended by the term “homeschooler”, so I’ll just say: if you haven’t been tagged elsewhere and you want to do this, go ahead and do it. Let me know in the comments

Because I’ve had a completely hectic and exhausting day, and I’m too tired to write anything, even though there’s lots to write. However #1 and #2 do seem to cancel one another out, and #3 made me

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you’re flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you’ll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

You Belong in Brooklyn

Down to earth and hard working, you’re a true New Yorker. And although you may be turning into a yuppie, you never forget your roots.

Your Geek Profile:

Fashion Geekiness: High Academic Geekiness: Moderate Gamer Geekiness: Moderate Geekiness in Love: Moderate General Geekiness: Moderate Music Geekiness: Moderate Internet Geekiness: Low Movie Geekiness: Low SciFi Geekiness: Low

Now here’s a quiz I like

You Are Cookie Monster

Misunderstood as a primal monster, you’re a true hedonist with a huge sweet tooth. You are usually feeling: Hungry. Cookies are preferred, but you’ll eat anything if cookies aren’t around. You are famous for: Your slightly crazy eyes and usual way of speaking How you life your life: In the moment. “Me want COOKIE!”

The older boys did lots of studying today - Latin, French, history, maths, geography… I’ve probably forgotten something too. Freddy had a weird ten-minute period this morning when he suddenly starting burping, and when I looked at him he’d gone grey, even his lips. He felt sick and had a clammy feel for a few minutes, but seemed to recover quickly after a few minutes lying down with a blanket tucked around him.

Barney and I went out to the garden after lunch and I showed him how to use the lawnmower. He did the front lawn, but hasn’t quite acquired any tecnique yet, so it’s still fairly difficult for him, and he decided to give the back a miss for a bit. I don’t mind leaving it a little longer, as it’s covered in daisies right now and looks very pretty

I got a new mobile phone (I do like those 100% cashback offers!) which has a decent-for-a-phone camera on it (2mp for those who care about these things), so I’ll be playing with that this weekend

Toby has discovered he can use his voice to squawk, and has been doing that all day - he’s getting very vocal, and very clearly “talks” to us now

Right. Time for a cup of tea, I think, and, uh, maybe some cookies

When I read the quiz-thingy below and saved-it-for-later a couple of days ago, I thought it was probably about right. After today, I’m not so sure. Today I have five children, none of whom wants to cooperate in even a minor way, two of whom are sleep-deprived as a result of staying up chattering half the night (and in the case of one of them, starting off sleep-deprived after Cub Camp anyway), and all of whom seem capable and willing to trash the house, given any opportunity^* to do so.

*Any opportunity = the time during which mother is using the bathroom (for any purpose), answering the door, on the phone, or otherwise engaged.

What’s your motherstyle (on a good day)?

Your type is: infp: The ‘Tuned In’ Mother “Inside our children, I believe, is a truth that tells them what’s best for them. I am always listening for that truth.” * Aware, astute, and understanding, the INFP mother is sensitive to her child’s needs, feelings, and perceptions. By observing and listening to the cues of the whole child, she is ‘tuned in’ and naturally develops an intuitive feel for what he or she needs. Responsive and helpful as well, she tends patiently to those needs as they arise. * The INFP mother is comfortable letting her children follow their own course of development and make their own choices. She offers encouragement and uses her insights to head off trouble and difficult issues. * The INFP mother takes vicarious pleasure giving her children good experiences and watching them enjoy childhood. She’s happiest creating pleasant, memorable times for the whole family.

This would probably all be much closer to the truth if I wasn’t sleep-deprived myself. The shooting pains in my ear keep me awake. The lack of sleep gives me a headache. The headache makes me clench my jaw more than ever. Clenching my jaw makes the shooting pains worse. And so it goes.

On the up-side, I spoke to the hospital paed today. He phoned because wanted me to take Toby in to be weighed tomorrow. This would involve Scratchy taking time off work, driving through traffic with a probably-crying baby and four other children for an hour, waiting in a line of cars for between 20 and 40 minutes as one car was admitted to the car-park each time one car left, keeping all children entertained whilst waiting for a staff member to be available for one-point-three minutes, then driving everyone home again…and so is not going to happen. I’ll see if I can get him weighed somewhere locally instead. To get back to the point (and the previously-mentioned up-side), however, all the tests that have so far been done have shown absolutely normal results. While this leaves us no further along in working out why he’s so small, it’s still reassuring. I think.

Cubs and Scouts for George and Barney this evening - George came home with a certificate for having got through the District Challenge last weekend, and a note about a sports event on Friday night. Nice to get lots of notice of these things. Looks like I get to do my being-in-two-different-towns-at-one-time act again on Friday then.

This evening’s blogpost, that is.

I found the image thingy to the right on Sarah’s and Jax’s blogs, and did it despite not really seeing the point - though to be more true-to-life it would need to be fatter and accessorised with a babe-in-arms. I did equip the image with a laptop computer, but it was all wrong - the wrong colour, too big and (most importantly) closed

And thanks to Sue for the quiz below, which is probably more accurate than the image above

You Are 11% Vain

You don’t have a vain bone in your body - almost as a matter of principal. You demand to be judged on who you are, not what you look like.

You’re supposed to bold the ones you’ve read, italicise the ones you’ve been meaning to read, and stick some question-marks on the ones you’ve never heard of.

Some of the choices for the list aren’t what I’d have chosen - I think there are better Margaret Atwoods, for example, and Ms Clinton is only there by virtue of her connections, let’s face it. But it was interesting and killed a few minutes

Alcott, Louisa May - Little Women
Allende, Isabel - The House of Spirits
Angelou, Maya - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Atwood, Margaret - Cat?s Eye
Austen, Jane - Emma
Bambara, Toni Cade - Salt Eaters ???
Barnes, Djuna - Nightwood
de Beauvoir, Simone - The Second Sex
Blume, Judy - Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret
Burnett, Frances - The Secret Garden
Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights
Buck, Pearl S. - The Good Earth
Byatt, A.S. - Possession
Cather, Willa - My Antonia
Christie, Agatha - Murder on the Orient Express
Cisneros, Sandra - The House on Mango Street
Clinton, Hillary Rodham - Living History
Cooper, Anna Julia - A Voice From the South
Danticat, Edwidge - Breath, Eyes, Memory
Davis, Angela - Women, Culture, and Politics
Desai, Anita - Clear Light of Day
Dickinson, Emily - Collected Poems
Duncan, Lois - I Know What You Did Last Summer
DuMaurier, Daphne - Rebecca
Eliot, George - Middlemarch
Emecheta, Buchi - Second Class Citizen
Erdrich, Louise - Tracks
Esquivel, Laura - Like Water for Chocolate
Flagg, Fannie - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Friedan, Betty - The Feminine Mystique
Frank, Anne - Diary of a Young Girl
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins - The Yellow Wallpaper ???
Gordimer, Nadine - July’s People ???
Grafton, Sue - S is for Silence
Hamilton, Edith - Mythology
Highsmith, Patricia - The Talented Mr. Ripley
Hooks, Bell - Bone Black ???
Hurston, Zora Neale - Dust Tracks on the Road
Jacobs, Harriet - Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl
Jackson, Helen Hunt - Ramona
Jackson, Shirley - The Haunting of Hill House
Jong, Erica - Fear of Flying
Keene, Carolyn - The Nancy Drew Mysteries (any of them)
Kidd, Sue Monk - The Secret Life of Bees
Kincaid, Jamaica - Lucy
Kingsolver, Barbara - The Poisonwood Bible ???
Kingston, Maxine Hong - The Woman Warrior
Larsen, Nella - Passing ???
L’Engle, Madeleine - A Wrinkle in Time
Le Guin, Ursula K. - The Left Hand of Darkness
Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
Lessing, Doris - The Golden Notebook
Lively, Penelope - Moon Tiger
Lorde, Audre - The Cancer Journals
Martin, Ann M. - The Babysitters Club Series
McCullers, Carson - The Member of the Wedding
McMillan, Terry - Disappearing Acts
Markandaya, Kamala - Nectar in a Sieve
Marshall, Paule - Brown Girl, Brownstones
Mitchell, Margaret - Gone with the Wind
Montgomery, Lucy - Anne of Green Gables
Morgan, Joan - When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost ???
Morrison, Toni - Song of Solomon
Murasaki, Lady Shikibu - The Tale of Genji
Munro, Alice - Lives of Girls and Women
Murdoch, Iris - Severed Head
Naylor, Gloria - Mama Day
Niffenegger, Audrey - The Time Traveller’s Wife
Oates, Joyce Carol - We Were the Mulvaneys ???
O’Connor, Flannery - A Good Man is Hard to Find
Piercy, Marge - Woman on the Edge of Time
Picoult, Jodi - My Sister’s Keeper
Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
Porter, Katharine Anne - Ship of Fools
Proulx, E. Annie - The Shipping News
Rand, Ayn - The Fountainhead
Ray, Rachel - 365: No Repeats ???
Rhys, Jean - Wide Sargasso Sea ???
Robinson, Marilynne - Housekeeping ???
Rocha, Sharon - For Laci ???
Sebold, Alice - The Lovely Bones
Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
Smith, Betty - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Smith, Zadie - White Teeth
Spark, Muriel - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Spyri, Johanna - Heidi
Strout, Elizabeth - Amy and Isabelle
Steel, Danielle - The House
Tan, Amy - The Joy Luck Club
Tannen, Deborah - You’re Wearing That
Ulrich, Laurel - A Midwife’s Tale
Urquhart, Jane - Away
Walker, Alice - The Temple of My Familiar ???
Welty, Eudora - One Writer’s Beginnings
Wharton, Edith - Age of Innocence
Wilder, Laura Ingalls - Little House in the Big Woods
Wollstonecraft, Mary - A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Woolf, Virginia - A Room of One?s Own

I did this one a while back, and planned to blog it on Earth Day, but never remembered to look up when Earth Day is. So, having been reminded by the same quiz going around the EYHE blogring, I’m posting it now.

These are my results from when I did this last August:

Earth Day Footprint Quiz

CATEGORY GLOBAL HECTARES
FOOD 1.2
MOBILITY 0.3
SHELTER 0.7
GOODS/SERVICES 0.6
TOTAL FOOTPRINT 2.8

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 5.3 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.

IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 1.6 PLANETS.

I got the same “final score” of 1.6 planets today, though with a slightly lower number for mobility (makes sense, I’m spending less time in the car since Toby was born) and a slightly higher number for shelter (which doesn’t make sense, since I live in the same house).

I had to estimate some of the answers and guessed high on my first run-through, then went back and guessed low - and reduced my total footprint to 2 hectares (i.e. a necessity for 1.1 planets). I can’t decide if that’s fairly good, being lower than the average person in this part of the world, or if it’s fairly bad, considering that another tenth of a planet isn’t going to be found easily.

I’d quite like to compare my answers to Jax’s though, since she got 1.6 planets too, and I don’t do anywhere near the driving mileage she does, and almost never drive alone. I know this house is a good size, though it’s certainly not a mansion, and being fairly new, it’s quite an efficient one - and there are seven of us living in it! Foodwise, we eat vegetarian more often than not, and I’m actively trying to cut back on processed foods. So where are you gaining the points to make up for all that driving then Jax?

I’ll blog properly tomorrow, but right now I’m hibernating. I need to. It’s part of my personality. This says so!

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion: You have medium extroversion. You’re not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party. Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences. But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your “down time.” Conscientiousness: You have medium conscientiousness. You’re generally good at balancing work and play. When you need to buckle down, you can usually get tasks done. But you’ve been known to goof off when you know you can get away with it. Agreeableness: You have medium agreeableness. You’re generally a friendly and trusting person. But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism. You get along well with others, as long as they play fair. Neuroticism: You have low neuroticism. You are very emotionally stable and mentally together. Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly. Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure. Openness to experience: Your openness to new experiences is high. In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas. You’ll try almost anything interesting, and you’re constantly pushing your own limits. A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

…but this description of me couldn’t be more wrong.

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You’re friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

Like Helen, I’m a terry square, but unlike Helen, I do use terry squares sometimes. I also use Tots Bots, FuzziBunz, Motherease, anda variety of other accumulated-through-the-years bits and pieces. My favourite is…well, it’s a tie between Tots Bots and my terries - which are mostly those gorgeous colourful Bright Bots

You are loyal, selfless and loving. Hardworking and
dependable, you are always willing to lend a helping
hand and people often take advantage of your goodwill.
Remember to treat yourself every once in a while,
you deserve pampering too.

This one takes a while, but it’s quite interesting. As with Sue, I think it got me mostly (but not entirely) right.

You Have a Choleric Temperament

You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things. Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life. You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon. Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall. You’re an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults. Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion. A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior.

I do wish the people who write these things would bother to check them for simple mistakes before they put them on-line. It’s temperAment. And it’s possesS. See, they completely missed that I’m pedantic

Your Inner Blood Type is AB!

Your personality is hard to define - you’re very unconventional. And even if your personality could be defined, it would be completely different next week! Outgoing and shy, sensitive and thoughtless, you tend to have a very split personality. This makes you unpredictable. You can be a total angel - and a total devil. You are most compatible with: everyone! Famous Type AB’s: Jackie Chan and Marilyn Monroe

I used to be the same dress-size as Marily Monroe too. I’ll get there again.

Those of you who do not have Canadian/Toronto connections may skip this one, as you won’t understand it anyway

You Are Lightning

Beautiful yet dangerous People will stop and watch you when you appear Even though you’re capable of random violence You are best known for: your power Your dominant state: performing

Hmmm…

You are a Balanced Babe!

You’re direct and to the point, but never dramatic You’ve got the confidence to speak your mind to anyone But you leave the theatrics to Hollywood Level headed and emotionally stable, no wonder everyone loves you

Mostly right, I’d say

(More right than it was before I fixed the error in the code anyway - what the heck is a “Blanced Babe”? LOL)

You Are Likely A Forth Born

At your darkest moments, you feel angry. At work and school, you do best when your analyzing. When you love someone, you tend to be very giving. In friendship, you don’t take the initiative in reaching out. Your ideal jobs are: factory jobs, comedy, and dentistry. You will leave your mark on the world with your own personal philosophy.

Huh? Factory jobs? Dentistry?!!!!

Like I care what they say - they can’t even spell “fourth” correctly, or figure out the difference between “your” and “you’re”.

And I’m the oldest, so yah-boo-sucks

Ideal job for me: proof-reader.

The chaotic mess bit, that is

You Are 36% Abnormal

You are at low risk for being a psychopath. It is unlikely that you have no soul. You are at high risk for having a borderline personality. It is very likely that you are a chaotic mess. You are at low risk for having a narcissistic personality. It is unlikely that you are in love with your own reflection. You are at medium risk for having a social phobia. It is somewhat likely that you feel most comfortable in your mom’s basement. You are at low risk for obsessive compulsive disorder. It is unlikely that you are addicted to hand sanitizer.

The social phobia bit might be right by this evening too!

Your Birthdate: February 27

You are a spiritual soul - a person who tries to find meaning in everything. You spend a good amount of time meditating, trying to figure out life. Helping others is also important to you. You enjoy social activities with that goal. You are very generous and giving. Yet you expect very little in return. Your strength: Getting along with anyone and everyone Your weakness: Needing a good amount of downtime to recharge Your power color: Cobalt blue Your power symbol: Dove Your power month: September

Bits of it spot-on, bits of it absolutely and humongously inaccurate.

I’m not going to post the whole family’s here, but…

Scratchy’s couldn’t have been more wrong if it tried. Anyone who knows him well enough to know his birthdate should go look - it’s so wrong it will make you laugh!

Barney’s was fairly accurate. George’s was so-so. Freddy’s was right in bits. Jack’s was pretty close. Toby’s not really old enough to tell yet, but given the track record, I’m not putting much faith in it

Okay, the British and Canadian slang bits I understand - but prison slang? The closest I’ve ever been to prison is watching Porridge!

…but better than American history/civics, apparently!

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 7/8 correct!

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 7 out of 10 correct!

Given my determination to avoid US things, I’m surprised I did this well to be honest - must try harder Quite annoying that they don’t tell you which ones you got right/wrong though. As for question #8 - “Which countries were America’s enemies during World War II?” - yes, I know the answer, but *sigh* to the question!

Will get (Canadian-educated) Scratchy to do this one later. Bet he gets full marks!

Thanks to the Haricots for these.

Too tired to blog tonight, so this is all you’re getting

You scored as Elizabeth.

I am Elizabeth. I am headstrong and intelligent. I love to be myself, and am very loyal to my family. I can sometimes be prideful and “prejudiced,” but I try to remain open minded and I usually regret past mistakes.

Which Pride and Prejudice Girl Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Night-night

This one came from the same person who created the “How evil are you?” quiz presented in the previous post. I kinda liked his style

You are Anarcho-Capitalist

What: Anarcho-Capitalism

Where: At the distant top-right of the politcal spectrum

How: Anarcho-Capitalists believe that big business should take over goverment to the point of government not existing. While they believe there should be law, they also believe that the law should be owned by businesses. Anarcho-capitalism is a modern belief and has never been attempted.

What political extremity are you?

Hm. Nearly. It’s not that I think big business should take over government, it’s that I think it already has.

Well, I am!

I worked hard this weekend, have tidied the kitchen and dining-room, rearranged all the shelving in there, it’s all lovely and organised now. And I went through all that paperwork. And as if that wasn’t enough, I went through all the bank statements and balanced everything. I even printed off the last month’s transactions from the Visa website, since the bill gets produced tomorrow and I thought I’d get ahead on it! All I need now is a pat-yourself-on-the-back emoticon

But if that wasn’t enough to convince you, there’s this:

How evil are you?

Okay, so the bit about “very tolerant” will leave those who know me rolling on the floor and laughing off various body parts, but I’m actually quite disappointed not to have got “you’re angelic”, as Sue did

It’s a very peculiar quiz though - one of the questions starts “Which of the following European countries is…” and offers Canada as an answer! I suspect the author is either Canadian or has a thing about Canadians though, as Canada is also one of the answers for “Choose your weapon”

Speaking of Canadians (howzat for a segway? LOL), Scratchy went off to do errands this afternoon, as mentioned, and arrived home with a laminator, since Lidl were selling them for £14. I found this site, where you can get the text of your choice written up in various styles (Ferrari, Nintendo, Star Wars, Yahoo…) so we have played with that, and with the new laminator, and now we have “Barney’s Room”, “Gryffindor Dormitory”, “Prefects’ Bathroom” and “Staff Room” adorning various doors off our landing. We’ve had some more ideas since, and I think tomorrow we’ll be creating “The Cupboard Over The Stairs” (which is actually Barney’s closet), “Head Boy’s Room” and even, perhaps “Third Floor Corridor - Access Forbidden!” for the spare bedroom…

I daresay we’ll find a few other uses for the laminator too - any brilliant suggestions in the comments will be welcome

Not a bad weekend, all round. Got a lot of stuff done, and feel that my life is a bit more under control. It’s amazing how much having piles of unsorted stuff around can pull you down - I think Feng Shui got that right!

Bit of a bummer the OU maths degree requires residentials then…

What is your Perfect Major? (PLEASE RATE ME!!<3)
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33% for art??? - I don’t think so! 3%, maybe…

…but right now, I haven’t blogged in nearly a week and I haven’t the energy to do so, so this is what you’re getting.

And, by the way, I think it’s completely wrong.

Your Love Element Is Earth

In love, you have consistency and integrity. For you, love is all about staying grounded and centered. You attract others with your zest for life and experiences. Your flirting style is defined by setting the scene, creating a unique moment in time. Steady progress and stability are the cornerstones of your love life. You may take things too slowly, but you never put your heart at risk. You connect best with: Fire Avoid: Wood You and another Earth element: need each other too much to build a good foundation

Just picked up these on a mini-jaunt through the blog-ring - my hair is very difficult to dye - I leave the stuff on twice as long as they tell you and it still comes out the same as it went in - but I do like purple

Your Hair Should Be Purple

Intense, thoughtful, and unconventional. You’re always philosophizing and inspiring others with your insights.

I know nothing about tarot, but I did this anyway. Not sure about the joyful and bright bit (after a couple of late nights?) and I certainly wouldn’t mind the wealth and physical pleasure bit…

You are the Sun card. The light of the Sun reveals
all. The Sun is joyful and bright, without fear
or reservation. The childish nature of the Sun
allows you to play and feel free. Exploration
can truly take place in the light of day when
nothing is hidden. The Sun’s rays fill you with
energy so that you may live life to its
fullest, milking pleasure out of each day. Such
joy and energy can bring wealth and physical
pleasure. To shine in the light of day is to
have confidence, to soak up its rays is to feel
the freedom of a child. Image from: Stevee
Postman. http://www.stevee.com/

Which Tarot Card Are You?
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Most people on the blogring seem to have got 9/10 - I wonder which one they got wrong?

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Making its way around the blog-ring is this:

I had to do this one, because it’s Barney’s favourite song. Here’s his (slightly worrying!) result:

(George got the same result as Barney, which is even more worrying!)

You scored as Renaissance. You belong in the Renaissance. Renaissance 80% Pre-Modern World 70% Modern World 60% Industrial Era 50% Prehistory 40% Middle Ages 15% Ancient World 15%

What period in history do you belong in?
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Erm…

You’re Lolita!
by Vladimir Nabokov
Considered by most to be depraved and immoral, you are obsessed with sex. What really tantalizes you is that which deviates from societal standards in every way, though you admit that this probably isn’t the best and you’re not sure what causes this desire. Nonetheless, you’ve done some pretty nefarious things in your life, and probably gotten caught for them. The names have been changed, but the problems are real. Please stay away from children.

Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

what board game are you?
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Picked up on a (very) swift swing round about a quarter of the blogring this evening:

You belong in Florence. You are very creative and
probably an art freak. In Florence you can
visit a lot of famous buildings!

In What City Do You Belong?
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Florence does look nice, but they’ve got me all wrong. I’m not a bit creative, and I’m one of the least artistic people I know.

So I thought I’d give this one a go:

Well…yeah, actually it could get better. Sorry, but I’ve never liked Italian men (in general, that is - I’m sure there are some very nice individual ones…) and I can’t stand coffee of any description.

Okay, so let’s try something different…

…which I suppose would be all right if I could stand LOTR. Really, if we’re doing fantasy/sci-fi characters, I’d much rather be Jean-Luc Picard’s girlfriend, thanks