Before you skip on down through the questions, is there anything she missed or that you are wondering about me? Any question about me that are burning inside you like a scorching case of herpes?

I have a lot of new readers and my life can be a little “HUH?” (and in some cases, “WTF”?) so I want to throw that out there. Usually these open calls involve a sad, lonely comments section with crickets chirping forlornly in the background.

Sigh.

Let me know and I’ll pipe up.

My First Contribution to the Great Interview Experiment: Interviewing Loralee

As part of my participation in Neil’s Great Interview Experiment, I’m not only honor-bound to be an interviewEE, but also an interviewER. I was lucky enough to be able to interview the lovely, bright, and interesting Loralee, and at long last am able to post my (fantastic, imaginative, intelligent) questions and her (hilarious, sweet, revealing) answers.

Et voila:

1. Let’s start light. If you could ask your cat, Wilbur (a girl, for readers who are unaware) just ONE question that she would actually be able to answer, what would you really want to know? (I’m almost sure I know in which direction this could be headed.)
   HA! I get to thwart you in the first question! Most people would assume I would want to know why my kitty is a rampant whore that regularly rapes my carpet, but no. I can actually wrap my head around getting jiggy with a neighborhood full of Tom Cats when you are a pretty feline that doesn’t have to worry about being considered “Slutty” by your fellow felines. The one question I would ask Wilbur is this:“WHY the freak to I have to walk you to your food and kick the dish before you will freaking EAT IT?”Seriously, it is bizarre. You would think she is blind and has no sense of smell. She will sit there and meow at me like she’s dying of hunger when she has a full food dish.Cats are weird.
2. You’re a trained vocalist (opera) and an actress. What has been the role you’ve most enjoyed during your time on stage?
   Oh, I have lots and lots of things I’ve done that I love. I loved playing Lalume in Kismet because it is a vampy role and they are always fun. Probably my proudest moment was doing the lead in a one act opera called “The Medium” by Menotti. It’s about 150 pages and I was in about 112 pages of it. The music is atonal (Which means that what the piano is playing and what you are singing are TOTALLY different). I was an evil, evil, woman that made her living ripping of grieving people. I got to use a bull whip and a gun. It was the hardest role of my life and I really thought it would kick my ass, but I did it and I did it well.
3. I see you’re a twin. That whole twin bond seems a bit mysterious and kind of cool for the rest of us. Do you have that with your sister? If so, what’s a good example of a “twin moment” you’ve had with her?
   My sister and I have a difficult relationship. (Not all twins are best friends.) However, we DID have our own language and we can still somewhat speak it to this day.
4. What kind of sleeper are you? (Light? Snorer? On your side? etc.) What side of the bed do you sleep on?
   I am a HORRIBLE sleeper. I have the worst insomnia on the planet. I also have a pretty bad back and so I am in a lot of pain. It sucks a duck. I sleep on the right side of the bed and I always sleep on my right side. I don’t snore that I am aware of, but wouldn’t be overly surprised if that wasn’t true.
5. What’s on your bedside table right now?
   EVERYTHING. Seriously, my house is TINY (we’re moving in the near future) and my bed is where I hang out, lounge, work, talk, etc. I like to have everything around me. So…Right now I have a water bottle, vitamins, a stack of books, Coffee mug, jewelery basket, hair clip, Ipod, pen and notebook and Nyquil bottle on my stand right now. Cluttered, I know.
6. Do you have a celebrity crush?
   I am QUITE fond of Denny from “Grey’s Anatomy”. It is nothing compared to the crush I had on River Phoenix when I was 12. It was intense. I have seen “Stand by Me” eleventy billion times. I even went vegetarian in homage to him for about two months. Sigh…
7. You’ve recently gotten into running, even completing a 5K! (Congrats; I did one once and it was a definite challenge, coming at it as a complete Non-Runner.) I see you, too, like to run with your mp3 player (it really does help!). Right now, put your Ipod on random and tell us what the next 12 songs are.
   • • Lost- Micheal Buble
     • More than a Feelin’- Boston
     • I know you by heart- Eva Cassidy
     • Fallen Angel- Alphaville
     • Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves Soundtrack: Opening credits
     • Closer- Nine Inch Nails
     • Follow me- John Denver
     • Penny Arcade-Neil Diamond
     • Glory Soundtrack-End Titles
     • Sampson-Regina Spektor
     • You’re the inspiration- Chicago
     • For unto us a child is born- Handle’s Messiah

   I wish I had kept the running up! I wouldn’t be struggling so much in my bootcamp right now! I am a well known musical DORK, so please keep that in mind:

8. What’s one thing you’ve been wanting to try, but haven’t yet?
   That’s a tough one. I have gotten to do many of the things that I have wanted to do. However, I am very, VERY excited to begin the process of building our own home. It will probably take a year, and we are crossing our fingers that we can break ground before the ground freezes this next year.
9. This past year, you took a trip to England and Scotland (lucky girl). Yes, I know they’re gorgeous, full of history, blah blah blah…but what I REALLY want to know is this: What was the best meal you ate in each country?
   We had the best food EVER on this trip. Mainly because I researched it to death. My biggest advice? Eat whatever is local. The freshest and regional “Specialty”.In Scotland, there were two meals that were the best. One? We went to the local Tesco (UK WalMart) and bought roast beef, roasted and marinated Red peppers, cheese and thick, crusty bread. We also had Thai-Chili crisps (Chips). We made sandwiches and ate a picnic on the banks of Loch Ness. It was so good and so beautiful. I loved it.On the other end. I drove 3 hours round trip to eat at the best restaurant. We were on The Isle of Skye and this place was a thatched cottage in the middle of nowhere. I ordered a smoked salmon appetizer with a beet relish. Fillet of Red Deer (BEST meat I have ever had in my life) and for dessert, a steamed marmalade pudding that is to die for. Worth every.single.freaking.penny. In England, I had a Cumbrian cheese and red onion relish sandwich in the Lake District of England. When I was in London, we went into BFE to eat the BEST Indian food on the planet in a little strip mall in a rather run down area. Again, I never would have found it if not for research. It was fantabulous.
10. Could you take a picture of your favorite pair of shoes? How did you discover them? (Strangely, it seems like women are able to remember this kind of information like men seem to be able to remember the most minute details from their Games of Glory during school, like what underwear they were wearing or what they ate at the team dinner afterward.)
    I saved $70 on this rocking pair of Born wedges. They have this adorable flower on them and the cutest curved wedge heel. Most important, they are COMFY. They are not my “Cutest” pair of shoes, but they are definitely the most comfy cute pair that I own. Since comfort speaks volumes to me, they are the ones that I wear more than others in the summer. The fact that they only cost me $15.00 means they are even more awesome.
    
11. As I sit here coming up with these questions, I’ve just watched yet another DVR’d episode of Gilmore Girls. It was one that is very close to Luke and Lorelai finally getting together. (Sadly, I’m all giddy with suspense to witness the blossoming of their relationship, which I’ve already witnessed in full.) I was Uber-Happy to see you are also an avid G.G. fan. Tell me, what did YOU think about that scammy, cheap ending they gave us which included an unsatisfying quickie Luke/Lorelai reconnect, no wedding, and very little else as reward for years of dedicated and anticipatory viewership? (ahem, I’m just saying…not that I want to lead the question or anything…)
    On one level, I was so effing happy that they ended up together but the whole thing was so CRAPPY. They needed a full blown freaking WEDDING. We didn’t even have time to mourn Rory leaving. It was all BAM! And she’s on the bus and GONE! Then that tiny moment at the end that just didn’t cut it. It was all so sudden and painful and awkward. Kind of like getting a bikini wax. In the end, though, maybe it is a good thing that there was no wedding because EVERYONE knows that there is only ONE “Mrs. Backwards Baseball Cap” and that is ME!!!
12. What is the strangest gift you’ve ever received?
    I got a piece of the inside of a typewriter from a boyfriend I had in high school. He had never actually given me anything before and so it meant a LOT to my dorkish little self. So, I put it on a chain and wore it for the longest time. (Someone should write a Haiku about my lameness some time!)
13. Describe your first kiss (circumstances, location, awkwardness-level, etc.).
    It was a Christmas dance and I was 14. I asked him out. (I’ve only ever been asked to one dance in my life.) He was four inches shorter than me and I thought he was the best thing in the world. I had braces and we kissed by the Christmas tree under a blanket during a game of “Truth or Dare”. I had braces and he slobbered. A lot. During our slobber fest we kept inching further and further toward the tree until if fell over on us. I had the biggest crush on him and I couldn’t believe he kissed me!!! At the time I was in HEAVEN.Until afterwards when he told me it had meant nothing to him and he was just giving me a good date because I paid for dinner. I was a “Little too big for his taste”.I didn’t have the best teenage years. Bleck.
14. You like tomatoes, and your husband hates them. What is something he loves, but you hate?
    Rush Limbaugh, for one. (Jonathan is a libertarian while I am more moderate leaning Republican). And? He LOVES black licorice, while I believe it is of the DEVIL and tastes like ass. (Not that I know what ass tastes like. Or anything.)*
15. How has blogging changed your life?
    Blogging is definitely one of those big markers in my life. I have a big, long, rather humiliating story about how I got started in blogging here. It’s a winner. People who are embarrassed about how they started blogging usually feel great about their beginnings after reading it. When I started blogging I was not very good at it in MANY ways simply because I didn’t know any better. I had very limited exposure to blogs and very limited technical knowledge. My drive for blogging came out of emotional need.I started blogging at a very low and dark time in my life. My son passed away in September 2003, and by November of 2005 I was a mess. Basically, I started my blog to have something in my life that was good. I didn’t have any readers outside of friends and families for a few months, but it didn’t matter. I thought “I am going to get out of bed and do ONE thing today that I can write about on my blog”.Bit by bit, I crawled out of my hole, met people, got involved in the community, developed healthy traffic and turned my blog into a place that I think is lovely.In some ways my blog and the people on it saved me. That isn’t something I say lightly, it’s true.In lighter ways, it is also something that I am very suited to. Granted, I suck at the technical aspects, but the writing part comes very naturally to me. I have enjoyed the challenge of making better and better.The best thing about blogging?THE PEOPLE.

    Sure, you get suckasuckaSUCK trolls that are haters, but for the most part, I adore the people that I have connected with through my blog. LOVE THEM. I have gotten to meet several of my fellow bloggers and am attending BlogHer in San Fransisco this summer to meet even more of them.

    The blogging community is full of fierce, wonderful, diverse people and I have loved carving out my place in it.

*Only on my blog. I can’t very well go on someone else’s blog and talk about asses and what they may or may not taste like, right?

Right.

This week’s “Peep” goes to DOUG for his comment on my post “Hi Low’s” regarding dinner time rituals.

My dinnertime ritual? Sitting in front of the computer in my underwear, trying to not spill rice onto my chest. I then pass out and take a two hour nap, waking up in a pile of my own drool.

You asked.

However, I don’t think you’ll be using my idea to shake up the dinner ritual. But wouldn’t it be interesting if you tried it for a night?

No?

Oh well.

There’s nothing else I can offer.

Sorry.

Dougie cracks me the freak UP. He understands the rational of having an acceptable breakfast consist of Diet Coke and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups.

It’s also a total complement when a fabulous gay man finds you hot. It just IS.

(Not that THAT had ANYTHING to do with my decision. Or anything. Hee.)

If he lived by me I am sure that he would be at my house hanging out a lot. Seriously, I want to put him in my purse and take him home with me. If he refused, I would probably be forced to kidnap him, store him in an old well and say things like “It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.”

Hopefully, that wouldn’t interfere TOO much with us being BFF’S.

Right???

Would you like to give some of your readers some recognition and play along? If you do, feel free to post to your blog and click on the graphic below to link it here:

AND????

Everyone loves some bloggy love and I got a “Dose” of it this week!

Angella awarded me a “Daily Dose” award and I am supposed to pay it forward to two blogs I rush to daily.

When you have a Google reader as packed as I do with awesomeness, it’s hard to narrow it down to two, but here it goes:

First up is Redneck Mommy. Oh, how I love this woman. She slays me. I know she won a “Bloggy” award, but really, that pales in comparison to this honor. Right, Tanis? RIGHT??!

And second, Casey, from “Moosh in Indy”. One of the most interesting and awesome bloggity dates on the planet. Really, I am mainly awarding her in the hope of GETTING TO EAT ONE OF HER AWESOME CAKES!

It’s almost a life goal at this point.

I aim high, I know.

Sigh.

The Messiah closed on Friday.I don’t think I have ever felt so awful during a performance. I woke up really sick in the morning. I’m used to feeling like I’ve been run over by a train, a semi and a couple of tractor trailers in the mornings, but this was “Fever, sinus, sore throat” SICK. I also kept violently sneezing which killed my back.

It was an hour drive to the city we performed in. I am glad that my passengers, Mary Ellen and Rachel survived. As she filled the role of “Diva Dress Fluffer“, I let Mary Ellen share my dressing room. I put off getting into my dress until the last possible second and I spent a lot of my time curled up in on the floor of my dressing room in the fetal position. I had enough painkillers and cold meds to kill a horse and I still felt like major suck. I can’t complain, though. Even though I felt like shit, I managed to look pretty damn good.It wasn’t easy getting the above photo. I have weird friends.
I can’t bitch too much. I blame myself.

I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to sing OK. That was important to me because this is the performance they recorded the DVD they produce annually. I’ll post it when I receive it, but it won’t be for a few months yet.

I even had some dear friends and family in the audience and I will be forever grateful that they cared enough about me to come. It said a lot about my relationships with the amazing people.

While it wasn’t as great as last weeks performance I was still happy with it and it was still such an amazing experience. I am so glad I got to do it and am looking forward to next year.