lists of 8 things and an award

Golly, doesn't that title just have you drooling already, as if the teacher has said "filmstrip" and already you are sleeping with your head on your desk?

anyhow...

I was tagged for this meme by wayfarer scientista - who posts the most amazing pictures of Alaska on her blog. And is a good read, to boot. Check her out.

When she tagged me she referred to my blog as:
"Painted Maypole and the adventures of a thespian mom."

Which just tickled me, and I may have to find a way to incorporate that into my header, should I ever figure out how to make one.

On with the lists...

8 passions in my life
- God
- theatre
- The May Queen
- The Big Guy
- Children
- Equal rights and treatment for Gays and Lesbians
- Water (rivers, lakes, oceans, waterfalls...)
- Sharks

8 things to do before I die
- Scuba dive/swim with sharks
- Be part of a TRUE repertory theatre company
- Perform on Broadway (oh... if only....)
- Stand on an ancient Greek stage and speak the (translated) words of Aeschylus or Sophocles
- Ballroom dance. Well.
- Live on a rocket ship with my bestest friend (this is our plan for after our husbands die, our reasoning being that there is no gravity and hence our parts won't sag. We'll return to earth to do the occasional play together, such as playing the 2 crazy old aunts in The Cripple of Inishmann)
- Spoil my grandchildren. And my Great Grandchildren.
- Travel! Africa, Australia, Italy... there are so many places I want to see!


8 things I often say
-"Hurry Up" (to the May Queen. Admittedly, because I am the one who is running late. Shortly followed by...)
-"And we're off like a herd of turtles." (like my mother and her father before her)
-"Home again, home again, lickety split" (again, like my mother)
- "Good Gravy" (we were watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special on TV the other day, and when Charlie Brown said "Good Grief" MQ laughed and said "he should have said "Good Gravy!")
- "Baby, baby, baby!" (to the May Queen)
- "How do you ask nicely?" (I am such a mother)
- "I can't, I have rehearsal"
- "I need you to ________" (such as "I need you to get your pajamas on" or "I need you to pick up your toys" or "I need you to be quiet for a few minutes so I can think"

8 Books I read recently
the actual last 8 books I've read(I think, I lose track), starting with the most recently finished
- Last Known Victim, by E.rica Spi.ndler (who is a friend of ours, and I would prefer she doesn't find my blog... hence the extra punctuation)
- A Long Way Down, by Nick Hornby
- Camille, by Alexander Dumas (this is the book that the opera I did was based on. So I read it. For research. Because I am a geek like that.)
- Love is a many trousered thing, by Louise Rennison (there is an Italian Lurve God in this book that happens to share a name with the director of my opera. this makes me laugh)
- The Treasures of a Transformed Life, by John Ed Mathison
- Fabulous Friendship Festival, by SARK
- Barrel Fever, by David Sedaris (funny, excellent light reading for traveling)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, by J.K. Rowling (it's Harry. I loved it. I finished it at appx 5am the day I left for England. Hubby was not pleased with my lack of sleep. Grumpy? Perhaps. Satisfied. Yes.)
(currently on my nightstand? - In Cold Blood)


8 songs that mean something to me (this is really hard for me, because there are so many and yet they aren't jumping out at me - these sort of songs just creep up on me, if you know what i mean)
-Old Apartment, BareNaked Ladies (reminds me so much of one of my apartments in college. Perhaps because my roomies at the time played BNL incessantly. This song didn't come out until later, but as they sing about all the things about the apartment, I picture MY old apartment. "This is where we used to live.")
-Beautiful Savior (the church that my father was a pastor of when I was little was named Beautiful Savior. Every time I sing this old hymn I think of our last Sunday there, when I was 8 years old, my mother singing this hymn with tears streaming down her face.)
- When I was a Boy, by Dar Williams. (Ladies, you must listen to this song. Men, you too. Go here. I love to sing this song, and often, 10 years after the first time I heard it, still get choked up at the end.)
- Ode to Joy - my husband's favorite hymn, sung at our wedding
- Gett Off - My favorite Prince song. Not appropriate for small children. Alas.
- Perhaps Love, John Denver and Placido Domingo. This reminds me of growing up. And it's lovely.
-Closer to Fine, Indigo Girls. My college roomie and I used to sing this, in harmony, all the time. Also one of the first songs I learned to play on the guitar that wasn't a campfire song.
- Brahm;s Lullaby

8 Qualities I look for in a friend
1. Kindness
2. Good humor
3. Creativity
4. A passion for SOMETHING
5. Good conversationalist
6. Empathy
7. Ability to disagree without it being an issue
8. Bakes me cookies (just kidding!)



I'm not going to tag today, because I am lazy.




Also, a while back Oh, the Joys gave me (and half her bloglist, but I shan't let that hinder my joy in receiving it) the following award:





I would like to pass this on to the fabulously kooky Lithuanian Rima Rama, who I often save to be the last blog I read in a session of blog reading... trusting that I will end with a smile. Her blogging definitely hits the mark!

And one more random thing, because this post isn't long enough already (zzzzzzz.... wake up!). Yesterday Julie's hump day hmmm... was about pet peeves, and this morning I realized what one of mine is... deflated holiday inflatables laying in a crumpled heap on the lawn all day. They are not LIGHTS (even if they have lights in them) they are DECORATIONS that can be enjoyed just as much during the daylight hours. Leave them up! Deflated decorations are... well, deflating to my holiday mood.