Questions

53 Questions That You May Not Have Seen Before

• Instructions: You should know these by now.
• 1: What do you put on hotdogs? I like ketchup and sweet pickle relish and mustard.
• 2: Do you say "anticlimatic" or "anticlimactic"?  I say anticlimactic, but now I'm wondering if I've been saying it wrong. So I went and looked it up and feel better.
• 3: Do you check flyers before grocery shopping? From time to time.
• 4: Blue, black, or some other colour pen ink? Purple or blue.
• 5: Do you use your parking brake? Nope.
• 6: Look to your left. How many framed pictures are on the wall? No framed pictures, but huge floor to ceiling windows.
• 7: Do you know how to play chess? In theory, but not in practice.
• 8: How often do you clean the interior of your car? Hahahahahahaha---Let's just say that rarely happens.
• 9: Do you ever read the last few pages first? No, I think it's cheating.
• 10: Ever fallen in the shower? Nope.
• 11: On a scale of 1-10, how likely are you to swear at other drivers? 10. But not all the time.
• 12: What's the worst thing you've ever called someone you care about? I don't know--asshole? son of a bitch?
• 13: Do you have a Snuggie? I did, until our house burned down.
• 14: Are you allergic to anything?  Ragweed and housework.
• 15: Do you have any TV shows on DVD? The Closer, Doctor Who, Buffy, Angel
• 16: How many times do you hit the snooze button before finally getting out of bed? 5, because if I hit it 6 times it resets the alarm for an hour later.
• 17: Ever driven away in anger? Heck yeah, tires squealing and all!
• 18: What's your favourite freezie colour? brown, because my favourite slurpee flavour is a mix of Dr Pepper & Coke.
• 19: Are you a vegetarian?  From time to time. My husband can be unbearably judgmental when I'm vegetarian, so I always have to mentally prepare for a lot of arguing.
• 20: Do you have a garbage receptacle beside you? What's on top? 2 napkins
• 21: Do you cross out your mistakes or erase/whiteout them? Scribble them out
• 22: Ever torn something up that you instantly knew was too important for such treatment? Hasn't everyone?
• 23: Do you think that things will get better? I do.
• 24: Do you have an unpopular opinion? What is it? Well, in my home my unpopular opinion is that Joseph Smith was a con artist, hebephile, sexual predator, and an asshole to boot.
• 25: What's your favourite quote? My favourite quotation is "Gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche." (Chaucer)
• 26: Did you/are you going to go to prom? I did, and it totally sucked.
• 27: What's the most physically painful thing you've ever experienced?  Breast reduction. Lemme tell ya--I've had several laparoscopic surgeries to try to clean out endometriosis adhesions; I've had my tonsils out; I've had a hysterectomy; total knee replacement on my left knee; and lap band surgery. The breast reduction pain was by far the worst. It was just agonizing. The knee replacement would be second.
• 28: What's the most emotionally/mentally painful thing you've ever experienced?  Losing my babies when we tried IVF to have children.
• 29: Have you ever legitimately saved a person's life? Nope.
• 30: What's your favourite book genre? I don't have a favourite genre. I just love books. Although I'm over the whole vampire thing, and I don't care for zombies.
• 31: Did you like "Gigli"? Be honest.  Didn't watch it.
• 32: Have you ever walked out of a movie at the theatre?  Heck yeah!
• 33: Do you peek between your fingers during the scary scenes?  Heck yeah!
• 34: What was your reaction to Tatum getting killed whilst stuck in the pet door in Scream? I don't remember it, so I don't know what my reaction was.
• 35: Do dogs like you? They love me, and I love them, and we love each other, because none of us was loved enough in our childhood.
• 36: Would you say that you project an air of authority? Sometimes.
• 37: Do people listen when you speak? Yep.
• 38: How are your elbows? Are they okay? They're a little rough.
• 39: What is one thing that you do exceptionally well? Be honest. I'm a fantastic cook.
• 40: Do you use torrents? apparently not, since I had to look them up online.
• 41: When was the last time you paid for music? Last week. I bought Joss Whedon's playlist from the iTunes store.
• 42: Are you addicted to technology?  Yes. Do not get between me and my laptop.
• 43: Pick a person (you don't need to give their name). How do you feel about them? Be as honest as you can get yourself to be.  She's the other half of my soul, my best friend. I've known her forever, and I cannot imagine my life without her.
• 44: Do you check your computer's dictionary for the definition of words you'd otherwise feel confident about using during in-person interactions? Just to be sure? Once in a blue moon, because I'm pretty good with words.
• 45: How heavily to you rely on spellcheck and autocorrect?  Not at all.
• 46: Have you ever gotten into an argument on the internet? Did you win? Not that I recall
• 47: Do you pause movies/TV shows if you have to go to the bathroom or the kitchen, or do you just let them keep playing?  If it's one I've seen a million times, I let it keep playing. If it's one I'm just watching for the first time, I pause it.
• 48: If you use a regular alarm clock, do you have it set to music or that obnoxious beeping? I don't use a regular alarm clock. I use my cell phone, and the alarm tone is XOXO by Black-Eyed Peas.
• 49: Peter Pan?  Jiffy, extra crunchy.
• 50: How often do you fall up the stairs? Frequently. I'm very gifted that way.
• 51: Do you pronounce "anti" as ant-eye or ant-ee? (Example: "That scene was very anticlimactic.")  ant-eye
• 52: Do you pronounce "via" as vee-uh or vie-uh? (Example: "We can get there via Tremont Street.") via
• 53: How often do you forget to close your parentheses? Occasionally, when my parenthetical comment gets so long and complicated that I probably should have just started a new paragraph or bullet point.

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged.

Sinnin' Again

I stayed up far too late last night, reading. I love my nook, because I can have all the lights off, and just read by the glow of my screen. And no one knows what I'm reading, which means I don't have to answer questions I'd just as soon not answer.  Anyway, it's just me and the dog for the week, as the husband is out of town. So she was snuggled up next to me, and I was petting her with one hand and holding my nook in the other hand.

As a result of staying up far too late last night, reading, I am exceedingly sleepy this morning. So I grabbed one of the coffee mugs sitting on my desk and made some espresso.  And just now I noticed that the mug I grabbed is my souvenir from when I went to see Wicked.  That means I'm drinking espresso from a mug that says Wicked in large white letters. The humour does not escape me. :) Alas, I'm still not feeling much more awake which means I'm going to have another mug of wicked witches brew. Tsk, tsk.

I Did It!!!

I resigned from LDS, Inc.!

I actually tried once before, but the bishop called my husband expressing concern, and my husband freaked out, so I said never mind, but was seething inside that I can't even resign my membership without having to report to a man.

So today I got my balls together, and sent another email, this time informing them that should they attempt to notify my husband or any other member of my family in regards to my resignation, I will pursue legal action. I fucking mean it, too.

I don't think that my decision to resign is the business of any other person. It's my business. I made my decision based on what is right for me, and I don't have to return and report to my husband, my stepfather, or any other man who thinks he has authority over me.

I, aintnomonomo, ain't no mo no mo!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's what she said

I've been reading Mormonism Schism. And I just want to say, ditto (even though I loathe Limbaugh), ditto again, and a good hearty amen!

(And I hope she records her mormon hymn parodies, because they're fantastic!)

Leaving the Mormon Church

Kiley had this post up, and invited readers to write their own letters.  It's been perhaps 6 months since I left, so I'm still sorting out my own emotions and figuring out how to deal with people close to me and those not so close to me.  Here goes:

Dear Reader,

As you make your way out of the mormon church, remember that you have the right to say no. If you contact your bishop and ask for no contact in any shape, form or fashion from any members of the ward, and he asks to meet with you, you can say no. If people contact you anyway, you can just respond by asking them to remove you from their email lists, not to visit, etc.

You may find frustration in that people you previously thought to be friends were only friends because they were assigned to be. Again, you're allowed to tell them not to call/email/write/visit. There will be those, however, who are your friends because they love you, and they will remain your friends. Cherish them. Hold them close to your heart.

Go buy cute underwear. Lots and lots of cute underwear. Wear colours--pink, purple, black, red, polka-dotted. Wear thongs or boyshorts. Revel in the array of underwear that is now available to you.

Cuss. I'm particularly fond of the f-word. Put Ben Folds Five song "One Angry Dwarf" in your CD player and holler "kiss my ass!" with increasing enthusiasm. (It's a great song, trust me.) 

Try some coffee, to see if you like it. There are all kinds of syrups for flavouring, even sugar-free syrups (I love the Torani brand). There are plenty of flavours of creamer as well. Mix it up. See what you like. Have a big glass of iced tea, and see how thirst-quenching it can be. Mix some cold iced tea with some cold lemonade, and see how delicious that tastes.

Drink a glass of wine. Or a margarita. Or--and only do this if you've got friends around to pick you up--a long island iced tea. Whoa, Nellie! I had one of those when I was out with my sister and a friend, and I could hardly walk. But it sure tasted good.

You may have people ask you, as my husband asked me, if you left the church so you could drink coffee (wear cute underwear/drink a glass of wine/whatever they deem to be unsuitable and sinful). I normally respond with sarcasm (and occasionally a raised middle finger), but you'll find your own voice.

Explore the universe. Read anti-Mormon literature if you want to. Read the history--the true history, that LDS Inc. tries to whitewash and/or keep away from people--and see how the church really got its beginnings. Read the ridiculous teachings of past prophets, and the song and dance routine modern prophets use to get around them.

Be angry if you need to be angry. Cry if you need to cry. Blog. Journal. Talk to friends. The ex-Mormon community, I'm finding, is completely awesome. I've gotten so much support, not just from those that I've approached on a personal basis, but by reading their blogs and the books they've written. They are amazing.

If you want to correspond with me, I'd be delighted!!  Just shoot an email to aintnomonomo(at)gmail(dot)com.

I'm Still Standing

There are a couple of songs that I might as well have the lyrics tattooed all over my body.* And I know it's kind of lame, but I don't really care.  They motivate me, or they express what I'm thinking better than I can express it.  Or perhaps it's just that they're attached to upbeat music so that when "I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down."

Or "ain't nothin' gonna break my stride; nobody's gonna slow me down, oh, no, I've got to keep on movin'." Even the dream part--"Last night I had the strangest dream. I sailed away to China on a little rowboat to find ya, and you said you had to get your laundry clean." Because I have strange peculiar funky dreams. Like I dreamed for 5 nights in a row this past week about my boss, who's been out of the office for the last month or so. And she kept coming back to work too soon. Weird.

But my song today is "I'm still standing after all this time, picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind. I'm still standing better than I ever did, looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid."

I gave 30 years to LDS, Inc. Then I kicked them to the curb, picked myself up, dusted myself off, and started all over again. 'Cause I've got "high hopes, high apple pie in the sky hopes."

I don't know what's coming, but after this hellish year, "something tells me I'm in [for] something good."

*I don't really want any tattoos, which is just as well, because when I start reflecting on song lyrics that kind of perk me up, I realize there are rather a lot of them. How would I choose which lyrics to have tattooed on which body part? I suppose Tubthumping could go on my butt....

a haiku

spiced pumpkin latte
a chilly autumn morning
a sin? i think not