I like the Green Ones Best!

To all those who that I was crazy for the M & M question, that's probably not a stretch. However, that crazy question has brought about some heated (well, not really heated, funny might be a better word) debates about method and madness. Some of my favorites:

Nicole: I bite Peanut M & Ms in half and then eat half the chocolate and then the other half - saving the peanut for last.

Mary: I eat the brown ones first, then the colored ones- the green ones last. I normally bite each m&m in 1/2 in my mouth. Sounds strange, but this way it doubles your portion. But if the m&ms are in a treat bag...I just eat them one at a time- hard to separate colors on the go eating from a bag.

Matty: I just take as many as I can possibly fit into my hand and shove as many in my mouth as possible. Don't really care what color they are. Peanut M & M's are much better though!

Natalie: I arrange them by color and then eat the color I have fewest of first. If I am tied for any number, I eat the color I dislike the most first then I move on ... funny thing though, this only applies to the plain m&m's ... peanut m&m's I eat like Matty does :)

It's strange how we all seem to have a certain way. Of course, when I was younger, it was totally different. I used to eat the tan browns first, because they were the ugliest. Then the dark browns. Then the yellows. Then the reds. I would always save greens for last -- think it had something to do with a baseball metaphor.

One Word

A friend posted this to his blog and it was interesting to me. A quiz that you can only respond to with one word. It made me think about all the times that I fill in extra in order to make people know who I am and what I am about. One word. It's a challenge.

1. Yourself: Dea

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend: None

3. Your hair? Long

4. Your mother? Wonderful

5. Your Father: Loyal

6. Your Favorite Item: Nicodemus

7. Your dream last night: Intriguing

8. Your Favorite drink: Bailey’s

9. Your Dream Car: Beetle

10. The Room You Are In: Office

11. Your Ex: Matt

12. Your fear: Loneliness

13. What you want to be in 10 years: Sated

14. Who you hung out with last night? TV

15. What You're Not? Brave

17. One of Your Wish List Items: U2

19. The Last Thing You Did? Commuted

20. What You Are Wearing: Pants

21. Your Favorite Weather: Snow

22. Your Favorite Book: Serendipity

23. The Last Thing You Ate: Dinner

24. Your Life: Complex

25. Your Mood: Searching

26. Your body: Curvy

27. What are you thinking about right now: Tomorrow

28. Your car: Wet

29. What are you doing at the moment? Working

30. Your summer: Fun

Let us confidently hope that all will yet be well

I like the idea of posting about what I am reading. Those that know me well know that I tend to get wrapped up in a topic. For a long time it was British History (although the 1000 page Henry VII book was nearly my undoing) and now it is the Civil War - well, more specifically, Abraham Lincoln.

I read Manuhunt by James L. Swanson (contrary to popular belief, not about dating) and that triggered this new obsession. If you get a chance, read it, it is an extraordinary tale of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the hunt for John Wilkes Booth.

Anyway, this sparked my interest and I have moved on to Team of Rivals. Well, that and a trip to the Underground Railroad museum and the PBS documentary on Abraham and Mary (thank you, Netflix). Did I mention that I met Abraham Lincoln this weekend? Not literally, I am not that crazy, but there was an actor playing him at the Tall Stacks festival. He recited the speech Lincoln gave when he left Springfield for Washington DC. It was amazing. Thanks to my sister's boyfriend's insistence, I now have a nice picture of me and Abe.

So, that's the subject obsession for the day. Highly recommend.

But the truth is not the same without the lies he made up

I'm not sure how I feel about this myspace thing. I created a profile a year ago, because a friend invited me to it. I let it stay dormant for the better part of the year.

Then I had some friends I hadn't talked to in 10 years find me and that was great. What an interesting place this myspace is...a place that lets you connect with people you might have lost. It seemed like a great invention.

Then again, someone posted a mock Laurie Dann profile on myspace. It may have gone unnoticed to many, but I lived through that nightmare - it was a bit too close to home. The school she attacked was 2 blocks from mine and I knew one of the victims. That event changed schools forever. A year later buzzers were installed and doors were locked. School was no longer the safe haven that it had seemed to be.

Why someone thought it was a good idea to post her profile, I will never understand. It has since been removed by the myspace people, but it makes me wonder. It makes me wonder about this space. This space where people create a profile and write their thoughts and ideas. Who are the people behind the profiles? Are they who they really present themselves to be?

Is the interesting guy with a profile like yours really a guy? Is he single or is he being deceiving? It is a hard thing to tell on the internet. I have always been one to believe in the goodness of people, but this place makes me a bit of a skeptic. I like to look into someone's eyes and see the honesty. You can't do that in a staged photo with a blinking online symbol. So for now, I will wait and see. See what this myspace has to offer.

On the one hand, it has let me link up with friends around the country. On the other hand, it is not the same as sitting across from someone and having a conversation.

How Do You Eat M & M's?

This weekend was a mini-family trek to see my sister. I left a day and a half early, so that Debs and I could do some fun sister bonding. My parents joined us on Friday. I love my family. They are absolutely insane in the best ways.

This weekend, my mom asked me how I eat my M & M’s. Sounds like a strange question to start – made stranger by my reply, “Am I sitting at my desk or am I just eating them?” Odd, I know. But, I make my M & M’s into a colored pyramid, if I am sitting down. I eat the oddball ones (those that didn’t make the pyramid) first and then eat the pyramid, a diagonal row at a time. I have no idea when or why I started doing this.

I felt better when my mom asked my sister the same question later in the day. Debs replied, “Am I eating them from a candy bowl or the bag?” This confirmed for me that she is truly my sister. It seems that my sister eats M & M’s by first eating the colors she does not like.

As for my mom, she eats her M & M’s in coordinating colors – i.e. Blue and Green for Marillac (my high school alma mater), Red and Green (obvious Christmas reference), Blue and Yellow (Notre Dame) and so on and so forth.

It was at this point that my Dad interjected with the extremely logical, very linear-minded, “They all taste the same” comment. I am now wondering if we are the milkman’s kids. Kidding aside, I wonder. Are we the weird ones? (Actually, I don’t wonder that, I know we are a bit). But, is this a male / female thing? Something weirdly unique to my family? Do other people have a system for eating M & M’s? I’m a bit curious now.

So I post the question to all (well, really to Jen and my sis, since I think they are the only ones that read this), “How do you eat your M & M’s?”