Lisa M Potts: February 2011

Would I Lie To You?

Can I just say how impressed I am with the entries I've visited so far! I wouldn't want to be a judge for this challenge.

Are you dying to know just how tragic my past really was?

The only lie I'm guilty of is nearly losing a finger to a sea duck. I have nothing but pleasant memories of feeding them on our family trips.

My secret was that poor little rabbit. I'd kept it to myself all these years thus saving not only Barbie, but Ken too.

I am addicted to reality TV, I'm my kids' worst grammar nightmare and I can juggle multiple tasks at the same time with no problem. I steer clear of fuzzy costumed people and still get cold sweats when I step into a vet's office.

Those small tragedies have been fuel for many a story over the years. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm grateful for them, but they gave me invaluable emotional experiences to draw from.

Congrats to those of you who spotted my untruth. I don't think I've correctly guessed one of yours yet.

Oh, How I Love A Challenge

First Crusader Challenge

In 300 words or less, tell us:

*one secret
*one lie
*one interesting quirk
*one annoying habit
*one of your best character traits
*one of your favorite things in the whole world

The post can be in any format, including poetry, but must include the random words, "bloviate", "fuliguline", "rabbit" and "blade".

Since I believe in balance, I've included both light and dark tales for your reading pleasure.

Here are my answers in no particular order, because that wouldn't be any fun at all...

I love reality TV. Can't get enough. From The Bachelor to American Idol, I'm there.

When I was eight, my best friend's brother forced me to watch him skin a rabbit with a rusty blade (he was holding my favorite Barbie Doll hostage). I cried for a week and vowed I would become a veterinarian to stop all of the terrible injustices perpetrated against the animal kingdom. Sorry, didn't mean to bloviate.

During high school, I helped out at our local vet's office during the summer for some early experience. One day a family brought in their beautiful German Shepherd with a gaping hole through its side. The son had been cleaning his shotgun but had forgotten to remove the bullets. The dog died in my arms. I'd never seen so much blood. I looked like Carrie at the after-prom party. Traumatized=understatement. I knew I'd have to pick a different profession.

Although I love animals, I'll admit I'm a bit leery of anything fuliguline. I nearly lost a finger to one during an unfortunate feeding incident while vacationing on the coast. It took ten stitches to close the gash and I've never quite gotten all of the sensation back.

I correct my kids' grammar constantly. Whether it's written or spoken, I just can't help myself.

I am terrified of costumed characters. To this day, I still have to duck into the nearest bathroom whenever I see one. Our trips to Disney were horrific. Sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap? Fuggedaboutit.

I have mad organizational skills. I take multi-tasking to a whole new level. Don't believe me? I'm running on the treadmill while watching the eleven o'clock news right now. Yep. That just happened.

I consider myself truthful, but one of those things up there is a flat-out lie. Can you guess which one? I'll be back Wednesday to tell you if you're right.

Just A Quick Note

My very first interview is up on Michelle's blog today. So check it out and leave a comment if you have a spare moment so I won't feel like a total loser.

To all of the Bernard Pivot blogfest participants, I am slowly making my way through all of your answers, and so far they are terrific! My son has gotten a big kick out of reading all of your comments about his answers also.

Crusaders, I have added you all on Twitter and will be visiting your blogs starting this weekend. Talk to you soon!

Have some chocolate on me!

Bernard Pivot Blogfest

Thanks so much to the beautiful Nicole Ducleroir for hosting this blogfest. I had heard of the Questionnaire before, but never attempted to answer it myself. I treated it as one of those exercises where you write down the first thing that pops into your head because I didn't want to overthink it.

1.What is your favorite word? Serendipity

2.What is your least favorite word? Stupid

3.What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Music, nature, art

4.What turns you off? Body odor

5.What is your favorite curse word? Fuck

6.What sound or noise do you love? Wind chimes

7.What sound or noise do you hate? Car alarm

8.What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Veterinarian

9.What profession would you not like to do? Nurse (God bless them, but I couldn't do it)

10.If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Nobody's perfect, but I know you did your best.

I also asked my thirteen-year-old son to take a stab and I thought his answers were interesting so I've posted them too.

1.What is your favorite word? Epic

2.What is your least favorite word? Raunchy

3.What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? Music

4.What turns you off? Silence

5.What is your favorite curse word? Shit

6.What sound or noise do you love? Robot voices

7.What sound or noise do you hate? Styrofoam rubbing against Styrofoam

8.What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Video game programmer

9.What profession would you not like to do? Teacher

10.If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Halle-freaking-lujah

So those were ours. Did we match any of your answers?

Make sure and check out all of the other blogs participating and have a wonderful hump day!

It's A Crusade

I want you to start a crusade in your life - to dare to be your best.

~William Danforth

Rachael Harrie has started her second Writer's Platform Building Crusade. In her words, "The Crusade is a way to link aspiring writers, beginner bloggers, industry people, and published authors together with the aim of helping to build our online platforms.

The Crusaders are all people in a similar position, who genuinely want to pay it forward, make connections and friends within the writing community, and help build each others' online platforms while at the same time building theirs."

I participated in the first Crusade and met some truly amazing writers, so of course I've signed up for this one and I urge you to also. Just go here and put your name in. I promise you won't regret it.

My friend Lola is having a PARTAY and giveaway on her lovely blog. If you've never been there, you should visit. It's full of inspiration and will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

The wonderful Andrew Smith, author of The Marbury Lens, has made his vlog debut, where he discusses YA for boys by boys, the US educational system and brussel sprouts. Definitely worth a look.

Until next time.

Top 10 Horror/Scifi Movie Quotes Blogfest

First I want to thank Ellie and Jeremy for co-hosting today. This one was a lot of fun to put together.

I'll admit I lean more toward Horror, so the quotes for that genre outnumber my SciFi quotes six to four. At least I think they do. One of these could be considered both. Can you guess which one?

My quotes in no particular order...

Night Of The Living Dead ~1968

1. "They're coming for you, Barbara." Although I hadn't been born when it came out, Night Of The Living Dead is my favorite classic horror movie. Not only are there zombies, but it has one of the best endings ever.


Terminator ~ 1984

2. "I'll be back." A very buff Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Biehn - both naked. Need I say more?

Hellraiser ~ 1987

3. "Jesus wept." Okay, nothing Oscar worthy here, but Pinhead was a masterpiece.

The Empire Strikes Back ~ 1980

4. "Do or do not. There is no try." Who doesn't love Yoda speak? I remember sneaking my tape recorder into the theater and capturing the whole movie on cassette. Then I went home, copied the script word for word on paper and recreated a recording of the whole movie playing all the parts myself and using my Atari for the sound effects. I still have it.

Jaws ~ 1975

5. "You're gonna need a bigger boat." I don't know about you, but I haven't been in the ocean since.

The Matrix ~ 1999

6. "Hello, Mr. Anderson." I still can't decide whether I would have chosen the blue pill or the red one.

Nightmare On Elm Street ~ 1984

7. "Whatever you do, don't fall asleep." Freddy Krueger scared the crap out of me, I'll admit it. I thought about him lying in bed at night a helluva lot more than I thought about my boyfriend.

Aliens ~ 1986

8. "Get away from her, you bitch!" Ah, Ripley. A badass chic with a heart of gold. Oh, and Michael Biehn again, but sadly, not naked.

Galaxy Quest ~ 1999

9. "Never give up, never surrender." My kids and I love Galaxy Quest, and this quote by Commander Taggert is my mantra to this day.


Scream ~ 1996

10. "What's your favorite scary movie?" Scream revived the horror genre in my opinion. Creepy, smart and fun.

So there you have it. Did any of my choices make your list?

You should visit everyone else's lists. That's what I'm doing right now.

SPAM, SPAM, SPAM

Ahhh, it's that time again. Another installment of My Spam Folder has made it onto the blog.

As I was perusing the myriad of choices I had to pick from, my curious little brain started wondering where the word spam originated, so I did some digging. From The Good Word Blog and several others, I found that the term comes from the 1970 Spam sketch of the BBC television comedy series "Monty Python's Flying Circus". The sketch is set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes Spam of the canned meat variety. As the waiter recites the Spam-filled menu, a chorus of Viking patrons drowns out all conversations with a song repeating "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam... lovely Spam! wonderful Spam!", hence "Spamming" the dialogue.

In the 1980s the term was adopted to describe certain abusive users who frequented BBSs, who would repeat "Spam" a huge number of times to scroll other users' text off the screen.

And if Spam wasn't enough, we now have to contend with SPIT (SPam over Internet Telephony), which can be just as annoying and much harder to clean up.

These were some of my favorites from the last few weeks:

Check out these fat people's before and after pics - Well, I'll give them points for bluntness.

Secrets To Slimming Your Saddlebags - Okay, this one I'll look at, but only if it involves no physical exercise whatsoever.

View pics of 50+ singles in your area - could you BE any more confusing? Are we talking quantity or age here? (This is the consequence of clicking that check box next to single or divorced or widowed on ANY SITE YOU MAY HAVE EVER VISITED.) I get a lot of these, all worded slightly different. I also get wooed by HOT SINGLES IN YOUR AREA on my Facebook sidebar and wonder where are these guys? Cause I sure haven't seen 'em. Their blinding white teeth alone would have drawn my attention.

Last, from my blog comments spam folder...and I quote...

Is Bigfoot Actual Or Bogus? For over 4 hundred a long time, there have already been reporting's of a guy like monster that may be completely coated in hair.

First, the small part of my brain that houses my grammar snob had an aneurysm.

And I think all the females of the species just got

really pissed off.

I hope you'll join me for Jeremy and Ellie's Top 10 Horror/Scifi Movie Quotes Blogfest on Sunday. It's going to be a scream.

We Have A Winner!

First, I want to thank all of you who entered. There were 26 of you but that translated into 69 entries, so thanks for spreading the word and making me feel loved.

Now for the really important stuff...