Are You Lonesome Tonight?

This is my first year spending Thanksgiving away from my family. I had work late on Wednesday, I have a show tomorrow, and it’s a three-hour train ride each way to get home, so it was just not reasonable for me to go there. I’m sad. I miss my family.

We’ve never really done the “What are you thankful for?” thing, because it’s always seemed silly and artificial. Now, though, being away from them, I can see that we’ve never really needed to have that tradition, because really, we’re most grateful to have each other. I love my crazy mom, my absent-minded dad, my indifferent teenage brother, and my grandma, who is the strongest, most independent person I know, who is the person I want to be when I grow up.

So, thanks guys, for being totally psychotic, over-protective, unpredictable, annoying, and impossible. And thank you again for being supportive, caring, generous, affectionate, and a hell of a lot of fun. And even though I’m sad and lonely right now, I truly am thankful for having such a wonderful family. I’d much rather miss them today than not have them at all.

So, since I don’t have anything better to do today, I stole a couple of surveys from people. The first comes from C., who just came back here after a hiatus almost as long as mine, and I’m so so so happy she did, because she’s awesome, and the second, which is chock-filled with TMI, comes from FlyingLow, who didn’t have a hiatus, but is still awesome.

Series 1, About You:

01. First Name: I’ve gone four months so far without mentioning my name here. Should I do it? Okay, you’ve convinced me. (That was easy.) My name’s Rickie. No, it’s not short for anything, and no, it’s not a boy’s name, and if you misspell it, I will hurt you. (Can you tell I get asked a lot of obnoxious questions about it?)
02. Birthday: 12 April 1982.
03. Birthplace: North Jersey.
04. Current Location: Philadelphia.
05. Current School: N/A.
06. Current Job: Receptionist. How glamorous!
07. Nicknames: RB, Jade, Cobblestone, and recently, Cupcake.
08. Eye Color: Grey, with a greenish tint. Once in a while they’ll go blue.
09. Hair Color: Naturally, the plainest, boringest medium brown that exists. I’d been coloring it a reddish shade, but I’m letting it grow out.
10. Lefty or Righty: Lefties rule the world!
11. Zodiac Sign: Aries.
12. Innie or Outie: Innie.
13. Religion: Agnostic Jew.
14. Piercings: One in each earlobe and one in the cartlidge of my right ear. I don’t plan on getting more.
15. Tattoos: None now, or ever.

Series 2, What’s your Favorite:

01. Music: I like showtunes, dammit, and don’t you dare make fun of me for it. My favorite contemporary band is Barenaked Ladies.
02. Cartoons: Hmm. Not sure, actually. Probably stuff I watched as a kid.
03. Color: Black, pink, red, purple.
04. Movie: Center Stage. Shut up.
05. Coffee: I hate coffee. I like Chai.
06. Book: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking Glass. They are not one book. They are two books. I’m also in love with Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series.
07. Magazine: Wired. Three cheers for the geeks!
08. TV Show: I have a problem with television lately, and it’s that I watch too much of it. My favourite shows right now are The Amazing Race, Lost, Gilmore Girls, and The O.C. I need help. *sigh*
09. Songs: I have never and will never be able to answer this question.
10. Candy: Sour peach rings!
11. Spice Girl: You know, for all the effort they went through to pick five women who couldn’t have been more different, I never learned to tell them apart.
12. Food: God, I don’t know. Chocolate? Cheese? I love a lot of foods, but I don’t really eat a lot of meat these days, so whenever I get to have it I get really excited.
13. Alcoholic Drink: Vodka and cranberry.
14. Subject in School: The only classes I liked in school were my math classes, because I actually had to pay attention to the lessons.
15. Weekend Activity: Sleeping late!
16. Holiday: Oddly enough, Passover.
17. Ice Cream Flavor: Mint chocolate chip.
18. Perfume: Perfume makes me die.
19. Roller Coaster: Roller coasters don’t thrill me. I’m not scared of them — I’ve been on dozens — but I don’t find them exciting. It’s like, “I’m going fast. Oh look, I just went upside down. Wheeee?”
20. Breakfast: Kashi GoLean Crunch. It’s yummy, and healthy, and it keeps me full for hours and hours.

Series 3 — Right now, who is the…?

01. Most Beautiful Person you Know: I’m going to follow C.’s lead here, and leave this section blank. Does anybody outside of high school actually categorize their friends like this?
02. Weirdest Person you Know:
03. Funniest Person you Know:
04. Loudest Person you Know:
05. Quietest Person you Know:
06. Sweetest Person you Know:
07. Sorriest Person you Know:
08. Scariest Person you Know:
09. Sexiest Person you Know:
10. Your Best Friend:
11. Person You Hate the Most:

Series 4, What is…?

01. Your Most Overused Phrase: I say “dude” and “awesome” way too much, and I don’t know why.
02. The first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning: “Okay, where did I hide the alarm clock today?”
03. The last image you thought of before you went to sleep: Most likely something involving a certain warm’n’tasty body.
04. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex: Sometimes the face, sometimes the butt. Depends on which way he’s facing.
05. Best name for a Butler: Jeeves.
06. Wussiest sport: Yep, golf. Definitely golf.
07. Song that describes you: Write a song about me, and then we’ll talk.
08. Your Best Feature: I have a nice mouth. 😉
09. Your bedtime: Whenever my eyes should choose to close.
10. Your biggest fear: Chaos.
11. Your greatest accomplishment: Finding my independence.
12. Your missed memories: I miss one main thing about being in a long-term relationship, and that’s being able to fall in love with the same person, over and over again. I want that.

Series 5, Which do you prefer?

01. Pepsi or Coke: Diet coke with lime. Mmm, ambrosia.
02. McD’s or Burger King: Wendy’s.
03. Nikes or Adidas: Payless.
04. Chicken Nuggets or Chicken Fingers: Chicken fingers, but they make me sad now. Don’t ask.
05. Dogs or Cats: Dogs. Cats are ewie.
06. Rugrats or Doug: Rugrats, before they got all popular and crappy.
07. Monica or Brandy: Who?
08. Jay Z or Eminem: Well, at least I’ve heard of those two.
09. Lipton or Nestea: Lipton.
<b>10. One Pillow or Two: Four. I like ’em really thin and floppy, though. Kinda like my men. Except minus the floppy.
11. Chocolate or Strawberry: No. Chocolate and strawberries.
12. Hot Chocolate or Hot Cocoa: What’s the difference?
13. Coffee or Tea: Tea. Coffee is nasty.
14. Drinks With or Without ice: No ice! Cold things hurt my teeth.
15. Thongs or G-Strings: Thongs. G-strings are kind of skanky, don’t you agree? Although really, I prefer to wear no underwear at all, and I suppose that’s even skankier.

Series 6, Do you..?

01. Shower Everyday: Sometimes. Every other day at least. I only wash my hair twice a week, though.
02. Have a crush: Yes, on you.
03. Think you’ve been in love before: I know I’ve been in love before.
04. Want to go to college: I was in college. I left. I don’t really think I want to go back. At least, not in the near future.
05. Like high school? No, high-school blew.
06. Want to get married? It’s not a goal of mine. If I should meet somebody and marriage feels right to me, then I’ll get married. It’s not something I’m specifically waiting for.
07. Type with your fingers on the right keys? Yes, actually, I do.
08. Believe in yourself? If I didn’t, how could I expect anybody else to?
09. Get motion sickness: Only if I try reading. Or if I’m sitting backwards on a train.
10. Think you are a health nut: I know I’m not a health nut.
11. Get along with your siblings: Lately, yes.
12. Like thunderstorms: Thunderstorms rock.

Series 7, Your future:

01. Age you hope to get married: Whenever it feels right.
02. Number of kids: I’m not even sure how I feel about having one. If I do have one, I’ll see then how I feel about having more.
03. Where do you see yourself at age 20: Erm, in the past?
04. Describe your dream wedding: I want it to be small — just family and a few very close friends. Other than that, I don’t care.
05. When and how do you want to die: Ugh, I can’t think about this.
06. What are your career plans: Well, I’m trying to get people to pay me to perform. They pay me now, but it’s not very much. Hopefully one day, they’ll pay me more.
07. Someplace you like to visit: Home. *sniff*

Series 8, What is your opinion of the opposite sex?

01. Best Eye Color: Dark. I like dark eyes that I can lose myself in.
02. Best Hair Color: Again, dark. I’ve never much cared for blonds.
03. Short or Long Hair: It doesn’t really matter to me, as long as it looks good on him.
04. Best Height: Taller than me, although that’s not difficult, because I’m a little bit short.
05. Best Weight: I’ve always been attracted to really skinny guys — the ones who whine because they can’t gain weight.
06. Best Article of Clothing: Baseball caps that I can steal and look cute in.
07. Best First Date Location: I don’t like having a rigidly planned first date — it’s more fun to just plan as you go.
08. Best first Kiss Location: My most recent first kiss was, well, in my bed. That was kind of nice. *g*
09. Describe Your Perfect Other: I need to be with somebody who’s intelligent, so that we can have fun and deep conversations, and somebody who’s artistic, who sees the world through totally unique eyes and can describe to me things that I could never have imagined. Aside from that? I want to be surprised.

Series 9, Other:

01. What do you wear to bed? I sleep nekkid.
02. When’s the last time you slept with a stuffed animal: Last night. Mr. Koala lives in my bed.
03. Have you ever played ouiji board? Not since, like, middle school. I’ve always found it rather stupid.
04. How many rings before you pick up the phone: My phone plays music now instead of rings, but I always used to wait until halfway through the second ring, even if I was at the phone before then.
05. What’s on your mouse pad? I have an optical mouse that doesn’t need a pad, but my desk is too shiny and confuses it, so I use a corkboard.
06. How many houses have you lived in: Three houses, one dorm room, and my current apartment.
07. How many schools have you go to: Six. And when I say that, I don’t mean transferring from middle-school to high-school in the same district — I mean six completely different, unrelated schools. I was always the “new kid.”
08. Color of your bedroom carpet: My bedroom is eight feet in the air and covered in linoleum.
09. Would you shave your head for $5,000: Yeah, actually, I would.
10. If you were stranded on an island name one person you would want to be on the island with you, and 3 items: I’ve never had a good answer to this question until recently, but after having spent about 30 hours on the phone with Boy in the past two months and still actually enjoy the sound of his voice, I think we could handle a deserted island. As for three items? A giant fluffy blanket, a library of classic books, and . . . a lifetime supply of sunscreen. Shut up, I’m pale.

1. How old were you when you lost your virginity? It’s a long and complicated story. The answer could be sixteen, it could be eighteen. Or, hell, it could be something completely different. I don’t like to think about it.

2. How many people have you had sex with? I just tried to count, and I dizzied myself. How many people, not counting the stupid things I did as a teenager? Two. I like that answer better.

3. How many times a week do you have sex? So far this year, it’s been .1064 times per week. No, I didn’t make that number up, I actually calculated it. Sometimes, math makes me sad.

4. How many times a week do you wish you had sex? Oh, I don’t know. Six, seven . . . ten . . .

5. How many one night stands have you had? *sigh* Can we please switch to questions that don’t make me hate myself?

6. What is the sexiest part of your body? I like the shape my breasts make when I lie on my back. I also think my legs are hot. (I’m also proud that I’ve gotten to a point where I can actually list things that I like about my body.)

7. Which do you prefer, getting or giving oral sex? I love giving it, as long as I’m at least occasionally getting it in return, because if I’m with someone who refuses to give it back, then giving it myself just makes me bitter and pissed off. (And yes, I’ve been in that situation.)

8. What is the kinkiest thing you’ve ever done? I think a lot of kinky things, but people don’t ever want to play with me. *sniff*

9. Ever had a threesome? Once. I was eighteen. It was stupid. Not doing it again.

10. What’s the biggest lie you’ve ever told to get someone to sleep with you? The only sex-related thing I’ve ever lied about was that I knew what I was doing. None of the people I had any ‘firsts’ with knew that I’d never done that particular thing before.

11. Ever paid or been paid to have sex? No. There are a lot of things that I regret, and I’m thankful that this isn’t one of them.

12. What’s your best excuse for not having sex? Excuse? How about, “I don’t feel like it”? If the person I’m with needs an excuse and isn’t going to respect that, then I don’t want to be with that person to begin with. (Plus, knowing that my partner would respect me if I just didn’t feel like it, kind of makes me hot. So if I said I didn’t want to, and you accepted it and left it alone, I’d probably jump you in about a half an hour anyway.)

13. How many times a week do you please yourself? Oh, I don’t know. Six, seven . . . ten . . .

14. What’s your favorite sexual position? I know it sounds vanilla, but I like plain ol’ missionary position. I really enjoy feeling the other person’s weight on top of me; it makes me feel safe.

15. What is the dumbest thing you’ve said during sex? One time, a guy took my hand and put it down his pants, and I came thisclose to saying, “Where is it?”

16. Do you have a pet name for your privates? No. A gay-boy friend of mine has named my breasts, but I can’t remember the names.

17. Do you remember the names of all your partners? First names, yeah. Last names? No clue. I’m not even sure I knew some of the last names in the first place.

18. Ever take advantage of someone who was drinking? I haven’t taken advantage of anybody who was falling-down drunk and didn’t know his or her own name, but I have convinced some slightly tipsy girls that kissing me would be fun. They agreed, so I don’t feel bad for it.

19. Have you ever woken up in a strange place with a strange person lying next to you? No. Again, thank god.

20. Have you ever used sex toys? Yes.

21. What gets you horny? Talk nerdy to me, baby.

22. Have you ever faked it? Occasionally. Never with anybody I actually cared about though, because that would be cruel.

23. Have you ever thought of someone else during sex besides the person you were with? When I was with my ex, constantly. Yeah, wasn’t all that attracted to him.

24. What’s the longest you’ve been without sex? Six hundred and forty eight days. *shudder* I am so glad that’s over. (At the same time, I’m glad that I had such a long break, because it gave me time to re-evaluate how I think about sex.)

25. For the ladies…spit or swallow? If you’re not going to swallow, then you have no right putting your mouth there in the first place. It seems awfully rude to me to get up and run to the bathroom while your boyfriend is still, like, shaking.

26. Ever had sex on the first date? Yep.

27. Have you ever had a really bad sexual experience? Many times, yes. It’s truly sad how many people out there don’t know what they’re doing. Research, people! It’s not all about the in-field experience!

28. What is the most unusual thing someone has asked you to do in the bedroom? Nobody ever asks me to do anything unusual. Be kinky with me, people!

29. Have you ever cheated on someone? When I was fifteen, I kissed a boy after I decided to break up with my boyfriend, but before I actually did so. Aside from that, no.

30. How many of your answers were really true? All of them. Why would I lie?

31. Ever had cyber / phone sex? Kinda, yeah. I had this ‘friend’ when I was seventeen who would have me call him and just, like, tell him about my day and stuff, while he would masturbate. It was weird. I didn’t really mind. I’ve also had plenty of conversations that, while not explicitly phone sex, have bordered on the sexy.

32. Ever had sex with the same sex? Yep. It’s fun, although there are less options really of what to do.

33. Ever tasted yourself? Yeah. It surprises me to find out that so many people haven’t.

34. Would you rather watch or be watched? This is a tough one. I don’t really get off on watching other people, but I would get self-conscious if I knew I were being watched. I can’t decide, really. Hmm.

35. Are you happy with your body? I’m getting there.