Mixed Bizness (or Watch Me Struggle to Stick to My Format)

Just so I don't get chased out of Blogland with torches, I've decided to quit putting off the various items that I've been tagged with recently and just knock 'em all out in one fell swoop.

Before I do that though, I want to draw your attention to the new little doo-dad over in my sidebar. It's a music player that I snagged from FineTune. You can make themed or random playlists, each consisting of at least 45 songs, and then embed them in your blogs or on your MySpace pages. So now while you're hanging at my blog, you can listen to some tunes and applaud or ridicule my musical tastes. If you want to skip a song, just click the "on deck" CD on the right-hand side. Also, if you want to take a peek at the complete song listing, just click the "What's in BeckEye's Ear" link above the player. The current list started out as a "summer" theme, but turned into a bunch of songs that I like. How very random of me. And yes, Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" is in the mix. I'm completely obsessed with that song right now. You wanna make something of it?

And now on to the other biz...

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I knew I should've slapped a PFA on Mr. Touchy, because he tagged me again with the "Eight Things" meme.

All right, here are the rules. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts. Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I hate doing memes, unless they're specifically about pop-culture. I thought this was public knowledge but apparently it's not. (I still love ya though, WP. Again, it's not really your fault that you find me so fascinating.)

2. Like Mr. Touchy, I believe in ghosts. Unlike Mr. Touchy, I talk about it...probably way too much. I do believe in spooks, I do believe in spooks, I do I do I do believe in spooks. I was convinced that my brother, J-Fred's, old house was haunted. I still am, even if everyone in my family thinks I'm nuts.

3. I don't do funerals. Another thing I have in common with Mr. Touchy. I find the whole idea of putting dead people on display rather morbid. Did my people (the Irish) start this? Or did they just take it to bizarre new levels like dancing around with the corpse and trying to get it drunk? I want no parts of that. I've been forced to go to funeral homes before, but I've rarely gone in the viewing room.

4. I can't eat spicy foods. Even the mild salsa they give you at quasi-Mexican restaurants is too hot for me!

Okay...now I'm going to try to think of ways to get back on format...

5. The band I've seen the most times in concert is The Steve Miller Band. Yep, saw them 7 times. Why? A) Steve's music is classic, feel-good stuff. B) Tickets were never more than like $17. C) The shows became a summer tradition. There are people who will pay $100 to see Jimmy Buffett every year, and then there are smart people, like me, who pick a better, cheaper act. D) The shows were a good excuse to drink way too much.

6. When I was little, the Bad Company song "Shooting Star" scared the hell out of me. The end when Paul Rodgers sings, "If you listen to the wind, you can still hear him play," gave me the major willies. I wasn't too keen on the wind for a while.

7. Again, when I was little, we used to have a United Airlines fork. (I guess someone in my family was one of those people who stole things from wherever they went.) My sister used to play this game with me, where we would sit at the kitchen table and pretend that we were on a flight. The best part was that I was Mrs. Travolta and she was Mrs. Springfield. We would talk all about what our "husbands" were up to. It was great.

8. After seeing E.T. for the first time, I got mad at my brother, Dutch, for some reason and decided to call him "penis breath," which I had heard in the movie. I had no idea what a penis was; I just thought it sounded like a cool insult. Dutch told my Dad and I got in trouble for it, but my Dad wouldn't even tell me what it was! Enter big sis. I told her I thought it was some type of lizard and she said I wasn't too far off.

Now I'm supposed to tag 8 more people to do this. Here is where I'm going to rebel. Whoever wants to to do this, knock yourself out.




Next up is the "Rockin' Girl Blogger" Awards. I was named one of these Rockin' Chicks by both Turnbaby and Loraloo, so I guess that means I rock twice as hard as I thought I did. So now comes the part where I have to bestow the title on five more ladies. Since Turnbaby and Loraloo were already nominated, I won't tag them again, but they both know that I know they rock. The five that I pick will be completely at random, as I think every gal on my blogroll rocks. Here we go...

1. Tanya - As is true with most of the bloggers I like, Tanya has a great sense of humor. But I appeciate hers even more because she managed to stay funny while hugely pregnant, and got even funnier when the darn kid kept refusing to come out. He finally did, and now Tanya is already back to rockin' a bikini. Wench.

2. Happy Villain - H.V. will change everyone's perception of what a librarian is. She's got all the qualities I look for in another woman - twisted humor, intelligence, and vulgarity. Unfortunately, she's not regaling us with all the sordid tales of the library anymore, but she's still blogging about the general insanity of life and will still throw us all an occasional "liberry" bone.

3. Beth - I discovered Beth's blog fairly recently, and I'm glad I did. She's a great writer and storyteller with fantastic taste in music. She also understands that staph infections are no laughing matter, and that Glenn Tilbrook is a God among men.

4. Barbara B. - Yes, she's Canadian but I won't hold that against her. She's no hoser. Like myself and Beth, Barbara is a big music lover and I'm very jealous of her summer music festival activities. She also has a daredevil cat, which is pretty damn cool.

5. Danielle - One half of my favorite blog couple, The Kimzeys, Danielle is an amazing writer. We seem to have a very similar sense of humor, and she needs it to keep up with that goofball husband of hers, Blake. My only complaint: she (or he) doesn't blog nearly enough these days!

Ok, girls! Now go rock five more ladies' worlds.


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Last, but not least, is Deadspot's "Big Dumb Meme." Basically, he wants to know (a) what is the dumbest question I've ever been asked, (b) why it was dumb, and (c) my answer.

I can think back to when I was about 21, and I was friends with a big, dumb girl. The big, dumb exchange went something like this...

Big Dumb Question
My boyfriend says he wants to marry me, but since I want to wait to have sex until marriage, he wants to know if it's okay if he goes out and just has sex with other girls in the meantime. What do you think I should do?

Big Dumb Reason
This should be fairly obvious! But, if you're into swinging or if you think that monogamous relationships are impossible, you might not see the problem. Well, it's fine if you're one of those people, but this was a girl who was determined to save herself for marriage. She put a very high premium on sex and marriage, so why would someone be comfortable in a relationship with a guy who was "biding his time" with other chicks? And why would she ask me what I thought she should do??

Big Dumb Answer
I think my befuddled blank stare was followed by answering her question with one of my own - "Just how dumb are you?" I don't think I even put it that nicely, though. There was definitely more swearing involved. It helps to explain that our friendship was literally on its last legs anyway, so I didn't respond in a nicey-nice Dr. Phil sort of way.


That's all, folks!