Getting to know Bubble Girl

A year ago if someone had asked me what a blog was my answer would be something along the lines of "That's one of those internet things for people with way too much time on their hands to blather endlessly about their right-wing tendencies or liberal conspiracy theories.", then I'd quickly change the subject because it was rapidly becoming obvious I didn't know what the hell I was talking about. But then a friend mentioned that her friend blogged and I started reading. Then another friend said she had a blog. Then another and another. Then I started following links to other blogs, and then more blogs. Suddenly I noticed I'd spent the equivalent of years of my life reading all the little details of lives of perfect strangers. Fascinating! I've always been one of those people who when driving or walking at night, loves to peer into people's lit houses and see what's going on. How have they decorated their dining room? What color is their kitchen painted? What movie are they watching? Damn! Why do so many people draw their curtains? The voyeur in me was enjoying this World of Blogging.

The wheels started turning. I could chronicle our lives. Keep track of things the Bubble Kids do and say. My memory is so bad (why? have I smoked a lot of marijuana? NO! Have I been hit in the head? No.) I wish I could say I had something fun to blame this poor memory thing on, but it is apparently just a lazy mind. Plus, I could share what was happening with us with our family and friends that are spread out all over the world (I'm looking at you, Belgium!). So, My Suburban Bubble was born and I've been feeling my way and slowly learning the blogging ropes since February when I took The Plunge.

One of the things I've learned We Bloggers do is to "tag" one another. This is my first time being "tagged", so now I'm It. Thanks, SJ! I get to explore my deepest, darkest self and share all my little secrets with the World of the Internet. Here we go...

Name four jobs I've had:

1. My first official job was at Piccadilly Cafeteria. I had the unbearable chore of wearing the most hideous dirt brown, polyester dress uniform, with a horrible orange and brown plaid apron. I had to wear white, closed-toe shoes with NO socks. This was during the era of big, scrunchy looking socks, so the thought of baring my ankles in Keds sneakers was a tragedy of the highest order. I did have the honor of pouring iced tea for Bart Connor once, but he was a little bitchy, so all in all, it was not worth the $3.35/hour I was making. When they asked me to wear a hair net, I'd reached my limit and chose to end my employment at that time. Right then. But if I can believe what I read in Naked, my favorite humorist/writer, David Sedaris also worked at Piccadilly, so THAT does make it worth it.
2. Bill collector. I started out as a skip-tracer (not unlike my new friend, Stephanie Plum, but without the gun and tear gas spray), then got "promoted" to bill collector. This is so funny on so many levels that I can't even get into it. I would actually call people and go through the "Open, Fact, Dun, Close" system we used to get people to pay the bills they'd decided their either couldn't or wouldn't. I had a pseudonym. It was Nicole Simms and yes, it was during the Nicole Simpson murder/OJ trial time-frame. And yes, lots of people made the connection.
3. Cocktail waitress. At a bar called Bimbo's. J.W. Bimbo's to be exact. It wasn't the sleazy place the name would lead you to believe, I swear. The work was easy and fun, the tips were great because it was a place for more middle-aged people who actually had money instead of the cheapskate college students whose number one criteria on choosing where to go is Where's coin beer night? and I only had to work 3 nights a week and could focus on my college learning the rest of the days. It was really a pretty sweet gig.
4. Jewelry salesperson. I was certified in the 4 C's and everything. That was during a time in my life when I actually had acrylic nails and wore shoes that were patently uncomfortable with pointy toes and heels higher than a Birkenstock.

Movies I'd watch over and over:

1. Spiderman 1 or 2. I've developed quite a love of comic book type movies in the last couple of years. Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, X-Men...loved 'em all, but Spidey...well, he's Spidey.
2. 300. Gerard Butler as King Leonidas. I need say no more.
3. Toy Story 2.
4. The Breakfast Club. This movie helped define my high school years.

Favorite TV Shows:

As has been mentioned here and here, we no longer subscribe to television service in the Bubble House. As a result, we buy shows from iTunes or rent DVDs through the library or Netflix. Here's what we buy or rent, or will when the time comes.

1. The Office. The funniest network show I've ever seen.
2. The Daily Show. I need me my Jon Stewart and daily dose of fake news.
3. 24. Jack Bauer Rocks. Lord save us if Kiefer Sutherland ever decides to run for President. (a la Fred Thompson). Personally, I just have a problem with a candidate who has a longer imdb page than political accomplishments. That's just me and my predetermined bias.
4. 6 Feet Under. We're working our way through season 4, and it's as morbid and intriguing as ever.
5. The Colbert Report. I don't watch this as religiously as The Daily Show, but it's so great. There's just not enough time in the world for everything.

There are some TV shows that are in the queue but I can't judge them yet. Lost, The Soprano's, Curb Your Enthusiasm are all shows that I plan to watch. We watched and enjoyed The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama, Arrested Development...something about that Sunday night line-up on Fox. Then they started messing around with it and ditched Arrested Development and moving things around. Idiots. Like the same ignoramous that canceled Sports Night, whom I will never forgive. I mean, we had Felicity Huffman and Peter Krause in the same show! TV executives are so clueless sometimes. And Yes, I'm still bitter.

Favorite Hobbies:

I feel woefully weak on this one. Hobbies? For myself? Yikes. I'm not as complete as I thought.

1. Reading. I only wish there was more time for reading and more fabulous books. I hate when I've wasted a week or two on a book that was only mediocre. Thanks to my book club, there's much less of that. You'll be able to see our books here soon. Stay tuned for LibraryThing links and you never need wonder again what Bubble Girl is reading or has read.
2. Cycling. I feel a little strange calling that a "hobby" since it's pretty new in my life. But I am enjoying it and training for a 60 mile ride in November, so I guess it counts. I mean, I got the shoes and everything.
3. Can cleaning be a hobby? I feel like I do it a lot. It makes me feel better about it if I can put a positive title on it.
4. Cooking. I do love to cook. There's not enough time for it. I love looking at recipes and talking about recipes, cookbooks, little tweaks people have made to familiar recipes, planning menus. Not so much the clean-up, but I guess I could file that under Hobby #3.

Places I've lived:

1. Oklahoma (Red Earth Country)
2. Yuma, Arizona (Armpit of the U.S.)
3. Wisconsin (Yes, they really do eat that much cheese)
4. San Francisco (Fabulous if you have money oozing from your pores. Still pretty good even if you don't)
5. Austin, TX (an oasis in a big ol' state)

Places I'd rather be:

I like it pretty well right here, right now. But if we're talking "vacation" kind of things....

1. Hawaii. Wanna go. Looks so nice.
2. Italy. Love Italy. Want a summer house there someday.
3. Greece. Never been, but again, one must dream.
4. Spain. Ditto.
5. Scotland. To feed my love of All Things Scottish.

Websites I check daily:

Daily is an overstatement, but here are some of my favorite friend blogs...

1. KT's Coolboots
2. SJ's Adventures
3. JC's Story
4. I heard a rumor there's another friend blog coming soon, so I'll have to update later...

And my favorite non-friend blogs where I lurk...

1. go fug yourself
2. dooce
3. finslippy
4. fussy
5. mighty girl
6. suburban turmoil
7. bizzyville
8. yetanotherbloominblog

So, that's the short list. There are a few others like America's Finest News Source, The Onion and Boobs, Injuries, and Dr. Pepper that get my attention on a semi-regular basis and I'm never disappointed.

That wraps up this episode of Getting to Know Bubble Girl. I hope you all feel a little closer to me now that you know I served cocktails at Bimbo's and consider cleaning a hobby. We'll be BFFs always now.

NOW, I get the pleasure of spreading the love and tagging two lucky fellow bloggers. I'm looking at the aforementioned KT's Coolboots and JC's Adventures.

Let 'er rip girls!