Chiara Fox - Plinky Answers

Believe it or not, I haven't seen 'Office Space'

2009-07-04T19:00:50-06:00

Just never got around to seeing it. And now everyone else has seen it. It's still embarrassing to admit around the water cooler.

'Puff the Magic Dragon' gets me every time

2009-06-25T10:46:54-06:00

Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul & Mary

This was a favorite from my childhood.Ever since my dad died 19 years ago, I can't sing along without crying.

Send in the Clowns by Judy Collins

This is another one from my childhood. My mother used to play it on the piano. When I was little I thought it was a happy song because it was about clowns. Now it just makes me sad.

Empty Chairs & Empty Tables by Les Miserables

This one pulls at your heart strings. But it's really watching what it does to E that makes me cry.

I wish I could have seen Bringing Up Baby in the theater

2009-06-16T13:00:37-06:00

Classic Hepburn and Grant screwball comedy. The dialog is brilliant, the timing perfect, the house in Connecticut is to die for. I grew up wishing that I could be more like Susan Vance. She's smart, clever, funny, beautiful, has an amazing sense of adventure and certainly doesn't live a normal life.

My preferred writing medium

2009-05-15T14:35:02-06:00

2008.11.12 - The letter

It really depends upon what it is I am writing. I am certainly faster typing than writing longhand. And my thoughts start flowing so quickly that it's easier to keep up on a keyboard. I also love the feel of the keys under my fingertips and the clickclick noise the keys make.

But there is also something magical about a really good pen and fine quality paper. My handwriting has gotten more sloppy over the years, as I type more. But there are moments when it brings me great happiness to see the words and letters forming perfectly on the page.

I'm a cat person

2009-05-04T16:15:55-06:00

Many people are surprised that growing up, I always thought I was a dog person. We always had dogs until I was in 5th grade or so, when we finally got a cat. I can't imagine having a dog anymore.

Anyone who says they don't like cats doesn't know any great cats. I've been lucky to have many great cats in my life. My cats come when they are called, many have played fetch, and are all around general puppy-cats.

I love that cats are quiet and subtle. I love that they can take care of themselves. I love that they are small enough to sleep on you without making your leg fall asleep. A cat purr is one of my favorite sounds. I love the way kittens smell, and how their tails stick straight up when they run, and how they bounce around the floor.

Inside one of the Great Pyramids is the oldest place I've been

2009-02-27T00:21:46-06:00

In 1992 my family went on vacation to Greece and Egypt. We traveled by car outside of Cairo to Giza, and went to see the Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. We rode camels around the whole area. We even went down the narrow hallway into one of the chambers in the larger pyramid.

You'll find "Bon Appetit" atop my toilet

2009-02-23T12:25:54-06:00

Bon Appetit
Swanky foodie articles & recipes. Gift subscription from E's mom (the caterer). Like to look at the pretty pictures.

Vegetarian Times
All veggie recipes all the time.

Sierra
The magazine that comes with the membership to Sierra Club. They recently changed the whole format, layout and types of articles. Not sure I like it.

National Geographic
Gift subscription from my mother. Love to look at the pictures. Have piles of them because I can't throw out the old issues.

P.E.O. Record
Magazine that I get for being a member. Always flip through it.

British Heritage
Another gift subscription from my mother. Reads like a giant travel advertisement.

The Hill
Alumni magazine from Western Maryland College a.k.a. McDaniel College. I have every issue since I graduated.

Journal of the American Society of Information Science & Technology
Get for being a member of ASIS&T. Don't know that I have ever read a complete article from it. I donate all issues to the Adaptive Path library.

Horse-drawn carriages should make a comeback

2009-02-22T15:03:12-06:00

Modern life moves so fast. When you had to travel by horse, you were forced to slow down and really experience the journey. You couldn't rush from one place to another. I'd love to remove the 'hurry up and get there already' mentality that seems to permeate my life.

Plus then I would also get to fulfill my childhood dream of owning a horse.

My trip from Milford, CT to Evergreen, CO

2009-02-13T11:31:24-06:00

In July 1982, my family moved from Milford, CT to Evergreen, CO. My father, mother, brother and our family Beagle, Benji, piled into a Ford Fairmont and drove cross-country. The car had no air-conditioning and all vinyl seats. We actually went via MI to see my uncle and down through South Dakota and Wyoming. We went to the Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands and even saw the giant green dinosaur with glowing red eyes.

Two years later we drove from Evergreen to CT for vacation, this time via Kansas and Washington DC. Minus the dog, but still in a car with no air conditioning and vinyl seats. I clearly remember going from Dairy Queen to Dairy Queen in Kansas, it was so hot. That trip we got chased by tornadoes on our way East. My brother had nightmares for years.

My advice

2009-02-11T10:17:55-06:00

Beryl Harrison, the reference librarian at the CH Booth Library in Newtown, CT, told me this when I was marrying Chris. But it works for anyone who is thinking about moving in with someone.

"Never do anything (specifically chores-wise) that you don't want to be doing for the rest of your life."

The habits and patterns you start when you first start living together will be with you for a long time and are very hard to change once established. If you don't want to be picking up his dirty laundry from here on out, don't start now.

My favorite room

2009-02-06T15:38:19-06:00

photo by Erik Ogan

My favorite room in our home is the kitchen. Some might think it's because of the views of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge from the windows in that room, but that's not why. Sure, the view is amazing, and I often find myself gazing at the skyline.

But what I love about the room is that it is so open. There's TONS of counter space which make cooking and baking so easy. The island is big enough and tall enough to be the perfect height when I'm using the rotary cutter and cutting fabric for quilting.

The dining room table fits in this room, with the extended leaves. We can fit a bunch of people around the table at once. This really makes the room feel like the heart of the house, since it's where everyone gravitates to.

When I started using the Internet

2009-02-05T09:32:17-06:00

It was spring of 1994. My college had just gotten three computers in the library that had internet access. There was a machine running Mosaic and the other two had Veronica and Gopher.

We didn't have college email accounts yet, but I somehow found this FreeNet in Ohio where I could get an account. You couldn't chose an username, your email was a string of numbers. I never closed the account. I wonder if it still exists?

You had to sign up to use the machines and you could only use it for 15 minutes intervals. It wasn't until the fall of 1995 that they wired the dorms and you could get access from your room. I had my Mac Classic II (with the 9-inch gray scale screen) and my 14.4 modem and every night I dialed into The Net.

My fear of heights

2009-02-04T21:59:40-06:00

I think I've always had a fear of heights, though it has worsened over the years. It doesn't stop me from going up tall buildings, or walking to the edge of cliffs. But I have to hold on to something steady or I get dizzy and weak in the knees.

Glad I kept the receipt

2009-02-01T23:04:03-06:00

The parents of my mother's second husband, who were very nice people, but a tad out of touch gave me the worst gift I ever received. One Christmas, when I was in college, they gave me a white dickie. I didn't even know what it was. Provided for a load of laughs in the dorm though.

When I realized I was a grown-up

2009-01-28T15:00:48-06:00

I have moments of panic where I think someone is going to catch on to how much fun E and I are having at "playing house" and we are going to busted. We can't be adults if we are enjoying ourselves so much.

How I'd spend $1,000...

2009-01-28T14:54:25-06:00

The responsible part of me says I'd used to pay off some debt or save it for wedding expenses or something equally frugal and boring.

The fun-loving part of me would spend it. A good portion of it would go to some day-long spa treatments. Maybe a few days of massages. A long, lovely meal at Millennium with my sweetie would certainly be in order. The rest would probably go towards crafting supplies. I'd pick up new fabric for a queen-sized quilt and get enough merino wool to make a knitted sweater-coat who's pattern I've been eying.

I recommend checking out the inside of a pharaoh's tomb, especially the painted ceilings when you're in the Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt

2009-01-26T18:53:19-06:00

When I get home, I put on comfy pants

2009-01-23T00:42:58-06:00

No matter what kind of day it's been, it can always be made better with the addition of comfy pants.

My first job: library page

2009-01-23T00:41:38-06:00

The first official job I had was as a library page at the Newtown Public Library. I got hired because I didn't play sports and wasn't in band, which meant I could work weekends. I was paid $4.25/hour. I worked there for 7 years, during high school, summers while in collage and the year after I graduated.

My road-trip mix tape

2009-01-23T00:32:23-06:00

Morrissey by Everyday is Sunday

I love this song and it always puts me in a good mood.

Road to Nowhere by Talking Heads

Because of the title, duh.

if i had $1000000 by barenaked ladies

It's a great sing along song while driving.