2. What do you think of public option for health care?
Ideally, I support it. But I do see the other side of it: where would the money come from? As it is we overspend in the government without it!

3. Should health insurance be mandatory? If so, should it be subsidized for the poor?
I guess I agree with the first question, even though it means I have to spend my money. As for the second question, I really do believe that. Although I fall back on my answer to the previous question.

4. Do you think the health care industry and pharma make too much money or not enough?
I definitely think they make too much money. Mostly the companies who make medicine, less so for doctors and nurses and hospitals.

5. Would you leave the country if it meant that you would have no job but was assured health care?
No, because I love America and the First Amendment, and I don’t really feel the need to have health care for myself, because I don’t care to spend thousands of dollars to save my health or my life. If something serious (and seriously expensive) came up, I would just die. (Of course, I say that now…)

questions from Friday Five

1. What is your favorite drink of all time? Does it hold a special memory to you or is it just because it tastes good?
I don’t think I could pick a favorite of all time, because my favorite changes from time to time. I remember when it was lemonade, cranberry juice, root beer (specifically A&W or Mug, not any other), sarsaparilla (omigosh love ya, Virgina City, and Knott’s!)… But ocha (aka green tea) is a good failsafe, I’ve been drinking that for years.

2. Tea or coffee or hot cocoa?
I guess I already answered this in the previous question, but I can stand to write more. *grin* I’m not a big fan of coffee. I don’t like the bitterness, but my mom has had me taste some really good coffee (yes, I do refer to McDonald’s here, points to McD’s!) and if I really need a caffeine boost I’m willing to drink it. With creams and sugars, of course.

Hot cocoa, I’ve mostly had the Nestle instant variety. Lately I don’t like how sweet it is, and I keep mixing in Ghiradelli’s cocoa powder or Hershey’s cocoa powder. But in general if I’m out somewhere and need a hot drink this is my first option. (Unless this place offers green tea, then of course I choose that.)

As for tea… I’ve tried peach-flavored black tea (my first non-green tea) and really didn’t like it; orange tea, thought it was a bit too sweet but it was drinkable; and black tea, not as bad as the peach-flavored tea would have me think, it was much more like green tea than I expected. I’ve never had sweet tea, but as a kid I drank Lipton’s instant iced tea.

My mom served us kids the iced tea for our ochazuke (or chachagohan, for a more cutesy, kiddy term ^_^), but eventually we asked her for the “hot tea” that we thought tasted better: genmaicha. She told us if we liked it better then she would make it for us, even if it did take longer to make than the “instant tea.”

Thus, the tea of my childhood became genmai cha. This is considered a poor variety of green tea, though. Right now I like bancha, a better variety, but still not the best. I’ve had matcha and sencha, but they’re more expensive than bancha.

3. Best summer time drink?
Cold ocha, or for a special treat, Ito En’s Oi Ocha! ^_^-b

4. Worst soda brand ever?
:o I don’t know that I can come up with an answer for that. I definitely won’t drink Mountain Dew though. And I prefer Coke to Pepsi, although that is not saying that I like Coke. My favorite soda is Dr. Pepper, or Dr. Pepper Cherry.

5. Water: flavored, bottled, carbonated, or regular old tap?
None of the above? I think that’s just semantics though. I don’t like to drink water that comes in those little bottles at the grocery market, since it’s so bad for the environment, but I’m okay with Sparklett’s. (Arrowhead has a weird taste…) I don’t like the taste of tap water, because I’m a spoiled urbanized child, used to filtered water. And that is what my choice is.

questions from Friday Five

2. Do you record your dreams in your blog or a journal?
Already answered. :3 Yes, I’ve been writing down dreams since the mid 90s; I thought I had a few really interesting dreams and considered turning them into stories. That never happened though. Mid to late 90s I physically wrote them down in a notebook, then I transferred over to an online log in 2002 or so.

3. Do you think dreams are messages our bodies are trying to tell us? If so, are you real big on trying to interpret all the details?
I believe some dreams can be messages, but I don’t interpret every single dream I have, much less every little thing that happens in a dream. I don’t think dreams are literal, or strictly symbolic. Mostly I pay attention to the feelings in dreams, and any patterns that come up over time.

4. Do you remember your first nightmare?
The earliest nightmare I can remember having is recorded in my dreamlog, but I don’t know if that was my first nightmare.

5. Have you ever had a recurring dream? If you did, what was it and what do you think it meant?
I don’t think I have recurring dreams in that the same exact thing happens. I’ll have dreams where I think, ‘This happened before’ or ‘I saw this before,’ but when I wake up I can’t remember the dream (or real life experience) that made me think that. I know I dream about malls a lot (hee), and airplanes crashing, but I’ve never dreamed the same exact dream.

1. What one food most reminds you of your childood?
Is Japanese food an acceptable answer? If not, then probably udon. Or maybe homemade chow mein with scrambled egg strips in it, that was how Bachan made it. :3

2. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bicycle?
I was nine years old (or maybe ten, it was during the summer anyway) and I taught myself! Without a scratch. I even remember my bike, it had a teal paint scheme and pink handlebars and seat and white wheels.

3. How old were you when you stopped believing in Santa Claus?
Eight years old, third grade, I remember some classmate was talking to other kids at his table saying he saw his mom doing Santa one night. Er I mean doing Santa’s job.

4. What was your favorite television show/cartoon when you were little?
First answer that comes to mind is Ren & Stimpy. :P I could also say Rugrats or The Simpsons (that one has lasting power, wow), but R&S was the first I thought of. That might have been the first show my brothers and I would watch regularly on TV in its scheduled slot (Snick!), rather than whatever we had on VHS.

5. What is the youngest age you remember being and do you have a specific memory of when you were that age?
Preschool age, three or four, and a memory from preschool: the teacher and his aide had just put us down on the carpet for our nap and drawn the curtains so the room was dark. The aide asked the teacher if he’d like a Coke, she was going to grab a Coke. I thought, ‘Lucky, they get to have soda whenever they want.’ :P I’m an adult now too but I can’t have soda whenever I want! I have to remember all the sugar and carbonation and, depending on the soda, the caffeine that’s in those things. Ugh.

• I’m like a cat and don’t like to get wet. I prefer a bath to a shower, which keeps pelting me with water.
• The reason my nails are long (other than I like them that way) is I’m too lazy to keep trimming them short.
• I like sporty cars, not soft luxury cars.
• I think my feet are pretty.
• I have hand modeled—but for a small company’s catalogue. I wasn’t paid for it (directly; I was paid as a design intern) and won’t be breaking into the industry any time soon. :P
• I realized a year or so ago that some of the “hottest stars” were younger than I, and it felt weird. It still feels weird. I didn’t think it would be weird.
• I like Asian noodles, but I don’t like Italian noodles (pasta). It’s probably the rich sauces that don’t agree with me.
• I love wearing glasses, but right now I can’t wait to get eye surgery because my current prescription is so strong that my glasses keep slipping down my nose. X( And after I get the surgery I’ll still wear glasses.
• My dream job would be Oscar-winning costume designer.
• I’d feel guilty if I bought a new laptop because my current one is still good after 5 (almost 6) years. It served me so well! *wipes away a tear*

That was hard, coming up with 10 things. :o

1. Reform Judaism (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (97%)
3. Unitarian Universalism (96%)
4. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (87%)
5. Neo-Pagan (87%)
6. Sikhism (86%)
7. New Age (84%)
8. Mahayana Buddhism (82%)
9. Jainism (78%)
10. New Thought (77%)
11. Bahá’í­ Faith (72%)
12. Theravada Buddhism (69%)
13. Hinduism (66%)
14. Scientology (62%)
15. Orthodox Judaism (60%)
16. Taoism (58%)
17. Secular Humanism (53%)
18. Islam (51%)
19. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (47%)
20. Orthodox Quaker (41%)
21. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (35%)
22. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (33%)
23. Nontheist (27%)
24. Jehovah’s Witness (24%)
25. Eastern Orthodox (22%)
26. Roman Catholic (22%)
27. Seventh Day Adventist (19%)

Grain of salt: I didn’t do the “priority” part of the quiz, and not all aspects of my beliefs were covered, or worded in a way that I completely agree with, so the percentages can be off (compared to previous results).

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The next one, The Cardigans. >( ARGH. I don’t know if her join form for that fanlisting is broken or what, but I know there’s someone else who joined (she joined my Gran Turismo fanlisting as well ^^) that wasn’t added. Plus, on her blog, she updates like once every month or so. >_< *sniffles*

Then the fanlisting for Amy Lee, I’m not po’ed about that one. She’s been rebuilding her site since the middle of June and before. Yupyup. But for some reason it doesn’t matter to me. That fanlisting hasn’t been updated since the end of May. ^.^; Then the fanlisting for Eat Drink Man Woman. I’m rather sad that hasn’t been updated since March. :( But she said that people don’t join, so it doesn’t really matter. Even though it means I haven’t been added to the members list. ^_^;; I don’t really mind. It’s just that she’s on the troubles list now for not updating. T-T

My Song isn’t a fanlisting, it’s a clique, but still, she said she’d update pretty much last week, and yet … nothing. It’s a really big clique though. o.o And I’ve got my luverly code up, so I don’t mind much. ^^

The last fanlisting I joined (umm … that I haven’t been added to) is the Yoshi fanlisting. :( She updated, but I wasn’t added to the list. I dunno why. I was gonna rejoin, but then the join form is closed. >.<!! Today I joined another clique, “we’re all a little fragile.” It looks like she updates at least twice a month. But watch, with my luck, something’ll come up so she doesn’t update for a while.

I’m not kidding. There were so many fanlistings I joined that weren’t updated for a loong while after. The Beatles fanlisting, Audrey Hepburn, guinea pigs (but it came back up ^_^), Gregory Smith, Snoopy, Evanescence … which reminds me. I joined the Gordo fanlisting, but it went down (her server went down and she lost all her files), and then I decided I wasn’t that big of a fan, so I took the code down. ^.^;; I should change that.

Oh well. I’m bored. I feel like putting this here. :)

Seven Things That Make You Laugh
1. MTV muting out words XP
2. M88 (why yes, he is a thing)
3. Why Girls are Weird by Pamela Ribon
4. me (don’t ask …)
5. W88 (he’s not a thing yet)
6. Good Charlotte
7. Peanuts

Seven Things You Love
1. Matt (he’s not a thing …)
2. God (… it’s up in the air, folks)
3. family (“family” is technically a thing … :b)
4. Snoopy
5. California
6. home
7. books

Seven Things You Hate
1. I don’t really hate anything …
2. really I don’t
3. honestly
4. don’t you believe me?
5. really truly
6. not one thing
7. okay maybe I don’t like it when my laptop freezes or when PSP closes

Seven Things On Your Desk
1. laptop
2. headphones
3. Pure Vanilla Extract bottle :b
4. camera (film kind and digital kind)
5. that Japanese racket/board thingie (watch Ikyuusan, you’ll know what I mean)
6. Bible
7. Emmerdale CD

Seven Facts About You
1. umm … I’m not even 5′ tall
2. breakfast often makes me sick
3. sometimes I can’t seem to throw out things *stares at her “Pink Anger” drawing*
4. I am not independent
5. my hair is once again down to my elbow (maybe a bit longer)
6. if I ever get my hair professionally cut, I want it to look like Yulia’s (when it was longish) or that wannabe-pilot lady in The Last Emperor
7. I am no one special, but I am not average

Top 7 Songs People Should Give A Listen
1. Nina Persson – Angel of Sadness (’tis playing now :B)
2. Nina Persson – The Oddness of the Lord (it’s just … weird)
3. Lisa Loeb – Snow Day
4. The Cardigans – Hold Me
5. Chevelle – Forfeit
6. Matchbox Twenty – All I Need
7. Smile Empty Soul – Bottom of a Bottle

Seven Famous People You Want to Meet
1. Rosa Parks
2. Natalie Portman
3. Gregory Smith
4. Hal Fishman (ha ha ha …)
5. I dunno
6. I dunno
7. Nina Persson?

Top 7 Things You Say The Most
1. I dunno
2. I’m not okay (this guy on Perilous Plunge heard me say that, I think >.>;;;;;;)
3. Okay
4. What? (other person) What? (other person) What? (other person) What? (other person) What? *grin*
5. -
6. -
7. -

Woo, wasn’t that a blast.

1. What if you got to choose what house to be in? (For those who don’t know… Gryffindor: brave/noble, Hufflepuff: loyal/kind, Ravenclaw: smart/clever, or Slytherin: cunning/evil.)
Then gee, I sure would struggle and suffer in Ravenclaw, wouldn’t I! :B Nah, I guess I’d choose Hufflepuff …

2. What if you got to choose a character with whom to “hook up”? (Sorry to those who haven’t read the books, can’t help you here.)
Umm … I’d still choose Matt?

3. What if you got to choose what kind of wand you received, how long would it be, what would it be made out of, and what would be inside it? (For those who don’t know: wands can be made up of such combinations as 6-inch ash containing dragon heartstrings, or 11.5-inch oak containing unicorn hairs, et cetera.)
I don’t like wands. I don’t like waving them around. (“You’re gonna put someone’s eye out with that thing!”)

4. What if you had to pick one animal to take with you to Hogwarts as a pet (cat, owl, toad or rat), which one, and why that animal?
Owl because … it’s trained to come back to me. A cat would come and go as it pleases. Besides, owl seems like the coolest answer. :b

5. What if you had to endure one of the three tasks from Book Four, which one and why? (For those of you who haven’t read up, the tasks were… #1: face a fully-grown nesting dragon with nothing but a wand; #2: survive underwater for an hour to rescue your best friend from its murky depths; or #3: find your way to the center of a hedge maze that is chock-full of magical obstacles.)
Three … maybe … can’t really remember the fourth book. ^^;; I read it … two years ago? Over two years ago.

Mmm … boro … *drools and chows down*

Gee, no Gnostic Christianity? :b And look, Conservative Christian Protestant, 48%. (I thought it would have been … way down there now.)

Taken almost, wow, two years ago. Second time, about five months after the first.

I was gonna say, “Non-theist, 28%? That’s pretty high,” but then I got Atheist and Agnostics 32% before. o.o Odd.