When do you start your holiday shopping?
This is an easy one... I don't do much holiday shopping, so I usually wait until the last minute. When I was a teen, my parents would give us holiday shopping money and we'd all go out shopping. One year, when I was supposed to be buying gifts for family and friends, I decided to buy myself a stamp set. It wasn't cheap and my mom made me take it back and use the money to buy holiday gifts for the people I was supposed to be buying for. I was a selfish little shit girl back then.
Now that I'm grown up, I really enjoy buying gifts for people. I've always been really good at it, or so my mother says. It just gives me a sense of pleasure to give to others. I really love to buy gifts and while most people like to get, I like to give... though I do like to get gifts too!
So yeah, I don't generally shop early. I have family who start shopping 6 months early, but that's just not me.
It's dedication time. What song are you sending out, and who is it dedicated to?
This one's easy, but there are several.
First dedication has to go to my husband. He's always there for me, he supports what I do, and that's priceless. The song is "I've got to see you again" by Norah Jones.
Second dedication goes out to my characters... each and every one. The song has to be "The Letters" by Leonard Cohen. I know it sounds a little strange but for a writer, it's important. Stick around, I will too, and we'll see what we can do!
<3,
Kristyn
Who has been the most surprising player so far in the 2007 NFL season?
Brett Favre, hands down!
The man has been playing since the dawn of time (well, since 1991, but that's a lifetime for a football player!), he nearly retired last year and I have to admit, I was pulling for it. At the end of last season, I was ready to say goodbye to Favre; he's a great player, but after several really tough seasons, both in the game and out, I was pretty certain ol' Brett had seen better days. When I heard that he was coming back for another season, I grunted a bit and shook my head, certain he's a glutton for punishment, plain and simple.
This season, he's been stellar. There's simply no other word for the way the old timer is playing. He's out there proving to everyone that he's still got what it takes to compete with the younger guys. That, right there, is a love of the game you don't see very often anymore. Not only that, but he's broken one of Dan Marino's records, all-time career touchdown passes, which has to be hard for Marino, especially after Peyton Manning broke the single season passing record & Brett Favre broke the NFL Completion record last season! Not only that, but many people are looking to Favre to break Dan Marino's all time passing yards record by the end of this season!
All I have to say is, GO FAVRE!!
Kristyn
Who would you like to trade places with for one day and why?
Submitted by Nathalie.
This is a hard questions, seriously. I mean, what if I traded places with someone for a day and didn't want to go back to my own life? That would be nothing but trouble for everyone, the other person would want their life back and I'd have to say no, and then what? So, I think i'd like to just stay in my life, if I have the choice.
But, if I have to change with someone, I think I'd like to be my husband. It's just for one day, and I'd love to know what it's like to be a man. Besides, if I had to be a man for a day, I wouldn't have to worry about not wanting to go back to myself. I don't think I could stand being a man for much longer than that. ;)
So there you have it!
Kristyn
What's one of your favorite quotes?
Submitted by Georgie-boy.
"People create their own questions because they're afraid to look straight. All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and when you see it, son't sit looking at it --walk." ~Ayn Rand
I've known so many people who see the road and walk the other way. This quote, by my favorite author and creator of my philosophical ideal, Objectivism, reminds me every single day that it's important to walk, just walk, as long as you're always walking forward down the road.
Kristyn
Who taught you how to cook?
Submitted by Donna.
This one is definitely a loaded question! When I was growing up, I actually rejected learning to cook. Something in me said, "No, it's society's way of making me conform to a woman's role and I'm not doing it!" It was ridiculous, and immature, especially considering everyone has to eat. So, I didn't learn, I laughed it off when my mom asked me to watch, and I made fun of my sister when she tried.
When I grew-up and got married (the first time) I did what I could, but I still hated it. My ex-husband is a serious chauvinist and he actually was trying to make me into his perfect "little wife." The situation didn't improve, I learned only to cook what I had to to get by.
When I remarried (after a nasty divorce), I decided it was time to learn. Since then, I've taught myself to cook --with the occasional phone call to mom for directions. I've even learned to enjoy it. Now, I'm a really good cook, and I cook for friends, and for my husband, all the time (when there's time).
As a side note, I've actually realized how much like my mom I've become. I find myself buying those little flimsy cookbooks at the check-stand!
Kristyn
What's the first image that comes up when you Google your name?
How did you meet your current, or most recent, significant other?
Matt, my husband, and I met on the Internet back when it was taboo to meet your lover on-line. While randomly searching for someone to chat with on ICQ (a once popular chat protocol) I came across his profile. He was set to accept random conversations and his profile said something about him being a "White Knight." It's corny, but I remember being impressed that it was so well spoken in a sea of "Msg me if u wanna cybaz." So, I sent him a hello message and we were chatting before we knew it.
The first time we spoke, we chatted for like five hours. We talked about everything, it was really nice. From that day on, there were only a few rare occassions when we didn't speak every day --like when he was off line for two weeks because his friend had tried to used gun power to start a fire and set his apartment ablaze, needless to say, he had to move. We even spoke on the phone a few times.
After almost a year of chatting on-line, I decided it was time for a visit and came to Texas, from California, to visit him. Since he'd never sent me so much as a photo, I had no idea what he looked like. I took a chance and luckily it worked out. May 28, 1999 we met face to face. He could have been an axe murderer, but he wasn't. I was a bit of a silly 20 year old, flying to Texas in the middle of the night, to meet a man I'd no idea how to identify. It's funny but I wonder sometimes if I met the guy I met on-line, or if I just happened to go home with someone else that night and it worked out... no, I know he's the guy from ICQ, but it's funny to imagine it now.
I stayed in Texas for two weeks, went home to get my business settled for two weeks, and moved back to Texas. I've been living here ever since. Eight months later, on February 14th, 2000 we were married at the court house. We've been happy ever since. We're going on our 7th anniversary this year and I love him more now than I did the day I married him.
When I tell people how we met now, I tell them that I would never reccommend meeting someone on-line. I know it was dangerous to do things the way we did, but it was a lot of fun, and I'm pretty sure meeting Matt was my most spontaneous act. I know, however, that it's safer to meet people on-line now, or at the very least more common. I just like the idea that we did it before it was cool and it worked out fabulously! Take that fate!
Kristyn
Oh my god! The most embarrassing thing just happened to me. I was sitting here, surfing the net, watching Clerks, and the phone rang. When I answered it a very, very quiet voice asked for Matt by his full name. I thought, “Phone Solicitor” so I said, like an idiot, “You have the wrong number, can I take a message.” There was a pause, and she said, “So is this the wrong number or…” I had no idea what to say, so I hung up very slowly and carefully. I turned back to find Amanda and Matt looking at me. I smiled, red as a beet, and shrugged. “Well that was embarrassing,” I said. Hell, I still feel embarrassed about it.
I’m reminded of the time that I called 411, intending to get the number for Home Depot. My mom wanted me to call Home Depot to find out about Oscillating Fans. When 411 answered, and yes it was back when they still answered their own damn phone, I asked for oscillating fans. The operator was really nice, he laughed and said, “no, but we have numbers for places that do.” It was embarrassing, very embarrassing.
This embarrassing phone call I just had will go down in the annals of phone call horror for all time. It’ll be filed next to the oscillating fan operator. Serves me right, maybe I should have been paying full attention to the phone call. Next time, next time.
KristynMarie
Tell us a little something about your first girlfriend/boyfriend.
Hmm... my first boyfriend? I suppose I'll tell you about Dante, my boyfriend in 7th grade. I met him through my mother, believe it or not. Mom had a daycare in our home for 13 years, she babysat his two little sisters, who happened to be quite a bit younger than he. Dante would come to our house in the morning with his little sisters and walk to school with me and my friend Kelly, who lived up the street. He grew on me fast, he was really cute, and we hit it off, at first anyway. He asked me out and I agreed and he became "real" boyfriend #1.
He asked me one Thursday if I wanted to go out to a movie with him the following night. Being that I was only 12 years old, we had to ask Daddy. So, that's exactly what he did, he asked my daddy if he could take me out, unchaperoned and the look my dad gave us was absolutely crazy. What he said was, "Can you see your ears?" Dante was flabbergasted, he had no idea how to answer the question so he simply said, "No, sir." My dad took that moment to follow up with, "you touch my daughter and you will!" Daddy grinned, but he wasn't kidding. Rather than going out that night, we stayed in and watched "Joe and the Volcano" with my parents. We all had fun, it was an awesome night, and no one got their ears chopped off.
Dante and I were together for a year, on and off. We'd break up and then get back together every other day. It was puppy love and we were 12 years old. When we finally broke up, once and for all, after 7th grade, we didn't see one another until high school. We'd both more than moved on, and frankly it was strange to see him again. We weren't even friends after that, we were just two people who had once had a thing, in 7th grade.
Kristyn
