Because the Big D did it...

If my brother (Denver, aka the Big D, aka Mountaineer Extraordinaire, aka Chelsea's Husband,) does anything on these here internetz, you know it's a momentous occasion. If he responds to what is the equivalent of family-created Spam, you should look up, because the moon is probably crossing with a star and a universe is colliding and crazy things are happening in the cosmos.

So, I had to fill this out as well, just to keep the family trend going. Mine won't be as entertaining as my bro's, but you can read that here.

Two Names You Go By:

1. Dani Lin

2. DC (Dani California)

Two Things You are Wearing Right Now:

1. My favorite khakis

2. Cute blue Hurley shoes - yeah Hurley outlet sale!

Two things you expect in a relationship

1. I'm going to assume this means romantic, so I'll say that he should treat me like I'm special... open my door, want to spend time with me, every now and then I'm up for a little spoiling... :) However, girlfriends, you don't have to get my door. WE can just hang out and talk. Preferably at Pei Wei over free refills. Some of my best girl-talks have happened there...

2. Great character

Two of Your Favorite Things to do

1. Ocean kayaking

2. Reading a good book while outside under the sun shade, or laying on the beach, or curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee, or while trying to tell myself that my legs really don't hurt that bad and I can go another 20 minutes at the gym.

Two Things You Want Very Badly at the Moment:

1. to go outside

2. a 16 oz triple-shot Almond/Vanilla latte from JC Beans.

Two pets you had/have:

1. Well, I've kind of adopted George. He's my neighbor's cat, but he likes my porch better than his own, and I don't mind. He likes to play with my feet as I come in and out of the Bower, and he likes his tummy scratched. Oh, and his name's not really George. It's Rusty. But I think we all can agree that George has way more character than that.

2. I have kitties and a dog in Oregon that are pretty dang cute too.

Two people you know will fill this out

1. I'm cheating. Jocelyn, because she sent it to Denver...

2. and Denver.

Two Things You Did Last Night

1. Went to Pei Wei with Donna and had girl talk.
2. Talked to Adam and had not-girl-talk.

Two Things You Ate Last Night:

1. Chicken Teriyaki Bowl from Pei Wei

2. Hot Chocolate because when I got home I had left my windows open and it was FREEZING.

Two People you Talked With Last Night

1. I already answered this, yo.

2. I did talk to George, too, though.

Two Things You're Doing Tomorrow:

1. Working from home (yay!)

2. Going to Fuel

Two Longest Car Rides:

1. Oregon to Abilene, Texas.

2. OC to Fort Worth, Texas.

Two Favorite Holidays:

1. Christmas

2. Memorial Day. :)

Favorite Beverages:

1. I always say coffee and Diet Coke, so I'm gonna get creative. Heineken.

2. OJ from the Bagel Shack

Therapy

One of my friends has recently started reading my blog - or at least has just let me know that he is...

At any rate, he made the comment to me that he liked reading it to "get inside your head... I can tell it's really good/therapeutic for you to write that stuff." Now, this made me a little squeamish, as I've written about what makes me sneeze or cry, compulsively buying home supplies, blueberry muffin weather, and most recently, making out with an apartment complex, none of which cater to the higher kinds of tastes that I should be aiming to satisfy.

I imagine Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Victor Hugo, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald and countless other of my personal influencers and heroes sitting down at the old-fashioned blog of their day and spewing out wise sayings, witty, hilarious thoughts and jaw-dropping insights with a flick of their fountain pen. Was writing therapeutic for them?

I hate to admit it, but these silly ramblings are good for me. Blogging or writing something, no matter how dumb, is often the highlight of my day, and I wonder where this compulsion comes from.

I remember writing a "book" as a child about a cat. I think her name was Spotty, after the very creatively-titled white-and-orange-spotted feline who wandered into our lives just long enough to have kittens and wander out again. I don't remember anything about it, other than I was very proud of my illustration abilities and my title, which was... ...wait for it: "Cat Tails". I know. I kill me.

Anyway, my first attempt never got picked up by a publisher, Oprah never needed this child prodigy on her show, and I've sunk into a blissful oblivion, writing away whenever I feel the need and enjoying the relatively calm buzz of seeing your work online.

As much as I dream of being the next Bronte or Austen, these ramblings are OK with me for now. I hope that my heroes forgive me a little public therapy... ...and that you will too. Thanks again for listening.

Word Answer Girl

One of my friends recently discovered that I like words and stuff, (what? you don't read the AP Stylebook for fun?) and decided to ask me some English language questions, despite the fact that I occasionally say things like: "For reals."

Here is the transcription of our witty email banter - a testament to the joys of desk jobs and the weirdness of English in general. Enjoy:

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On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 7:53 AM, Phil Casalegno wrote:

Dani,

I have a question I have been meaning to ask you for a while and keep forgetting. Why is it that when authors write the past tense of words like leap they use leaped? Isn't 'lept' the proper past tense? Creap should be crept not creaped right, etc....

Random wonderings of Phil

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On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 1:07 PM, Dani Linthicum wrote:

Dear Random Wonderings,

You pose an excellent question. To be quite honest, I had not thought a great deal about the leapt/leaped phenomenon until you brought it to my attention... which makes me wonder what exactly you're trying to write. Is it for your Website bio? "Also, I've leapt/leaped great distances with little to no sweat coming from my super-manly pores."
Anyways. I digress.
I think "leapt" is more common in the UK, while "leaped" is the US spelling, cuz we talk good ovah heah. It is pronounced the same though.
(Also, you are right, that "creep" would be "crept", unless you were saying "That guy who doesn't sweat creeped me out!" in which case "crept" wouldn't work. Oh slang. You're so fun.)
That's my best shot.

~Word Answer Girl

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On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 2:02 PM, Phil Casalegno wrote:

Word Answer Girl,

What you wrote makes alot of sense, but it isn't what I have seen. The most common example I have seen has been the word sneak. Everytime I see this past tense it is written sneaked. "John sneaked down the hall" I have seen this in both UK and american writers. The creaped example was from a UK writer. Shouldn't sneaked be snuck? I admit that snuck is kind of an ugly-looking word, but we don't say digged unless we are from the south.

Random Wonderings

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On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 4:32 PM, Dani Linthicum wrote:

Random Wonderings,

I can see that you are a true student of language. I applaud you. However, I have researched sundry and dusty tomes to find the answer you seek (as well as my personal vault of vast wordy knowledge), and I............ have no idea. However, I completely agree with you that sneaked should be snuck, and I'll thank you not to say mean things about my man even if he is from the South. However, according to the Dictionary, both sneaked and snuck are right, one is just ugly and the other sounds bad. I guess we can't have it all.

~Word Answer Girl