Friday Five:

1. Do you live in a house, an apartment or a condo?
For the next three weeks, a one-bedroom apartment. Then we’re moving to our new adorable little two-bedroom house!

2. Do you rent or own?
Rent. We can’t afford a mortgage at the moment. Maybe in a few years though…

3. Does anyone else live with you?
The Snook and four fish.

4. How many times have you moved in your life?
Ooh, lots and lots. Probably over fifteen times. (This move to the new place will be the sixth move in just over two years. Sheesh.)

5. What are your plans for this weekend?
I need to finish up the site I’ve been working on (yay, contracting!) and then get to the gym. I’ve been way too lazy since the race last weekend. I’m also probably going to work some more on the Storm at Sea quilt. Oh, and we’ve been invited to this party where everyone has to dress up as ABC characters. (That’s the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, not the US ABC channel.) I’m not sure we’ll go, though. The only characters I know are the “Bananas in Pajamas”, and I don’t fancy going out dressed like that. 🙂

England lost. USA lost. But my Banana Split Cake was a big winner! I decided to go with the “real whipped cream” option. It was goooood.

Another great link from Meg: How well do you know your Swedish furniture? Try the IKEA Game! I scored 6 out of 10. (It helped that we have one of the items in our house.)

Meg came up with a fantastic new way to have fun with Google, and now everybody‘s doing it. Now it’s my turn.

Kris is…

1. Home!
2. also an Emmy-award winning investigative reporter.
3. a seven time U.S. National Unicycling champion.
4. believed to have originated in Java, Indonesia in the 14th century by a Janggalo king named Inakto Pali.
5. proud to have won these fine awards!
6. the distinctive weapon of Indonesia and Malaysia.
7. a leader in the Akron real estate community.
8. a board member of the newly formed Vizsla Rescue Fund.
9. also the sire of BLISSFUL KRIS, winner of the 2001 Florida Stallion Stakes MY DEAR GIRL DIVISION.
10. not so grainy now 🙂
11. reputed to be able to fly by night and seek out victims (their owners’ enemies, presumably) without a guiding hand.
12. unable to sign CDs ordered through the mail.
13. a Windows-based computer program that allows easy access to data tables, charts, photographs and bibliographic materials relevant to fisheries, water quality and watershed management.

Wow. (I edited out some of the more boring ones.) This is too fun. Here’s a few for the Snook.

Rodd is…

1. godd.
2. the Vice President of Corporate Development.
3. busy as chair of the East Asian Languages and Civilizations department of the University of Colorado at Boulder.
4. quality.
5. a human jukebox.

Who are you?

Kim found an excellent report of the recent Buffy panel at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. All the important cast and crew were there, and they discuss a lot about Season 6 and what’s coming up in Season 7. Very recommended if you’re a fan… (Especially the bit about James Marster’s cheekbones. Phwoar!)

Question: My friend Major is hosting a World Cup Barbecue tomorrow night and I’d like to take a dessert. The only problem is the good old fashioned Indiana dessert I was planning to make requires Cool-Whip, which you can’t get here. (Snookums made a “puke face” when I tried to explain to him what it was.) So what do I do? I found some “mock” Cool-Whip recipes on the Internet, but that seems like a lot of work. (And the ingredients, though probably accurate, seem odd. Even if that’s what real Cool-Whip is made from, I don’t want to know.) Do you think I could just use (real) whipped cream? Or should I suck it up and attempt to replicate that lovely synthetic goodness?

Someone’s done the Aussie Big Brother contestants as South Park characters. HILARIOUS. My favorites are Damian and Shannon.

Jann has pictures of his new son up at his site. Sooooo cute…

I got a library card! It’s been, like, a decade since I’ve been to a public library. Usually I buy books (I’m a hoarder and a collector), but that habit is an expensive one for somebody who’s only a part-time contractor. Thus when I was in the bookstore the other day, I decided to pause before laying down $60 AU for the Lemony Snicket box set. I mean, I don’t even know if I’ll like the stories or not! (I know a bunch of y’all have recommended them, but I hated Artemis Fowl and didn’t want to get burned.) So I decided to track down the Newtown public library. Twenty-four hours later I’ve got my card and my book! The only negative about the whole experience was the librarian… an ill-tempered, sullen, red-headed, uh, “little person”. (Yes, she was a dwarf.) As I am a giant, I’ll leave you to imagine that encounter. Meanwhile, I gots books to read!

Need some help! My Dad’s wife Cindy is a landscape designer who’s going into business for herself. She’s trying to come up with a catchy name for the business. Any ideas?