stolen from madhatte , just because:
1. What time did you get up this morning?
8:30 am – it was a difficult morning… i think i’m still jetlagged.
2. Diamonds or pearls?
Neither, actually. I kind of like star sapphires, though.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Kings of the Road – Wim Wenders. Remind me to always see WW’s movies on the large screen.
4. What is your favorite TV show?
Ummm, I’m a serial series downloader. And I love each one while I’m watching it. At the moment, though, I haven’t got one I’m watching. I regularly stream South Park, though.
5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
Lots of coffee with milk. Occasionally a croissant.
6. What is your middle name?
Lynn, like a million other American women of my generation.
7. What food do you dislike?
Bell peppers – they make me sick to my stomach and EVERY damn place I go seems to gratuitously throw them into otherwise delicious foodstuffs. Damn them.
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
I’m back to They Might Be Giants – Flood. Had a craving.
9. What kind of car do you drive?
I don’t have a car. I have a motorcycle – 1995 Triumph Speed Triple, and a bicycle – um, it’s bluish with red saddle bags.
10. Favorite sandwich?
Does a turkish pizza count as a sandwich? It gets all rolled up… like a wrap. And I think a wrap counts as a sandwich.
11. What characteristic do you despise?
Apologetic comes to mind. But I probably hate other ones sometimes, and probably don’t hate that one other times. Self-righteous is another one, although I’m definitely sometimes guilty.
12. Favorite item of clothing?
My hoodie. I hate when it needs to be washed and I can’t wear it. I haven’t got a working dryer, so this is a test of my patience every time.
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
I’m not sure if I can choose ONE place. I really want to travel everywhere. Next big trip is taking me to the Balkans and Slovenia, in June.
14. Favorite brand of clothing?
For clubwear, Spank UK makes great stuff, and does special orders for same prices. Also they made my hoodie. For daily wear, whatever. I usually buy 2nd hand.
15. Where would you retire to?
Good question.
16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
This last one sucked so bad it was memorable. I was sick in bed, I was all alone, and i only got 2 birthday cards – from Matt’s grandma and from my friend Annemette.
17. Favourite sport to watch?
Roller derby.
18. Furthest place you are “tagging” this?
um…
19. Person you expect to send it back first?
ummm…
20. When is your birthday?
Sept 10
21. Are you a morning person or a night person?
sometimes neither. Sometimes either.
22. What is your shoe size?
39. which is i think 8.5 american and maybe 5 or something UK.
23. Pets?
The Evil Cat
24. Any new and exciting news you’d like to share with us?
No.
25. What did you want to be when you were little?
a teacher, i remember. i can’t remember what else.
26. How are you today?
very busy, which is why i’m doing memes instead.
27. What is your favourite candy?
Dark chocolate. Sour patch kids. Hot tamales.
28. What is your favourite flower?
Chocolate cosmos.
29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?
Tonight – i fly to Lyon to visit Annemette.
30. What’s your full name?
If you don’t already know, poke around a bit and find out. This IS a public journal, after all. (I just copied Nathan’s answer…)
31. What are you listening to right now?
My colleagues, discussing our boss’s mood.
32. What was the last thing you ate?
Last night I had Pizza Quattro Formaggio from Liberty Pizza.
33. Do you wish on stars?
When i’m camping. Which is seldom, I admit.
34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Red, i think.
35. How is the weather right now?
Cold and moist. Yesterday the light was really cool and shimmery. I wanted to skip the rest of the day of work and take photos.
36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
My colleague calling in late, then my other colleague calling in late, then my IT buddy.
37. Favorite soft drink?
Henry Weinhard’s rootbeer. which i can’t get here.
38. Favorite restaurant?
Currently, Mano a Mano tapas restaurant on the Hugo de Grootplein. and Beyrouth Lebanese restaurant on Kinkerstraat.
39. Real hair colour?
Muddy blond.
40. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Lincoln Logs
41. Hugs or kisses?
Of course. (also stolen from Nathan’s answer)
42. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Depends on application. (another stolen one)
43. Coffee or tea?
Coffee, although lately I’ve been drinking a lot of Choco tea from Yogi Tea.
44. Do you want your friends to email you back?
Only if there’s a reason.
45. When was the last time you cried?
…none of your business.
46. What is under your bed?
the other comforter.
47. What did you do last night?
packed, ate pizza, read some mail, read a book and petted the cat, slept
48. What are you afraid of?
zombies
49. Salty or sweet?
both, but not usually together.
50. How many keys on your key ring?
I have several different keychains. House – 1, Work – 2 and a USB stick, Bicycle – 2, Motorcycle – 2. Then there are keychains for getting into my friends’ houses. Jane’s has 3 on it. Dick’s has 2 on it.
51. Favorite day of the week?
Depends.
52. If you can choose your talent, what would it be?
I don’t understand this question. You can obviously choose your talent.
53. Do you make friends easily?
Mostly.
54. How many people will you tag this to?
None.
55. How many will respond?
Um.
Spidertangle 
ziad and i went to sarajevo and mostar over the summer. when it comes time for your balkan vacation, let me know and i have some places for food and sleep that i would love to honor with a recommendation.
THAT would be SUPER!
i haven’t been planning AT ALL because last year was overly planned, but it’s perfect to get recommendations… absolutely!
email me at jjodijames at yahoo dot com
and i can send the specifics like what part of the city and how to get there but here are the handful of places on our list so that others can enjoy the rec’s too:
in sarajevo:
1.the tiny museum dedicated to franz ferdinand’s assisination (they were so enthusiastic and friendly! as a museum worker myself, i love to see people so into their museums, took only an hour or so)
2. the holiday inn in sarajevo (not to stay, mind you, but to look in. go inside and have a drink at the lobby bar and pretend you are in a bond movie. then try to imagine that it was the only hotel open during the war and it was getting bombed, etc. see it before they renovate it with a gross mall)
3. Asdz restaurant/cafe. (we happened upon this little casual lunch counter on day one and i think we might have ate here every day we were in sarajevo! finding vegetarian friendly food was a challenge and here they had all the food on display so that you can point to what you want and the vegetarian stuff was all on one side. you can try many different things here. the manager was super welcoming and he spoke english. you order and then they bring you the food you have selected to your table. this little place is in the old town, so there is much people watching. we can’t say enough good about this place. it was comfort food for travelers!)
4. our hotels were okay, i’d recommend them to others but not with enthusiasm. one had stellar customer service and good breakfast. the other had an excellent location but had taciturn service. i’ll give you boththe names when i find them because i think finding a good otel there is more challenging than i think.
5. the skendareja (sp?) (the totally socialist-architecture complex for the winter olympics. you can’t really go into the buildings but they are fun to see (okay, i travel with an architect who sepcializes in cross-cultural themes and the history and theory of architecture, so i may be unduly influenced)
6. the road between sarajevo and mostar
we took a 2-hour bus ride from sarajevo to mostar and it was some of the most beautiful scenery i’ve seen in my life. the river is carrisbean blue,. the mountains jut up all angles and grey awesomness, the foliage is magnificent and green. it is amazing. if you are on you motorcycles, this is a very curvy and challenging route but, i think, well worth the effort. i wish that we’d been able to stop to enjoy the stunning view or to buy the produce and honey from stands by the side of the road.
in mostar:
7. our hotel was awesome. Crooked Bridge (Kriva Cuprija) hotel. the owner is an austria expat, the manager is a native mostar guy who went to rome for a hotel-degree and returned for the sole purpose of making his city and his country more awesome in the wake of the war. it was the best location in relation to the beautiful stari most bridge, hidden away over a little stream in the cliffs. cottage-like rooms, excellent service. we would stay here again in a heartbeat.
8. the partisan graveyard. walkable from the hotel/bridge, a five minute bike ride. it was one of my favorite things to see in mostar. it is not a real graveyard but a memorial to the people who defended mostar during wwII. it is a totally socialist monument of mind-blowing proportions. it also is the trashing-grounds of tennage pot smokers, graffiti artists and the like because there is still a lot of political feelings concerning that era. it was cleaned up in 2000 by the swedes but looked like a trash tornado had hit it by thte time we went. this is a don’t miss site in mostar.
9. we also liked the 17th century turkish house. it took about a half hour. i work in a 17th century house museum, though, so i may have found this more interesting than most people. bonus: the lady who owns the musuem likes/rescues tortoises so there are a bunch of them hanging out at this musuem.
those are the basics! i will be certain to look up locations and more details and useful stuff like that before your trip but i hope this has given you some planning inspriration.
we were so taken by bosnia and herzegovina that we plan to go back in five to ten years. it will be a different place. it is on the cusp of something great.
oh! and there is another restaurant in sarjevo that i forgot to list. some of the best service and food we had on our whole vacation. it was a vegetarian (+fish) restaurant and the chef/owner was excellent, the food was excellent, it was cozy and fun and when it came to dessert he suggested the desserts he had in the oven at that very moment. they were freshly made and oozing with wonderfulness. i will definitely find the name of this place for you!
If you’ve not watched it yet, download Sons of Anarchy. I’ve been pimpin’ this show since I saw the pilot. Bonus: 13 episodes and the first seasons is already done so you won’t have to wait like I had too.
HMMM… thanks for the recommendation! will do!
Enjoy. I think you’ll really like it.