Too mundane for this blog

Terry at I See Invisible People has tagged me with the meme of the mundane. I’m afraid she’ll be sorry. I have an exciting inner life but my surface isn’t much fun at all.

Favorite laundry detergent: I can’t really say I have a great brand loyalty in the way of detergent. Just please, no perfume.

Favorite item used for an unintended purpose: Oh my, we are an improvising household, though the spousal unit is better at this than I am. I’ve already mentioned that he uses the microwave oven to dry wood and a teakettle to steam the grain up on his wooden utensils. Terry mentioned keeping champagne corks as souvenirs. TR uses those new composition wine corks in his wood-turning. I tried to get him to tell me something more specific but what I got was, “Well I use them to back up mumble mumble gibberish.” So you know as much as I do.

Favorite way to buy music: I still like to buy CDs from a record store, don’t own an mp3 player. It had been so long since I’d used my Amazon account that, when I went into it this week, all my stored credit card numbers had expired.

How clean is your car? I can’t claim anything as sexy as a a 350-watt amp in my trunk, though I do have a volume of poetry by Marilyn Hacker in my back seat. (I read it at odd moments, Ro, like when I’m waiting for my ovarian cancer screening. I love her play with form and sound.) I think it was last washed in the fall of 2007 and I can’t remember when I vacuumed it. The engine, though, I maintain religiously.

How clean is your apartment/house/room? Depends on how I answer this question. My room, which isn’t mine alone, is neatish because it’s where I spend a lot of time. Likewise the kitchen, the bathroom. But the rest might profit from having a medium-sized river diverted through it.

How clean is your office? My office is cleaned by a janitorial service. But my desk is neat and my files are organized.

Favorite weekly free time: I love weekends when I have no obligations and can slob around the house, reading, writing, and puttering.

Is there a word, phrase, or gesture that is identifiably yours? I am not a real good talker. I am apt to stop in the middle of a sentence waiting for the next word to come. People get annoyed.

Most effective medicine for one (or more) of your ailments: ibuprofen

A favorite thing you try to sell/push/encourage your friends to try: I don’t think so actually. I’m not big on favorites. And I have sort of quirky tastes so I’ve learned to suggest gently but not push.

Favorite new (or new-to-you) thing: Let me give you some idea how up-to-date I am. Last week, here in Paris, Kentucky, we had the grand opening of a new Peebles store in the building where our old unsuper Wal-Mart used to be.

Said I to my friend, “What kind of store is Peebles? I mean I know it sells clothes but for what market?”

Said my friend to me, “Well, I think it’s kind of like Kohl’s.”

Said I to my friend, “I know people who shop in Kohl’s but I’ve never been in one. I do all my shopping, such as it is, at Lazarus.”

Said my friend to me, after a significant pause, “Sherry, there hasn’t been a Lazarus for several years.”

So, you see, I am a sort of out-of-it person. No Blackberry or ipod or Kindle. I can’t imagine reading a book from a screen and sometimes I like to be unreachable. My greatest guilt is when I read Wendel Berry and he tells me to get away from my frickin’ computer screen and look at the world in slow time.

But since this list is about mundanities, I’ll tell you that we do have a shiny new commode that we’ve grown quite fond of. It only takes only 1.6 gallons of water to flush and it is very quiet and efficient. And since we do not have “city” water but are still dependent upon our cistern, we’re pleased with ourselves for this innovation.

Dear ones, have at it. I tag anybody who reads here to confess your own mundanities.