Easier than 1-2-3

As stolen from Everybody Knows, the Alphabet Meme:

Accent: Born in Boston, grew up just outside. Schooled in Massachusetts. I have the slightly flattened O's of the typical Bawstonian, but I don't drop my R's.

Booze: I hate scotch, brandy, and cognac; I don't care for tequila or vodka, except in specific drinks; I'm not much of a beer drinker, but will have one with the right food; I loathe most liqueurs. I'll pretty much guzzle everything else.

Chore I Hate: Picking up the garbage and putting it back into the garbage can after the raccoons bust through the plastic bags and scatter it around. I also loathe polishing silver.

Dog or Cat: Neither. My son has a Malayan box turtle.

Essential Electronics: Laptop, and if the electricity is off long enough, the refrigerator/freezer.

Favorite Perfume: Right now I'm on an "old lady" perfume kick, which sort of makes sense, as, let's face it; I'm not getting any younger. I like Chanels #5 and 22, Hermes Caleche, Guerlain's Jardins de Bagatelle, Lucien Lelong's Indiscret.

Gold or Silver: Gold. Yellow gold. Silver is to eat with. And to polish. Which I hate doing, remember?

Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts.

Insomnia: Never. I plaster the world with my anxiety when I'm awake, and then sleep it off.

Job Title: Housewife. I don't call myself a stay-at-home-mom because during the seven hours a day my children are at school, my house gets a lot more attention than they do. Anyway, I loathe the use of the word "mom" for "mother."

Kids: Two.

Living arrangements: 3 bedroom, 3 bath, 3 "bonus room," Tudor Revival house in Stepford. 1 Husband, 2 kids, 2 cars, 1 turtle.

Most admirable traits: I am a highly skilled word merchant with an excellent sense of humor and lovely table manners.

Number of sexual partners: Is this before or after I got married?

Overnight hospital stays: Three, and they all involved babies being born. Three guesses as to who went first.

Phobias: None. Although I'm not crazy about heights. Although that doesn't keep me off scary rides. Unfortunately.

Quote: "Beauty like hers is genius." Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Religion: High Church Episcopalian, verging on Anglo-Catholic. (I'd go all Cardinal Newman and convert to Catholicism, except Joke would gloat so ferociously. Kidding. I just said that to give him a quick frisson or two.)

Siblings: Four. Two sisters and two brothers. All loud.

Time I wake up: 7:00 or thereabouts. Except on Saturdays, when I sleep later.

Unusual talent or skill: I'm great at throwing a wadded up piece of paper--in an perfect, elegant arc--straight into the wastepaper basket. Three points! Other than that, I'd say I was pretty ordinary.

Vegetables I love: All. I would happily eat a plate of green stuff for dinner.

Worst habit: Procrastination.

X-rays: As needed.

Yummy foods I make: I do standard Eastern Seaboard, traditional American food of the New England (clam chowdah, blueberry gingerbread) or Southern (fried chicken, real cornbread, collard greens, coconut pound cake) variety. I branch out from time to time, but I sort of don't see the point of abandoning well-prepared traditional food in favor of some new foodie trend. My food Bibles are James Beard's American Cooking, Sheila Ferguson's Soul Food, Fanny Farmer, and Marjorie Standish's cookbooks.

Zodiac sign: Sagittarius. The most intellectually curious and philosophical of the signs, as manifested in our symbol, the centaur with the bow and arrow, which represents our search for knowledge. Of course, I only believe in astrology insofar as it flatters my ego.