i’m lazy! didn’t you get the memo? oh, crap. i didn’t send that out, did i? STOP ASKING SO MUCH OF ME.
Actually, ask more of me!
And when I say that, I mean ASK MEG!
Yes, it’s time for another round of someone’s favourite game (I’m sure there’s someone out there, even if they don’t get out much and are inordinately attached to their hamster and wooly blankie).
Advice? Yes! Opinions? Yes! Random stories? Yes! Haiku for dedicated topics? Yes! Menu suggestions? Yes! Playlists for occasions? Yes! Childhood stories? Yes! Product recommendations? Yes!
You can get it all right here!
I can’t vouch for the quality of any of it, but hey… if you come here often, you know there’s no guarantee of anything but wordiness and overly long or opaque titles.
Quality is for squares!
I’m much more circle-shaped, really.
If you’ve got an “Ask Meg”, just drop me an email at megATmegfowlerDOTcom, or leave it in the comments. I’ll be answering in the comments as it goes on…
YAY!
June 16th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Ok, I’m game. “Meg, please give us your opinion on shrimp. The seafood, not the height-challenged. We must know your take on those little fellas.” kthanksmuchbai
June 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am
What’s interesting, Mike, is that my mom is allergic to shrimp, so it really wasn’t a big part of my home life. She either swells up or stops breathing, which is a powerful reaction for such a tiny creature. At least I chose a large, menacing animal like a moose to be allergic to. I am no pansy.
Now, of course, I enjoy it in any variety of incarnations, from shrimp cocktail to popcorn shrimp to grilled shrimp skewers to a lovely shrimp sandwich on sourdough with just a light dill-mayo-lemon binder for the little guys.
Mmm, shrimp.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Since you’ve made the rounds - I’m wondering …do you have any allergy medicine recommendations (winners? ones to avoid?). thx
June 16th, 2008 at 11:56 am
I would say that my best contender has been extra-strength Reactine, which is 10 mg cetirizine. Most other types either make me drowsy, make me feel jittery, or just plain don’t work. I used Claritin for a while, but it didn’t make a dent the way Reactine does.
If I am having a bout of sinusitis along with allergies, Advil Cold and Sinus is nice, but I advocate AGAINST Advil Cold and Sinus Plus. I was VERY jittery with the extra antihistamine. Didn’t make me drowsy, just made me dizzy.
I also take a lot of vitamin C, and if my immune system sucks, I’ll boost on B vites, too.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Meg -
Who most inspires you?
June 16th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
That is a lovely question, Matty. :)
I would say that I’m very blessed that my own parents inspire me. They’ve been dedicated to their faith and their work and their friends and their calling with a passion that I’ve seen few people match, even when they faced really horrible circumstances in the midst of maintaining that dedication. I’m humbled by it, since I don’t always have that kind of conviction.
I’m inspired by my friends for very different reasons. Some of them are so talented it blows my hair back, while others are so devoted to their families and relationships, I learn a ton just watching them do their thing. I also have many, many friends who are involved in non-profits that do amazing work in education, conservation, community development, and international aid.
My people-I-don’t-know-in-the-flesh that inspire me?
For a bunch of different reasons, simple and complicated, and in no particular order (so don’t be shocked by the people who appear alongside one another):
People who learn to read as adults
Southern Poverty Law Center
Catherine Hamlin
Adoptive parents who are passionate about helping make it easier for others
Those who fight sex trafficking and child trafficking
Those who teach in inner city schools because they are passionate about public education
Mother Teresa
Families who support the organ donation of their lost loved ones
The 826 literacy/writing folks
Ira Glass
Jon Stewart
Paul Newman
… and a zillion more.
You know, apparently it’s all about kids and literacy. Anyone not see that coming?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
what is the weird thing you do with your toes in your about me page?
June 16th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I miss the bus stories. Don’t you have any good bus stories to tell? TELL ME A DAMN BUS STORY. I mean, please. :)
June 16th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
I’m headed to vancouver for the first time ever this summer. Where should I go?
I noticed you don’t have a linklist/blogroll/etc. What blogs do you read?
June 16th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Mike… I can make them disappear. Like I have no toes. They are so small they curl right under, and then I look toeless. It freaks people out. I can also cross them.
June 16th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
What’s your favorite book? Any good book recommendations for the summer?
June 16th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Where did you learn to write?
and
When are you coming to Boston?
:)
June 16th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Aka Monty, today I was on the bus with a little boy and his grandpa, and this old man on the other side of him kept asking him questions. It was driving the little kid nuts… anyone but this old man could see. Finally, he just yelled, “YOU IS NOT MY GANDPA.” It was perfect. I was already writing it up, now you’ve convinced me to publish. :)
June 16th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
FutureCatLady, I think if you come to Vancouver, you should do the Seawall in Stanley Park, you should walk Commercial Drive, you should go to the Van Dusen Gardens, you should walk Robson St. and go to the Vancouver Art Gallery, and you should go to every beach from Jericho to English Bay. I’m a big fan of Yaletown for eats, though there are great spots on Commercial, too. I can send you a great list of hotels and restaurants across the city. You should also come see Lynn Canyon and the Cap Suspension Bridge in my hood, and walk Ambleside to Dunderave in West Van.
You can also go see the Lions play football, and the Canadians play baseball. And I know a zillion jazz clubs. :)
I did have a blogroll, but a bunch of the people on it stopped blogging or changed sites, so I took the page down to revamp it. In that time, my readables have really evolved. But it will be back soon. I’ll divulge my favourites only then.:)
June 16th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Stales, my favourite books are… well, no. I tend to love authors overall, not books. Pretty much anything they write does it for me. :)
David Sedaris!
Dorothy Parker!
Flannery O’Connor!
William Faulkner!
Katherine Mansfield!
Calvin Trillin!
C.S. Lewis!
Mordecai Richler!
June 16th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Shelley, I have no idea where I learned to write.:) In school? In my English classes in university? With my creative parents as a wee thing? I learned to read when I was two, because books and words were very important in my home (along with Sesame Street). From there, I just always… wrote stuff. :)
And that brings us to today. :)
Boston? Well. I think I need to see the East Coast before the year is out. :)
June 16th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Starting with the World Series and moving through to the NBA championship how many cities (with their names) have the potential to win the World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and NBA championship within that 9 month period?
June 16th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Okay, get rid of all the cities that don’t have all four types of franchises. Who do I think?
Boston. The Red Sox, Pats, Bruins and Celtics have all shown past and present potential to succeed. I’d say that’s the comprehensive one to beat.
Many other cities have teams that excel in one or two sports, but I dunno. I might say Chicago, but the Blackhawks and Bulls and Cubs are inconsistent.
New York — Yanks or Mets, Giants (not Jets), Rangers or Islanders (ehhhh)… but the Knicks? Nope.
Detroit can’t do it (Hello? Lions? Tigers?)
There isn’t a city in Cali or Texas that can do it, and no one even MENTION Dallas, because I’ll shake my fist.
I just think it’s likely Boston.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
What I really meant was “potential” - which means in any given year any one team just might win a championship so you have to name all of the cities which have teams in those four leagues.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Potential implies possibility, not just capacity by technicality. Detroit has it all, but will never have it all. You know what I mean?
But here goes…
Detroit
Chicago
NY
Boston
St. Louis
Would we say Phoenix? The Cards, the Dbacks, Coyotes and Suns?
Philadelphia
Minnesota (overall)
Denver/Colo…
Atlanta
Washington, DC
Dallas/TX
I’m just doing this off the top of my head, so I’ll finish tomorrow, when I’m not falling asleep!
June 16th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Meg, I’m hopin’ I can sneak in TWO questions here:
1. What photo-sharing site do you recommend… that wouldn’t require viewers to become members? I don’t mind registering, I just don’t want my friends and family having to do the same.
AND…. (more importantly)
2. The sun, heat and dust (and possibly water) here in Afghanistan is turning my hair CRISPY!! ACK!! What can I do?!? Is there any hope?!? (ok, I guess that’s 3 questions)
June 17th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Meg,
It’s been a while since I last commented on your blog, so I guess I am due right about now (plus, I had the really funny thing happen to me on the Sea Bus).
So…even though I got a gazillion questions, I’m just going to be brief.
Opinions on (hotness, etc.)
Ryan Reynolds
Paul Walker
James Franco
Noah Wyle
Tom Welling
Jared Padalecki
Jensen Ackles
John Schneider
Timothy Olyphant
Dean Cain
Christian Bale
Ryan Gosling
The Ashmores (Shawn and Aaron)
I guess this list is enough for one “Ask Meg” post ;)
June 17th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Hockey fights — pro or con? (And when you come to the East Coast, come to DC!)
June 17th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Judy Reid? Your name is my parents’ names! That’s awesome.
I’d say Flickr.com is your best bet for photo sharing, unless you want to make everything you post only visible to your family members. I really like Flickr’s ease of use, but they’d have to register to see anything you needed to be totally private. If that’s the case, then I think you’d want a password-protected gallery thing that they’d just need to sign in to see… not register. I’m not totally sure about other sites, but Photrade has an option like that, I believe, or you could always set up a gallery on your own website (if you have one!) with a Coppermine gallery script or somesuch.
2. Afghanistan! That IS dry. I wouldn’t be surprised if you were right about the harshness of the water, too. You’ll want a deep conditioner that really coats the hair shaft and weighs it down and smooths the cuticle a little. Because hair is dead as soon as it’s out in the open, it’s hard to really “reverse” damage, but you can protect it better and calm things down and create a more reflective, moist surface so your hair looks healthier. I’d recommend a conditioning masque by Kerastase, Phytologie or Redken, or even Neutrogena Triple Moisture. You can get all of them online. You might want to even try using a conditioning or protective oil like Leonor Greyl and just coat your hair and put it back when you know you’ll be frying in the sun. If all else fails and you’re desperate, some olive oil with a couple drops of something that smells good will work in a pinch!
June 17th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Raul, this is awesome. Haha! My comments after the names in brackets…
Ryan Reynolds (Very well built. Mostly well dressed. Fantastic hair. Movie choices? Questionable.)
Paul Walker (Even more questionable choices, but adorable.)
James Franco (Good as James Dean. Cute.)
Noah Wyle (Meh.)
Tom Welling (No one should be that obviously, textbookishly good-looking.)
Jared Padalecki (Meh.)
Jensen Ackles (Very, very cute. Good eyes.)
John Schneider (Bo! I know, I know… Mr. Kent. But eh. Blondes are not really my thing.)
Timothy Olyphant (Cute in a sassy kind of way.)
Dean Cain (Very quarterback and Meg-taste circa early 90’s)
Christian Bale (Very intense. Kind of tortured looking all the time, though)
Ryan Gosling (Gorgeous. Fabulous.)
The Ashmores (Shawn and Aaron) (No idea.)
June 17th, 2008 at 7:45 am
Mary… hockey fights are an interesting thing for me. I’m not a fan of cheap shots, all-out brutality, game- and season-long vendettas and games where the penalty minutes become a giant hindrance to either side winning.
That just gets ridiculous and past the point and exploitive. Dudes in bars everywhere know how to throw a decent punch. Granted, it’s tougher to do it on skates, but good checks are the key, not good slams to the face.
That said, I don’t mind a scrappy little scuffle at a tense moment in the game between two dudes who need to burn off a little steam. I’ve cheered for it, but I don’t like it when it just becomes a mess or someone is flailing while getting clearly dominated by someone twice their size. The refs have to intervene right away and show a little sense.
I know these incidents don’t happen in any other game, but they wouldn’t fit in another game, either. Baseball players aren’t close enough to one another, and there are serious contact rules in Basketball because everyone is just running back and forth. And in football, I bet some of those dudes would rather get a few punches than have 6 guys lying on top of them after slamming into them like a freight train! And Rugby? Well, you can get your ear torn off. :) So is that better?
You get into a sport knowing what it takes. And look at Wayne Gretzky! He built a whole career around not fighting on the ice, and look at his success! It shows it can be done.
Even if I think Wayne is a giant dork and Mark Messier is Satan.
Oh… and I think they should all be wearing face guards, too, so call me a nerd for that. But the amount of facial injuries that could be avoided is astounding.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:05 am
And a ton of questions via email from the lovely Lisa Bender…
1. How do you stay hopeful and happy and satisfied with life as a single 30-something who has longed for more? My sister and I are both dealing with
this… Getting older, watching friends get married and have kids and wanting that SO MUCH while our lives seem to stay painfully, single-y, the
same, year after year, celebrating holidays with our parents and feeling lame. lol. You seem to have a handle on this, and stay upbeat. Help us
have that attitude!!! :) And WHERE THE FRIK ARE ALL THE DECENT SINGLE MEN!?!? Certainly not in Michigan, let me tell you that!
Answer: Well, Lisa, wow. Do I sound upbeat? That’s good. I’m not always, but I genuinely maintain my optimism about love and relationships most of the time. I’ve seen lots of people succeed in relationships and I’ve seen a lot fail, but the thing I’ve noticed is that the most successful relationships are based on respect, kindness, communication, and an oft-used sense of humour. I know I have all of that, or the capacity for all of it, so I have faith I will get the opportunity to bring my own thing to the table on a “permanent basis”. Thing is, if you really want it, but believe it’s just not going to happen and that you are lacking something that everyone else has, you stop being your whole self and walking confidently through life with the understanding that you are worthy of the things you desire. Have crazy amounts of fun, take care of yourself, and live like you don’t need anything else added to the mix, so when that moment comes, you haven’t changed yourself or sat around waiting for it to happen. You can bring the whole you to the relationship, then, and you won’t have all this pressure attached to the connection like IF THIS FAILS I DON’T KNOW WHAT I WILL DO. If it fails, or if you have to wait longer, or if you have some bumps in the road, it doesn’t change the chances of success in future, or change the fact that you are awesome and lovable. But don’t be a hope chest kind of girl, pining for your one true love, and creating this massive checklist over time that your Prince Charming will need to meet. Be your best you, expect the best from men without being unreasonable, and have fun with your life so a man becomes an addition to it, not the fulfillment of it. That’s my advice.
As to where the single men are? San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Indianapolis, and Seattle. Go!
2. When did you start dying your hair? Ever go blond? Tell us the good, the bad and the ugly. Ever perm? I did. All I can say is YIKES.
Answer: I got highlights done when I was 28… that was the first time I touched my hair with colour, and I wish I hadn’t. I kept up with that for a bit until they turned green (I paid WAY too much for green hair), then dyed them out to go back to my natural espresso brown shade. I’ve been doing that ever since, because I spend lots of time in the sun and water, and have a few sneaky gray hairs that pop up.
Perm? Once in tenth grade. Burned off my bangs, almost. Not good. And NEVER will I EVER go blonde. I’m not a blonde. Not at all.
3. Are you a pet person? Ever thought of getting one?
Answer: I’d love a dog/cat when I have a family or am living in the same place for longer than two years! But I’d want to make sure I had the time to take care of them properly. We had cats and a dog and birds and hamsters and fish growing up, though.
4. How did you and Catherine meet?
Answer: I hired her in 2002:).
5. Worst roommate you ever had–any horror stories?
They might read this! I can’t.:)
6. Best way to relieve a headache? I have one right now :-/
Answer: Vitamin C, lots of water, and an Advil Liqui-Gel. And put some heat around your neck and shoulders in case you have tension radiating up. But hydration and pain relief are the key!
7. Best online place to shop for cute summer-y dresses. Any ideas?
Anthropologie.com and jcrew.com have some lovely little frocks, as does BananaRepublic.com. Those are my favourite mainstream sites. You can also search “sundress” on Etsy.com for some v. cute indie picks!
June 17th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Awesome responses, Meg!
June 17th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Meg,
Since i know from the way back that you hate slogans/bumperstickers of any and all kinds, please tell me your least favourite. (do i have to write in the form of a question? if so, then, “Meg, what is your least favourite slogan/bumpersticker?”)
apart from the “hot flashes/power surges” one. b/c we all hate that one. don’t we?
June 17th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
Oh, mercy, yes, I do hate the bumperstickers. Mostly political ones right now, actually, because I just find it annoying how people make assumptions based on what sits on someone’s car!
I also don’t like the “Visualize Whirled Peas” one, “If you can read this, YOU’RE TOO DAMN CLOSE”, “I brake for _____”, “Spending our kids’ inheritance!”, anything with “bitch” in it (or any other kind of swearing). Pretty much anything you’ve seen more than twice, I loathe it.
Everyone is free to do what they want with their vehicle, of course. I’m just free to think it looks UGLY.:)
June 17th, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Hi Meg - Thanks for the list of authors. I love David Sedaris. I just finished his new book last night. Great stuff. I will have to check out Katherine Mansfield and Calvin Trillin. I’ve never heard of them. Thanks for the tips. — Stales