It’s that time again – for MTC via Blog Ninjas, and here’s the topic:

It’s 100 years later, after NASA’s initial lunar city mission. People have started to colonize the moon. You are among the colonists. Write about something like your reasons for leaving Earth, why you like or hate living on the moon, and any adventures you had the first month you moved there.

So I have to pretend I’m on the moon? All that says to me is make it like I want it. The Beastie Boys are the Presidents of the moon (we all apparently haven’t aged in 100 years, and I look great, the moon is doing wonder for my skin). You can’t wear Crocs on the moon. No plastic is in fact allowed on the moon. But you can drive whatever you want and no one gives you any crap because cars run on Coach purses that cost 2 woots (moon currency) so you can throw them in and guzzle them up! The moon has mandatory roller skating parties and everyone plays kickball on Resturdays. (Oh, that used to be Monday. We have three day moon weekends). There is a great moon website for all lunar events, concert tours, and parties. The moon dust turned out to be a great cleaning solvent and so nothing ever gets dirty. To entice people to move to the moon, I scored the bonus Netflix unlimited package, some wicked new Moon juice – which doesn’t give you a hangover – and a Moon Wii. Which, of course, plays any video game you want. The moon rocks. I’m pretty sure I’m not missing anything. What do you think?

Please visit the Mystery Topic Challenge Blog to view all of the other entries. Once you've read them all, please be sure to vote HERE for your favorite.

It’s been a while since I last participated in the MTC via Blog Ninjas , but these things happen. (#6 can be read here – now we’re on #10). I’m back, and hoping you’ll read and enjoy my musings on the following topic:

Describe someone or something that changed your life, but the change agent has no idea that it or they had any affect on you.

Usually if someone has an impact on me, I let them know. Many of the people I met as I grew up taught me that ideas I got in my head from books didn’t always work in real life. Their patience and life lessons made me so much better now than I used to be. And I thanked them for that. So if you affected my life but didn’t know it, there has to be a reason.

Reason #1 – I don’t like you. Well that’s a bit harsh. Maybe ‘people that I’m no longer close to’. Or maybe people who taught me backwards. As in, chances are good that each of them, in their own way impacted me by teaching me how not to be. I think there are people that cross everyone’s life and their negative actions cause you to adopt positive ones. You can’t really call them and tell them that, but it’s there.

Reason #2 – Not human. It may sound silly but there’s a couple animals I had as a kid that taught me how to be caring and other important things like how to scratch good behind the ears. I couldn’t write them a thank you letter, and they might not know how much they meant to me. Sniffer probably would have rolled his kitty eyes. All my fishies would laugh about the nightmares I used to have about not feeding them. Hopefully Riley heard all my hacking sob tears from puppy heaven.

Reason #3 – Too famous. So much of what I’ve gleaned about writing has been from other writers. All that reading would leave me with such a long list that even given the opportunity to talk about it on Oprah, it’s not going to happen. But I’m thankful to writers. And funny commercials, tv shows, and people that design clothes that look good on me. Stuff like that.

Hmmmm…..what other reasons could there be?

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Please visit the Mystery Topic Challenge Blog to view all of the other entries. Once you've read them all, please be sure to vote HERE for your favorite.

The BlogNinjas are back for 2008. After pigging out and holiday carousing we had to hit the dojo for some serious training but now we’re ready to carry on kicking ass like only we can. If you’re not a Blog Ninja yet why not make it your New Year’s resolution? Sign up here for your complimentary shuriken. Uniform not provided.

Here’s topic #6:
What song transports you through space and time, and where do you go?

The idea here is that we’re all getting older, and there’s that tune that was playing that one time, and now when it comes on the radio you immediately are back in that place. It’s nearly impossible for me to pick just one song. I am so into music that I have a soundtrack for every part of my life. It would run pages. I usually don’t remember where I am when I first hear a song, but I can be transported through my memory fairly easily.
Collective Soul = the summer my brother and I lounged in the basement playing cards.
Massive Attack = the first summer I spent away from home.
Pink Floyd = Dad showing me “The Wall”.
Counting Crows = high school.
Illinois = SXSW 07.
Pete Yorn = meeting my husband.

Most recently, “Hands Open” by Snow Patrol was playing from my mp3s when I finished my first book. To keep the tradition, I played it as I crossed the finish line with my second too. No matter what happens, whenever that song pops up, I will be filled with a great sense of accomplishment and pride. Music is in our lives to associate with experience. I have a great soundtrack.

Please visit the Mystery Topic Challenge Blog to view all of the other entries. Once you’ve read them all, please be sure to vote HERE in the Sidebar for your favorite.

The BlogNinjas are wishing you happy holidays. They are the crazy internet group behind the MTC. You can join the clandestine group – post an entry, vote, maybe win, and you may be selecting the next topic. Click here to join. So without further ado, Scottorama came up with this topic for our 5th:

What are your favorite holiday traditions and why?

This question is best answered in the form of me telling my non existent children some day in the future about my growing up:

Okay, kids, let me tell you a story. You’re going to have to use your imaginations. Once upon a time, before the ipod and Tivo and DVR, my dad- your grandpa, used to make us movies. There were these things called VCRs. You could put a cassette tape in it and record tv onto the tape. You would press record and then pause to get out the commercials. Yes, you had to watch it. No, it wasn’t programmable. Use your imagination, I said.
So one year, your grandpa watched every Christmas special there was, and made us a video that had The Grinch, Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus is Coming, Charlie Brown, that Claymation movie, and some sing along with the California Raisins, you won’t know that one, anyway. I’m sure there was cursing and breaking of things but I won’t get in to that. It was a hard job. Some parts were messy. At the end there might have been half of Scrooge that got taped over by some guy playing the guitar singing Blue Christmas. Don’t tell grandpa I couldn’t remember the name of that guy, he’ll shoot me.
Your grandpa would put it in and we would all sit as a family and watch the movies. Sometimes even when I wasn’t supposed to I put it in after school. Why weren’t we supposed to? Well, VCRs were very delicate and little girls didn’t know how to make them work, only how to make them not work. No, this was before the internet. You’re not paying attention. What? I’m not that old! We played it Christmas Eve and Christmas when we opened gifts.
After a very long time, the tape wore out, and we grew up, but we would still watch it and laugh and the parts that were slow and broken because we rewound and fast forwarded so much. It was my favorite thing to do every holiday until we bought The Muppet’s Christmas Carol. Yes, that was on tape too. Go download it. Whatever.


www.eyesthere.com

Here are your other voting options:

Leaf- Read Entry
BunGirl- Read Entry
Jester Tunes- Read Entry
Jayne- Read Entry
Peter Namtvedt- Read Entry
Zybron- Read Entry
My Two Cents- Read Entry
Geek Girl- Read Entry
Mr President- Read Entry
Shadow Weaver- Read Entry
Uninhabited Man- Read Entry
Robby Rational- Read Entry

to vote for your favorite.

What’s that behind you? Did you see something? I think it was black…could it be the BlogNinjas? They are the crazy internet group behind the MTC. The members rock the blogosphere in varying degrees, and can sneak up behind you in a moments notice.You can join the clandestine group after undergoing a severe and heavily scrutinized Blog Ninja review that verifies your actual existence and BN worthiness (basically, we read your blog). Post an entry, vote, maybe win, and you may be selecting the next topic. It’s like a blog party. Click here to join. So without further ado, Mr President won my challenge and selected this topic:

If you were President/Prime Minister for a day, with the power to do absolutely anything (Supreme Court? What Supreme Court?), what would you do and why?

I told husband I’d outlaw fanny packs. It’s an old but good story- why this is so hilarious to me. He tells me there aren’t enough fanny pack wearers for this to be funny. So then I though, maybe outlaw Uggs, or Crocs, or something else I don’t like – but that’s too easy. Exercise? Stop eating fast food? How about no more reality television? There are too many easy jokes.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if it was free internet for all? If we hit people in the head that littered? Maybe corporations had to donate X dollars to schooling? There are too many little choices. It’d have to be big. Giant. MAJOR.

I’ve got it: no more socks and sandals.


This might even get me re-elected for another day.

Here are your other voting options:

Leaf – Read More
Scott – Read More
BunGirl – Read More
Grumpamoose – Read More

from Reason to Freedom (4 entries)
Peter Namtvedt – Read More
Bob Bachus – Read More
Michelle L. – Read More
MJ Taylor – Read More

Jayne – Read More
Zybron – Read More
lonelygurl – Read More
TooBIG – Read More
An Honest Woman – Read More
Stepford Mom – Read More
ShadyLady – Read More
Debaloo – Read More
Jan – Read More

to vote for your favorite.
NANO TOTAL: 9800 words.
NaBlo Day 13: Check.

Yay! Thanks to your three thousands of votes, I was declared the funny and witty champion for this post of mine. So I received world wide acclaim, a Celine Dion CD, Old Country Buffet gift certificates, some J Lo perfume, and the honor of selecting the next topic. Okay, maybe just that last one.

I asked everyone to talk about what t shirt they would wear, if it was the only thing in their wardrobe forever and ever amen. It could say one word. Lots of people wear t shirts, often with really ridiculous catchphrases and things on them, ranging from the wildly inappropriate, to the not funny if you’re not 12, and the just plain odd.
(Don’t click these links if you’re related to me, I don’t want to be grounded.)

The only t shirts with words on them in my closet these days either say “Texas” (college) or “Boston” (Red Sox). Sports t shirts I like. Otherwise, I’m not really one for trying to convey a message on a shirt. It’s like a more obnoxious bumper sticker without the 2500 lbs. of metal to protect you from someone who disagrees. I know, the debate is freedom of expression blah blah blah versus being tolerant of others blah blah blah.

If I had to buy one in existence, it would probably be this shirt, since this is the favorite word of my brothers and I. Not so much as to express apathy as to make us laugh when we’re telling stories. If I had to create my own, the word I’d define myself with permanently would be “humorous”, because I’d be fine even if I was the only one who thought so.

Here’s a t shirt quilt:


www.goosetracks.com

These are the posts eligible for votes and gifts of moldy cheese.

• Ghost Works: Read Post
• My Dusky Brain: Read Post
• Zybron’s Thoughts: Read Post
• Memoirs: Read Post
• Leaf, Probably: Read Post
• A Light In The Dark: Read Post
• Poodle Blog: Read Post
• Life As Me: Read Post
• Romi: Read Post
• Textual Relations: Read Post
• ShadowWeaver: Read Post

This is where you vote:

This post is the second in the series, featured on Blog Explosion.

Today’s Topic: “If your life were like Bill Murray’s in Groundhog Day, which day would you want to re-live forever, and why?”

So, I’m not that old. In fact, I think my best times are ahead of me. Hopefully, I haven’t had my best day yet. PLUS, in the movie, Murray is actually living the worst day ever, and he just messes with it until he gets it right. Hypothetically speaking, if that were to actually happen to me, and I get stuck with my worst day, yes, I know exactly what would happen. But that’s not the question. So you don’t get to hear about that.

What I will tell you about is the ridiculous things that I would spend one day each doing, if I were stuck in any average day of my life, a day that repeated itself, in which I wasn’t responsible for any action that I took.

• Eat candy all day until I puked.
• Major shopping spree, max out my credit cards.
• Dye my hair pink.
• Spend the day in a motorized scooter.
• Make prank calls.
• Abandon empty packages in the airport.
• Drop water balloons off the roof.
• 24 hour drinking party. For one.
• Watch the sunset.
• Fly a plane. With or without a license.
• Pencil roll down a hill.
• All you can eat pasta.
• Speed. Everywhere.
• Shout in the library.
• Give someone all my money.
• Fly to Vegas, spend all my money.
• Pay to be an extra on Law and Order (would have to film that day).
• Major bonfire.
• Audition for something and perform terribly.
• Laugh uncontrollably at anything anyone says.
• Answer people only in song lyrics.
• Do whatever it takes to get thrown in jail.
• Beg for change. In an evening gown.

I’m sure that there are more adventuresome things that I could try, but the fact is I get to do whatever I want in real life, so this is more like a list of things I’d never do unless I was really, really bored.


www.yvpp.co.uk

• Political Friends: Read Post
• Ghostworks: Read Post
• Zybron: Read Post
• Life as me: Read Post
• Textual Relations: Read Post
• Penny Lane: Read Post
• Jayne d’Arcy: Read Post

Like MY post? It’s part of a contest I need votes to win…

Update: You voted, I won! Thanks, all!!

This post is the first in a new series, featured on Blog Explosion.

Today’s Topic: Tattoos: Love ’em or leave ’em?

To tattoo or not to tattoo, shouldn’t even be a question. I’ve never, and never will.

What is there, in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD that you are PERMANENTLY PASSIONATE about? Oh, right. Skulls, flowers, mermaids. Um, I like Law and Order. I’ve made the joke I’d do a little sketched R.I.P. Jerry Orbach on my shoulder. But no. It’s PERMANENT. The whole point is the giant, lifelong statement that you adorn yourself with to be individual – just like everyone else.

Well, actually – not lifelong anymore. According to Tattoo Blog, (and they’re even calling it ‘removable permanent’) there is a new microbead ink that will be completely removable in one laser treatment. WTF?

What’s so hardcore about that? It’s like writing on your hand with a pen. Half the fun of tattoos is when you don’t like fairies anymore or you gain 50 lbs. and no one is sure quite what that blob used to be. Now, you can just undo it. Why not tattoo your boyfriend’s name up and down your arms. Break up? Erase it. Start over. No biggie.

I would, however, were I forced against my will, to go ‘under the needle’, know exactly who would do it:


www.tlc.discovery.com

She’s lovely. The only good thing about tattoos is LA Ink. Now that’s quality television programming.

Participators:

• If You Read This, I’ll But You Some Cake
• Textual Relations
• My Dusky Brain
• The Blog Formerly Known as Taosbound
• A Light in the Dark
• Cardio Girl
• Scribbles
• The Uninhabited Man
• Some Go Softly

Like MY post? It’s part of a contest I need votes to win…

to vote for me!!!