Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Hodgepodge Hodgepodge Wherefore Art Thou-Vol 75

Maybe the cheesiest blog title in the history of the world but have I mentioned I'm also doing the A-Z challenge this month and those last few letters need mega brain cells? The letter X is looming people. In the meantime here are my answers to this week's Hodgepodge questions-


1. Shakespeare's birthday is celebrated on April 23rd...when did you last read Shakespeare? What's your favorite Shakespeare play?

Well I lived in England and Shakespeare's kind of a big deal there-ha! I've been to the Globe Theatre in London and I'm a fan. Daughter2 spent two days in Stratford-upon-Avon with her entire class when she was in grade 8. They saw a play, attended a wig workshop and watched stage fighting demonstrations. They also got into a little mischief but we won't mention that here. Hi daughter2!


I spent my 47th birthday with friends in Verona. We saw Romeo and Juliet-The Opera, in the Coliseum there. Under the stars. In Italian. Be still my heart.

My favorites are probably King Lear because it's so tragic, and The Merry Wives of Windsor because it's funny, but mostly because I'm partial to the burg in which its set.

2. What food(s) would you recommend a foreign visitor try when they visit your home country?

No matter where you travel in this world I think you need to sample the local cuisine. In Northern NJ that would probably mean a bagel with cream cheese. I've been a lot of places in this world and nobody does a bagel like NJ does a bagel. I'd also recommend a plate of sliced tomatoes, lightly salted. It's a known fact that NJ grows the worlds best tomatoes. Then, because I'm loyal to my South Jersey roots, let's also have a Philly cheese steak. Why would you ever eat one anywhere else?

I recently hosted an American style bbq for some of hubs co-workers who were in town for a meeting. 17 people from 9 countries so it was a full house. We cooked bbq ribs with lots of sides and had an ice cream cake and s'mores for dessert. The s'mores were a novelty and a real hit!

3. What's a lie you often tell yourself?

I'll start tomorrow.

4. What's something you're good at that might surprise us? Remember this is a family friendly blog!

Ping pong.

I owe it all to my brother. He's five years older than me and way more coordinated, but even so when we were growing up he'd ask me to play after dinner most evenings. He always beat me. Every once in a while I'd come close to beating him and then I'd realize he was playing right handed (he's a lefty!).

Playing with someone much better than you makes you better too.

5. Who is your favorite animal character from a book?

Wilbur. He was 'some pig'.

Charlotte's a close second. She had the brains and the talent but he was a pig and she was a spider so I gotta go with Wilbur in the #1 spot.

6. April showers bring May flowers...do you have a green thumb?

Well, my hubs would say not really but it's not totally brown either. In my defense, it's a fairly large challenge keeping plants alive when you travel as much as we do.

7. Speaking of rainy days, which one of the following activities would you most want to spend time doing on a rainy day-

sort photos and create albums
bake cookies
read a good book
hold an all-day movie marathon
clean and organize closets, cupboards, or bookshelves
try a new recipe
fix something that needs fixing

I love to cook on rainy days so I'd likely try a new recipe. One of my favorite rainy day activities is missing from that list though, and that's napping. Rainy days are made for napping. So are sunny days.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

Calling all pinners-My friend Mindee (Our Front Door) is hosting a fun little link party on her blog during the month of May. Essentially it's a Pinterest Post Party which means now is the time to dust off some of those supposedly amazing pins you've been collecting and 'just do it'.

Is there a recipe (or ten) you've pinned but haven't made? A home improvement project or paint technique you'd like to try but haven't gotten around to just yet? No time like the present...whatever your interest, go for it! Afterwards you write it all up as a post and then link your blog to the party at Our Front Door Tuesdays and Thursdays during the month of May.

Mindee will post details on her blog tomorrow so hop over there to get the official scoop.

26 comments:

  1. The Pinterest challenge sounds like fun. I can't wait to check it out.

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  2. Ping pong huh?!? Cool. I love Ping pong but haven't played in years. Wilbur...that's a good one.
    This weeks questions were good Joyce. Thanks.

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  3. Wilbur was my choice, too...how funny! I used to be pretty good at ping pong...problem is that I don't have an opportunity to play very often. The "skills" kind of get lost over time. I can't imagine the excitement of living in a place like London! Talk about exciting! You are one lucky lady, for sure!

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  4. I haven't played ping pong in ages!!! Used to be good at it...but probably not as good as you and your brother.

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  5. I was a pretty good ping pong player back in the day too! my Dad and I often played after dinners when I was a kid. My husband takes it pretty seriously too. We have a table but it's folded up in the garage and comes out on to the driveway when we have parties. There's some pretty exciting challenges at those times.

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  6. I love to nap on a rainy day. I had quite a few naps this past weekend. 20 minutes is all I need.

    Hope your having a good week.

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  7. I love tomatoes, I should go to NJ!

    Reflecting now after writing my Hodge Podge last night, I don't have a super green thumb, but I do run a flower sale at school each spring. I'm planning out my annuals now...

    There's a multilanguage Shakespeare festival going on in London right now. It was featured on the news this week. I hear Shakespeare, and I always think of black and yellow lines.

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  8. How do I find you on Pinterest?? THAT I would enjoy! As always...this is SO fun! I think it's interesting we both picked King Lear and Charlotte's Web. Hehehe!

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  9. Seriously? Romeo and Juliet, live, a the the Coliseum, in Verona? Sigh... thousaltnotcovet, thoushaltnotcovet, thoushaltnot... :-) And I so want to hear about the mischief your daughters got into! Hehehe... have a great week, friend! (And I'm loving your blogs about your trip too - amazing!!!)

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  10. I agree with you about Wilbur, and napping! Have a great day!

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  11. It's so true about NJ and the bagels best in the world..we never found them in Europe learned to make my own while in Germany. I was so excited when moving to NY I thought there would be bagels everywhere...Not in Western NY ! Not like Jersey! I'm hungry for one now....salted is my fav! Forgot about Wilbur....loved him too! Happy Wednesday!

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  12. This week has started crazy, so I won't get to link up. Boo-hoo, right? These are all great questions. I'll be looking forward to getting on track next week. Have a good one! Thanks for hosting this fun meme.

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  13. Apparently you and I tell ourselves a similar lie. LOL Thanks for hosting :)

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  14. I'm on Pinterest, but I don't spend a lot of time there. I'm always interested in finding new recipes, new authors, new quilt patterns ... you'd think I'd be a Pinterest-aholic!

    My family used to play Ping Pong a LOT. I wasn't particularly good, but I always enjoyed it. I can't remember the last time I played.

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  15. BBQ was the one thing I wanted to make sure a group of Chinese visitors had when they were here. Let's just say it was an interesting experience. Plus they couldn't get over the fact that we had ice in our soda.

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  16. Maybe now that I'm older I should revisit reading Shakespeare! I would love to try a Philly Cheesesteak in Philly. We do have a place called Philly's Best which Mark says is really close to the real thing. I thought about Babe and Charolette but wasn't sure I read the books. I love Charolette!

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  17. Well maybe since I'm older I should try to read a little more Shakespeare! That is true about the Philly Cheesesteak yet I've never been to Philly to have one. We do have a place called Philly's Best which is awesome and Mark says it's as close as you can get to the real thing! I love your animal answers only I wasn't sure I read the books. I love Charolette!

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  18. I've not been able to wrap my mind around the Pinterest phenomenon, and people usually just get angry or annoyed when I ask them about it. Maybe I'll pop around to Mindee's to learn more about it.

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  19. You make the new recipe and I'll bake the bread and we can have a party! ;o)

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  20. I added napping to the rainy day list too :) And I wanted to say I haven't commented on them, but I am fascinated with your pics from Asia!!!

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  21. I did not know NJ was known for it's bagels. I always thought it was a NY thing.

    Yep, your lie is my second choice. :)

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  22. Nap time is right now for me. It's dark and it's going to rain, it's just that ominous weather depression before the clouds drop all that dark in the form of rain. When it's like this I want to sleep or make a big bowl of popcorn and veg in front of the TV. I find the rain to be a mood relief after this pressure time. But then I still want coffee! :)

    Sorry because Charlotte is your number 2, but she's still a spi***. The Nani version of Charlotte's Web involved a screech, a large shovel, a loud noise and "the end" over ominous music. I don't know why no one thought that was a good plot for a children's story. Hmmm...

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  23. I am constantly amazed at how much of the world and "life" you've experienced! You have been blessed to have such wonderful memories!

    BTW, you TOTALLY should have included napping! I think I would have voted for that. :)

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  24. Wilbur my choice, too. Enjoy pinterest :)

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  25. enjoyed the post today ;) and ty for hosting. Enjoy the pinterest I do belong to pinterest

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  26. Hope you don't mind, but I came rather late to the party. What a wonderful idea and I am looking forward to doing more of these in the future!

    I love the idea of hosting a BBQ with 17 people from 9 different countries! That's amazing! I hope they enjoyed the s'mores! We did Root Beer Floats for a British family, and they weren't to keen on it! lol

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