Nicole provided the questions for Meme Monday yesterday, but it didn’t show up in my reader until this morning, so now I’m a day behind.

But that is fitting, because I find lately I am falling behind the times on just about everything. I recently discovered this amazing new show called Game of Thrones, have you heard of it? After years of resisting, I saw a really cute graphical map of Westeros in Entertainment Weekly, and then I was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to see all the cute little people, and then BAM, I was hooked. Sir Monkeypants has read all the books and seen all the shows already, but he is valiantly watching Season 1 along with me and occasionally providing some back-story, all the while walking the tightrope line of not telling me any spoilers about things that everyone else on the planet saw two years ago. He’s also watching Season 4 right now and after each episode can’t talk about it with me which I’m sure is very frustrating. At least I should be all caught up in a couple of months or so, honey!

Sidebar for mini Game of Thrones review: it is really very, very good. So many fantastic characters – even the evil ones are deliciously well-formed. So many great storylines, with the plotting and backstabbing and twists of loyalty. Such great dialog, fantastic insults, and wise words. I recommend, although I will warn you that there’s a freak-ton of nudity. In fact, after yesterday’s viewing (we are watching one episode a night) I had a little feminist breakdown where I swore that if I saw ONE MORE nubile young woman all hot-and-ready and insta-naked at the command of a man, I was going to quit watching. I mean, I KNOW it is the times, and it’s a man’s world, and there are plenty of strong female characters too, but REALLY, I think we can tell what the author was thinking about during MUCH of the writing of this book, can we not?

Anyway, I haven’t been able to quit Game of Thrones, so I guess that says something.

So, memes! Nicole puts together a bunch of questions, and then people answer them. My good friend Allison answered them already, and added her own question, which was this: what’s your favourite poem? I warned Allison over on her blog that I was INTO poetry in university, in a finger-snapping dark-eyeliner snooty kind of way, so this was a loaded question, and I think you all definitely do NOT want my deep, in-depth, Poetry 101 type answer.

Instead, I am going to include here the poem “The Special Person” by Dennis Lee, one of my favourites for obvious reasons, typed out here because I could not find it on the internet anywhere, and that’s just wrong.

The Special Person

I’ve got a Special Person
     At my day-care, where I’m in.
Her name is Mrs. Something
     But we mostly call her Lynn.

Cause Lynn’s the one that shows you
     How to Squish a paper cup.
And Lynn’s the one that smells good
     When you make her pick you up.
     She smells good when she picks you up.

She knows a lot of stories
     And she reads them off by heart.
There’s one about a Bear, but I
     Forget the other part.

She bit me on my knee once, cause I
     Said she couldn’t scream,
And then I sent her in the hall,
     And then we had Ice Cream.

I guess I’m going to marry Lynn
     When I get three or four,
And Lynn can have my Crib, or else
     She’ll maybe sleep next door.

Cause Jamie wants to marry Lynn
     And live here too, he said.
(I guess he’ll have to come, but he’s
     Too Little for a bed.)

Oh yes – watch out for that knee biting habit of mine, people. You have been warned.

Onward with the meme!

Is it spring where you are?

It was yesterday. Today – not so much. I heard it’s going to snow later. I’m trying to roll with it but really I would prefer to crawl under the covers and hibernate for another month or so. (Do you think that will be long enough?)

What was the last book you read, and would you recommend it?

I, sadly, have gone from being an avid reader who devoured multiple books a week, to a sometimes reader with small kids, to an almost-never-reader who spends all her time on blogs and magazines. I did read Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell a few weeks ago, and it was…interesting, but also very weird, and also, it’s short stories, and I think maybe short stories are not really my thing. I know many who have loved it though, so don’t listen to me. Right now I am “reading” Chris Hadfield’s book (An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth) at a super glacial pace – I got it for Christmas and I think I am in chapter three – and I also have a tween-age novel out from the library on Allison’s recommendation, called Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee, that I have just renewed for the second time and yet have only made it to page 15. But it really is lovely and charming and I can tell I am GOING to love it, if I ever get around to reading it.

Reality TV – yes or no?

Well…I will give a tentative yes here. I LOVE reality-based game shows. I’m still a regular watcher of The Amazing Race and Masterchef. I used to love Survivor but haven’t watched in years, but would still consider it an interesting and worthwhile show. Other reality stuff where they just follow people around, like the Kardashian show, doesn’t appeal to me as much.

Who is your favourite cartoon character of all time?

So if I am absolutely honest with myself here, I have to go with Sailor Moon, in that in my early 20s I was Sailor Moon OBSESSED, and can still sing every word of the theme song, and have plenty to say about the various sailors and their powers, and it’s just SO EMBARRASSING. But there you have it.

Do you have a song stuck in your head right now? If so, what?

Well, now I have “Right Here, Right Now” by Jesus Jones in my head, due to the phrasing of the question, and also because I heard it this weekend while we were spending EIGHT HOURS painting the basement and listening to the Vinyl Recycler retro show on Live 88.5. It was SO GOOD, by the way, all kinds of fantastic songs from my keystone years. Crowded House! The Grapes of Wrath! Usher! Red Hot Chili Peppers! The Clash! Good times, good times.

Happy Monday…er, Tuesday!