Shaking the Magic Google Ball

I’ve been socked this week by a stack of research papers, student yowls, and end-of-semester freak-outs. So the writing time? Very small. You know what that means, right? Memetime, lads and lassies!

Thanks, Lone Grey Squirrel, for inspiring this meme: typing my answers to the following prompts into Google Image and then choosing a photo off the first page that pops up. Images are the perfect antidote to a week when I am tapped out and my words are–how you say it?–not having way.

Photos it is.

1. Age at My Next Birthday:-

I’ll be the cost of sending you a piece of junk mail. Hell, I am junk mail.

It’s not the size of the dream, my friends. It’s the quality.

2. Place I’d Like to Travel:- Bulgaria. I heard they have soup there.

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral stands near the center of Sofia. It is dedicated as a monument to the Russians who liberated Bulgaria from nearly five centuries of Ottoman rule in 1877-78.

3. Place I’ve Been:-

Akureyri, Iceland

The thing about Iceland is the towns have swimming pools in the schools which are open to anyone, including travelers; these pools are heated thermally, by local hot springs.

I should have gone to high school in Iceland. My pours would have been thermally tightened, and then all the fellas would have been clambering to take me to the Winter Formal.

4. My Favorite Food:-

I’m full of suprises.

5. Place where I was born:-

Billings, Montana. I drank a lot of beer on those cliffs (known as the Rimrocks or “Rims”). One time my cousin, Luke, was so drunk he fell a couple hundred feet off one of ’em. My dad got to put on his trench coat at 3 a.m. and go bail him out.

I miss my dad.

6. Place where I live:-

Duluth, Minnesota

We’re all about bridges, ore boats, and splashing.

7. Name of Past Pet:-

This is Professor David Dandy of Colorado State University. I wish our poodle had been named Professor. Or David.

But if we’d shaved Dandy really close, he’d have looked like this guy–although maybe a tidge less manic.

8. Best Friend’s Nickname:-

“Groom” wore no jacket, tie, or boutonniere when we got married. But he did wear a vest.

And that’s all he wore.

9. My First Name:-

As if Blogger Jocelyn would ever strike “The Liberty” pose in a gym full of seething hormones. Instead, I keep my posing restricted to home base, where I’ve perfected the high-flying Hand on Remote Control stunt.

10. My First Job:-
When I was 10, Mrs. Baker across the street came flying over, breathlessly telling me she had to go pick-up her older child from an emergency situation, but her 10-week-old baby was sleeping in the house…and she needed me. She needed me for money. Thus, a twenty-year career in babysitting was launched.

And if you don’t want to count babysitting as a “real” job, what with the non-taxed pay, then this was my first job: The summer when I was in 8th grade, the Pepsi Company of America ran a promotional contest, where drinkers of their beverage could, upon opening a can of fizzy sugar water, check the pulled-off tab (not like this new-fangled one in the photo) for a letter of the alphabet. Players of the game would then collect letters on tabs until they could spell out words (“S-O-D-A”) or, for the ultimate prize, a phrase…something like “Pepsi Rocks the World.” Woefully, the Pepsi Company Factory of America made a little error and printed, instead of a handful of tabs with the elusive “R” (the letter that would bring about a big-money win), about a thousand of them.

For you math majors out there: a thousand x Big Money = A Quathwajillion of dollars. The Pepsi Company of America did not want all those “R” letters hitting the public. So I and a couple of my pals were paid to sit in a warehouse and open pop cans, eight hours a day, for weeks, our eyes trained for “R”s.

I never did find an “R,” or surely I would have pocketed it and would now be sitting in my mansion that cost exactly one quathwajillion of dollars.

Instead, I sit in my modest home, grading my 44th research paper on “the obesity trend in our fast-paced society.”

Apparently, my students inform me, we Americans drink too much Pepsi.

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29 responses to “Shaking the Magic Google Ball”

  1. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I enjoy reading your blog while I’m supposed to be working. Meme on!

    iJim

  2. Dr Em Avatar
    Dr Em

    I bought the DVD of Adventures in Babysitting a couple months ago. I loved that movie. It inspired me and my friend, Joanna, to start our own neighborhood babysitting business, called EmJo.

  3. heartinsanfrancisco Avatar
    heartinsanfrancisco

    Great list and a fun meme. I read anything you write with Great Expectations.

    “Dandy” is a perfect name for a Poodle, even if he doesn’t teach in a college. Although of course he should.

  4. furiousBall Avatar
    furiousBall

    I nearly spit the Pepsi out when I read the end of this… there’s a Minny camera in here somewhere isn’t there?

    that cake… give it to me?

  5. Diana Avatar
    Diana

    Ug. And I thought my first non-babysitting job of bussing tables in an all-you-can-eat buffet was sucky. At least I got to look for more than the letter “R” through my days.

  6. Dan Avatar
    Dan

    You’ve been to Iceland! Me too! In fact I spent about two months there if you all add it up. But I never got to the northern capital like you did. I was in the Keflavik and Rejkavik area.

    Alexander Nevsky Cathedral? I loved the Eisenstein movie. It’s one of my all-time favorites.

    Happy holidays and stuff Jocelyn!

  7. Claire Avatar
    Claire

    “and that’s all he wore”
    That must have been one helluva wedding!
    My first job besides babysitting was scooping dog poop at the Pet Hotel.

  8. geewits Avatar
    geewits

    I won some money once doing something like that. I spelled something with Pepsi somethings. I was pregnant at the time and I WAS BABYSITTING, so I turned up at this Pepsi warehouse pregnant, toting a drooling baby and looking for my $20 from Pepsi caps. What a sight that must have been!

  9. Theresa Avatar
    Theresa

    I should be out Christmas shopping, but it’s cold out, and your blog is much warmer, so here I am reading instead of shopping. So is the soup in Bulgaria supposed to be any good? I’m sure it’s warm at least. 🙂

  10. AmyTree Avatar
    AmyTree

    That is a great meme…. I may borrow it one day! Until then, I will just enjoy yours. 🙂

  11. Glamourpuss Avatar
    Glamourpuss

    Hope the marking ends soon. I don’t envy you (and am secretly rejoicing that my days of marking are OVER).

    Look again at your poodle pictures – I’ve never seen a poodle that isn’t manic.

    Puss

  12. AmyTree Avatar
    AmyTree

    Okay, I give in – I’m borrowing it!!

  13. August Avatar
    August

    Are you sure that isn’t you striking the Liberty pose?

    That Pepsi story is definitely a first.

    Good Luck with those papers, Joc. Remember, it’s Christmas.

    August

  14. Jazz Avatar
    Jazz

    Hey! I have the photo meme in my drafts, all I have to do is tag on the pics. Not the same questions though.

  15. lime Avatar
    lime

    i am so stealing this to use when i need an idea.

    so tell me, how much therapy have you needed in order to overcome what aversion to pepsi you must have developed that summer?

  16. Franki Avatar
    Franki

    LOL! Erm, I mean, I’m laughing out loud over here at your Past Pet Name bit.

    Sorry, Engrish teacher.

  17. Tammie Jean Avatar
    Tammie Jean

    You have such fun answers! Great job! My first job was babysitting too… imagine, being paid to sit and watch TV! This funded my insane 80’s wardrobe and aquanet back in the day…

  18. SQT Avatar
    SQT

    Hm, I think I would’ve liked to have seen a picture of the real groom wearing ‘just’ the vest.

  19. Tai Avatar
    Tai

    I agree with sqt!

    AND!

    What a great and fun post. Maybe I’ll burrow it.
    🙂

  20. Tai Avatar
    Tai

    No. I won’t burrow it. That’s not possible.

    But I might BORROW it. I can do that, right?

  21. frannie Avatar
    frannie

    that is very interesting about the pepsi.

  22. Gledwood Avatar
    Gledwood

    That was a lovely post…
    people have stopped tagging me with “memes” after I got tagged about 7 times in a week and spectacularly failed to “fulfil” any one of them!!

    ;->…

  23. CS Avatar
    CS

    That cake. Want that cake. Must…have…that…cake.

    Okay, I’ve snapped out of it.

    Fun meme.

  24. Princess Pointful Avatar
    Princess Pointful

    It may be a mere meme, but it still provided valuable (and comical!) Jocelyn info… so I’m plenty okay with that.

  25. Girl on a Wire Avatar
    Girl on a Wire

    You sound like my sis when she is in marking season, hope you get to the end of the papers soon. The meme style is most amusing, I like it very much, especially the bit about falling off rocks drunk, its the kind of tale you dine out on for years and bring up at family dos.

  26. August Avatar
    August

    Jocelyn, dear. I didn’t want to intrude on your end of term chaos, but how else am I to wish you & fam a Merry Christmas?

    All the best to you four. Can’t wait to see what the little guys got for Christmas. Hugs & heartiness and all that good stuff.

    August

  27. My Reflecting Pool Avatar
    My Reflecting Pool

    I like the photo meme. Dandy is a great name for a poodle. Infact, Dandy is a great name for any pet.

  28. Voyager Avatar
    Voyager

    Meme or right out of nowhere, I love reading you. I’ve been AWOL because of a family illness for a while, missed reading your posts.
    V.

  29. cathy Avatar
    cathy

    My fav actor is in that babysitting movie but I have never seen it.(sorry boring comment)
    Have a great Christmas!

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