A Green Diva Top Ten

An excerpt from a recent writing assignment, because it's ten days 'til Christmas and I should be industriously wrapping gifts.



From lights left on all night to rainbow-colored argyle sweaters two sizes too small, the holidays bring the inevitable environmental offenses. Here are ten of the worst:

1. Leaving lights on all night: Unless you're on the strip in Vegas, turn them off at midnight.

2. Doing nothing: Even small changes help. If lights must be on all night, make sure they are solar.

3. Rainbow colored argyle sweaters two sizes too small: Sometimes a gift card is better than the real thing.

4. Failing to properly recycle the tree: No matter how beautiful it once was, no one wants to see it along the roadside.

5. Overbuying: Avoid buying extra gifts and letting them sit until they eventually find their way into an overcrowded landfill.

6. Failing to RSVP: Sending regrets can help hosts avoid purchasing food and drink to feed an army when only a platoon will actually be attending.

7. Ridiculous amounts of wrapping: A gift inside layers of tissue paper, sealed with a decal, in a box, sealed with tape, wrapped in holiday paper, sealed with tape, tied with ribbon, topped with a bow, with a gift card attached is just too much.

8. Too many trips to the store: Make a list. Check it twice.

9. Paper plates and cups: Use real dishes. Rinse, repeat, reuse.

10. Everything new is old again: Holiday decorations don't need to be replaced every year, except maybe those cookie ornaments from last year. Those might make excellent bird feed.

Internet Tag: Seven Things Meme

Here in the blogosphere, there's a fun little game we play called meme. It's like tag combined with truth or dare. A meme is a viral writing challenge in which one person writes on a particular subject, then, tags others to write on the same topic and keep the game going by tagging others.

Suzy of Pris Place kindly tagged me for a meme called Seven Things. The challenge is to list seven things most people don't know about you.

I'll try to make it exciting:

1. A female friend once invited me to a private party in Hollywood. When we were almost there, she revealed the party was being hosted by H*u*s*t*l*e*r. I screamed. And sucked it up and went to the party. Two guys in over-the-top suits, with thick Russian accents, invited us to an afterparty, without our male friend. Uhm, yeah, no thanks.

2. Smart is hot. Abs of steel, yes. Brain of butter, no.

3. My grandfather taught me to drive a motorcycle. He showed me how to open the throttle and shift gears. The first thing I did was run into a fence. He didn't show me the brakes.

4. I once thought I was going to die. I had surgery without adequate anesthesia and lost a lot of blood. The thing that sticks with me since is the importance of friends and family.

5. During the Internet boom, I worked for a company where there was an air hockey table and free food in the break room and people brought their dogs to work. I loved it.

6. I used to be a lifeguard. The only person I ever had to rescue was the pool owner's son who stepped on a bee.

7. I've taken one surf lesson. I want to take many more.

For more meme, I'm reaching out to seven new bloggers from the National Blog Posting Month blogroll:

Zay MoMo -- She paints cookies and admits to playing with PhotoShop when she should be sleeping. I already like her.

Weasel of Doom -- Who could pass up this tag line? "Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines."

Yum Yum Cafe -- Brimming over with gorgeous graphics and international flavor.

Adventures in Baby Fat -- The name was so catchy I had to check out the blog. Great fun.

Watch Me! No, Watch Me! -- Excellent photos and the line above her profile sums up this meme perfectly.

Rissa Dee -- A witty girl from California writing and having fun. Oh, and, she's taken a surf lesson too. See number 7 above.

ZQuilts -- A beautiful blog from the Pacific Northwest.

Tag you're it. Hope you don't mind.