List all the Theme/Amusement /Water Parks you've been to in the last ten years, most recent first, and whether you've been to a particular one more than once. Extra points for a fun memory, favorite ride or added on commentary. If you're reading, consider yourself tagged!

Six Flags New England/Hurricane Harbor  (Season pass worn thin) I especially liked the look on all the Mind Eraser riders today when, instead of the ride starting, all of their harnesses popped open right after the attendant's farewell speech.

Walt Disney Orlando: Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom. The Buzz Lightyear shoot 'em up ride was a blast, as was the DINOSAUR safari Jurassic ripoff ride. But Disney? Are you listening? It's time for the Country Bear Jamboree to go. Really. What passed as family humor in 1975 doesn't quite cut it anymore. Honestly.

Sea World Orlando  Shamu and rides, too? What's not to like?

Busch Gardens Williamsburg "The Old Country" (Multi-year season pass holder)  I grew up going here so it's always first in my heart. I'm missing their yearly Howl-O-Scream event already...

Paramount King's Dominion, VA  They still had the same kooky faded parking signs that were up when my 5th grade class went there. We parked in the "Funky Phantom" Lot for my ship's summer picnic event. But now they have Dora and Rugrats and some newer movie-related stuff, so it's not as run-down feeling as it used to be...

Geaga Lake/Six Flags/Seaworld Ohio All a blur now, but a fun blur.

Cedar Point  A coaster-rider's dream come true.

Sea Life Park Hawaii  As seen in 50 First Dates. But Her Sweetness Drew Barrymore wasn't there when we went. :P

OK, I guess I'm kinda outing myself with this post. I truly am a theme park junkie. I still play Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 every now and again, but only because they took all the fun out when they made RCT3.  And I didn't even list a bunch of B-list aquarium parks, zoos and waterparks I coulda... 

Anyone on my f-list wanna form a twelve step group or something?

As tagged by catsparx andamberdine

1) I often find myself stumped because I cannot figure out the correct spelling of "of" (Though I do know what the definition of "is" is.)

2) When I was a kid, I dreamed I had been called upon to exorcise my Grandma's garage. I took this dream far too seriously.

3) Ballpoint pens spontaneously explode in my pockets. Without fail.

4) I have mastered the "Betty Botter" tongue twister and can perform such in a record 5 seconds (on a good day.)

5) I find it hard to enjoy subsequent books read by the narrators of exceptional audiobooks, because after 6-12 hours of listening, that voice is associated with the character of the earlier book.

6) I take great delight in mangling the lyrics of popular songs and ad jingles.



I tag all of you that want to play.

1) Via pnew8 and samhenderson: If there are one or more people on your friends-list who make your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

2) The latest Sam Adams Seasonal Beer hath reached the shelves of my local convenience store. It's like Octoberfest, but in September! Nice toffee/caramel finish on this lager which wouldn't make it my first pick for putting alongside hot wings or other spicy dishes, but it goes down perfectly with something still smoking from the grill.  The Homer Simpson in me is pleased, yes he is.

3) I've been lucky to have a run of darn satisfying reads lately. Just finished GRRM's Fevre Dream, which I count among the best vampire stories I've ever read. The kind of bloodsucker tale I'll be measuring others by for years to come, I think. (F. Paul Wilson's Midnight Mass--the novella, not the novel--just shy of falling into the same category, FWIW.)  And just in time today, the latest Talebones showed up in my mailbox and is off to a rousing start.  James Van Pelt's opener "Tiny Voices" is equal parts brilliant and sad. The smooth way he handles POV in this story is a masterful touch, and perfectly complements the story itself. It's followed by another Nina Kiriki Hoffman offering that was even more quirky and enjoyable than her last. It's so nice to have good things to read.

Ganked from newroticgirl and maryrobinette, but that doesn't mean you get to ask twice as many questions...

It's a meme that's sweeping the nation! Or something.

Ask me three questions. I will answer.

Repost to your own journal if you like.

Considering myself tagged by tbclone47.

1. One book that changed your life? 
Atlas Shrugged was given to me at the impressionable age of 16 by an older gal who had my full attention. The intricacy and internal logic of it dazzled me, pushing a mind already overprone to pure rationalism well past the edge.  It took me over a decade to recover enough to see the shades of gray in the world again. One day I'll figure out whether I should thank her or not.  

2. One book you have read more than once?
I re-read The Elements of Style (Strunk & White) every January. I'll cheat and add another: Anything Lloyd Alexander ever wrote set in Prydain.

3. One book you would want on a desert island? 
The Complete Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson

4. One book that made you laugh? 
The way Jack was screwing with blackmailer Richie Cordova (not to mention those fiesty Dormentalists) in F. Paul Wilson's Crisscross had me howling more than once.  But then, I'm the type who thinks it's funny when bad things happen to bad people. 

5. One book that made you cry?
The Diary of Anne Frank

6. One book you wish had been written? 
Yearnings Unspoken at the Old Norsemen's Warehouse of Souls and Tackle Shop (an Interlude with Valhalley Girls)  by kenscholes

7. One book you wish had never had been written? 
Until Deano gets around to finishing the Christopher Snow trilogy (What is it now? 7 years since book 2?) I'm going to hold a grudge against Fear Nothing  and Seize the Night. Not because they're bad books--in truth they were darn good, better than Odd Thomas--but because of the violation of reader trust. You don't just abandon a trilogy after book 2. ::grumble grumble::

8. One book you are currently reading? 
 Just started Fevre Dream by George R.R. Martin. Good poop, Maynard.

9. One book you have been meaning to read? 
The Gormenghast Trilogy by Mervyn Peake

10. Now tag five people. 
You, You...You.......You.  Oh! and especially You.