This is another getting-to-know-me activity I saw on Facebook and have stolen for my blog. The idea is to list 15 albums that have had a profound effect on your life. “Profound effect” is really pushing it for a few of these, although I truly loved (and in most cases, still love) these albums. But enough analysis, let’s do this thing (and along those lines, I am going skip giving commentary on these, which is difficult for me, as I love to reminisce…ok, ok shut up already).

Please share your own albums in the comments section.

1. Big Audio Dynamite - The Globe
2. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
3. Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin
4. Changesbowie - David Bowie
5. Blonde on Blonde - Bob Dylan
6. One Simple Word - The Connells
7. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
8. Jar of Flies - Alice in Chains
9. The Harder They Come (soundtrack) - Jimmy Cliff
10. Fashion Nugget - Cake
11. John Prine - John Prine
12. Odelay - Beck
13. I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One - Yo La Tengo
14. Girls Can Tell - Spoon
15. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco

Due to some of your recent comments, readers (that’s right, the blame’s on you) I decided this weekend to watch all the available episodes of “The City” on demand and now I’m hooked. It’s not as good as “The Hills,” can we just get that straight? Whitney is nice and pretty and has a good work ethic, but she’s got nothing on LC as far as reality TV stardom goes, you know what I mean? She’s never gonna ratchet up that sense of drama like Lauren can. She’s too prim and proper to get drunk and cry with her best friend at a party. Multiple times. That’s what I like about “The Hills.” Despite the fact its a far cry from my actual life, the show reminds of me being 24 and drinking margaritas on the front stoop after work, analyzing the latest Raleigh, NC gossip in agonizing detail and then heading over to the sub-par Mexican restaurant and bar across the street (because we could walk there, DUH) for a few more because, hey, we were young and it’s ok to be a little hungover for work in the morning. Undoubtedly, the night would conclude with a raucous and emotional declaration of our love for one another. “We will be friends for LIFE! What if we’d never met each other?! I love you guys!”

And Whitney, I’m sorry, is never going to achieve that level of sisterhood for me. But, I mean, I don’t have that much going on Monday nights, calm down, of course I’ll watch the show.

Hanging out in the living room recently on her favorite activity mat.

I’ve been meaning to write a post for a few weeks now about how much I’ve adored Nora’s fourth month and, what do you know, today she turned five-months-old. The post is still coming, however. She has acheived so much lately in her little baby world…turning from her back to her tummy (and now refusing to sleep on her back, and sometimes, adorably, with her little bottom in the air), babbling incoherently, and, much to her Uncle Vinnie’s delight (who is, strangely, the most Catholic member of our family in a very the-child-needs-her-blessing-from-the-Lord kind of way), been baptized. We’ve been busy, and having a lot of fun, and I’m looking forward to telling you all about it.

I don’t want to sound like the lamest person alive or anything, but since Nora was born and I took my maternity leave, I’ve gotten more into television. It’s not that I watch more TV than I once did, it’s that I care if television is good or not. Where TV was once mind numbing entertainment when I was at home sick or beat after a day of work, and I didn’t much care what was on, J and I now look forward to specific shows. This is new for us. Go ahead, make fun. We get excited about television programs.

Since I’ve put more energy into what I choose to watch, I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you.

“Freaks and Geeks.” This one’s not on the air anymore. In fact, it was only on for one season in 1999 before it was canceled. What were they thinking? This show is incredible. J and I just rented all the episodes and from the very first one I was completely in love with all of the characters. A few now-famous stars were in “Freaks and Geeks” before they were household names, like Seth Rogan, James Franco and Jason Segal (I love Jason Segal! He’s hilarious!), but the entire cast delivers amazing performances. I mean, people, I don’t talk like this - “delivers amazing performances” - what?! That’s how much I love this show. It revolves around the lives of several high schoolers and takes place in the early 80s, but there’s no point in my trying to convince you to watch it by explaining all the details. Instead, watch this clip of “geek” Sam Weir getting all revved up about the Parisian Pantsuit he bought to impress the ladies.

“How I Met Your Mother.” I don’t think it’s worth it for me to tell you guys that I love comedies that everyone loves, for instance “30 Rock,” so I’m concentrating on shows that don’t get talked about as often, shows that surprised me. I’m not sure why it took us so long to get into “How I Met Your Mother,” but we have become true fans, watching it every Monday night. We know what channel it’s on without having to use the digital cable “guide” feature. We never really did this before - actually plan to watch something on TV - except with “Law & Order SVU,” and we’re sort of over that. I dig that the characters (Jason Segal again!) spend a lot of time exchanging witty banter in a bar and I’m totally entertained. I’m no expert, but I think that’s an indication of great television writing.

“Oprah.” I’m not even going to waste my time trying to explain to you the sheer brilliance that is this show…the powerhouse, the genius, the friend, that is this woman.

“The Real World: Brooklyn.” Seriously? Seriously. I’ve had my complaints about the newer seasons of “The Real World,” but with this season the show’s creators have really upped the ante, and I like it. There’s a transgender cast member, for one thing, and everyone seems to be having the innocent-yet-worldly conversations that made me like the show when it first came on the air. Bravo, MTV, bravo.

One show I used to like but don’t anymore: “Jon and Kate Plus 8.” I’d catch it from time to time when I was at home with Nora, because it’s on about twelve billion times a day, and while I never thought I would enjoy a show about a family with eight kids, I found it endearing and, even better, entertaining when Jon and Kate would fight - which it turns out they do a lot. Now I feel like all they do is fight, and while I’m not one to judge parents with that much responsibility day after day after day, Kate seems a little, um, domineering, doesn’t she? I have this sneaking suspicion that under the surface she is totally seething and might jump ship one day. We’ll see.

A little while ago, when that “25 Random Things About Me” was running rampant on Facebook, I sat down one day, having avoided writing one about myself for some time, and succumbed. I was bored, it was cold out, Nora was napping and I figured, “Hey, I could read a good book but how about spilling some pointless information on the Internet?” It felt dumb. I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with that sort of thing, but there isn’t that much about me that people don’t know, so my “25 Random Things” was more like “25 Things” I’ve told you a bunch of times already.”

So when I was tagged in this other survey on Facebook I probably should have settled with a “why bother?” but instead I decided on a resounding “let’s do it!”

I thought I’d fill it out here, though, because - I don’t want to be a hater or anything - but I like my blog a lot more than I like Facebook.

Firstborn Share

1. Was your first pregnancy planned?
It was, like, I don’t know. Too personal. That’s a good start on a post about “sharing.”

2. Were you married at the time?
Yes. Thank God. Or else the Catholics would have come calling.

3. What was your reaction?
Nausea. Excitement. A sense of calm. Repeat.

4. Was abortion an option for you?
Is this seriously a question on a Facebook survey? Are we having fun? Or are we starting semi-political debates?

5. How old were you?
30.

6. How did you find out you were pregnant?
A pregnancy test, silly.

7. Who did you tell first?
J, but almost my best friend Jennifer, for real, because J was at work and I couldn’t wait. But then I reconsidered and decided I should tell my husband first because, you know, it was his baby and all.

8. Did you want to find out the sex?
Yes.

9. Due date?
September 25.

10. Did you have morning sickness?
I sort of felt like I was carsick some of the time, but I was pretty lucky and it was never that bad. I was incredibly tired, however, during the first trimester, more tired than I’ve ever been in my life.

11. What did you crave?
A very serious and important matter in my pregnancy. See here.

12. Who/what irritated you the most?
My swollen ankles.

13. What was your first child’s sex?
Girl.

14. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what you were getting?
No, I was very happy that the sonographer was “99 percent sure” we were having a girl. There was this one point right after delivery where the anesthesiologist made an honest mistake and called the baby “he” and I started freaking out immediately thinking about the 7,000 pink outfits we were somehow going to have to return.

15. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?
Are you kidding me? There is no way I’m answering this. I gained, you know, enough to sustain the baby that was growing inside me. Plus ice cream pounds. Sometimes I wish we’d return to a culture of decency and decorum where women didn’t dare talk about things like weight. That’s how it used to be in the good old days, right?

16. Did you have a baby shower?
Yes.

17. Was it a surprise or did you know?
Um, I’m getting kind of sick of this survey. And bored. Anyway, I had one that was thrown by J’s side of the family that was a complete and awesome surprise, one thrown by my office that was a total surprise and one thrown by my oldest and best friends that was a lovely sort-of surprise. My mom’s side of the family also threw me one that I knew about. I’m a lucky girl.

18. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
I was very lucky and did not have any at all.

19. Where did you give birth?
Yale.

Right now I am watching Nora, who was recently learned to turn herself over on her tummy, faceplanting on her activity mat while chewing on a little toy duck. Do I or do I not save her? After all, she is learning, and in my opinion she needs to learn that when she gets herself into situations like this, she’s got to get herself out. And, I mean, it’s pretty funny. It is also more interesting than where I gave birth, is the thing.

20. How many hours were you in labor?
24 (insert expletive) hours including the C-section.

21. Who drove you to the hospital?
J.

Have you guys read the Twilight series? Jennifer is trying to convince me that I should start reading them. I’m nervous about it, because I’m pretty sure it’s going to result in a Harry Potter-like addiction where I’m not going to want to do anything else for a few weeks. Then again, I could really use some good train reading.

22. Who watched you give birth?
It was just gonna be J, the doctor and nurse, but it turned out to be a rather large surgical team. I viewed them all as very good friends at the time.

23. Was it natural or C-section?
Please see above.

24. Did you take medicine to ease the pain?
Yes I totally, totally did. I really respect women who go without, but I am very happy with my decision.

27. How much did your child weigh?
7 lbs. 11 oz.

28. When was your child actually born?
September 20, five days early.

29. What did you name him/her?
Nora Claire Chipmunk Cheeks McDonough.

30. How old is your firstborn today?
Four and a half months. I was just kidding about “chipmunk cheeks,” by the way.

I had what might be called “hippie tendencies” when I was in high school and for a couple years in college. I bought corduroys from the thrift store and had a huge poster of Bob Dylan on my wall. I bought a ton of Grateful Dead albums.

I loved them, although I didn’t ever love them in the way truly dedicated Grateful Dead fans love them. Like, when musicians jam for 45 minutes I kind of want to kill myself and therefore I can’t ever be a huge Grateful Dead fan - or Phish fan for that matter (I used to like Phish a lot too, but honestly, they piss me off now - that’s another post, though).

I listened to The Dead a lot and I totally dug their laid back vibe. I got all into the song “China Cat Sunflower” because it was so catchy! And awesome! And I was a free human being with dreams! Dreams! Even before I became interested in the music, I tried my best at hippie-type mourning when Jerry Garcia died by lighting a stick of incense on on my windowsill in my bedroom and I sat there just thinking about it all and trying to make myself cry. What in the name of God was I thinking? Incense smells terrible, I mean seriously, I hate it.

I don’t know when the change took place. Maybe it was when I realized expensive jeans really flatter your body more than $2 jeans. Maybe it was when I got into the music I’m into now, or when I stopped trying to be a vegetarian (because I loved the Earth and the animals that inhabited the Earth) for the hundreth time. Anyway, the point is I got over it. I got over the Grateful Dead slowly, but surely.

Here’s the thing about this one. I do I respect their talent. Also, I don’t hate all Grateful Dead songs. I think “Workingman’s Dead” is a really good album, and I think “Ripple” is one of the best songs of all times.

But when I hear some of their stuff, for real, I CANNOT sigh loudly enough, as in “J, if you do not turn this off RIGHT NOW…” “China Cat Sunflower” is particularly offensive. I’m not sure how to describe the feeling I get except that to say feeds my dislike of hippie-ness for the sake of hippie-ness, i.e. wearing long skirts and not washing your hair just because you like the way it looks. Come ON. Get a grip.

It’s kind of like the time my brother, Vinnie, came to visit us in North Carolina and we went to Weaver Street Market, which is actually a really great place with organic foods, good coffee and baked goods, the whole deal. But weird nonsense just breeds on the place’s lawn…girls in loose clothing hoola-hooping, people dancing to the music in their head. And that’s fine and all, but Vinnie, who does not like to mince words, checked out the scene and explained to me that it made him want to beat everybody up, like seriously start some fights. I laughed, and told him that was mean, that these were nice people, but somewhere deep inside, I totally, totally got it.