the dream life gets voxy

Last night Turner Classic Movies was showing my kind of line-up.

What is your favorite scent or smell and why? 
Submitted by Nebraska Plates.

Nag Champa incense. I don't know why, but I love that smell. It connects me to earth and spirit, engages my imagination.

I'm also in the "love patchouli" camp of the love or hate patchouli issue. 

I like earthy, complex scents. (Also a fan of jasmine.)

2008 is the Year of the Rat.  Which animal year were you born in?

I was born in the year of the monkey!

What's your favorite hangover cure? 
Submitted by Soup.

Not drinking.

What would you do with your extra time off next time you are in-between jobs?
Submitted by Oleg Dulin.

Oh, this is a good one. I think about this a lot. I will cook and bake a lot, I will keep my house clean, I will meditate every morning and stick to a daily kundalini yoga practice. I will take long walks and visit the Book Celler at the public library and see my friends more but most importantly, I will sit in my own chair at my own desk in my own home every day with a cup of coffee or green tea and write, write, write, write, write. 

I will also wear outrageous get-ups of my own design.

And sometimes, I will go to the flea market just because. 

How do you feel about your birthday?  Do you look forward to it and remind all your friends, or do you dread it and try to keep it a secret?

I love my birthday. There are people very close to me who say they "don't care" about their birthdays. I try to respect that but deep down inside, I guess I don't believe it because I love my own birthday so much. I have all sorts of complicated mixed emotions about aging but those thoughts don't seem to tarnish my birthday love. I love birthdays because they're like little vacations from life. Obligations don't really matter on your birthday. People are nice to you and bring you lovely surprises. You can eat whatever you want - you can eat cake at every meal if you so desire. I think celebrating your own birthday is a way to say thank you for this gift of being alive.

The seventh season of "American Idol" premieres tonight.  Will you be watching, or are you over it?

For some strange reason, I'll be watching it. I really don't like the first stages of Idol - the way the show is edited to make folks look bad and poke fun at them. And the type of music that's generally performed during the later stages tends not to be what I normally listen to. There's just something about it, though. I keep coming back.

I would like to add that I miss the television writers. Oh, I really miss them.

Somebody, please, pay the writers.,

What do you do with the cards and letters you receive?  Do you keep them all, just keep the photos, throw them away? 
Inspired by jacolily.

Timely question. I keep them all. All. Even the envelopes. As I am in the middle of the great purge and organize 2008 project, I'm rethinking that  strategy.

What are you saving up for? 
Submitted by Star. 

Um. Yeah. I should be saving up for something.