Me! Me!! ME!!!
Pilfered from SamuraiFrog:
1. Were you named after anyone?
I am technically Tosy and Cosh the Third, so yes.
2. When was the last time you cried?
Watching WALL-E a few weeks ago.
3. What is your favorite lunch meat?
Rare roast beef.
4. Do you have kids?
Two. Twin girls, will be five in a little over a month.
5. If you were another person would you be friends with you?
Probably not. I'm a bit on the anti-social side; very awkward and ill-at ease socially. I really don't have many friends.
6. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Too much.
7. Do you still have your tonsils?
Nope. Taken out, along with the adenoids, when I was five or six.
8. Would you bungee jump?
No. I HATE the sensation of falling. Although I do like diving off of high dives. Maybe it's falling feet first I hate.
9. What is your favorite cereal?
Cocoa Crispies. Chocolaty goodness.
10. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Only if they won't come off otherwise. I destroy a lot of heels that way.
11. Do you think you are strong?
Physically? Strong enough. Emotionally? Not too.
12. What is your favorite ice cream?
Haagen-Dazs vanilla.
13. What is the first thing you notice about people?
Age. Are they older than me? Younger?
14. Red or pink?
Red. Pink is too wishy-washy, as if it started to go somewhere and gave up halfway.
15. What is the least favorite thing about yourself?
Lack of willpower. With diet, with writing, being creative. I have time to write more, I spend an hour and a half a day on trains, but I don't.
16. Who do you miss the most?
My aunt who dies when I was little. I think she would have gotten me in a way others don't.
17. What color shoes are you wearing?
Black.
18. What was the last thing you ate?
Lucky Charms. (The 7-11 didn't have single-serving Cocoa Crispies.
19. What are you listening to right now?
The quiet sounds of a conference room, pecking at laptops.
20. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Honestly? No idea.
21. Favorite smells?
Bacon. Roasting turkey. Cinnamon.
22. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone?
My wife. Yesterday. We needed margarine.
23. Favorite sports to watch?
Basketball. NBA.
24. Hair color?
Dark brown.
25. Eye color?
Blue.
26. Do you wear contacts?
No, glasses for movies, driving, TV, etc. Which means they typically go in my bag when I get on the train and come out again when I get in the car at the end of the day.
27. Favorite food?
Lamb.
28. Scary movies or happy endings?
Good endings.
29. Last movie you watched?
Tinker Bell. You know, it wasn't bad.
30. What color shirt are you wearing?
White with black checks.
31. Summer or winter?
Summer, in a landslide.
32. Hugs or kisses?
Kisses.
33. Favorite desserts?
Ice cream. Cheesecake. Coconut sorbet.
34. I’m most likely to
Overeat.
35. I’m least likely to
Undereat.
36. What book are you reading now?
Downtown Owl, by Chuck Klosterman. His first novel. Reads just like you'd imagine a Klosterman novel would. Which is a good thing.
37. What is on your mouse pad?
Some work HR thing.
38. What did you watch on television last night?
How I Met Your Mother, House, Two and a Half Men.
39. Favorite sounds?
Music. Good music.
40. Rolling Stones or The Beatles?
The Beatles. Never cottoned to the Stones.
41. What is the furthest you’ve been from home?
St. Petersberg, Russia. Sang with the Rutgers University Glee Club at the Ginka Capella. Ate meals home-cooked by a heavy-set, matronly Russian woman. Heaven.
42. Do you have a special talent?
Not really.
43. Where were you born?
Jersey City, NJ.
Until Whenever
Showing posts with label Meme Quiz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meme Quiz. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Meme Pilfery
From his frogness:
1. Five names you go by:
(almost none anymore or in real-life though - in real-life I'm just John)
a. Tosy and Cosh
b. Supe
c) Sweetness
d) Gamps
e) JC
2. Three things you are wearing right now
a. A purple dress shirt
b. Grey slacks
c.) Black shoes
3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:
a. An HDTV TV
b. The complete Deadwood
c. An eggnog latte
4. Three people who will probably fill this out:
? I don't often spread memes.
5. Two things you did last night:
a. Watched the first half of the latest Pushing Daisies
b. Drank some maple tea
6. Two things you ate today:
a. Chicken Marsala pizza
b. Cranberry Vanilla Grape Nuts Trail Mix Cereal
7. Two people you last talked to on the phone
Two colleagues, about a meeting document we are preparing.
8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
a. Most likely start a new project at work
b. Finally start watching Wall-E
9. Two longest car rides:
a. New Jersey to Florida
b. New Jersey to New Hampshire
Until Whenever
From his frogness:
1. Five names you go by:
(almost none anymore or in real-life though - in real-life I'm just John)
a. Tosy and Cosh
b. Supe
c) Sweetness
d) Gamps
e) JC
2. Three things you are wearing right now
a. A purple dress shirt
b. Grey slacks
c.) Black shoes
3. Two things you want very badly at the moment:
a. An HDTV TV
b. The complete Deadwood
c. An eggnog latte
4. Three people who will probably fill this out:
? I don't often spread memes.
5. Two things you did last night:
a. Watched the first half of the latest Pushing Daisies
b. Drank some maple tea
6. Two things you ate today:
a. Chicken Marsala pizza
b. Cranberry Vanilla Grape Nuts Trail Mix Cereal
7. Two people you last talked to on the phone
Two colleagues, about a meeting document we are preparing.
8. Two things you are going to do tomorrow:
a. Most likely start a new project at work
b. Finally start watching Wall-E
9. Two longest car rides:
a. New Jersey to Florida
b. New Jersey to New Hampshire
Until Whenever
Monday, October 06, 2008
Why Does It Seem So Inviting?
Another absence, another meme to return on. I'm very predictable.
Stolen from the Frog.
Have you ever been apple picking?
Many times. Taking the kids has become a tradition, although this year the place (Masker's Orchards in NY) was out of cider donuts when we went. Not cool, Maskers, not cool.
Is there a dish you make/eat only during this time of the year?
Pumpkin ice cream. Only because evil Big Ice Cream only makes the stuff at this time of year. Jerks. This year, I've managed to get the kids hooked on the stuff. Passing on your addictions to your children can be fun!
Will you attend a tail gate party this season?
No. Went to a few in college and largely missed the allure.
When do you turn on the heat?
Usually at least intermittently by mid-October.
How many sweaters do you own?
Maybe 7?
Are you fond of Nouveau Beaujolais wine?
As its a wine, no. Tosy and Cosh are teetotalers.
Do you get excited about Halloween?
Yes. Much more so now that there are kids to act as beards for my enthusiasm. This year, one will be Cinderella and the other a witch.
How about Thanksgiving?
Yes. I just really like Turkey, plus the idea of a holiday with no real agenda.
Is there an activity you do only in the autumn?
Pumpkin picking, apple picking, pumpkin carving. Raking leaves.
Have you ever burned leaves?
No. Sounds fun though.
Do you own any ‘scarecrow’ decorations?
Two five-footers in the front lawn and two little one-foot decorations inside.
Do you plant bulbs?
We mean to plant bulbs.
Your fondest autumn memory?
When does fall begin for you?
The first time I have to out a jacket on in the morning.
What is your favorite aspect of fall?
The smell of the air. Just wondrous.
What do you like to drink in the fall?
Pumpkin spice coffee.
What is fall weather like where you live?
Northeast New Jersey is very nice in Fall - cool but not too cold with lots of sun.
What color is fall?
Burnt yellowy red.
Do you have a favorite fall chore?
No. I like the idea of raking, but the actuality of raking, not so much.
What is your least favorite thing about fall?
Rainy fall days. Very depressing.
What is your favorite fall holiday?
Halloween, in a pretty easy walk.
What’s your favorite kind of pie?
Pumpkin.
Do you have a favorite fall book?
Not really.
Until Whenever
Another absence, another meme to return on. I'm very predictable.
Stolen from the Frog.
Have you ever been apple picking?
Many times. Taking the kids has become a tradition, although this year the place (Masker's Orchards in NY) was out of cider donuts when we went. Not cool, Maskers, not cool.
Is there a dish you make/eat only during this time of the year?
Pumpkin ice cream. Only because evil Big Ice Cream only makes the stuff at this time of year. Jerks. This year, I've managed to get the kids hooked on the stuff. Passing on your addictions to your children can be fun!
Will you attend a tail gate party this season?
No. Went to a few in college and largely missed the allure.
When do you turn on the heat?
Usually at least intermittently by mid-October.
How many sweaters do you own?
Maybe 7?
Are you fond of Nouveau Beaujolais wine?
As its a wine, no. Tosy and Cosh are teetotalers.
Do you get excited about Halloween?
Yes. Much more so now that there are kids to act as beards for my enthusiasm. This year, one will be Cinderella and the other a witch.
How about Thanksgiving?
Yes. I just really like Turkey, plus the idea of a holiday with no real agenda.
Is there an activity you do only in the autumn?
Pumpkin picking, apple picking, pumpkin carving. Raking leaves.
Have you ever burned leaves?
No. Sounds fun though.
Do you own any ‘scarecrow’ decorations?
Two five-footers in the front lawn and two little one-foot decorations inside.
Do you plant bulbs?
We mean to plant bulbs.
Your fondest autumn memory?
When does fall begin for you?
The first time I have to out a jacket on in the morning.
What is your favorite aspect of fall?
The smell of the air. Just wondrous.
What do you like to drink in the fall?
Pumpkin spice coffee.
What is fall weather like where you live?
Northeast New Jersey is very nice in Fall - cool but not too cold with lots of sun.
What color is fall?
Burnt yellowy red.
Do you have a favorite fall chore?
No. I like the idea of raking, but the actuality of raking, not so much.
What is your least favorite thing about fall?
Rainy fall days. Very depressing.
What is your favorite fall holiday?
Halloween, in a pretty easy walk.
What’s your favorite kind of pie?
Pumpkin.
Do you have a favorite fall book?
Not really.
Until Whenever
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Mmmmmeeme
What have I eaten (stolen from the SamuraiFrog)?
1. Venison: Once, I believe. I remember liking it fine.
2. Nettle tea: No.
3. Huevos rancheros: No. At least I don't think so.
4. Steak tartare: No. Would like to.
5. Crocodile: Yes. Well, alligator. In nugget form in Florida. Not that good.
6. Black pudding: No.
7. Cheese fondue: Yes.
8. Carp: No. Not that I can remember anyway.
9. Borscht: Yes. I stayed with a host family in St. Petersberg while on a Glee Club tour of Eastern Europe in college, and I'm pretty sure she served us borscht. Heavenly.
10. Baba ghanoush: Yes. Quite yummy, but not as good as hummus.
11. Calamari: Many times.
12. Pho: ?
13. PB&J sandwich: Of course. These days it's only a few times a year though.
14. Aloo gobi: Yes. I like Indian food, but don't love it.
15. Hot dog from a street cart: Too many times!
16. Epoisses: No
17. Black truffle: No.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes: Nope; I'm a teetotaler.
19. Steamed pork buns: I once wrote airline menus for a living, and we had in-house translators, which meant lots of ethnicities. A Chinese (?) woman the next cubicle over made the most remarkable pork buns.
20. Pistachio ice cream: Not in years. Oddly enough, though, this was my favorite ice cream when I was a kid.
21. Heirloom tomatoes: No.
22. Fresh wild berries: Yes.
23. Foie gras: No.
24. Rice and beans: Yes, but mostly mall food court places.
25. Brawn, or head cheese: No.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper: No.
27. Dulce de leche: No.
28. Oysters: Yes, a long while ago.
29. Baklava: My sister-in-law makes it. Not a huge fan.
30. Bagna cauda: ?
31. Wasabi peas: No.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl: One of my favorite things.
33. Salted lassi: No, but I've always wanted to try it (it was always on the menus for Indian flights)
34. Sauerkraut: Sauerkraut on a grilled kielbasa on a good roll. Perfection.
35. Root beer float: Many.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar: A teetotaler who doesn't smoke? No.
37. Clotted cream tea: Yes, on a British Airways flight. Was buttery goodness. I'll have to see if I can get some here, now that I think about it.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O: No.
39. Gumbo: No.
40. Oxtail: Yes. Meaty and tender.
41. Curried goat: No.
42. Whole insects: No.
43. Phaal: ?
44. Goat's milk: I don't think so.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$130 or more: No.
46. Fugu: No.
47. Chicken tikka masala: Probably.
48. Eel: No.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut: Yes, but never hot out of the oven, damn it!
50. Sea urchin: No.
51. Prickly pear: No.
52. Umeboshi: ?
53. Abalone: No.
54. Paneer: ?
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal: Yes. And I, to my shame, enjoy them.
56. Spaetzle: No.
57. Dirty gin martini: No.
58. Beer above 8% ABV: No.
59. Poutine: No.
60. Carob chips: No.
61. S'mores: Yes, but never authentic campfire ones.
62. Sweetbreads: No.
63. Kaolin: ?
64. Currywurst: ?
65. Durian: ?
66. Frogs' legs: No. Keep emaning to.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake: Yes, including fresh beignets in Nw Orleans.
68. Haggis: No. If given the opportunity, though, I would try it.
69. Fried plantain: Delicious!
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette: No.
71. Gazpacho: No.
72. Caviar and blini: Yes. Just a kindof salty mush, though.
73. Louche absinthe: No.
74. Gjetost, or brunost: ?
75. Roadkill: No.
76. Baijiu: ?
77. Hostess Fruit Pie: All the time as a kid. Not in ages though.
78. Snail: Yes. Kind of flavorless.
79. Lapsang souchong: ?
80. Bellini: Yes.
81. Tom yum: ?
82. Eggs Benedict: Very good.
83. Pocky: ?
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant: No, alas.
85. Kobe beef: No.
86. Hare: No.
87. Goulash: I think so.
88. Flowers: Yes. Not bad.
89. Horse: No.
90. Criollo chocolate: I don't think so.
91. Spam: No.
92. Soft shell crab: Yes.
93. Rose harissa: ?
94. Catfish: Many times. I've made it as well.
95. Mole poblano: No.
96. Bagel and lox: No.
97. Lobster Thermidor: No. Just broiled and baked.
98. Polenta: Yes - kind of mushy and flavorless.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee: Yes.
100. Snake: No.
111. Elk: No.
112. Ostrich: Many times, in burger form. Pretty good.
113. Moose: I've had moose balls. (cue rim shot).
114. Whole hog BBQ: Yep. Amazing.
115. Wine @ >$400/bottle: No.
116. Home made bacon/sausage: Yes. My brother-in-law-s father makes his own sausages. To die for.
117. Chocolate and chilis: No.
118. Chittlins: No.
119. Moonshine: No.
120. Quail eggs: No.
121. Monkfish liver: No.
122. Live scallop: No.
123. Fried chicken giblets: No,.
124. Duck cracklings: No, but sounds gooood.
125. Grappa: No.
Until Whenever
What have I eaten (stolen from the SamuraiFrog)?
1. Venison: Once, I believe. I remember liking it fine.
2. Nettle tea: No.
3. Huevos rancheros: No. At least I don't think so.
4. Steak tartare: No. Would like to.
5. Crocodile: Yes. Well, alligator. In nugget form in Florida. Not that good.
6. Black pudding: No.
7. Cheese fondue: Yes.
8. Carp: No. Not that I can remember anyway.
9. Borscht: Yes. I stayed with a host family in St. Petersberg while on a Glee Club tour of Eastern Europe in college, and I'm pretty sure she served us borscht. Heavenly.
10. Baba ghanoush: Yes. Quite yummy, but not as good as hummus.
11. Calamari: Many times.
12. Pho: ?
13. PB&J sandwich: Of course. These days it's only a few times a year though.
14. Aloo gobi: Yes. I like Indian food, but don't love it.
15. Hot dog from a street cart: Too many times!
16. Epoisses: No
17. Black truffle: No.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes: Nope; I'm a teetotaler.
19. Steamed pork buns: I once wrote airline menus for a living, and we had in-house translators, which meant lots of ethnicities. A Chinese (?) woman the next cubicle over made the most remarkable pork buns.
20. Pistachio ice cream: Not in years. Oddly enough, though, this was my favorite ice cream when I was a kid.
21. Heirloom tomatoes: No.
22. Fresh wild berries: Yes.
23. Foie gras: No.
24. Rice and beans: Yes, but mostly mall food court places.
25. Brawn, or head cheese: No.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper: No.
27. Dulce de leche: No.
28. Oysters: Yes, a long while ago.
29. Baklava: My sister-in-law makes it. Not a huge fan.
30. Bagna cauda: ?
31. Wasabi peas: No.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl: One of my favorite things.
33. Salted lassi: No, but I've always wanted to try it (it was always on the menus for Indian flights)
34. Sauerkraut: Sauerkraut on a grilled kielbasa on a good roll. Perfection.
35. Root beer float: Many.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar: A teetotaler who doesn't smoke? No.
37. Clotted cream tea: Yes, on a British Airways flight. Was buttery goodness. I'll have to see if I can get some here, now that I think about it.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O: No.
39. Gumbo: No.
40. Oxtail: Yes. Meaty and tender.
41. Curried goat: No.
42. Whole insects: No.
43. Phaal: ?
44. Goat's milk: I don't think so.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$130 or more: No.
46. Fugu: No.
47. Chicken tikka masala: Probably.
48. Eel: No.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut: Yes, but never hot out of the oven, damn it!
50. Sea urchin: No.
51. Prickly pear: No.
52. Umeboshi: ?
53. Abalone: No.
54. Paneer: ?
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal: Yes. And I, to my shame, enjoy them.
56. Spaetzle: No.
57. Dirty gin martini: No.
58. Beer above 8% ABV: No.
59. Poutine: No.
60. Carob chips: No.
61. S'mores: Yes, but never authentic campfire ones.
62. Sweetbreads: No.
63. Kaolin: ?
64. Currywurst: ?
65. Durian: ?
66. Frogs' legs: No. Keep emaning to.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake: Yes, including fresh beignets in Nw Orleans.
68. Haggis: No. If given the opportunity, though, I would try it.
69. Fried plantain: Delicious!
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette: No.
71. Gazpacho: No.
72. Caviar and blini: Yes. Just a kindof salty mush, though.
73. Louche absinthe: No.
74. Gjetost, or brunost: ?
75. Roadkill: No.
76. Baijiu: ?
77. Hostess Fruit Pie: All the time as a kid. Not in ages though.
78. Snail: Yes. Kind of flavorless.
79. Lapsang souchong: ?
80. Bellini: Yes.
81. Tom yum: ?
82. Eggs Benedict: Very good.
83. Pocky: ?
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant: No, alas.
85. Kobe beef: No.
86. Hare: No.
87. Goulash: I think so.
88. Flowers: Yes. Not bad.
89. Horse: No.
90. Criollo chocolate: I don't think so.
91. Spam: No.
92. Soft shell crab: Yes.
93. Rose harissa: ?
94. Catfish: Many times. I've made it as well.
95. Mole poblano: No.
96. Bagel and lox: No.
97. Lobster Thermidor: No. Just broiled and baked.
98. Polenta: Yes - kind of mushy and flavorless.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee: Yes.
100. Snake: No.
111. Elk: No.
112. Ostrich: Many times, in burger form. Pretty good.
113. Moose: I've had moose balls. (cue rim shot).
114. Whole hog BBQ: Yep. Amazing.
115. Wine @ >$400/bottle: No.
116. Home made bacon/sausage: Yes. My brother-in-law-s father makes his own sausages. To die for.
117. Chocolate and chilis: No.
118. Chittlins: No.
119. Moonshine: No.
120. Quail eggs: No.
121. Monkfish liver: No.
122. Live scallop: No.
123. Fried chicken giblets: No,.
124. Duck cracklings: No, but sounds gooood.
125. Grappa: No.
Until Whenever
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
On Being a Heathen
From the Samurai Frog, I steal this'n:
Q1. How would you define “atheism”?
I've never felt that to define oneself as an "atheist" one must be 100%, absolutely dead certain that there is no God of any kind. Basically, that kind of single-minded certainty is part of what I don't like about religion. And yet, to me, an "agnostic" is one who simply doesn't have an opinion. I do have an opinion, and a very strong one, that there is no God of any kind - no white-beard-and-robes guy; no mystical force of nature; no initial spark of creation architect, no nothing. But I can't claim to know this, any more than I can claim to know that there aren't advanced civilizations living beneath Mars' crust. But I can certainly be remarkably skeptical of it.
Q2. Was your upbringing religious?
No. Baptized Catholic but never went to church or made any other sacraments. Was brought up by believers, but not in the specifics of a faith. I actually kind of get what "cultural Jews" are getting at - I celebrate Easter and Christmas, go to the occasional Mass, was married by a priest, and feel other cultural connections to Catholicism, but am not really a Catholic.
Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?
Can I pretend that "Trojan Horse" is one word?
Q4. What scientific endeavour really excites you?
The leaps and bounds being made in medicine. It's really astonishing the things we can cure and prevent.
Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?
I'm not sure there is an atheist community, and I don't think there should be one. The notion of a set of rules and beliefs that all atheists should share is, frankly, repugnant. It's the absence of such dogma that I love about atheism.
Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?
Admiration. People who devote themselves to the clergy are, in large part, selfless, giving, and extremely generous people who do a lot of good. A twinge of disappointment, sure, but I'd feel that twinge if my kids hated U2, too - that's just a natural, genetic desire to have your children be to a large degree like you, to validate you. And as longs as you don't let those twinges rule you, they're fine.
Q7. What’s your favourite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?
The notion that there must be a God for such a complex world to exist, given that the immensely logical refutation that a God complex enough to create such complexity must itself require a creator seems never to have been pondered.
Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?
I don't know that I have one.
Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?
Hitchens, because he can write like the devil, and because he's all about the real-world examples, and not about thought experiments.
Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?
Osama bin Laden? The head of the Klu Klux Klan? Someone like that - who takes theism to very dangerous, murderous extremes.
Until Whenever
From the Samurai Frog, I steal this'n:
Q1. How would you define “atheism”?
I've never felt that to define oneself as an "atheist" one must be 100%, absolutely dead certain that there is no God of any kind. Basically, that kind of single-minded certainty is part of what I don't like about religion. And yet, to me, an "agnostic" is one who simply doesn't have an opinion. I do have an opinion, and a very strong one, that there is no God of any kind - no white-beard-and-robes guy; no mystical force of nature; no initial spark of creation architect, no nothing. But I can't claim to know this, any more than I can claim to know that there aren't advanced civilizations living beneath Mars' crust. But I can certainly be remarkably skeptical of it.
Q2. Was your upbringing religious?
No. Baptized Catholic but never went to church or made any other sacraments. Was brought up by believers, but not in the specifics of a faith. I actually kind of get what "cultural Jews" are getting at - I celebrate Easter and Christmas, go to the occasional Mass, was married by a priest, and feel other cultural connections to Catholicism, but am not really a Catholic.
Q3. How would you describe “Intelligent Design”, using only one word?
Can I pretend that "Trojan Horse" is one word?
Q4. What scientific endeavour really excites you?
The leaps and bounds being made in medicine. It's really astonishing the things we can cure and prevent.
Q5. If you could change one thing about the “atheist community”, what would it be and why?
I'm not sure there is an atheist community, and I don't think there should be one. The notion of a set of rules and beliefs that all atheists should share is, frankly, repugnant. It's the absence of such dogma that I love about atheism.
Q6. If your child came up to you and said “I’m joining the clergy”, what would be your first response?
Admiration. People who devote themselves to the clergy are, in large part, selfless, giving, and extremely generous people who do a lot of good. A twinge of disappointment, sure, but I'd feel that twinge if my kids hated U2, too - that's just a natural, genetic desire to have your children be to a large degree like you, to validate you. And as longs as you don't let those twinges rule you, they're fine.
Q7. What’s your favourite theistic argument, and how do you usually refute it?
The notion that there must be a God for such a complex world to exist, given that the immensely logical refutation that a God complex enough to create such complexity must itself require a creator seems never to have been pondered.
Q8. What’s your most “controversial” (as far as general attitudes amongst other atheists goes) viewpoint?
I don't know that I have one.
Q9. Of the “Four Horsemen” (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and Harris) who is your favourite, and why?
Hitchens, because he can write like the devil, and because he's all about the real-world examples, and not about thought experiments.
Q10. If you could convince just one theistic person to abandon their beliefs, who would it be?
Osama bin Laden? The head of the Klu Klux Klan? Someone like that - who takes theism to very dangerous, murderous extremes.
Until Whenever
Monday, June 09, 2008
When Inspiration Doesn't Strike!!
You steal a meme!
What is your...?
1. Favorite movie:
The Shawshank Redemption. See here for why.
2. Favorite movie to come back to time and again:
The Shawshank Redemption.
3. Best movie that you never want to see again
As much as I loved Requiem for a Dream, it was intense and disturbing enough that I could probably never see it again and be perfectly OK with that.
4. Last great movie you saw in a theater
Iron Man. Indiana Jones didn't quite reach greatness for me.
5. Last great movie you saw on DVD
There Will Be Blood. Pretty sure. (Pretty sure it achieved greatness, not that I saw it). I would like to see it again (but given the number of hours left before I die in (hopefully) sixty years or so and movies I want to see, may not) to see how it plays now that I know the story is so thin.
How do you feel about...?
1. The ending of Iron Man:
Genius. No studio has ever tried what Marvel is trying here - a cohesive universe that ties together. The James Bond films, Muppet films, DC films, Spider-Man and X-Men films rarely if ever refer each other, and the big Star Wars and Lord of the Rings sets are really single epic stories. But multiple stories that will all tie together in an Avengers film? Wow.
2. Jason Segel taking control of the Muppets
I love Siegel on How I Met Your Mother but have yet to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the puppet Dracula musical within that purportedly convinced the Henson folks to give him a shot. So - cautiously optimistic.
3. Manohla Dargis' last editorial in the New York Times about women in film:
Did not read.
4. The MTV Movie Awards
Very, very unnecessary. Big-budget popcorn films don't get enough promotion?
5. Ellen Page as Jane Eyre
Doubtful, but hopeful that she can surprise all and pull it off. Winona Ryder started out as "quirky modern girl" after all, and has had much success in period pieces. After Heathers, I doubt I would have been any more doubtful that Ryder could do period than I am about Page.
"Who is your...?
1. Favorite Actor:
Morgan Freeman. He's risking becoming typecast, but dig deeper and you'll see more range than you might suspect.
2. Favorite Actress:
Julianne Moore.
3. Favorite Actor (deceased)
Jimmy Stewart. So smooth.
4. Favorite Actress (deceased)
Katherine Hepburn.
5. Favorite Director
Steven Spielberg. In popcorn or serious mode.
Which do you prefer...?
1. Sub-titles or dubbing
If I have a choice, subtitles, but dubbing doesn't bug me.
2. Kurt Russell or Bruce Campbell
Kurt Russell. I am pretty much (Spider-Man cameos aside) a Campbell virgin.
3. Buttered Popcorn or Salted Popcorn
Buttered. Because butter makes everything better.
4. Ambiguity or clarity
Usually clarity. Ambiguity can work, but it's much harder to pull off without being precious.
5. Characters or plot
In film, plot, since we get so little time with film characters. On TV, characters, since we spend so much time with them. Ideally, of course, both.
Until Whenever
You steal a meme!
What is your...?
1. Favorite movie:
The Shawshank Redemption. See here for why.
2. Favorite movie to come back to time and again:
The Shawshank Redemption.
3. Best movie that you never want to see again
As much as I loved Requiem for a Dream, it was intense and disturbing enough that I could probably never see it again and be perfectly OK with that.
4. Last great movie you saw in a theater
Iron Man. Indiana Jones didn't quite reach greatness for me.
5. Last great movie you saw on DVD
There Will Be Blood. Pretty sure. (Pretty sure it achieved greatness, not that I saw it). I would like to see it again (but given the number of hours left before I die in (hopefully) sixty years or so and movies I want to see, may not) to see how it plays now that I know the story is so thin.
How do you feel about...?
1. The ending of Iron Man:
Genius. No studio has ever tried what Marvel is trying here - a cohesive universe that ties together. The James Bond films, Muppet films, DC films, Spider-Man and X-Men films rarely if ever refer each other, and the big Star Wars and Lord of the Rings sets are really single epic stories. But multiple stories that will all tie together in an Avengers film? Wow.
2. Jason Segel taking control of the Muppets
I love Siegel on How I Met Your Mother but have yet to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the puppet Dracula musical within that purportedly convinced the Henson folks to give him a shot. So - cautiously optimistic.
3. Manohla Dargis' last editorial in the New York Times about women in film:
Did not read.
4. The MTV Movie Awards
Very, very unnecessary. Big-budget popcorn films don't get enough promotion?
5. Ellen Page as Jane Eyre
Doubtful, but hopeful that she can surprise all and pull it off. Winona Ryder started out as "quirky modern girl" after all, and has had much success in period pieces. After Heathers, I doubt I would have been any more doubtful that Ryder could do period than I am about Page.
"Who is your...?
1. Favorite Actor:
Morgan Freeman. He's risking becoming typecast, but dig deeper and you'll see more range than you might suspect.
2. Favorite Actress:
Julianne Moore.
3. Favorite Actor (deceased)
Jimmy Stewart. So smooth.
4. Favorite Actress (deceased)
Katherine Hepburn.
5. Favorite Director
Steven Spielberg. In popcorn or serious mode.
Which do you prefer...?
1. Sub-titles or dubbing
If I have a choice, subtitles, but dubbing doesn't bug me.
2. Kurt Russell or Bruce Campbell
Kurt Russell. I am pretty much (Spider-Man cameos aside) a Campbell virgin.
3. Buttered Popcorn or Salted Popcorn
Buttered. Because butter makes everything better.
4. Ambiguity or clarity
Usually clarity. Ambiguity can work, but it's much harder to pull off without being precious.
5. Characters or plot
In film, plot, since we get so little time with film characters. On TV, characters, since we spend so much time with them. Ideally, of course, both.
Until Whenever
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Unread
From Jaq, I steal this book meme, the point of which seems to be to list books typicaly bought but never read - "good intentions" books. The drill is thus:
Bold means I've read it
Underline means I read it because a teacher made me for class
Italics mean I started but didn't finish
Red means I have no desire to read it
Green means I really think I will read it someday
Blue means I would like to read it but probably won't
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Very good so far. The new Stephen King is getting in the way, but I do believe I'll finish this one)
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel (I keep seeing this on shelves, butr haven't grabbed it yet.)
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote (One day . . . )
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice (If life were longer . . . )
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin (Genius. I keep forgetting that I need ot read more Atwood.)
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian: a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes: a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People's History of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake: a novel
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down (and will again)
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers
Lists like these depress me. Remind me of how relatively close death is.
Until Whenever
From Jaq, I steal this book meme, the point of which seems to be to list books typicaly bought but never read - "good intentions" books. The drill is thus:
Bold means I've read it
Underline means I read it because a teacher made me for class
Italics mean I started but didn't finish
Red means I have no desire to read it
Green means I really think I will read it someday
Blue means I would like to read it but probably won't
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (Very good so far. The new Stephen King is getting in the way, but I do believe I'll finish this one)
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One Hundred Years of Solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi: a novel (I keep seeing this on shelves, butr haven't grabbed it yet.)
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote (One day . . . )
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice (If life were longer . . . )
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin (Genius. I keep forgetting that I need ot read more Atwood.)
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
Atlas Shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran: a memoir in books
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked: the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury Tales
The Historian: a novel
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Love in the Time of Cholera
Brave New World
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A Clockwork Orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible : a novel
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)
The Satanic Verses
Sense and Sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les Misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela's Ashes: a memoir
The God of Small Things
A People's History of the United States: 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A Confederacy of Dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-Five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The Mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake: a novel
Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics: a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values
The Aeneid
Watership Down (and will again)
Gravity's Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood: a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences
White Teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers
Lists like these depress me. Remind me of how relatively close death is.
Until Whenever
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
How White Am I?
Roger points me in the direction of the funny social commentary at Things White People Like. And, inspired by the non-white Roger's admission of liking some of these ostensibly dorky things, I thought I'd catalogue which of the things white people like I like. So:
#81 Graduate School
Yes. I have an MA in English and I'm not sure why. I started it because my company at the time was paying for it. But I only took one class before leaving for greener (but less tuition-reimbursement-happy) pastures.
#80 The Idea of Soccer
No. Never played it and don't particularly care for it, or that America is seemingly alone in not loving it.
#79 Modern Furniture
No. Ick. I like classic or old-fashioned furniture. Amish-made, solid, handcrafted stuff. Hate modern furniture.
#78 Multilingual Children
No. I've nothing against kids learning more than one language, but don't feel passionately that they must.
#77 Musical Comedy
Lord yes. As any regular reader knows.
#76 Bottles of Water
Ugh. I hate buying bottles of water. Very silly thing to do, unless one is thirsty and there is no convenient supply of tap available (at a park, say, where the pretzel guy has water but there are no fountains.). That being said, I hate water. So . . . flavorless.
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
Nah. Like any good American I get frustrated by the guvment, but never enough to threaten leaving.
#74 Oscar Parties
Yes. Never been but love the idea in theory. If the Oscars were on a Superbowl timeframe, I;d have one. But a Sunday party at 8? Just doesn't work.
#73 Gentrification
No. I'm a suburb guy.
#72 Study Abroad
No. Never saw the draw.
#71 Being the only white person around
No. Sad to say, but I have no compulsion to travel to China and eat in a restaurant where I'm the only pale whitey there.
#70 Difficult Breakups
No. Never dated much, frankly.
#69 Mos Def
No. He was OK in Hitchhikers Guide; other than that, I'm nonplussed. Oh wait - I did very much like his "America" on the West Wing finale.
#68 Michel Gondry
Yes. Well; Sunshine and John Malkovich. Don't think I've seen any others.
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
Yes. But that's because I dance like a, well, white guy.
#66 Divorce
No. Not fun.
#65 Co-Ed Sports
Sure - it's fun to play with the wimmin folk too.
#64 Recycling
Yes. But I'm not much of an evangelist for it.
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
Yes. Guilty as charged. I love a fancy samwich, with sun-dried tomatoes, and high-falutin' mayos.
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
No. I don't pretend to know what it's like to be poor, or the best way for poor people to stop being poor.
#61 Bicycles
Of course. Who doesn't like a nice bike ride. And for kids they're indispensable.
#60 Toyota Prius
Nah. I'm a "buy used and drive it into the dirt" kind of guy.
#59 Natural Medicine
An emphatic no. I'm a hard science guy; no quakery for me, thanks.
#58 Japan
No. No interest in going, and don't have any real interest in Japanese films, music, comics.
#57 Juno
Yes. Thought it was great.
#56 Lawyers
No - not if it can be avoided. That it takes a lawyer to buy a house irks me to no end.
#55 Apologies
Yes. I apologize often.
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
Yes. And I take the extra-bleached step of never actually using them.
#53 Dogs
Yes. Cute and good companions.
#52 Sarah Silverman
Yes. I'm not a huge fan, but she makes me laugh.
#51 Living by the Water
Oh yes. A dream of mine - a big ol' vacation house on a lake in New Hampshire.
#50 Irony
Of course. It's hard-wired.
#49 Vintage
No. I hate old stuff. Clothes, antiques. none of it.
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
No. too much work and not worth the price. I shop at a regular grocery store and shop sales.
#47 Arts Degrees
The aforementioned MA has me guilty.
#46 The Sunday New York Times
Yes. In theory. In practice, I read some of the front and sports pages, much of the arts section, and hope the magazine has an article I'm interested in.
#45 Asian Fusion Food
No. Haven't tried it, at least.
#44 Public Radio
No. I tried This American Life on podcast and got bored.
#43 Plays
Yes. I do have a BA in Theater Arts.
#42 Sushi
No. Bland and non-filling.
#41 Indie Music
No. Too much to wade through - I need a bigger filter.
#40 Apple Products
Yes. But I haven't switched from a PC yet.
#39 Netflix
Yes; but I switched a few years back to its cheaper copycat, Blockbuster online, to take advantage of a cheaper price and in-store rentals.
#38 Arrested Development
Yes, but haven't gotten around to season two yet.
#37 Renovations
Yes; not that we've gone down that road yet. But the idea of adding to my house is appealing.
#36 Breakfast Places
Yes. I LOVE a good breakfast place. I miss the Le Peep in Morris County terribly.
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
No. On too late, and on too often to TiFaux.
#34 Architecture
No. Boring as hell.
#33 Marijuana
No. Never tried, never will.
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
No. Meat is just too good.
#31 Snowboarding
No. Too expensive.
#30 Wrigley Field
No. Never been to Chicago; and if I do go, I won't be stopping by. Don't care about the Cubs.
#29 80s Night
No. The 80s music that gets played is mostly the bad 80s music.
#28 Not having a TV
Never. I LOVE TV.
#27 Marathons
Yes; in theory. I have a bad knee (and I am lazy). But I ran cross country in high school and always wanted to run a marathon one day.
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
No. I like the occasional visit, but mostly I'm happy in the suburbs.
#25 David Sedaris
Yes. Funny.
#24 Wine
No. I'm a teetotaler.
#23 Microbreweries
No. Ibid.
#22 Having Two Last Names
No. Confusing. And where does it end? If I give my daughter two last names and she marries one day and wants to hyphenate . . .
#21 Writers Workshops
No. I didn't find the workshop aspect of my writing classes all that useful.
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
No; I'm an expert on no cultures, and make no pretensions otherwise.
#19 Traveling
No. Expensive. Sure, there are places I'd like to see one day, but not tons of them, and I may never get to see them.
#18 Awareness
No. Awareness is overrated.
#17 Hating their Parents
No. My parents are all right.
#16 Gifted Children
Yes. I do fervently hope that my kids will turn out gifted. And yes, I know this is dumb.
#15 Yoga
No. Beyond my ken.
#14 Having Black Friends
No. Although, I don't have many friends, period, being something of an introvert.
#13 Tea
No. I like a cup of tea fine, but that's about the extent of it.
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
No. I'm pretty apathetic, is the truth of the matter.
#11 Asian Girls
No. I'll admire a pretty Asian girl as much as a pretty white girl, but have no special affinity.
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
No. I liked Tanenbaums and Rushmore fine, but that's about it.
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
Yes. I get cabin fever pretty quickly, and look in suspicion on those who don't like being outside.
#8 Barack Obama
No. Not in love.
#7 Diversity
No. Just can't get too worked up about it.
#6 Organic Food
No. Not worth the price.
#5 Farmer’s Markets
No. Ibid.
#4 Assists
As a Net and Kidd fan, yes.
#3 Film Festivals
No. My tastes tend towards the populist, not the super-arty.
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
No. Not a fan of religion at all.
#1 Coffee
A thousand times yes. I am well and truly addicted.
My final tally? 28 Ayes and 53 Nays, which makes me only 35% white. Not sure what it makes me 65% of though.
Until Whenever
Roger points me in the direction of the funny social commentary at Things White People Like. And, inspired by the non-white Roger's admission of liking some of these ostensibly dorky things, I thought I'd catalogue which of the things white people like I like. So:
#81 Graduate School
Yes. I have an MA in English and I'm not sure why. I started it because my company at the time was paying for it. But I only took one class before leaving for greener (but less tuition-reimbursement-happy) pastures.
#80 The Idea of Soccer
No. Never played it and don't particularly care for it, or that America is seemingly alone in not loving it.
#79 Modern Furniture
No. Ick. I like classic or old-fashioned furniture. Amish-made, solid, handcrafted stuff. Hate modern furniture.
#78 Multilingual Children
No. I've nothing against kids learning more than one language, but don't feel passionately that they must.
#77 Musical Comedy
Lord yes. As any regular reader knows.
#76 Bottles of Water
Ugh. I hate buying bottles of water. Very silly thing to do, unless one is thirsty and there is no convenient supply of tap available (at a park, say, where the pretzel guy has water but there are no fountains.). That being said, I hate water. So . . . flavorless.
#75 Threatening to Move to Canada
Nah. Like any good American I get frustrated by the guvment, but never enough to threaten leaving.
#74 Oscar Parties
Yes. Never been but love the idea in theory. If the Oscars were on a Superbowl timeframe, I;d have one. But a Sunday party at 8? Just doesn't work.
#73 Gentrification
No. I'm a suburb guy.
#72 Study Abroad
No. Never saw the draw.
#71 Being the only white person around
No. Sad to say, but I have no compulsion to travel to China and eat in a restaurant where I'm the only pale whitey there.
#70 Difficult Breakups
No. Never dated much, frankly.
#69 Mos Def
No. He was OK in Hitchhikers Guide; other than that, I'm nonplussed. Oh wait - I did very much like his "America" on the West Wing finale.
#68 Michel Gondry
Yes. Well; Sunshine and John Malkovich. Don't think I've seen any others.
#67 Standing Still at Concerts
Yes. But that's because I dance like a, well, white guy.
#66 Divorce
No. Not fun.
#65 Co-Ed Sports
Sure - it's fun to play with the wimmin folk too.
#64 Recycling
Yes. But I'm not much of an evangelist for it.
#63 Expensive Sandwiches
Yes. Guilty as charged. I love a fancy samwich, with sun-dried tomatoes, and high-falutin' mayos.
#62 Knowing What’s Best for Poor People
No. I don't pretend to know what it's like to be poor, or the best way for poor people to stop being poor.
#61 Bicycles
Of course. Who doesn't like a nice bike ride. And for kids they're indispensable.
#60 Toyota Prius
Nah. I'm a "buy used and drive it into the dirt" kind of guy.
#59 Natural Medicine
An emphatic no. I'm a hard science guy; no quakery for me, thanks.
#58 Japan
No. No interest in going, and don't have any real interest in Japanese films, music, comics.
#57 Juno
Yes. Thought it was great.
#56 Lawyers
No - not if it can be avoided. That it takes a lawyer to buy a house irks me to no end.
#55 Apologies
Yes. I apologize often.
#54 Kitchen Gadgets
Yes. And I take the extra-bleached step of never actually using them.
#53 Dogs
Yes. Cute and good companions.
#52 Sarah Silverman
Yes. I'm not a huge fan, but she makes me laugh.
#51 Living by the Water
Oh yes. A dream of mine - a big ol' vacation house on a lake in New Hampshire.
#50 Irony
Of course. It's hard-wired.
#49 Vintage
No. I hate old stuff. Clothes, antiques. none of it.
#48 Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops
No. too much work and not worth the price. I shop at a regular grocery store and shop sales.
#47 Arts Degrees
The aforementioned MA has me guilty.
#46 The Sunday New York Times
Yes. In theory. In practice, I read some of the front and sports pages, much of the arts section, and hope the magazine has an article I'm interested in.
#45 Asian Fusion Food
No. Haven't tried it, at least.
#44 Public Radio
No. I tried This American Life on podcast and got bored.
#43 Plays
Yes. I do have a BA in Theater Arts.
#42 Sushi
No. Bland and non-filling.
#41 Indie Music
No. Too much to wade through - I need a bigger filter.
#40 Apple Products
Yes. But I haven't switched from a PC yet.
#39 Netflix
Yes; but I switched a few years back to its cheaper copycat, Blockbuster online, to take advantage of a cheaper price and in-store rentals.
#38 Arrested Development
Yes, but haven't gotten around to season two yet.
#37 Renovations
Yes; not that we've gone down that road yet. But the idea of adding to my house is appealing.
#36 Breakfast Places
Yes. I LOVE a good breakfast place. I miss the Le Peep in Morris County terribly.
#35 The Daily Show/Colbert Report
No. On too late, and on too often to TiFaux.
#34 Architecture
No. Boring as hell.
#33 Marijuana
No. Never tried, never will.
#32 Vegan/Vegetarianism
No. Meat is just too good.
#31 Snowboarding
No. Too expensive.
#30 Wrigley Field
No. Never been to Chicago; and if I do go, I won't be stopping by. Don't care about the Cubs.
#29 80s Night
No. The 80s music that gets played is mostly the bad 80s music.
#28 Not having a TV
Never. I LOVE TV.
#27 Marathons
Yes; in theory. I have a bad knee (and I am lazy). But I ran cross country in high school and always wanted to run a marathon one day.
#26 Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)
No. I like the occasional visit, but mostly I'm happy in the suburbs.
#25 David Sedaris
Yes. Funny.
#24 Wine
No. I'm a teetotaler.
#23 Microbreweries
No. Ibid.
#22 Having Two Last Names
No. Confusing. And where does it end? If I give my daughter two last names and she marries one day and wants to hyphenate . . .
#21 Writers Workshops
No. I didn't find the workshop aspect of my writing classes all that useful.
#20 Being an expert on YOUR culture
No; I'm an expert on no cultures, and make no pretensions otherwise.
#19 Traveling
No. Expensive. Sure, there are places I'd like to see one day, but not tons of them, and I may never get to see them.
#18 Awareness
No. Awareness is overrated.
#17 Hating their Parents
No. My parents are all right.
#16 Gifted Children
Yes. I do fervently hope that my kids will turn out gifted. And yes, I know this is dumb.
#15 Yoga
No. Beyond my ken.
#14 Having Black Friends
No. Although, I don't have many friends, period, being something of an introvert.
#13 Tea
No. I like a cup of tea fine, but that's about the extent of it.
#12 Non-Profit Organizations
No. I'm pretty apathetic, is the truth of the matter.
#11 Asian Girls
No. I'll admire a pretty Asian girl as much as a pretty white girl, but have no special affinity.
#10 Wes Anderson Movies
No. I liked Tanenbaums and Rushmore fine, but that's about it.
#9 Making you feel bad about not going outside
Yes. I get cabin fever pretty quickly, and look in suspicion on those who don't like being outside.
#8 Barack Obama
No. Not in love.
#7 Diversity
No. Just can't get too worked up about it.
#6 Organic Food
No. Not worth the price.
#5 Farmer’s Markets
No. Ibid.
#4 Assists
As a Net and Kidd fan, yes.
#3 Film Festivals
No. My tastes tend towards the populist, not the super-arty.
#2 Religions their parents don’t belong to
No. Not a fan of religion at all.
#1 Coffee
A thousand times yes. I am well and truly addicted.
My final tally? 28 Ayes and 53 Nays, which makes me only 35% white. Not sure what it makes me 65% of though.
Until Whenever
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I'm It
Been tagged:
1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
OK.
From Isaac Asimov's The Robots of Dawn:
"I imagine that a mental freeze-out through positronic drift might have a probability of 1 in 1o^12; that by accidental pattern-building 1 in 10^100. That is just an estimate, but a reasonable one. The difference is greater than that between a single electron and the entire Universe--and it is in favor of the positronic shift."
Goold ole' Isaac.
Until Whenever
Thursday, January 17, 2008
In a Mellow Neil Young Vein
A fun meme from Culture Kills:
The first article title on the page is the name of your band.
The last four words of the very last quote is the title of your album
The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
You then take the pic and add your band name and the album title to it, then post your pic.
And so we get:
Until Whenever
Monday, January 14, 2008
Books on the Brain
Stolen from Roger:
1. Do you remember learning to read? How old were you?
I do. As a toddler I watched The Electric Company incessantly and picked up a lot of how to read from it, along with, to a lesser degree, Sesame Street. I also had a father who read to me in Sesame Street voices. When I was three my father would sit me on the counter at his deli and have me read the front page of the Daily News to customers to impress them.
2. What do you find most challenging to read?
Old novels - every time I get ambitious and try to read a classic author - even someone like Dickens - I find that the stylistic and structural differences in how we write a sentence now versus how they wrote sentences then stymie me.
3. What are your library habits?
I order a lot online for me and take the kids once a month or so to get books for them.
4. Have your library habits changed since you were younger?
Definitely - as a kid I went at least once a week, maybe more, and then primarily to browse and get books to read (and at times for research).
5. How has blogging changed your reading life?
Hasn't much. I do most of my reading in environments where computers are not to be found - on trains, in bed, in waiting rooms. I'll find the odd book I might not have otherwise, but still get most of my reading recommendations from newspapers, magazines, and what i know my own interests to be.
6. What percentage of your books do you get from:
New book stores - 20%
Second-hand book stores - 10%
The library - 50%
Online exchange sites - 0%
Online retailers - 10%
Gifts - 10%
7. How often do you read a book and NOT review it in your blog?
Often. If I find I'm not burning to share anything about it I usually don't.
8. What are your pet peeves about ways people abuse books?
Don't have any. Books, for me, are for reading, not protecting. I'd rather a book be read, and dog-eared, rumpled, torn, or damaged, than unread and pristine.
9. Do you ever read for pleasure at work?
Occasionally at lunch, mostly the newspaper.
10. When you give people books as gifts, how do you decide what to give them?
A combination of "they like topic A" and "this looks like a really good book on topic A)"
Until Whenever
Stolen from Roger:
1. Do you remember learning to read? How old were you?
I do. As a toddler I watched The Electric Company incessantly and picked up a lot of how to read from it, along with, to a lesser degree, Sesame Street. I also had a father who read to me in Sesame Street voices. When I was three my father would sit me on the counter at his deli and have me read the front page of the Daily News to customers to impress them.
2. What do you find most challenging to read?
Old novels - every time I get ambitious and try to read a classic author - even someone like Dickens - I find that the stylistic and structural differences in how we write a sentence now versus how they wrote sentences then stymie me.
3. What are your library habits?
I order a lot online for me and take the kids once a month or so to get books for them.
4. Have your library habits changed since you were younger?
Definitely - as a kid I went at least once a week, maybe more, and then primarily to browse and get books to read (and at times for research).
5. How has blogging changed your reading life?
Hasn't much. I do most of my reading in environments where computers are not to be found - on trains, in bed, in waiting rooms. I'll find the odd book I might not have otherwise, but still get most of my reading recommendations from newspapers, magazines, and what i know my own interests to be.
6. What percentage of your books do you get from:
New book stores - 20%
Second-hand book stores - 10%
The library - 50%
Online exchange sites - 0%
Online retailers - 10%
Gifts - 10%
7. How often do you read a book and NOT review it in your blog?
Often. If I find I'm not burning to share anything about it I usually don't.
8. What are your pet peeves about ways people abuse books?
Don't have any. Books, for me, are for reading, not protecting. I'd rather a book be read, and dog-eared, rumpled, torn, or damaged, than unread and pristine.
9. Do you ever read for pleasure at work?
Occasionally at lunch, mostly the newspaper.
10. When you give people books as gifts, how do you decide what to give them?
A combination of "they like topic A" and "this looks like a really good book on topic A)"
Until Whenever
Monday, January 07, 2008
My Handicap
From Stuff Running 'Round My Head I filch this meme, which has far as I can tell is meant to indicate how many advantages you have in starting adult life. It is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University, and I acknowledge their copyright.
BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:
Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
There was original art in your house when you were a child
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
From Stuff Running 'Round My Head I filch this meme, which has far as I can tell is meant to indicate how many advantages you have in starting adult life. It is based on an exercise developed by Will Barratt, Meagan Cahill, Angie Carlen, Minnette Huck, Drew Lurker, Stacy Ploskonka at Illinois State University, and I acknowledge their copyright.
BOLD WHICH APPLY TO YOU:
Father went to college
Father finished college
Mother went to college
Mother finished college
Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor
Were the same or higher socio-economic class than your high school teachers
Had more than 50 books in your childhood home
Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
Were read children's books by a parent
Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18
The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively
Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18
Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
Went to a private high school
Went to summer camp
Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18
There was original art in your house when you were a child
You and your family lived in a single family house
Your parent(s) owned their own house(s) or apartment before you left home
You had your own room as a child
You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Participated in an SAT/ACT prep course
Had your own TV in your room in High School
Owned a mutual fund or IRA in High School or College
Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16
Went on a cruise with your family
Went on more than one cruise with your family
Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up
You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
There's no rubric here, but that looks to me like pretty advantaged - thanks Mom and Dad!!
Until WheneverMonday, December 10, 2007
The Merry Christmas Meme
From the homebound-for-the-day Samurai Frog:
1. Favorite traditional Christmas song:
"Silent Night" boasts, for my money, one of the best pure melodies ever written.
2. Favorite contemporary or modern Christmas song:
"Christmastime Is Here" By a wide, wide margin. I do find it odd that I'm unable to find aversion to love alongside the Guaraldi original though.
3. Christmas song that makes you cry
To the best of my recollection, no Christmas song has ever made me cry.
4. Real or artificial tree:
Real. That smell and tactile feel just can't be replicated.
5. Favorite Christmas edible treat
Egg nog. I'm a bit crazy for egg nog. (I prefer the Southern Comfort brand, diluted heavily with milk, but when laziness abates I also enjoy making the stuff fresh. I don't drink alcohol, so mine is naught but milk, egg, sugar, and vanilla. It's really cake batter minus the flour, isn't it?
6. White lights or multi-colored:
White for decorating outside, colored for the tree. Colored lights on a house are too much for my taste, while white lights on a tree are too spare and cold.
7. How many Christmas parties will you go to this year:
None. I'm not a fan of parties.
8. Favorite act of kindness to perform during this season:
Buying new toys to give away.
9. Favorite sounds of Christmas:
The squeals and exclamations of little kids opening presents early in the morning.
10. Favorite things to wear:
I do not have a Christmas wardrobe of any kind.
11. Favorite Christmas movie/TV special:
Laurel and Hardy's Babes in Toyland. Hilarious.
12. Eggnog or hot chocolate:
See above.
13. Favorite Christmas book:
When I think about it, I really don't have one.
14. Christmas books on my "to read" list:
None.
15. Peppermint or cinnamon:
Both, depending on the context.
16. What's on the top of your tree:
A knit angel.
17. Traditional Christmas meal growing up:
Turkey and trimmings. Not much different from Thanksgiving, really.
18. Online shopping or traditional "go to the store" shopping:
The store, mostly. CDs and books are easy, but for most things I need to see and touch them.
19. Something you received as a Christmas gift as a child that you still have:
I don't know that I still have any childhood gifts. I still I have a Curious George from when I was about three, but I don't know if that was a Christmas gift or not.
20. How many Christmas cards you have mailed so far:
None. Wed don't do Christmas cards.
21. Favorite source for Christmas ideas:
Not sure what this means.
22. Coordinated/themed or hodge-podge tree decorations:
Hodge-podge. Ornaments from when we were kids, our kids' ornaments, ornaments we've received as gifts or given each other, all mixed up.
23. What's on the top of YOUR Christmas wishlist:
Alex Ross' The Art of Noise. Dying to read this book.
24. Roles you've played in Christmas plays/programs:
None.
25. Wrapping paper or gift bags:
Wrapping paper for kids, gift bags and paper for adults depending on the type of gift and time.
26. When do you put up the tree:
Two-three weeks before Christmas.
27. When do you take the tree down: A few days after New Years.
28. Do you have a nativity scene:
One in the living room and one in the kids' room.
29. Hardest person to buy for:
Father-in-law.
30. Easiest person to buy for:
Sister. We share a lot of tastes.
31. Worst Christmas gift you ever received:
No idea.
32. When do you start shopping for Christmas:
Mid-late November.
33. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present:
No.
34. Travel at Christmas or stay home:
With three-year olds we are no longer travelling. Used to travel at least an hour and a half all the time.
35. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer:
I can not.
36. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning:
Christmas morning.
37. Most annoying thing about this time of year:
Nasty people in over-crowded stores.
38. What I love most about Christmas:
Christmas morning with kids. Pure magic.
Until Whenever
From the homebound-for-the-day Samurai Frog:
1. Favorite traditional Christmas song:
"Silent Night" boasts, for my money, one of the best pure melodies ever written.
2. Favorite contemporary or modern Christmas song:
"Christmastime Is Here" By a wide, wide margin. I do find it odd that I'm unable to find aversion to love alongside the Guaraldi original though.
3. Christmas song that makes you cry
To the best of my recollection, no Christmas song has ever made me cry.
4. Real or artificial tree:
Real. That smell and tactile feel just can't be replicated.
5. Favorite Christmas edible treat
Egg nog. I'm a bit crazy for egg nog. (I prefer the Southern Comfort brand, diluted heavily with milk, but when laziness abates I also enjoy making the stuff fresh. I don't drink alcohol, so mine is naught but milk, egg, sugar, and vanilla. It's really cake batter minus the flour, isn't it?
6. White lights or multi-colored:
White for decorating outside, colored for the tree. Colored lights on a house are too much for my taste, while white lights on a tree are too spare and cold.
7. How many Christmas parties will you go to this year:
None. I'm not a fan of parties.
8. Favorite act of kindness to perform during this season:
Buying new toys to give away.
9. Favorite sounds of Christmas:
The squeals and exclamations of little kids opening presents early in the morning.
10. Favorite things to wear:
I do not have a Christmas wardrobe of any kind.
11. Favorite Christmas movie/TV special:
Laurel and Hardy's Babes in Toyland. Hilarious.
12. Eggnog or hot chocolate:
See above.
13. Favorite Christmas book:
When I think about it, I really don't have one.
14. Christmas books on my "to read" list:
None.
15. Peppermint or cinnamon:
Both, depending on the context.
16. What's on the top of your tree:
A knit angel.
17. Traditional Christmas meal growing up:
Turkey and trimmings. Not much different from Thanksgiving, really.
18. Online shopping or traditional "go to the store" shopping:
The store, mostly. CDs and books are easy, but for most things I need to see and touch them.
19. Something you received as a Christmas gift as a child that you still have:
I don't know that I still have any childhood gifts. I still I have a Curious George from when I was about three, but I don't know if that was a Christmas gift or not.
20. How many Christmas cards you have mailed so far:
None. Wed don't do Christmas cards.
21. Favorite source for Christmas ideas:
Not sure what this means.
22. Coordinated/themed or hodge-podge tree decorations:
Hodge-podge. Ornaments from when we were kids, our kids' ornaments, ornaments we've received as gifts or given each other, all mixed up.
23. What's on the top of YOUR Christmas wishlist:
Alex Ross' The Art of Noise. Dying to read this book.
24. Roles you've played in Christmas plays/programs:
None.
25. Wrapping paper or gift bags:
Wrapping paper for kids, gift bags and paper for adults depending on the type of gift and time.
26. When do you put up the tree:
Two-three weeks before Christmas.
27. When do you take the tree down: A few days after New Years.
28. Do you have a nativity scene:
One in the living room and one in the kids' room.
29. Hardest person to buy for:
Father-in-law.
30. Easiest person to buy for:
Sister. We share a lot of tastes.
31. Worst Christmas gift you ever received:
No idea.
32. When do you start shopping for Christmas:
Mid-late November.
33. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present:
No.
34. Travel at Christmas or stay home:
With three-year olds we are no longer travelling. Used to travel at least an hour and a half all the time.
35. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer:
I can not.
36. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning:
Christmas morning.
37. Most annoying thing about this time of year:
Nasty people in over-crowded stores.
38. What I love most about Christmas:
Christmas morning with kids. Pure magic.
Until Whenever
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Pug
A quick and silly meme taken from Samurai Frog:
Rules:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT(this is in capital letters, so it is very serious).
1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
"I Want to Hold your Hand" - The Beatles. Kind of creepy.
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"This House Is Empty" - Elvis Costello. Harsh.
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Anthropology" - Charlie Parker. Sounds sophisticated, but not.
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Our Time" - Stephen Sondheim. How optimistic.
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
"Pretty Paper" - Roy Orbison. As a writer, that kind of makes sense?
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Getting in Tune" - The Who. I love that! I just might make that my actual motto.
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Keep the Car Running" - Foo Fighters. Could go either way.
8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
"Merrily We Roll Along." - Stephen Sondheim. Pretty accurate, really.
9 WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Sooner or Later/"I'm Calm/Ah, But Underneath" - Stephen Sondheim. I'm a schizophrenic.
10. WHAT IS 2+2?
"Bartender" -Dave Matthews Band. ?
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Ooh Child" - Jeanine Tesori. Now I'm a stereotypical black woman on a bad sitcom.
12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Road to Chicago" - Thomas Newman. ?
13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"I Want to Break Free." - Queen - Nice!
14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Love Is Sweeping the Country" - Ella Fitzgerald. Hm.
15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Beautiful" - Mandy Patinkin. Come on!
16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Golden Slumbers" - The Beatles. I guess they think I'm lazy?
17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Beyond the Horizon" - Bob Dylan. That could actually work very well as a wedding song. Better as a 50th anniversary song, but still.
18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"With this Love" - Peter Gabriel. This track from his score for The Last Temptation of Christ could actually work.
19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Imaginary Love" - Rufus Wainwright. Now I'm really creepy.
20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"I Had Myself a True Love" - Barbara Cook. Sad.
21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Love Rears Its Ugly Head" - Living Colour. Apropos of nothing, but that is one of my favorite song titles.
22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
"Pug" - Smashing Pumpkins. Hee.
Until Whenever
A quick and silly meme taken from Samurai Frog:
Rules:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT(this is in capital letters, so it is very serious).
1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
"I Want to Hold your Hand" - The Beatles. Kind of creepy.
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"This House Is Empty" - Elvis Costello. Harsh.
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Anthropology" - Charlie Parker. Sounds sophisticated, but not.
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"Our Time" - Stephen Sondheim. How optimistic.
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
"Pretty Paper" - Roy Orbison. As a writer, that kind of makes sense?
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"Getting in Tune" - The Who. I love that! I just might make that my actual motto.
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"Keep the Car Running" - Foo Fighters. Could go either way.
8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
"Merrily We Roll Along." - Stephen Sondheim. Pretty accurate, really.
9 WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Sooner or Later/"I'm Calm/Ah, But Underneath" - Stephen Sondheim. I'm a schizophrenic.
10. WHAT IS 2+2?
"Bartender" -Dave Matthews Band. ?
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Ooh Child" - Jeanine Tesori. Now I'm a stereotypical black woman on a bad sitcom.
12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Road to Chicago" - Thomas Newman. ?
13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"I Want to Break Free." - Queen - Nice!
14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Love Is Sweeping the Country" - Ella Fitzgerald. Hm.
15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"Beautiful" - Mandy Patinkin. Come on!
16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Golden Slumbers" - The Beatles. I guess they think I'm lazy?
17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"Beyond the Horizon" - Bob Dylan. That could actually work very well as a wedding song. Better as a 50th anniversary song, but still.
18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"With this Love" - Peter Gabriel. This track from his score for The Last Temptation of Christ could actually work.
19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Imaginary Love" - Rufus Wainwright. Now I'm really creepy.
20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"I Had Myself a True Love" - Barbara Cook. Sad.
21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"Love Rears Its Ugly Head" - Living Colour. Apropos of nothing, but that is one of my favorite song titles.
22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
"Pug" - Smashing Pumpkins. Hee.
Until Whenever
Monday, November 26, 2007
Two to the Third
Everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? Get enough turkey? Cranberry sauce? stuffing? Pumpkin pie? Great. As per decades-old tradition, I hereby offer my de riguer post-break palate-cleansing meme post, courtesy of Jaquandor:
8 things I am passionate about:
1. The music of U2
2. The music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim
3. The fiction of Stephen King
4. The world of Lost
5. The wife.
6. A certain moppety three-year old
7. A very similar-looking moppety three-year old
8. The inanity of obsolete grammar rules still being enforced.
8 things I want to do before I die
1. Perform in the chorus for a performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony (this is one I've already done, but sweet Jesus almighty I really need to do it again)
2. Play Sweeney Todd
3. Direct Assassins
4. Spend a summer driving around the US with the family, seeing all that can be seen in two months
5. Publish something that will be read by more than a few hundred people (if that)
6. Be able to competently accompany myself on piano and guitar for at least a few songs.
7. Read the Harry Potter series to my kids
8. Perform a Shakesperean role
8 things I say often
1. "Itchy's a jerk"
2. "Good stuff"
3. "Rock and/or roll"
4. "Sure"
5. "(NAME OF CHILD)!"
6. "(NAME OF OTHER CHILD!")
7. "F***!"
8. "Jeezum Crow!"
8 books I've read recently
1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
2. Runaways - Brian K. Vaughn
3. Blaze - Stephen King
4. Secret War - Brian Michael Bendis
5. Astonishing X-Men - Joss Whedon
6. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
7. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace
8. Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace
8 songs I could listen to over and over
1. "Overkill" - Colin Hay
2. "Sugar Baby" - Bob Dylan
3. "No Cars Go" - Arcade Fire
4. "Something Good" - Elaine Stritch
5. "Window in the Sky" - U2
6. "The Impossible Dream" - Many
7. "Philadelphia" - Neil Young
8. "Come Down in Time" - Sting
8 things that attract me to my best friends
1. Sense of humor
2. Shared interests
3. Easy-going natures
4. Understanding of me (I'm a closet narcissist, it appears)
5. Enjoyment of discussing pop culture minutia
6. Loyalty
7. Shared history
8. Trust
8 (or more) things that I am thankful for this year
1. The last Harry Potter
2. The new Stephen Kings
3. Arcade Fire
4. Lost
5. Continued gainful employment
6. Financial security
7. The wife
8. The kid
9. The other kid
10. Family
11. Health - mine and others.
Until Whenever
Everyone have a nice Thanksgiving? Get enough turkey? Cranberry sauce? stuffing? Pumpkin pie? Great. As per decades-old tradition, I hereby offer my de riguer post-break palate-cleansing meme post, courtesy of Jaquandor:
8 things I am passionate about:
1. The music of U2
2. The music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim
3. The fiction of Stephen King
4. The world of Lost
5. The wife.
6. A certain moppety three-year old
7. A very similar-looking moppety three-year old
8. The inanity of obsolete grammar rules still being enforced.
8 things I want to do before I die
1. Perform in the chorus for a performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony (this is one I've already done, but sweet Jesus almighty I really need to do it again)
2. Play Sweeney Todd
3. Direct Assassins
4. Spend a summer driving around the US with the family, seeing all that can be seen in two months
5. Publish something that will be read by more than a few hundred people (if that)
6. Be able to competently accompany myself on piano and guitar for at least a few songs.
7. Read the Harry Potter series to my kids
8. Perform a Shakesperean role
8 things I say often
1. "Itchy's a jerk"
2. "Good stuff"
3. "Rock and/or roll"
4. "Sure"
5. "(NAME OF CHILD)!"
6. "(NAME OF OTHER CHILD!")
7. "F***!"
8. "Jeezum Crow!"
8 books I've read recently
1. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
2. Runaways - Brian K. Vaughn
3. Blaze - Stephen King
4. Secret War - Brian Michael Bendis
5. Astonishing X-Men - Joss Whedon
6. On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
7. A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace
8. Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace
8 songs I could listen to over and over
1. "Overkill" - Colin Hay
2. "Sugar Baby" - Bob Dylan
3. "No Cars Go" - Arcade Fire
4. "Something Good" - Elaine Stritch
5. "Window in the Sky" - U2
6. "The Impossible Dream" - Many
7. "Philadelphia" - Neil Young
8. "Come Down in Time" - Sting
8 things that attract me to my best friends
1. Sense of humor
2. Shared interests
3. Easy-going natures
4. Understanding of me (I'm a closet narcissist, it appears)
5. Enjoyment of discussing pop culture minutia
6. Loyalty
7. Shared history
8. Trust
8 (or more) things that I am thankful for this year
1. The last Harry Potter
2. The new Stephen Kings
3. Arcade Fire
4. Lost
5. Continued gainful employment
6. Financial security
7. The wife
8. The kid
9. The other kid
10. Family
11. Health - mine and others.
Until Whenever
Monday, October 29, 2007
Boo!
A Halloween meme, courtesy of the Samurai Frog.
1. What is your favorite work of horror fiction?
Stephen King's It. Kind of an epic-sized kitchen sink summation of the genre.
2. Who is your favorite monster?
Grover. Well, the primal nature of the werewolf has always made the most interested in him - but as a rule I'm not much of a "monsters" fan.
3. What horror movie gives you the most chills?
Don't really watch them. Nightmare on Elm Street freaked me out some when I was a kid, though, even though I never actually saw the whole thing.
4. Freddy versus Jason?
Freddy. It's all about the design.
5. Ghosts or goblins?
Goblins. Those Lord of the Rings guys were gruesome, and ghosts are usually less scary than cheesy (exception: The Sixth Sense).
6. What is your scariest encounter with the paranormal?
When I was a kid I could freak myself out pretty easily, thinking that shadows of branched were hands and that a pile of clothes had some kind of monster hiding under it. Typical stuff, really.
7. Do you believe in ghosts?
No.
8. Favorite Halloween costume?
My Dad made me a killer robot costume when I was eight or so. Dryer hoses for arms, silver face paint, the works.
Captain America. To dress me as Captain America and not have the result look cheesy as hell would, luckily, require an unlimited budget. Also, I would want a working shield.
10. When was the last time you went trick or treating?
When I was ten or 11. I go with my kids now, though, and that's fun as hell.
11. What's your favorite Halloween candy?
Mini Baby Ruths. Mmm.
12. Tell us about a scary nightmare you had.
I had a recurring nightmare as a kid of sliding down a massive, never-ending slide. Terrifying.
13. What is your supernatural fear?
None, now. As a kid, I was scared of most things.
14. What is your creepy-crawlie fear?
Mice and rats creep me the hell out. When I worked at a grocery store in high school I grabbed an opened box of cookies once in the back room and a mouse peeked its head out at me. Thought my heart stopped.
15. Would you ever stay in a real haunted house overnight?
I would.
16. Are you a traditionalist (just a face) Jack O'Lantern carver, or do you get really creative with your pumpkins?
Traditionalist. Out of laziness and lack of skill, rather than a lack of desire.
17. How much do you decorate your home for Halloween?
Not at all. See the laziness answer above.
18. Do you think Halloween is too commercial these days?
Nah. It's not as if Halloween has some deep significance that commercialism intrudes on. It's the one holiday that has as its aim nothing but fun, and, frankly, the commercialism can help with that.
Until Whenever
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Convoluted Meme
From Jaq, I belatedly respond to this tagging:
There are a set of questions below that are all of the form, "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...". Copy the questions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:
That's a lot of verbiage. Here are the questions as evolved by Jaq:
1. The best near-future novel in SF/Fantasy is
Firestar, by Michael Flynn.
2. The best romantic movie in historical fiction is
Shakespeare in Love.
3. The best opera recording in classical music is
Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Sir Georg Solti/VPO.
And here is my mutation of the same:
1. The best near-future novel in SF/Fantasy is
Green Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
2. The best romantic movie of the 2000s is
Love, Actually
3. The best novel of the 2000s is
The Known World, by Edward P. Jones
No tags, but feel free to mutate away.
Until Whenever
From Jaq, I belatedly respond to this tagging:
There are a set of questions below that are all of the form, "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...". Copy the questions, and before answering them, you may modify them in a limited way, carrying out no more than two of these operations:
- You can leave them exactly as is.
- You can delete any one question.
- You can mutate either the genre, medium, or subgenre of any one question. (For instance, you could change "The best time travel novel in SF/Fantasy is..." to "The best time travel novel in Westerns is...", or "The best time travel movie in SF/Fantasy is...", or "The best romance novel in SF/Fantasy is...".)
- You can add a completely new question of your choice to the end of the list, as long as it is still in the form "The best [subgenre] [medium] in [genre] is...".
That's a lot of verbiage. Here are the questions as evolved by Jaq:
1. The best near-future novel in SF/Fantasy is
Firestar, by Michael Flynn.
2. The best romantic movie in historical fiction is
Shakespeare in Love.
3. The best opera recording in classical music is
Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, Sir Georg Solti/VPO.
And here is my mutation of the same:
1. The best near-future novel in SF/Fantasy is
Green Mars, by Kim Stanley Robinson
2. The best romantic movie of the 2000s is
Love, Actually
3. The best novel of the 2000s is
The Known World, by Edward P. Jones
No tags, but feel free to mutate away.
Until Whenever
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Sustenance
Stealing from Jaq, yet again:
1. How do you like your eggs?
Soft-boiled, lightly mixed and broken up with a fork and some salt and pepper added and then spooned onto a hot, freshly toasted English muffin.
2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
With milk. Used to be a milk and sugar guy, but forced myself to forgo the sugar a few years back as a calorie-cutting measure. Still can't do black.
3. Favorite breakfast food?
Good pancakes. Bad, or just average pancakes, or nothing special, but really good pancakes are awesome.
4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy?
Smooth. 'Cuz that's what Mom bought.
5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
I'm partial to Ken's Northeast Lite Italian and Lite Caesar dressings. If I'm throwing reason to the wind, I'll go the blue cheese route.
6. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Pepsi if there's a choice, but I really don't care that much. Although Coke Zero is pretty much awesome.
7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make?
Throw some ground beef, eggs, and cheese into a skillet and top with ketchup.
8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
Everything. I like lots of different foods mixed together. When I was a kid, and we went to my grandmother's for dinner at Thanksgiving, I'd mush the mashed potatoes, corn, turkey, green beans, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce together into one thick paste and eat that.
9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Meatballs and sauce. My only real go-to.
10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Grape leaves remind me of falling in love with my wife, since they are a staple of big family dinners on her side, and since it took me a long time to get to like them (the grape leaves - not her family).
11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Beef Stroganoff. A staple of my mother's cooking when we were kids, and not a favorite.
12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
Can't say that they do.
13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Raw tomatoes. Yech.
14. What was your favorite food as a child?
Mom's potato leek soup. Seriously; it was basically lightly flavored butter and cream.
15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
Zucchini. Green peppers.
16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?
No; I've added to the repertoire, not subtracted.
17. Favorite fruit and vegetable:
Pineapple and eggplant.
18. Favorite junk food
Ice cream. (Does ice cream qualify as "junk food?")
19. Favorite between meal snack
Microwave popcorn.
20. Do you have any weird food habits?
I have a habit of gnawing at chicken bones to the point of being pretty disgusting. I just hate letting good meat (or gristle, really) go to waste.
21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
I actually AM on a diet, but haven't found anything I can fill up on. Baby carrots, but that gets old VERY quickly.
22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
Warm chocolate chip cookies.
23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
Spicy. I like the dishes labeled "spicy" on the menu, at least.
24. Can I get you a drink?
Yes; cherry limeaid. Or a Boylan's Creamy Birch Beer.
25. Red wine or white?
Neither; I am a teetotaler.
26. Favorite dessert?
Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream, all by its lonesome.
27. The perfect nightcap?
Lipton's blackberry tea.
Until Whenever
Stealing from Jaq, yet again:
1. How do you like your eggs?
Soft-boiled, lightly mixed and broken up with a fork and some salt and pepper added and then spooned onto a hot, freshly toasted English muffin.
2. How do you take your coffee/tea?
With milk. Used to be a milk and sugar guy, but forced myself to forgo the sugar a few years back as a calorie-cutting measure. Still can't do black.
3. Favorite breakfast food?
Good pancakes. Bad, or just average pancakes, or nothing special, but really good pancakes are awesome.
4. Peanut butter - smooth or crunchy?
Smooth. 'Cuz that's what Mom bought.
5. What kind of dressing on your salad?
I'm partial to Ken's Northeast Lite Italian and Lite Caesar dressings. If I'm throwing reason to the wind, I'll go the blue cheese route.
6. Coke or Pepsi?
Diet Pepsi if there's a choice, but I really don't care that much. Although Coke Zero is pretty much awesome.
7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make?
Throw some ground beef, eggs, and cheese into a skillet and top with ketchup.
8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order?
Everything. I like lots of different foods mixed together. When I was a kid, and we went to my grandmother's for dinner at Thanksgiving, I'd mush the mashed potatoes, corn, turkey, green beans, gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce together into one thick paste and eat that.
9. You feel like cooking. What do you make?
Meatballs and sauce. My only real go-to.
10. Do any foods bring back good memories?
Grape leaves remind me of falling in love with my wife, since they are a staple of big family dinners on her side, and since it took me a long time to get to like them (the grape leaves - not her family).
11. Do any foods bring back bad memories?
Beef Stroganoff. A staple of my mother's cooking when we were kids, and not a favorite.
12. Do any foods remind you of someone?
Can't say that they do.
13. Is there a food you refuse to eat?
Raw tomatoes. Yech.
14. What was your favorite food as a child?
Mom's potato leek soup. Seriously; it was basically lightly flavored butter and cream.
15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like?
Zucchini. Green peppers.
16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate?
No; I've added to the repertoire, not subtracted.
17. Favorite fruit and vegetable:
Pineapple and eggplant.
18. Favorite junk food
Ice cream. (Does ice cream qualify as "junk food?")
19. Favorite between meal snack
Microwave popcorn.
20. Do you have any weird food habits?
I have a habit of gnawing at chicken bones to the point of being pretty disgusting. I just hate letting good meat (or gristle, really) go to waste.
21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on?
I actually AM on a diet, but haven't found anything I can fill up on. Baby carrots, but that gets old VERY quickly.
22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like?
Warm chocolate chip cookies.
23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai?
Spicy. I like the dishes labeled "spicy" on the menu, at least.
24. Can I get you a drink?
Yes; cherry limeaid. Or a Boylan's Creamy Birch Beer.
25. Red wine or white?
Neither; I am a teetotaler.
26. Favorite dessert?
Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream, all by its lonesome.
27. The perfect nightcap?
Lipton's blackberry tea.
Until Whenever
Monday, September 24, 2007
The Nerdiest Meme Ever
Courtesy of Jaq, a role-playing meme that plays as if written by a combo D&D-addict/fanficcer:
First, select ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best.
1. Captain America
2. Green Arrow
3. Anakin Skywalker
4. Locke
5. Indiana Jones
6. Willow
7. Hermione Granger
8. Starbuck
9. Gimli
10. Claire
Divide the list up by even and odd.
Team One
Captain America, Anakin Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Hermione Granger, Gimli
Team Two
Green Arrow, Locke, Willow, Starbuck, Claire
Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick?
Team One. Captain America is ALWAYS the Leader, leaving Anakin as the Lancer, a position he is used to but chafes at. Gimli is the big guy, ironically enough, with Hermione as the smart girl and Indiana Jones as the chick, which in some very strange way, works.
If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?
I'd trade Dr. Jones for Claire. An indestructible team member? Always a good thing. And as much as I love Indiana Jones, he doesn't strike me as someone who'd play well as part of a team.
Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?
Green Arrow becomes a woman, Starbuck a man (hah!), and Claire a boy. Green Arrow's story kind of depends on the fact that he's a macho jerk, so as a woman, I could see a good deal changing. Starbuck's romantic entanglements would have played out much differently, but as a character I think she'd much the same. Claire, on the other hand, is defined as a classic female archetype ("the Cheerleader"), so her character would have to be rethought a bit. But a "complete character change?" No.
Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible?
Captain America and Starbuck. Or Indiana Jones and Gimli. An easy one. While Starbuck's self-destructive tendencies and disrespect for authority might chafe, we've seen the good Captain attracted to similar women before (Diamondback, Sharon Carter).
Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?
Anakin, Locke, and Gimli. Locke gets the mental challenge, easily. Anakin the physical. And we throw the social to Gimli because all of the three are distinctly socially handicapped.
7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?
Hermione becomes Captain America's boss. Assuming it's the Hermione we see at the end of Book Seven, I think they'd have a great relationship, actually. Captain America has no problem answering to women (or men) he sees as smart and capable. The experience issue would rear it's head, but as I can't see Hermione ignoring Cap's expertise anyway, I think it would work itself out.
2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?
Green Arrow is inserted into the Buffy-verse. Actually, as a street-level, none super-powered hero with an affection for snark, I think he'd fit in fine. I can easily see the Scoobies coming across a vigilante visiting Sunnydale and going through the usual distrust and fighting yields to teaming up dynamic. And he and Willow would spark off each other nicely, with his macho, bullying personality and her mellow, eager-to-please traits.
3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?
Anakin and Indiana Jones. Anakin is a knight pledged to abstain from worldy goods and Jones is a treasure hunter. But Jones' practicality and cynicism would let him forge a mutually beneficial deal with the Jedi. What three wishes? I'm sure Jones has a laundry-list of lost artifacts he's love to discover, and Anakin craves power. I could easily see a pretty compelling story spun out of Jones' compromising too much to get his hands on the biggest lost artifact of all, and then of having to stop a power-mad Anakin. Given the disparity in power, I see a bad ending for Dr. Jones.
1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive?
Captain America and Green Arrow are going to try and kill Locke? Locke has about ten seconds before a shield decapitates him, leaving Green Arrow to grumble that his arrow would have done the job just as well.
6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?
Willow, Hermione, Gimli, and Claire. Gimli would make a simply grand Santa Claus, Hermione and Willow could magic up some gifts and food and fun in a jiffy and Claire would, um, help out by blowing up balloons?
Until Whenever
Courtesy of Jaq, a role-playing meme that plays as if written by a combo D&D-addict/fanficcer:
First, select ten fictional characters (from any medium) by whichever method you like best.
1. Captain America
2. Green Arrow
3. Anakin Skywalker
4. Locke
5. Indiana Jones
6. Willow
7. Hermione Granger
8. Starbuck
9. Gimli
10. Claire
Divide the list up by even and odd.
Team One
Captain America, Anakin Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Hermione Granger, Gimli
Team Two
Green Arrow, Locke, Willow, Starbuck, Claire
Which group of five would make a better Five Man Band (like a Power Rangers team)? Who would you slot in each position: Leader, Lancer (second-in-command), Big Guy, Smart Guy, The Chick?
Team One. Captain America is ALWAYS the Leader, leaving Anakin as the Lancer, a position he is used to but chafes at. Gimli is the big guy, ironically enough, with Hermione as the smart girl and Indiana Jones as the chick, which in some very strange way, works.
If you think the team would be improved by swapping one character between the even and odd groups, which ones would you switch?
I'd trade Dr. Jones for Claire. An indestructible team member? Always a good thing. And as much as I love Indiana Jones, he doesn't strike me as someone who'd play well as part of a team.
Gender-swap 2, 8 & 10. Which character would have the most change in their story arc? Which the least? Would any of these characters have to have a complete personality change to be believable as the opposite sex?
Green Arrow becomes a woman, Starbuck a man (hah!), and Claire a boy. Green Arrow's story kind of depends on the fact that he's a macho jerk, so as a woman, I could see a good deal changing. Starbuck's romantic entanglements would have played out much differently, but as a character I think she'd much the same. Claire, on the other hand, is defined as a classic female archetype ("the Cheerleader"), so her character would have to be rethought a bit. But a "complete character change?" No.
Compare the matchups of 1 & 8 and 5 & 9. (Ignore canon sexual preferences for the moment.) Which couple would be more compatible?
Captain America and Starbuck. Or Indiana Jones and Gimli. An easy one. While Starbuck's self-destructive tendencies and disrespect for authority might chafe, we've seen the good Captain attracted to similar women before (Diamondback, Sharon Carter).
Your team is 3, 4 & 9. The mission consists of a social challenge, a mental challenge and a physical challenge. Which team member do you assign to each challenge?
Anakin, Locke, and Gimli. Locke gets the mental challenge, easily. Anakin the physical. And we throw the social to Gimli because all of the three are distinctly socially handicapped.
7 becomes 1's boss for a week in some plausible fashion. How's their working relationship?
Hermione becomes Captain America's boss. Assuming it's the Hermione we see at the end of Book Seven, I think they'd have a great relationship, actually. Captain America has no problem answering to women (or men) he sees as smart and capable. The experience issue would rear it's head, but as I can't see Hermione ignoring Cap's expertise anyway, I think it would work itself out.
2 finds him/her/itself inserted into 6's continuity. As far as anyone other than 2 or 6 is concerned, they've always been there. What role would 2 be presumed to have had in 6's story, and could they fit in without going wonky?
Green Arrow is inserted into the Buffy-verse. Actually, as a street-level, none super-powered hero with an affection for snark, I think he'd fit in fine. I can easily see the Scoobies coming across a vigilante visiting Sunnydale and going through the usual distrust and fighting yields to teaming up dynamic. And he and Willow would spark off each other nicely, with his macho, bullying personality and her mellow, eager-to-please traits.
3 and 5 get three wishes. The catch is that they have to agree on all three wishes before they get the benefits of any of them. What three wishes would they make?
Anakin and Indiana Jones. Anakin is a knight pledged to abstain from worldy goods and Jones is a treasure hunter. But Jones' practicality and cynicism would let him forge a mutually beneficial deal with the Jedi. What three wishes? I'm sure Jones has a laundry-list of lost artifacts he's love to discover, and Anakin craves power. I could easily see a pretty compelling story spun out of Jones' compromising too much to get his hands on the biggest lost artifact of all, and then of having to stop a power-mad Anakin. Given the disparity in power, I see a bad ending for Dr. Jones.
1 and 2 are brainwashed by a one-time artifact that works even on people immune to mind control to attack and kill 4. They keep their normal personality, skills and competence level, except any Code vs. Killing has been turned off. Can 4 survive?
Captain America and Green Arrow are going to try and kill Locke? Locke has about ten seconds before a shield decapitates him, leaving Green Arrow to grumble that his arrow would have done the job just as well.
6, 7, 9 & 10 must help an orphanage full of small and depressed children have a merry Christmas. Who does what, knowing that at the very least the kids will be expecting a visit from Santa?
Willow, Hermione, Gimli, and Claire. Gimli would make a simply grand Santa Claus, Hermione and Willow could magic up some gifts and food and fun in a jiffy and Claire would, um, help out by blowing up balloons?
Until Whenever
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