Random Questions

(Found here and edited to kill the most egregiously stupid questions)
Random Questions

Do you pronounce the "l" in "salmon"? Nope. I grew up listening to my dad mispronounce words because he was hard of hearing. This was one. Other words included "Edinburg" for the city (which should be "Edinborə") and "piza" (like the city--Pisa--only with a 'z') for "pizza." It was annoying, but he couldn't really hear the difference.

When was the last time you went to a bookstore? It's been a few months. Our local one is currently closed--for another couple of weeks--while it moves from its current rather small and cozy space to a larger storefront a block east. Once they are open again, I'll be in to pick up Christmas stuff.

Have you ever prank-called a restaurant? I don't think so. I did do prank calls as a kid. But it's no fun anymore now that caller ID is a thing.

How did you meet most of your friends? "Most." Hmm. I have friends from all over: high school, college, work, neighbors, church, Facebook, blogs, friends of friends.... I guess the majority are from work-related activities at this point. Or church.

Do you find ancient mythology interesting? Vaguely. I don't spend time poring over it, but it's ok. So many people have written things based on myths that it pays to know about them so you can spot the allusions.

What snacks do you usually buy when you go to the movies? Beast and I usually split a popcorn. We each get our own drink. And I usually get some kind of candy. I've been known to sneak in the candy, however. I once snuck in a whole sub, along with my sister who snuck in her own sandwich. We each had a can of pop up one sleeve of our coats. Yay, Wisconsin in winter and big coats!! Our local theater does free refills of popcorn and pop, though, so it's rather dumb to sneak there.

Do you prefer British spelling or American? American. Shorter. Terser. Conciser. lol

Have you ever gone sailing? Nope. Sounds to me like a real good reason to throw up. The number of times I've been on a boat of any kind probably doesn't get too close to 30. Not a fan.

Have you ever gotten heat exhaustion? Not diagnosed. I've been on the verge of passing out, however.

Do you still live in your childhood home? Uhm, no. I haven't lived full-time in the house in which I grew up since 1982. And since my parents sold it in 1994...yeah, no. One of my best friends has lived in the same house her entire life, except for her college years. Her parents sold it to her sometime in the 90s when they retired and moved.

How much is too much to pay for a concert ticket? $10. I don't like concerts. Well, ok, I adore live music, but I really really hate crowds and parking and the bad acoustics that generally go with concerts. Oh, and the people....

What was the greatest prank you've ever pulled? Uhm, no. I'm saving it to re-use. ;-) To be honest, I'm not that great at coming up with pranks.

Do you pride yourself on being intelligent? Despite that last answer, yes I do. But I'm very aware of my "stupid spots."

Is that pride justified? Sure. I mean, I am smart. Is it the most important think in the world? No.

If you controlled pop culture, what trend would you change or introduce? Can we puh-leeeze let girls wear comfortable, not-too-tight/too-small clothes in public again? And let boys wear belts on pants that aren't 8 sizes too big?

Have you ever taken a survey twice by accident? I'm sure. More than once even.

What was the last movie you went to see? A Walk in the Woods last Saturday. It was funny. I sat in the front row for the first time ever--the theater was full--in a recliner, so that was interesting too. A good movie to do that; the scenery was GORgeous!

Have you ever gotten stuck on an amusement park ride? No thank God.

Do you have a weak stomach? I don't do well in the GI area when stressed. I've been known to get nauseous, stop eating, or need to be near the bathroom urgently. But in terms of dealing with body-fluid evacuation, I'm ok as long as I don't think too hard about it. I've been thrown up on and peed on and pooped on FAR too many times by my wonderful son. Seriously, once you've had a kid vomit down your back 3 times in a year, you really have no choice but to man up. Not that you have to enjoy it....

Do you get annoyed when you don't receive any comments on your Facebook for a while? Well, yeah.

How often do you floss? Less often than I should but far far more often than Beast!

What was the worst trouble you've ever gotten into? In trouble with authorities: coupla speeding tickets. I suppose the conversation with my boss about getting named by creepy people on their creepy website along with my workplace counts too? That was unpleasant, though I'm not exactly in trouble. The creeps did their creepy best though, forwarding their creepy link to everyone they could find email addresses for in City management.

Would you ever consider becoming a cop? No.

If stupidity were a fatal disease, who do you think would be the first to die? Donald Trump, God willing. And a large chunk of people with Bush DNA.

Are you and your friends loud and obnoxious in public areas? Sommmmetimmmmmes....? lol

How often do you take and fill out surveys....? Way less often than I used to.

Are you a big New York Yankees fan? It is not possible for anyone to be LESS of a Yankees fan than I am.

Do you own a thesaurus? Yes. ? I think. Haven't hauled it out for awhile; I use the one at work, or an online one.

When was the last time you visited relatives? I was at my niece's house a couple of weeks ago. I also saw her and my sister (et al.) 8 days ago.

When was the last time you ate meat? 4 hours ago.

What magazines do you read, if any? Presbyterian Outlook, Ms., Entertainment Weekly, Consumer Reports. Real Simple isn't either of the words in its name anymore, so it's been cancelled. At work, I page through Library Journal, Booklist, and Publishers Weekly for the reviews.

What's one thing you get uptight about? Injustice. And man, do not even start about child abuse with me....!

What sport are you best at? Marbles? OK, probably not anymore. Is verbal jousting a sport?

Have you ever eaten one of those Warheads candies? Oooh, yes. Not for a long time, though. ...may have to remedy that....

Do you prefer Tootsie Pops or Blow Pops? Tootsie Pops. The gum in Blow Pops is awful.

Do you ever correct grammatical and typographical errors on survey questions? If/when I notice them, yes.

How did you get your most recent injury? From picking. You know, picking at cuticles, picking at bumps, scratching bug bites...picking.

What's the most awkward question you've ever been asked? 'Are you SURE you never worked at [city I've never heard of] Library?' Yeah, honey, I'm pretty sure I'm too young to be that forgetful!

Do you own anything from IKEA? Yes. Yes I do.

What was the stupidest horror movie you've ever seen? They're all stupid. They scare the shit out of me, and I don't understand the attraction of that at all!

What about the stupidest comedy? Was "Snow Dogs" meant to be a comedy?

Have you ever snuck into a movie? Yes, a friend who worked at the theater snuck me into the second Indiana Jones movie.

There's no place like home, true or false? I've always found this statement to be ridiculous. There's no place just like any place else. So, yes, there is indeed no place like home. Duh.

What's the creepiest place you can think of? Inside an insane person's head.

Have you ever seen an albino animal? I think so.

Do you think they have chatspeak in Chinese? Could you be just little bit more racist?

What color's your front door? Pale green. And I had to just look.

Were you afraid of old people as a child? Nope. I didn't really love hanging around the nursing home where my grandma's lived (and died), but I wasn't afraid of old people. My parents were old!

Have you ever been visited by a Jehovah's Witness? Fuck yeah. I hide from them now.

Have you ever tried summoning Bloody Mary? Oh sure, as a youngster we did this at slumber parties. smh

When are you likely to lie? As a defense mechanism.

Do you say what you mean and mean what you say? I am very often Horton.

What's a personality type that you do not like? I'm not a fan of posers or braggarts.

What's a personality type that you do like? People with a sense of humor and real (not false) humility.

Which of your friends is the least like you and in what way? I have a couple of pretty conservative (politically) friends while I'm about as left-wing as you can get and still work within the system. I also have a lot of very gregarious friends; I'm not a conversation-starter except when I have to be. I have some friends who don't ever read; this appalls me but I love them anyway. I know an increasing number of non-cis/non-hetero people; I'm boringly "normal." (not a word I would use, hence the quotes) So, yeah. Next.

How about the most like you and in what way? The readers. The cis-straights, the liberals, the introverts. It really depends on how you frame the parameters.

What's something you do daily and is this a habit of yours? Seems to me that if you do something "daily" it's pretty much a habit. By definition.
I get online daily, to answer the question.

What was the last thing to frustrate you and is it still frustrating you now? People who are just spouting "party line" BS about guns. Oh, and the douchebags who say, "If I'd been there, only one person would have died: the shooter." Please. Take your tiny penis and go home.

Do you let other peoples' troubles bring you down? I do. It's pathological sometimes.

When was the last time you felt under-appreciated? Seriously? It happens so often at work that I've had to just turn off that part of my nervous system. As a mom, it's pretty common too. For instance, yesterday there was something about "I'll call you tomorrow" and then nothing today, for instance.

Does anyone take advantage of you or take you for granted? Oops, I guess that's more like what Sparky's up to with the not-calling thing.

Are you taking anyone for granted? I try very hard not to, but I'm sure I am.

What's one selfish thing that you do? This right hyee-ah.

How about something selfless? Bestirring myself to make dinner earlier tonight perhaps?

If it were to snow right now, would that be unusual? It wouldn't make me very happy, but I'm sure it's snowed this early in the past, so it wouldn't be all that shocking.

What do you like to do on your favorite holiday? Cook turkey, etc., and eat. Laugh with family and friends.

What helps you fall asleep? Reading mindless stuff before turning off the light, doing mindless puzzles, and silence or white noise.

When you're nervous about something, what do you do? The usual: nibble on fingernails, gabble incoherently, and if it's really bad I end up spending quality time with porcelain.

Have you ever been near death and if so, how was this experience? Not really, no. Well, at least, not near my death. I've been around dying people. It was  ... surprisingly peaceful, but sad.

What's something you understand very well? MARC. And hiding in public.

How do you feel about friendship in general? I'm in favor of it.

Is there anyone you wish you were still friends with now? I wish I'd kept better track of people I went to church with as a kid.

Which friendship have you maintained the longest and are you two close? I'm still/again friends with a friend I met in 1970 or thereabouts. We got to be good/best friends in junior high and high school, drifted apart during and after college, and reconnected on Facebook.

What do you do to help yourself "move on" from things? I allow myself to grieve, but try not to get bogged down or stuck in the sad bits. "Try" of course is the operative word here.

What's a scent that reminds you of someone? Old Spice and VO5 hair goo will always be my dad.

Is there an image or memory you wish you could forget? Yeah, there've been some scary driving situations about which I'd like to forget the scare. Not the event, just how terrified I was.

Do you think it's possible to live without regret and why or why not? No. I think it's perfectly sensible to regret things and to try to improve in the future. In fact, I think if you have no regrets in life you're probably a bit scary. Now, being ashamed of things, THAT isn't so healthy.

Do you think that you're headed in the right direction? I'm headed to bed quite soon. That's almost always the right direction.

If you have a religion, do you think it's the only "right" one? It's the only one that works for me most of the time. However, I'm eminently open to the possibility, even the likelihood, that others might find different belief systems more in tune with their world-view.

Have you met anyone else who challenged that belief? Of course. I rather search them out. I currently work with about 5 Catholics, a Buddhist, a recovering-Baptist, several non-denominationals and at least one full-bore atheist. I've worked with Jewish people in the past (at the same time I worked with the single most uptight right-wing fundie in the known universe, so that was interesting). One of my church friends is married to a guy raised in the Greek Orthodox tradition. We have a growing Buddhist temple in town and quite a few Hindus. For a small town, it's not as Stepford-y as one would think.

What's the hardest part about writing a paper for you? As in homework? Nothing. Writing is right in my wheelhouse. Getting a topic might be tricky, but really the hardest part is getting started. I'm a world-class procrastinator.

How often do you doubt yourself and has this helped or hindered you? I'm slowly getting less concerned with my limitations. I mean, I know they are there, but I'm not constantly worrying over them. I overthink everything and wish I'd handled things differently, but I'm getting better at not beating myself up about mistakes.

What's a fear you want to overcome? Going places in public alone. I have had a goal for decades to go to a movie by myself....and I just can't seem to manage it.

What's something you don't like about yourself with good reason? I really MUST learn to control my tongue.

Do you do anything harmful and if so, what? I eat like a 10-year-old. This is not a healthy thing.

Would you rather someone be kind or physically attractive? Kind.

Are you often alone or are you often around others? I work in a large room full of randomly loud people, or in a larger room with randomly bizarre people. I love being home alone while Beast travels, and in general I prefer small groups of people or none at all.

What does your current outfit say about you, if anything? That I'm color-blind: blue-and-orange pajama bottoms and my Tournament of roses black long-sleeved T (with a large very-red-with-green-leaves rose on the front). And pearl earrings. Very natty, aren't I?

Do your clothes express your personality in general? If my personality is "comfort and price over fashion" then yes.

Or how DO you typically express who you are? With my mouth and/or my keyboard.

Who's taught you the most about life? No one person. Books are a great learning place. And watching others, and my reactions to the events of the world.

What do you spend a lot of your time doing? Staring at a computer screen. Good thing I enjoy that!

Have you ever been stuck in a rut and if so, in what way? Yes. Then again, I don't mind ruts so much, which makes me worried because i don't want to be in a rut.

Does the universe ever make you feel small? In an astronomical sense, yes.

What do you usually cry about? Other people's pain, usually.

What do you laugh about? My biggest laughs have been while watching Whose Line Is It? lately, but I like smart, quick humor in general.

Have you ever laughed at anything inappropriate? Far too often.

Do you think less of pregnant teenagers? Less than what? I don't think they're horrible people. I feel bad for them having to derail their lives at a young age to care for a child, or at least to give birth.

Or of teenagers that choose to have sex? At this point, I'm fairly sure that if I have a room of 10 kids the majority have had sexual contact with someone in their lives. I don't judge them. Just be safe, and if it's not consensual, get help!

Have you ever seen an air show? Yep. Stiff neck FTW.

What does "success" mean to you? Choosing and living comfortably and joyfully with those choices. Loving and being loved by those you care about.

Do you have an actual phobia of anything? Nope, not in a clinical sense.

What's something that you seek in life? Absurdity.

What's one opinion you have about change? It's going to happen. Try to enjoy it.

Do you have nerves before presentations? Of course, but if I'm ready to talk about the topic, I settle down as soon as I start talking.

Do you like pizza better on the second day? I adore leftover, cold pizza!

What's your favorite fall color? Dark orange.

What do you like on your pancakes? Butter and syrup. Lots and lots of syrup!

What energizes you? Laughter and kids.

When was your last adrenaline rush? Approximately 10 days ago when I realized I'd been "outed" in a particularly nasty way.

What emoticon do you often use? I think it's probably pretty close between :-) and ;-)

Have you ever made up your own emoticon? Nope, I'm a follower in this field.

What type of bread do you usually like? Yes, please. ... I just like bread. Just about any kind works for me. I like the heartier breads--oat, wheat, etc.--more than plain white, but I'm not averse to Wonder Bread on occasion.

Do you like to do things your own way? Who doesn't??

Do you believe in past lives and what might you have been? Nope, though it's pretty to think about.

Do neon colors bother you and why or why not? Depends on how they are used. Generally, not really bothered by them.