Insane x5

(Found here)

401. Some say that high school is the best time of your life. Was that true for you?
I sincerely hope not, but I do have some good memories from that age. And some horrible memories. I wouldn't want to go back and do it again, that's for sure!

402. What do you find yourself encouraging others to try?
Books. I'm always recommending books, but usually only when asked. I get paid to do it--it's not as much fun in my free time as it used to be.

403. Which is better: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?
I loathe Woody Allen. Mel Brooks generally makes me laugh, and he's not known to be a perv.

404. When was the last time you were up all night?
I did not sleep well the first night of vacation, primarily because I was in a blind panic and trying to decide if I should just taxi back to the airport and fly home on the next available plane.

405. _______ is life. The rest is just details. Fill in the blank.
Finding your purpose and doing it

406. Are people too complex and different to be categorized?
I think if your categories are broad and generic enough, most people can be categorized. We do it all the time: male/female, short/tall, good/evil.... But, there are usually outliers who fit into neither (or both) category/ies.

407. Is it good to have pride in your own race or does that separate people from each other because it makes them think of everyone else as 'outsiders'?
Race is a social construct. I'm speaking from a place of massive privilege here, but I really wish we could get past skin color and ethnicity.

408. What fictional story would you like to live through?
Honestly, it would be fun to live in one of Dan Brown's books, for about 6 hours. Then I'd be EXHAUSTED!

409. Are cats or dogs smarter?
Depends on what you would have them think about. Cats are sly and clever. Dogs are eager to please and trainable.

410. Have you ever guessed someone's password and broken into their diary?
NO! I do not do shit like this. However, it's rather tempting when coworkers leave their email/Facebook accounts open at work to scan recent stuff...so I'm really only kinda not-evil.

411. What teacher, if any, has affected you the most in your life?
Probably my high school band teacher, over all. But I had a lot of good teachers over the years, from Kindergarten through grad school. In fact, I think the vast majority of teachers were great. I wish I could say the same for Sparky's teachers...he had some absolutely horrendous ones.

412. Are you more easily bored or excited?
I get excited about everything. Yes, it's true: I'm THAT person; basically, a 18-month-old puppy.

413. What's the bravest or most daring thing you have ever done?
Going to the Soviet Union for a month in January with 25 people I barely knew is right up there. And then staying an extra 10 days afterwards rolling around Italy with a friend and $400. Both taught me that I can do whatever I really want to do, even when I'm terrified. Otherwise, 2013-2015 or so tested my mettle almost every day, both in my personal life and at work.

414. "What's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?" (- Adam Ant)
I love Adam Ant's music!! And this is a very good question. I don't know the answer to it. If I did, perhaps I could stop people from killing each other in poor areas of major cities.

415. If your man or woman served you breakfast in bed as a treat what would you want?
Pancakes. And then someone needs to wash the sheets because I will get syrup everywhere.

416. What do you do only when you are upset?
Yell. Get defensive. ... I was going to say "cry" but I cry ALL the bloody time! This weekend has been a big tear-fest for some reason.

417. What's the oddest CD in your collection?
Hmm. Maybe my Howard Jones "Dream Into Action" CD? I think before that I was all vinyl.

418. What's the best diary name you ever saw?
If we're talking blog names, there are way too many to pick one excellent one. Some are pretty stupid, but the vast majority are at least mildly clever.

419. What would your friends be surprised to learn about you?
How many stories and fictional worlds I've created in my head that I've never written down on paper.

420. Who owes you an apology?
No one owes me.

421. Who deserves an apology from you?
Almost everyone I know! So, if I know you...I'm sorry!!

422. How would you like to treat your kids differently from the way your parents treated you?
I have treated Sparky somewhat differently that I was treated. I listened to him. I let him do his own thing in most cases, when it was harmful over the long term (i.e. hair length, willingness to settle for C's and B's rather than pushing for A's, allowing his room to be messy, etc.). Some of the stuff my parents did for me I passed down though, for better or worse: moments of screaming rage, not scheduling his every waking moment, letting him choose his music and reading material without a lot of input or criticism.... My parents didn't do a bad job with us, and I tried to do at least as well as they did.

423. Which do you like best: 60's, 70's or 80's fashion?
Since I was young and skinny in the 80's and could choose my own clothes by then...gotta give it up for neon colors and big hair!

424. What is the worst pick up line ever used on you?
I wouldn't be likely to recognize one if it came up and smacked me in the face. There was this waiter once, at Olive Garden, when I was there with a friend...she was in tears laughing at me after we ordered our meal. And things got weird.

425. Of the following, which word best describes you: inventive, kinetic (energetic), light-hearted, mature
I strive for light-hearted. I tend to achieve mature more often than I feel very comfortable with.

426. Do you own a record player?
Yes. Two of them.
Do you use it?
One I do, yes; it's part of a machine that will take a record or cassette and record it to a CD.

427. How easily do you make friends?
Less easily as I age. I don't know if I'm less trusting, less willing to put myself out there, or too busy/tired. I do make what I call acquaintances easily, but it takes a LONG time for me to move them into true friendship in my head.

428. What is the difference between having character and being a character?
Having character means you try to live by a moral code. Being a character means you act in a way that (some) others might find weird. The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive, but you can be a character while having no character.

429. Are there any animals you flat out refuse to touch?
I'm not touching any bugs or spiders if I can avoid it! Reptiles, within some parameters, I'm OK with. Oh, and no skunks!

430. Do you care about your weight?
I do. I've gotten the word from On High that I need to deal with it. ...sigh

431. Did you/will you go to the prom?
Nope.

432. Have you ever wanted to date twins?
Well, there were twins in my graduating class and when they first moved to town, they seemed endlessly fascinating and good-looking. That was 7th grade. By the time we were in high school...not so much.

433. What one thing would you change about high school if you could?
It would be lovely if kids weren't so mean to themselves and their peers.

434. If you came with a warning label, what would it say?
"Contents under pressure."

435. Are you artistic and creative?
I don't think of myself this way at all. But I have had moments when I wonder if I might have more of this going on that I am aware of.

436. What were you (probably) doing on this date last year?
It was a Friday, I worked, had 3 public desk hours, Beast was in the mitten state on business. I have no idea specifically, except that I was probably glad for a short week, post-holiday weekend.

437. What are you obsessed with?
Memes. Pretty obviously.

438. What was the last compliment you received?
Something Sparky said before he left today.

439. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
I have one of each.

440. Who would you like to be alone with right now?
Myself. And I am. So, things are good!

441. Do you push people away when you really want them to come closer?
Nope.

442. Is a prenuptial agreement necessary or does it take the romance and trust out of marriage?
If two people are getting married whose situations are inherently financially unequal, it just makes sense to spell things out.

443. Do you lie your way out of things?
I ... have been known to do this.

444. Are you better at talking or listening?
I think almost everyone is better at talking, but I'm slowly learning to listen more than I talk.

445. What will only happen to you once in this lifetime?
Childbirth.

446. Know of any conspiracy theories you think might be credible?
I don't tend to go for this sort of thing. The world itself isn't entirely credible, so conspiracy theories tend to be less so from my point of view.

447. What are the most beautiful words that have ever been spoken to you?
"Thank you."

448. If it were legal would you own a human slave (race unimportant)?
No. I can't get myself sorted out--how could presume to organize someone else's life??

449. Have you ever read your own writing at a poetry reading?
Honestly, I'm not even sure I've ever been to a poetry reading. And I don't write poetry very often anyway.

450. What is one simple thing that gives you the happy shivers?
Vacation!

451. What do you do for exercise?
Type.
OK, this weekend, I spent time with two people under age 3 and discovered that doing that uses muscles I didn't know I still had. They are sore.

452. Would you rather have a strict teacher with a sense of humor or a lenient teacher that doesn't teach?
I hated the laid-back teachers who didn't grade stuff and wanted to be cool and friendly with the cool students. I wasn't a cool student, so maybe that's sour grapes, but if I'm in class, I expect to be taught something!

453. If you ever have a baby what might you want to name it?
What, you don't think Sparky is the best name ever??

454. If you won free tickets to a concert from a radio show and had to choose between Inxs, Poison, Blondie and Moby, which would you choose?
Michael Hutchence-era INXS would be excellent!!

455. Are you a good cook?
When required to be, yes.

456. Do you prefer when things come with no assembly required, even if they are a bit more expensive?
Yes.

457. Start a sentence with the words: what if
What if I told you I didn't want to?

458. Are you more spontaneous and unpredictable or loyal and routine?
I like my routines, but I also make split-second unreliable decisions every day. I'm kind of both, tbh.

459. What is the highest number you can count to in your head?
I usually fall asleep well before a thousand.

460. How do you go about losing weight?
I don't know. That's a major part of my problem!

461. Do you have street smarts?
More than I did when I was a kid, for sure. Still not as much as someone who lives in the city probably does.

462. Do you have a lot of common sense?
Yes.

463. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Is this a required meme question? It shows up way too often. And I'm tired of answering it.

464. What's your favorite movie that involves dancing?
I love musicals, and there's usually dancing in them. Probably my favorite movie about dance is "All That Jazz" followed closely by "A Chorus Line" (though the stage show is so much better!!). My favorite movie with dancing in it is "Singin' in the Rain."

465. Would you ever want to become a guest on a talk show? If yes what would the show's theme be?
No. No no no no NO!!

466. Do you like the way you look naked?
I'm 52 and overweight. What do you think?

467. Have you ever dissected an animal?
Yup. I found it absolutely fascinating!

468. Who do you know who is brilliant?
I have a niece who is an astrophysicist. She has a doctorate. And she doesn't use any of that on a daily basis, but I think she totally qualifies.

469. Who do you know who is dull?
Beast, lately. He's really in a rut. Also, Crazy Cat Lady at work. OMG, the woman is so predictable and irritating.

470. Do you ever think about time travel?
All the time.

471. What is one interesting fact you know?
Oh for crying out loud! I'm a librarian: I'm chock-full of interesting facts. Like the fact that the Vietnam War was never a legally declared war, so for several decades it was only legit to call it the Vietnam Conflict.

472. Do you talk to yourself?
Yes.

Do you talk to your pets?
Of course. And he talks back!

473. Do you believe that humankind has a future in space (will we live there some day)?
I think it could happen.

474. Would you rather wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty or more delicate outfits?
I don't "do" delicate, not at all. I need clothes that stand up to life.

475. How do you 'live life to the fullest'?
Don't depend on others to make your decisions for you.

476. Are you sloppy or a neat freak?
I'm an untidy clean person. Not neat, but not dirty.

477. Would you rather have a trunk full of nickels or half a trunk full of dimes?
Dimes.

478. What is the worst mistake you've ever made?
It all boils down to opening my mouth when I shouldn't.

479. Are you in good health?
I could be in better health than I currently am.

480. Are you patriotic?
Depends. I love this country, but OMG some of the BS going on here makes me totally nucking futs!

Let's play fact or crap.
Is it a fact? Or is it crap?
481. The greenhouse effect is bad for your health.
Well, yes, long-term, it's a disaster for most living creatures.

482. There are about as many molecules of air in one breath as there are hairs on your head.
I have no idea. Sure. Why not.

483. The Miss America pageant started out as a contest in which people decorated wheel chairs and one chair was judged the prettiest.
Uh, no.

484. To remove a tattoo a physician can place a small balloon under the skin, which is inflated so that the tattooed skin gradually stretches. Then they cut the stretched skin away.
Well, that sounds rather painful. And no.

485. Cock fighting is a sexual sport.
Only in the confused mind of a 13-year-old boy.

486. It is the warmest time of the day during the hour that the sun is the highest in the sky.
Nope. Usually a couple hours after that.

487. Certain scientists specialize in studying cow farts.
Well, probably. Cow farts are actually important to the future of the planet.

488. The brilliant colors (reds, oranges, yellows) across the sky that we get from sunsets are caused mainly by pollution.
Yes.

489. In Grimm's original fairy tale, Rapunzel is pregnant.
Probably. Those Grimm brothers did a LOT of cleaning up some pretty dicey stories.

490. Dracula was the first movie about a vampire.
Nope. Trust those Germans to beast us to it, with their own vampire.

491. The inventors of Corn Flakes, the Kellogg brothers, ran a school for delinquent youth.
I believe this might be true.

492. "Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo.
No clue.

493. Sir Thomas Crapper invented the toilet.
No he did not. Great story. Totally false.

494. The Earl of Sandwich invented the Sandwich.
I'm more willing to believe that an early holder of the title did just that.

495. Some Chinese alchemists were trying to invent an immortality medicine and accidentally invented gunpowder instead.
Hah! That would be karmically awesome.

496. The human body is made of about 99% water.
Maybe not quite that much....

497. Bubble gum contains rubber.
Nope. Chicle, not rubber. They are related but not at all the same.

498 This survey to the zero power = 0.
Yes.

499. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
I have no idea. Since I almost never wear lipstick, it's not much of a problem for me, either way.

500. There are 86401 seconds in day.
That sounds possible, yes.