Encouraged and calm
So, I did some calculations today, and it seems that my budget could handle me getting this phone survey job. I asked dad to look over the numbers, and he couldn't find anything wrong with them. It's a low-salary job, and I don't expect my financial situation to improve dramatically, but at least it doesn't look like it would get any worse. Last time, I wasn't prepared for the additional cost of bus fares and snacks, and the salary was way lower than it ought to have been (even lower than the lowest legal figure, which is about €10 / hour. I honestly don't know how that firm still hasn't gone bankrupt, or been taken to court for violating laws of employment...
Anyway, I saw the error of my lazy ways, and today I've baked an apple pie, bought groceries, done the laundry and the dishes. I don't have any energy left to practice today, and I didn't practice yesterday either, so tomorrow I have to really make an effort. I'm so happy to have learned to play better, that I'm not going to slip back into bad practice habits, just because "I dont wanna"...
It's Tuesday, and time for the next 50 questions. We're getting close to 1000, but there are as many, and more, left, so don't you worry...
901. Would you rather have a candle scented like blueberries and creme or butterscotch pecan pie? Blueberries
902. Which ones are fruits and which are vegetables:
Banana fruit
Cucumber vegetable
Tomato fruit
Apple fruit
Carrot vegetable
Eggplant vegetable
Cherry fruit
Pumpkin vegetable
903. Does it annoy you when people talk loudly on their cell phones in public? It depends on the situation.
904. Is love a commitment to one person, or can you love more than one person at the same time? I think love is a feeling and a commitment. You can't choose whom you love, but you can choose to be faithful and to not harm the one you're committed to.
905. Cover or original: I won't answer these, because I have no idea.
Smooth Criminal; is it better by Michael Jackson or Alien Ant Farm?
Blue Monday better by Orgy or New Order
I Want Candy; Is it better by Aaron Carter or Bow Wow Wow?
Love Song; Is it better by 311 or The Cure?
It's My Life; Is it better by No Doubt or The Talking Heads?
906. What is the most uncomfortable feeling? Shame.
907. Do you like Maroon 5? Never heard any of their songs, I think.
908. Would you ever go on a blind date TV show? Never.
909. How much of your wardrobe is dry clean only? About 1 %.
910. Who's arms would you like to crawl into? Someone I love romantically. No such person right now.
911. What the hell is your problem? Swearing, apparently;).
912. Look around you. What is the most beautiful thing you can see? I'm looking out of my window, and it's an evening in spring, so it's pretty with the light green leaves.
913. What is the most beautiful thing you can't see? The sun is setting soon, but I can't see that from where I'm sitting.
914. Take a deep breath. Yawn deeply. Do you appreciate the things most people take for granted, like breathing? I do, especially in allergy season. I'm really greatful for allergy meds this year.
915. Do you appreciate breathing more when you have a cold and you're all congested and can't breathe right? Sure.
916. Is congestion a positive thing because it helps you to appreciate breathing? No.
917. How is your life like a work of art? I strive to create some order and harmony in my everyday surroundings.
918. Do you feel that your life influences and is influenced by many other lives? I feel I'm influenced by other peoples' lives, and I imagine that something I say and do influences other people, as well.
919. Has a smile ever made all the difference in the world to you? Yes.
920. Have you ever looked at a tree and considered how the roots could be miles long, trailing and entwining with other roots underground, all of them holding the soil together? Not really, but it's one of those remarkable things you never really think about.
921. Do you notice the little things in life? I notice a lot of little things, sometimes at the expense of bigger things.
922. Do you feel, as Jung did, that deep down, underneath our individual personalities we are all the same? We have more in common than we think.
923. Do you feel a great oneness with the universe? At some level.
924. When was the last time you decided to really enjoy yourself? I don't usually decide such things. If it happens, it happens.
925. When was the last time you set your self free and acted without caring at all what someone else thought? I try to do that all the time.
926. Have you ever held someone and appreciated how delicate and fragile all life is and felt that they were even more precious and beautiful because one day they would die..and so will you? Yes, many times. Children and animals do that to me.
927. In ten years someone else might own your house and the room you are sitting in now. Someone else might be standing right next to where you are sitting now. So that means you could be standing right next to someone but you can't see him or her because they are ten years away.
Ever look at life like that? Not very often, but I have read questions like that before, and I have paused to consider it.
928. When was the last time you:
Soaked in a bubble bath A couple of years ago.
Read a good book outside Just last week.
Held someone's hand Some months ago, probably.
Felt truly joyful Today.
929. What do you bring to this world that no one else can? I bring this unique personality, and these experiences and memories, that are all my own. No better or worse than anyone else's, just uniquely mine.
930. Do you feel that you are part of every living thing in this world and that all those things are part of you? No.
931. Are you more afraid of death or not completely living? I don't know.
932. What was the last thing you wanted to do but didn't or couldn't do? I've wanted to buy all sorts of things, but I haven't been able to afford them.
933. Why don't you try and do that thing now? Because I still don't have money.
934. What is the most wonderful thing happening right now in the world? People living their ordinary lives in peace and harmony. Looking at the news, you tend to forget about all the normal, happy things that don't make the news.
935. Name 7 things going on around you that you normally wouldn't notice:
1. Practicing all this self-awareness, I noticed I was thirsty, and I got myself a cup of water. I really should drink more water.
2. The clock is ticking.
3. My back is getting tired of all this sitting.
4. The birds have gone quiet, because it's quite late
5. The sun is slowly setting.
6. We have a rather noisy ventilation system.
7. I can actually type pretty efficiently in English now, thanks to blogging almost every day.
936. Name three things you hate
1. Mould in all its forms (the bread had gone moldy today, and I had porridge for breakfast, which wasn't at all bad)
2. Cruelty
3. Wanton destruction
937. Name one GOOD thing about each of those 3 things you hate. Mould was used to develop penicillin and other antibiotics, cruelty leads to opposition by brave people, and sometimes wanton destruction is used for good, e.g. when you break ground for building.
938. What do you tend to see in black and white, rather than in shades of gray? Honesty. We talked about this today with dad. I really don't see many good reasons for lying and deception, and I tend to get very angry when someone questions my honesty.
939. Admit three things you do that you are ashamed of but shouldn't be.
1. I'm ashamed of having bad days, although everyone has them
2. I'm ashamed of being the sort of person who gets lost easily, because I have a bad sense of space, I think it's called
3. I'm ashamed for sucking at math and sciences, although I'm far from being the only one
940. What qualities make a person “good” in your eyes? Selflessness, honesty and humility.
941. Do you have any of these qualities? I try to cultivate them. I think I'm pretty honest.
942. Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve what you want to? Not at all costs. What I want isn't always the most important or the best thing, surprisingly.
943. Name one bad quality about someone you love. I know many lovely people with very short tempers.
944. Name one good quality about someone you hate. I don't think I hate anyone at the moment, but I often dislike what I think are go-getters. In fact, many of them are probably just ambitious and energetic, and both are very good qualities.
945. Are you pro life or pro choice and why? I'm pro choice. That said, I think it's important that abortion really is the woman's own choice, not something she's threatened or pressured, or even coaxed into doing. I see every human life as something sacred, but I don't see why the lives of people already living should be wasted to preserve the life of someone not yet fully formed. For example, if giving birth would jeopardize both mother and baby, I think the mother's life is more important.
946. If you are pro life write a reason someone might be pro choice. If you are pro choice write a reason someone might be pro life.
I understand that many religious people see everything as part of God's plan. I just don't agree with e.g. the rape of a teenager by her father or someone else as God's plan. I know there are numerous other reasons for abortion, and I think people shouldn't use abortions as contraceptives, but there are some instances, where the will of God isn't very evident in what happens.
947. Can you see the beauty in?
A bumble bee: Yes.
A man skating: Sure.
A woman combing her hair: Yes.
A box of tissues: No.
Yourself naked: Yes.
Light: Yes.
948. What are you most afraid of? I think I'm afraid of being in a great deal of pain with no hope of relief. I thought one day about how it would feel to be stung by a scorpion, and I would imagine that's terrible.
949. Whose life would you REALLY NOT want to ever have? Someone who is responsible for sending people to their death.
Why? I don't think I could live with the knowledge of what I was doing.
950. Can you come up with a reason why you might want their life? Sometimes desperate measures are called for to make life better for those who survive.
Wow, that was a difficult bunch of questions, dealing with life, death, and everything between. It's taken an hour, more or less, to write all this, although there isn't very much of it. I love memes that really make you sit down and think long and hard about things you wouldn't normally think about at all. It's no wonder you start to feel you really know people, reading their blogs, and much more so than you know many people in real life. Even if you wrote nothing but lies, the way you told the lies, and what lies you told, would inevitably reveal something about you.
More revelations, or not, tomorrow. See you then!
Anyway, I saw the error of my lazy ways, and today I've baked an apple pie, bought groceries, done the laundry and the dishes. I don't have any energy left to practice today, and I didn't practice yesterday either, so tomorrow I have to really make an effort. I'm so happy to have learned to play better, that I'm not going to slip back into bad practice habits, just because "I dont wanna"...
It's Tuesday, and time for the next 50 questions. We're getting close to 1000, but there are as many, and more, left, so don't you worry...
901. Would you rather have a candle scented like blueberries and creme or butterscotch pecan pie? Blueberries
902. Which ones are fruits and which are vegetables:
Banana fruit
Cucumber vegetable
Tomato fruit
Apple fruit
Carrot vegetable
Eggplant vegetable
Cherry fruit
Pumpkin vegetable
903. Does it annoy you when people talk loudly on their cell phones in public? It depends on the situation.
904. Is love a commitment to one person, or can you love more than one person at the same time? I think love is a feeling and a commitment. You can't choose whom you love, but you can choose to be faithful and to not harm the one you're committed to.
905. Cover or original: I won't answer these, because I have no idea.
Smooth Criminal; is it better by Michael Jackson or Alien Ant Farm?
Blue Monday better by Orgy or New Order
I Want Candy; Is it better by Aaron Carter or Bow Wow Wow?
Love Song; Is it better by 311 or The Cure?
It's My Life; Is it better by No Doubt or The Talking Heads?
906. What is the most uncomfortable feeling? Shame.
907. Do you like Maroon 5? Never heard any of their songs, I think.
908. Would you ever go on a blind date TV show? Never.
909. How much of your wardrobe is dry clean only? About 1 %.
910. Who's arms would you like to crawl into? Someone I love romantically. No such person right now.
911. What the hell is your problem? Swearing, apparently;).
912. Look around you. What is the most beautiful thing you can see? I'm looking out of my window, and it's an evening in spring, so it's pretty with the light green leaves.
913. What is the most beautiful thing you can't see? The sun is setting soon, but I can't see that from where I'm sitting.
914. Take a deep breath. Yawn deeply. Do you appreciate the things most people take for granted, like breathing? I do, especially in allergy season. I'm really greatful for allergy meds this year.
915. Do you appreciate breathing more when you have a cold and you're all congested and can't breathe right? Sure.
916. Is congestion a positive thing because it helps you to appreciate breathing? No.
917. How is your life like a work of art? I strive to create some order and harmony in my everyday surroundings.
918. Do you feel that your life influences and is influenced by many other lives? I feel I'm influenced by other peoples' lives, and I imagine that something I say and do influences other people, as well.
919. Has a smile ever made all the difference in the world to you? Yes.
920. Have you ever looked at a tree and considered how the roots could be miles long, trailing and entwining with other roots underground, all of them holding the soil together? Not really, but it's one of those remarkable things you never really think about.
921. Do you notice the little things in life? I notice a lot of little things, sometimes at the expense of bigger things.
922. Do you feel, as Jung did, that deep down, underneath our individual personalities we are all the same? We have more in common than we think.
923. Do you feel a great oneness with the universe? At some level.
924. When was the last time you decided to really enjoy yourself? I don't usually decide such things. If it happens, it happens.
925. When was the last time you set your self free and acted without caring at all what someone else thought? I try to do that all the time.
926. Have you ever held someone and appreciated how delicate and fragile all life is and felt that they were even more precious and beautiful because one day they would die..and so will you? Yes, many times. Children and animals do that to me.
927. In ten years someone else might own your house and the room you are sitting in now. Someone else might be standing right next to where you are sitting now. So that means you could be standing right next to someone but you can't see him or her because they are ten years away.
Ever look at life like that? Not very often, but I have read questions like that before, and I have paused to consider it.
928. When was the last time you:
Soaked in a bubble bath A couple of years ago.
Read a good book outside Just last week.
Held someone's hand Some months ago, probably.
Felt truly joyful Today.
929. What do you bring to this world that no one else can? I bring this unique personality, and these experiences and memories, that are all my own. No better or worse than anyone else's, just uniquely mine.
930. Do you feel that you are part of every living thing in this world and that all those things are part of you? No.
931. Are you more afraid of death or not completely living? I don't know.
932. What was the last thing you wanted to do but didn't or couldn't do? I've wanted to buy all sorts of things, but I haven't been able to afford them.
933. Why don't you try and do that thing now? Because I still don't have money.
934. What is the most wonderful thing happening right now in the world? People living their ordinary lives in peace and harmony. Looking at the news, you tend to forget about all the normal, happy things that don't make the news.
935. Name 7 things going on around you that you normally wouldn't notice:
1. Practicing all this self-awareness, I noticed I was thirsty, and I got myself a cup of water. I really should drink more water.
2. The clock is ticking.
3. My back is getting tired of all this sitting.
4. The birds have gone quiet, because it's quite late
5. The sun is slowly setting.
6. We have a rather noisy ventilation system.
7. I can actually type pretty efficiently in English now, thanks to blogging almost every day.
936. Name three things you hate
1. Mould in all its forms (the bread had gone moldy today, and I had porridge for breakfast, which wasn't at all bad)
2. Cruelty
3. Wanton destruction
937. Name one GOOD thing about each of those 3 things you hate. Mould was used to develop penicillin and other antibiotics, cruelty leads to opposition by brave people, and sometimes wanton destruction is used for good, e.g. when you break ground for building.
938. What do you tend to see in black and white, rather than in shades of gray? Honesty. We talked about this today with dad. I really don't see many good reasons for lying and deception, and I tend to get very angry when someone questions my honesty.
939. Admit three things you do that you are ashamed of but shouldn't be.
1. I'm ashamed of having bad days, although everyone has them
2. I'm ashamed of being the sort of person who gets lost easily, because I have a bad sense of space, I think it's called
3. I'm ashamed for sucking at math and sciences, although I'm far from being the only one
940. What qualities make a person “good” in your eyes? Selflessness, honesty and humility.
941. Do you have any of these qualities? I try to cultivate them. I think I'm pretty honest.
942. Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve what you want to? Not at all costs. What I want isn't always the most important or the best thing, surprisingly.
943. Name one bad quality about someone you love. I know many lovely people with very short tempers.
944. Name one good quality about someone you hate. I don't think I hate anyone at the moment, but I often dislike what I think are go-getters. In fact, many of them are probably just ambitious and energetic, and both are very good qualities.
945. Are you pro life or pro choice and why? I'm pro choice. That said, I think it's important that abortion really is the woman's own choice, not something she's threatened or pressured, or even coaxed into doing. I see every human life as something sacred, but I don't see why the lives of people already living should be wasted to preserve the life of someone not yet fully formed. For example, if giving birth would jeopardize both mother and baby, I think the mother's life is more important.
946. If you are pro life write a reason someone might be pro choice. If you are pro choice write a reason someone might be pro life.
I understand that many religious people see everything as part of God's plan. I just don't agree with e.g. the rape of a teenager by her father or someone else as God's plan. I know there are numerous other reasons for abortion, and I think people shouldn't use abortions as contraceptives, but there are some instances, where the will of God isn't very evident in what happens.
947. Can you see the beauty in?
A bumble bee: Yes.
A man skating: Sure.
A woman combing her hair: Yes.
A box of tissues: No.
Yourself naked: Yes.
Light: Yes.
948. What are you most afraid of? I think I'm afraid of being in a great deal of pain with no hope of relief. I thought one day about how it would feel to be stung by a scorpion, and I would imagine that's terrible.
949. Whose life would you REALLY NOT want to ever have? Someone who is responsible for sending people to their death.
Why? I don't think I could live with the knowledge of what I was doing.
950. Can you come up with a reason why you might want their life? Sometimes desperate measures are called for to make life better for those who survive.
Wow, that was a difficult bunch of questions, dealing with life, death, and everything between. It's taken an hour, more or less, to write all this, although there isn't very much of it. I love memes that really make you sit down and think long and hard about things you wouldn't normally think about at all. It's no wonder you start to feel you really know people, reading their blogs, and much more so than you know many people in real life. Even if you wrote nothing but lies, the way you told the lies, and what lies you told, would inevitably reveal something about you.
More revelations, or not, tomorrow. See you then!