Meme for the new (and old) readership.
Because, why not? I need to keep myself, and hopefully y'all, entertained.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE FOODS?
You're gonna ask a fatty foodie to pick a top three?? I suppose we could generalise it and go with Chinese, Italian and Mexican.
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ AND WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT?
It was "The Sons of Feral Sods" by my friend Ron Reaser. Actually, it wasn't. But it's better to promote and recommend a friend than to just say that I re-read "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson and leave it at that. Though I'd recommend that as well.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE PLACES?
Truthfully, I don't know that I have a top three here, per se. My favourite places are any place where I am surrounded by good friends or family, enjoying happy times and love. Sappy? Maybe. But true, nonetheless.
WHAT WAS THE LAST LIE YOU TOLD?
See the question two above this one. :)
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE 3 SPORTS (TO WATCH OR PARTICIPATE IN)?
I will kick your ass at badminton... or at least I used to could. (Shut up. My mother's side of the family is from the South; I'm perfectly within my rights to say that.) I can tolerate watching hockey. I guess bowling counts as a sport. I suck at it, but it's fun with fun people.
WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AND WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT?
I'm not sure I can even remember the last movie I watched. And even if I could, chances are I had too short an attention span to actually pay attention to the whole thing. I haven't seen a movie in a theatre in ages, and that's about the only way I can pay attention to a movie for its entire duration anymore.
LIST 3 THINGS YOU CAN SEE OUTSIDE OF THE NEAREST WINDOW.
My car, the house across the street, and snow.
WHERE WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU WENT?
To the bathroom, and thank dog I still don't sound like a ketchup squeeze bottle just yet.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE “GOOD CAUSES” OR CHARITIES?
Pretty much, anything anti-HIV/AIDS, anti-bullying or abuse, and pro-children.
Perhaps if you'd like something specific, my musician friend Stephan Nance is working on a 1500+ mile tour by bicycle to work with Gay-Straight Alliances to perform concerts with high school musicians as part of his band and raise awareness for causes like Safe Routes to School and the Safe Schools Coalition. Stephan has experienced some awful things, from being hit by a car while cycling to physical and sexual assault, so it's a cause very important to him, and I think that having been through these things and having gotten through these things -- or at least working through these things -- make him a great and understanding person to reach out to troubled youth and just let them know that they aren't alone, and they can get through the rough times, and that no matter how bad it might get, that there's someone out there who understands and wants to help. And with the plethora of bullying-related teen suicides and horrible incidences of school violence and killing, anything any one of us can do to combat this problem is incredibly important. So feel free to look into that, too.
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU DID FOR SOMEONE ELSE?
Well, I suppose the last thing of real major importance is that BF and I have rung in the new year by inviting J into our home, helping him out of a bad situation of choosing between going to the home he shared with his ex and risking being thrown up against a wall in a choke hold or sleeping in his car. Neither of those options was remotely acceptable to us, so now he's here. And I can't complain -- even though I did a little bit at first -- he's already managed to help me light fires under BF's butt that I've been trying to light for a hot minute. So, if anything, he is also helping us, whether or not he even realises it, and I rather appreciate it.
NAME 3 PLACES YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN THAT YOU WANT TO VISIT.
The UK/Ireland, Australia and the West Coast. (Yes, the West Coast! I have managed to get to Arizona, and I loved it, but I would love to travel the West Coast. I've been to most of the East Coast states, and I'd like to get to the rest of those, too.)
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU THREW IN THE GARBAGE/RECYCLING?
A soda can.
NAME 3 THINGS ON YOUR BEDSIDE TABLE.
Alarm clock, lamp, jewelry box.
WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 THINGS THAT YOUR JOB REQUIRES YOU TO THINK ABOUT?
Requires? Safety, order and time-management.
What it tends to make me think about? People's tendency to be total asshats, why I can't slack off (not that I would) but many of my co-irkers seem to be able to just goof off all night and that's apparently just fine, and how to find a way out of my job that won't involve a huge financial loss.
WHAT WAS THE LAST MUSICAL OR THEATRICAL EVENT THAT YOU ATTENDED?
If you count the Jeff Dunham show in Pittsburgh on 12/31/11, then that. Otherwise, Avenue Q in Cleveland with the pseudo-ex on our birthday, 01/16/08. (Yes, I said our birthday. He was born on my third birthday.)
WHAT ARE THE FIRST 3 THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY?
Honestly, I think I'd take care of my mother's financials, renovate the crap out of this old house, and make sure that Stephan got what he needed to do his tour up right so that he wouldn't have to stress out about it. Eventually I'd get on to some sort of frivolity, I'm sure, but first I'd have to be the ever-practical Capricorn, and take care of some special people who could use a little boost.
DESCRIBE OR NAME THE LAST SERIOUS INJURY OR ILLNESS YOU HAD?
This damn bug I've been gifted just now. But I still don't sound like a ketchup bottle. (Knock on wood.)
WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 THINGS THAT YOU WISH YOU COULD DO?
Teleportation! It would effectively massively shorten the list of realistic things I wish I could do by lifting the travel time/cost restriction. I also wish I could win the lottery without spending way too much money to get that lucky. And I wish that I could function without sleep -- without the aid of something like crystal meth, I mean -- even though I totally love sleeping, how much could I accomplish if I didn't have to?
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING THAT SOMEONE SAID TO YOU THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER FOREVER?
I'll probably have to go with J's utterance the other morning that I mentioned: "Just keep me safe; that's all I ask," because, essentially, that, to me, implies that he has a lot of trust in both BF and me. And I certainly don't think that he shouldn't. But there's one hell of a feeling that comes with the understanding that someone feels that they can put that sort of trust in you. That you can make a huge impact like that on someone's life; that they start talking about how insanely happy they've become. To be able to help someone turn their life around and get moving in an upward direction. I guess, for me, having been in some low places myself, it also helps me when I can help others bring themselves up. Since I mentioned Avenue Q, I'll quote from one of the songs: "When you help others, you can't help helping yourself." But more than anything, I only hope that he can take from this and eventually do something to help someone else somewhere down the line. When I do things to help other people, and they say, "I don't know how to repay you," I usually suggest that one day, when the opportunity arises for them to help someone else, they do that instead. It's not as though there's a price to be put on kindness that it should be paid back; kindness should continually move forward, and hopefully it will ultimately come full-circle.
Well, that's that then.
EDIT: I had to edit this post 3x to get all the link HTML to work properly, and I never could figure out what was actually wrong with it in the first place!
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE FOODS?
You're gonna ask a fatty foodie to pick a top three?? I suppose we could generalise it and go with Chinese, Italian and Mexican.
WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ AND WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT?
It was "The Sons of Feral Sods" by my friend Ron Reaser. Actually, it wasn't. But it's better to promote and recommend a friend than to just say that I re-read "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson and leave it at that. Though I'd recommend that as well.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE PLACES?
Truthfully, I don't know that I have a top three here, per se. My favourite places are any place where I am surrounded by good friends or family, enjoying happy times and love. Sappy? Maybe. But true, nonetheless.
WHAT WAS THE LAST LIE YOU TOLD?
See the question two above this one. :)
WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE 3 SPORTS (TO WATCH OR PARTICIPATE IN)?
I will kick your ass at badminton... or at least I used to could. (Shut up. My mother's side of the family is from the South; I'm perfectly within my rights to say that.) I can tolerate watching hockey. I guess bowling counts as a sport. I suck at it, but it's fun with fun people.
WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED AND WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IT?
I'm not sure I can even remember the last movie I watched. And even if I could, chances are I had too short an attention span to actually pay attention to the whole thing. I haven't seen a movie in a theatre in ages, and that's about the only way I can pay attention to a movie for its entire duration anymore.
LIST 3 THINGS YOU CAN SEE OUTSIDE OF THE NEAREST WINDOW.
My car, the house across the street, and snow.
WHERE WAS THE LAST PLACE YOU WENT?
To the bathroom, and thank dog I still don't sound like a ketchup squeeze bottle just yet.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FAVORITE “GOOD CAUSES” OR CHARITIES?
Pretty much, anything anti-HIV/AIDS, anti-bullying or abuse, and pro-children.
Perhaps if you'd like something specific, my musician friend Stephan Nance is working on a 1500+ mile tour by bicycle to work with Gay-Straight Alliances to perform concerts with high school musicians as part of his band and raise awareness for causes like Safe Routes to School and the Safe Schools Coalition. Stephan has experienced some awful things, from being hit by a car while cycling to physical and sexual assault, so it's a cause very important to him, and I think that having been through these things and having gotten through these things -- or at least working through these things -- make him a great and understanding person to reach out to troubled youth and just let them know that they aren't alone, and they can get through the rough times, and that no matter how bad it might get, that there's someone out there who understands and wants to help. And with the plethora of bullying-related teen suicides and horrible incidences of school violence and killing, anything any one of us can do to combat this problem is incredibly important. So feel free to look into that, too.
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU DID FOR SOMEONE ELSE?
Well, I suppose the last thing of real major importance is that BF and I have rung in the new year by inviting J into our home, helping him out of a bad situation of choosing between going to the home he shared with his ex and risking being thrown up against a wall in a choke hold or sleeping in his car. Neither of those options was remotely acceptable to us, so now he's here. And I can't complain -- even though I did a little bit at first -- he's already managed to help me light fires under BF's butt that I've been trying to light for a hot minute. So, if anything, he is also helping us, whether or not he even realises it, and I rather appreciate it.
NAME 3 PLACES YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN THAT YOU WANT TO VISIT.
The UK/Ireland, Australia and the West Coast. (Yes, the West Coast! I have managed to get to Arizona, and I loved it, but I would love to travel the West Coast. I've been to most of the East Coast states, and I'd like to get to the rest of those, too.)
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU THREW IN THE GARBAGE/RECYCLING?
A soda can.
NAME 3 THINGS ON YOUR BEDSIDE TABLE.
Alarm clock, lamp, jewelry box.
WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 THINGS THAT YOUR JOB REQUIRES YOU TO THINK ABOUT?
Requires? Safety, order and time-management.
What it tends to make me think about? People's tendency to be total asshats, why I can't slack off (not that I would) but many of my co-irkers seem to be able to just goof off all night and that's apparently just fine, and how to find a way out of my job that won't involve a huge financial loss.
WHAT WAS THE LAST MUSICAL OR THEATRICAL EVENT THAT YOU ATTENDED?
If you count the Jeff Dunham show in Pittsburgh on 12/31/11, then that. Otherwise, Avenue Q in Cleveland with the pseudo-ex on our birthday, 01/16/08. (Yes, I said our birthday. He was born on my third birthday.)
WHAT ARE THE FIRST 3 THINGS YOU WOULD DO IF YOU WON THE LOTTERY?
Honestly, I think I'd take care of my mother's financials, renovate the crap out of this old house, and make sure that Stephan got what he needed to do his tour up right so that he wouldn't have to stress out about it. Eventually I'd get on to some sort of frivolity, I'm sure, but first I'd have to be the ever-practical Capricorn, and take care of some special people who could use a little boost.
DESCRIBE OR NAME THE LAST SERIOUS INJURY OR ILLNESS YOU HAD?
This damn bug I've been gifted just now. But I still don't sound like a ketchup bottle. (Knock on wood.)
WHAT ARE THE TOP 3 THINGS THAT YOU WISH YOU COULD DO?
Teleportation! It would effectively massively shorten the list of realistic things I wish I could do by lifting the travel time/cost restriction. I also wish I could win the lottery without spending way too much money to get that lucky. And I wish that I could function without sleep -- without the aid of something like crystal meth, I mean -- even though I totally love sleeping, how much could I accomplish if I didn't have to?
WHAT WAS THE LAST THING THAT SOMEONE SAID TO YOU THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER FOREVER?
I'll probably have to go with J's utterance the other morning that I mentioned: "Just keep me safe; that's all I ask," because, essentially, that, to me, implies that he has a lot of trust in both BF and me. And I certainly don't think that he shouldn't. But there's one hell of a feeling that comes with the understanding that someone feels that they can put that sort of trust in you. That you can make a huge impact like that on someone's life; that they start talking about how insanely happy they've become. To be able to help someone turn their life around and get moving in an upward direction. I guess, for me, having been in some low places myself, it also helps me when I can help others bring themselves up. Since I mentioned Avenue Q, I'll quote from one of the songs: "When you help others, you can't help helping yourself." But more than anything, I only hope that he can take from this and eventually do something to help someone else somewhere down the line. When I do things to help other people, and they say, "I don't know how to repay you," I usually suggest that one day, when the opportunity arises for them to help someone else, they do that instead. It's not as though there's a price to be put on kindness that it should be paid back; kindness should continually move forward, and hopefully it will ultimately come full-circle.
Well, that's that then.
EDIT: I had to edit this post 3x to get all the link HTML to work properly, and I never could figure out what was actually wrong with it in the first place!