A day late and a dollar short...

Saturday 6, Reader's Choice edition. And he picked one of my questions! Boo-ya!

1. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #90 from Remo: In the event of a disaster or act of disorder, are you currently prepared to remain self-sufficient for a day, a week, or a month until measures could be taken to restore order and services?
Maybe a week, if I eat absolutely everything in the freezer and the cupboard and start using Kleenex when the TP runs out.

2. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #91 from Frida: Feng shui: Totally serious, totally crapola, or just another cool way to get redecorating ideas?
Somewhere in between the first two, and definitely the third. I think that there's energy flowing through everything, and I also believe the amount of harmony in your surroundings influences your health and happiness. However, I would question whether the cardinal orientation of your bed or your rhododendron bush or whatever really enhances or saps your energy. I also think that everybody's idea of harmony is different. I can't stand living in a place that doesn't have at least a little clutter, and I hate giant open spaces between rooms. [I actually put shelves between the living room and the kitchen because the huge expanse of open space freaks me out.] Somebody else might walk in and have a claustrophobia attack, but I'm comfy with it. So I don't think there's just one system that works for everybody.

That being said, if you just bought a new armoire and can't decide what wall to put it along, it sure can't hurt to consult a feng shui book. You never know.

3. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #92 from Call Me Betty: Do you feel comfortable being yourself in public or do you feel you have to hide certain aspects of your personality?
Well, there's public and there's public--different venues have different standards of behaviour. I wouldn't think anything of swearing out loud while at, say, a concert; but I wouldn't use the same language in church. I don't make much of an effort to control my temper in public, though, because if people think you're happy, they sometimes act a little overly friendly. If I'm not able to answer in kind, I want people to know it so they leave me alone.

4. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #93 from Wil: Name your favorite flower to appear in the Spring around you?
I don't have one, largely because I don't have a favourite flower to begin with. Also, I've lived in apartments and dorms for the last fifteen years, so if you gave me a list of flowers and asked me to identify which ones bloom in the spring, I couldn't do it at gunpoint.

5. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #94 from Cat.: From this list, are there any places you would never travel?
I don't think I could work up enough give-a-fuck to travel to any of them, frankly. The only way I'd travel to a foreign country is if I could be assured of getting food that I can eat, getting private bathroom facilities, being safe [at least roughly as safe as in the US], and not having to deal with people's goddamn smoke. If I can get those, I'll go anywhere. If I can't, I won't.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #95 from Kathy: Who is your favorite [motion picture] director?
I don't have one, nor do I care enough about movies to try to pick one. Would somebody, anybody, mind leaving a comment explaining to me why people get such a big hard-on for movies? I don't get it. It's not that I hate them or anything, and I'll sit down with a DVD from time to time and occasionally set aside a "movie day"; but I don't understand the "OMG i have 2 chg my pantees SPIDRMAN 3 is cuming out!!1 ooooomgwtfbbq!!!!11!" attitude.

Same thing with books and albums. When I hear about the new Spidey movie or Harry Potter book or Beck album, I'm happy; but I'm not gonna show up at B&N or the cineplex dressed up like Ginny Weasley or the Hobgoblin or whatever. I guess I just don't have the temperament to get seriously excited about things like that.

But this question wasn't about that anyway; it was about film directors. I can only name about 5 directors off the top of my head, and I haven't seen enough movies by any of them [with the possible exception of Tim Burton, who is T3h 1337] to rank them.

So.

Good questions overall, though; and thanks again to Patrick for using one of mine. :)

same bitch time, same bitch channel...

Sunday Seven

...which I'm doing late. Oh well.

Name seven of the very first things you notice about a person -- male or female -- when you meet them fir the first time.

1. Whether they're making noise.
2. Whether they're in my way.
3. Gender, facial hair, and skin colour all at the same time [i.e. facial features].
4. General body type.

Uh...now I'm having trouble. I'm not in the habit of noticing things about people, because very little about them is relevant to me unless I'm expected to have some kind of prolonged contact with them. Lemme think...

5. How they're dressed.

Uh...

6. How they talk [if they're talking].
7. If they're wearing perfume or cologne, my poor sinuses notice it right away. If they're not, it doesn't usually occur to me til later.

Hope that answers it adequately.

***

Now for the Saturday 6, which is even later.

1. Do you believe that there is some form of intelligent life on a planet other than Earth?
There has to be. Statistically, there just has to be.

2. If there was, and we were to encounter it, which do you think would do more harm to the other: the Earthlings or the Extra Terrestrials?
I'd have to know something about the extraterrestrials before I could answer that. Humans have a stellar track record for fucking up pretty much everything they get their grubby hands on, though.

3. If a close friend or family member told you that they had been kidnapped by aliens, how likely are you to believe them if they can offer no physical evidence?
Depends which friend or family member it is. Some of them I'd be willing to at least halfway believe; others, not so much.

4. Take the quiz: How likely is it that you would be abducted by Extra Terrestrials?
It said I'm 55% likely.

5. If you could fly in a spaceship to get a close look at any of the planets besides Earth, which would you choose and why?
I'm not picky; I'd welcome a chance to look at any one of them up close.

6. If you had the chance to live on a fully-developed colony on Mars, would you do so?
No. I don't think we should have colonies on Mars or anywhere else.

same bitch time, same bitch channel...

Curious as a Cat.

What is the most mysterious phenomenon you have ever witnessed?
I've seen some interesting psychic phenomena, but none of those can top the sheer mystery of a native English speaker, with normal intelligence, who has attended public school from kindergarten through twelfth grade and still does not know basic mechanical rules for grammar. That mystifies the hell out of me.

What is the worst thing that could happen to you?
To be disabled or declared mentally ill, and left in the care of uncaring assholes.

If you had to guess two people at work were having an affair, which two would pair up? Why? [please don't give full names]
I have no idea. I don't pay attention to that kind of thing. My "X is sleeping with Y" radar has been broken for years, and besides, I go to work to work, not to find out who's fucking whom.

Blech. I feel gross.

same gross time, same gross channel...

Smatterday

Saturday 8.

1. are you a religious person?
Sorta, although not in the dogmatic sense. Most of the people I've known who would describe themselves as religious are either dismissive or outright intolerant of other people's beliefs. I go to a UU church, but I wouldn't hazard a guess as to how many UU's consider themselves religious.

2. are you a spiritual person?
I used to think so, but I'm not so sure anymore.

3. were you raised in a religious household?
Not really. We used to say grace at the table and celebrate the usual Christian holidays, but there wasn't a lot of churchgoing or Bible-reading. My mom's childhood was full of ruler-wielding nuns, and she didn't want us to have a bunch of unnecessary guilt trips just for being human, so we didn't get indoctrinated much. The Golden Rule was the only thing that really got hammered into us.

4. have you/do you/would you raise your children in a religious household?
N/A.

5. i'm turning 35 years old this year, but i'm often mistaken as being at least ten years younger. in fact, people rarely believe that my 13-yr. old is actually my daughter, and swear that she's my sister. are you mistaken for being older or younger than you truly are?
I got carded a few years ago [I was 28 at the time].

6. when my husband and i first married, he looked like he was still in high school and i was often (jokingly) accused of robbing the cradle - we're the same age. a month ago, one of my husband's aunts thought that he was my FATHER (vindication!). do you and your significant other appear to be significantly younger or older than each other?
N/A.

7. there is an agency called the american association of anti-aging medicine that is dedicated to the advancement of therapeutics related to the science of longevity medicine. would you consult such an agency or other medical office for supplements, advice, etc. to help you increase your longevity?
No.

8. OT ... what are you doing for fun this weekend?
I'm not having fun this weekend. I'm fulfilling obligations and doing chores. If I get a chance, I will spend half or all of a day in bed. I'm getting injured too easily and healing too slowly lately, so I think it's time for a rest day.

sbt/sbc

I don't, but thanks anyway

Saturday 8 is looking at the third finger on your left hand [but trying not to look like it's looking].

1. are you currently married?
No, I managed to avoid making that mistake with any of the people I dated. Of all the rights women have in America, the right to live alone and not have to take anybody's orders or put up with anybody's shit [at least in my own apartment] is the one I cherish most.

2. have you been married in the past, but are currently divorced from that person?
See 1.

3. when was the last wedding you attended?
My aunt's, when I was 4.

4. have you ever been a groomsman or in a bridal party?
No. And I won't. Generally it's your friends who are your bridesmaids, right? I've seen those dresses, man. Anybody who would ask me to wear one of those fucking things is NOT my friend. Of all the rights women have in America, the right NOT to wear a dress, especially a fuckugly teal satin dress with a three-foot bow on the ass, is also among my most cherished.

5. do you support same-gender marriages? why or why not?
Sure, why should straight people have all the misery? Besides, in a gay wedding, the chances of me having to wear a fuckugly teal dress would be pretty slim. I'm having a hard time imagining gay people wanting to copy all the sexist/heteronormative symbolism with which the "traditional" American wedding is rife.

6. what was the most fun you've ever had at a wedding?
Dude. I was FOUR. I don't even remember being there.

7. what's been the worst experience you've ever had at a wedding?
See 6.

8. have you ever made a complete fool out of yourself at a wedding, due to alcohol or other influences?
See 6.

That about does 'er.

sbt/sbc