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September Prompts - Part 2
Oct. 14th, 2022 11:25 am1. Do you have any currency that’s not from your native country? Sure. At the moment I have Canadian dollars, Australian dollars, British pounds, Euros, and United Arab Emirates dirham.
2. Do you make changes all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally? It depends on what kind of change we’re talking about. My natural inclination is to try to do things cold turkey, but that’s rarely as effective as doing things incrementally.
3. Is there a place in the world you never want to visit? I draw the line at active war zones. I also have an aversion to Egypt, because y mother was an archaeology major in college and I got dragged to see every mummy in the greater New York metropolitan area when I was growing up.
4. When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)? This will probably sound odd, but the first time I made travel arrangements (plane ticket, hotel room, etc.) for myself.
5. How are you more likely to make an important decision, by reasoning through it, or by going with your gut? Usually I methodically list the pros and cons of choices and then make a gut decision.
6. Do you ever get more than one song stuck in your head? Yes. Most often it is a couple of songs from the same album (or score of a musical).
7. Have you ever had a random encounter or fleeting moment with a stranger that stuck with you? I was once at a hotel in Madagascar and ended up talking with a Canadian sapphire miner over breakfast. One thing we talked about was the sorts of conversations you have with strangers while traveling, precisely because you know you won’t see the person again. He got up to leave and said, “oh, by the way, I once fucked a goat.” (This story is absolutely true, by the way.)
8. Do you need to agree with an artist’s lifestyle or politics to appreciate their art? To spend money on it? I have mixed feelings about this. There are plenty of evil people who have created great art. My general feeling is that I could spend money on that art after that person is dead.
9. If you could get all the nutrition you needed in a day with a pill — no worrying about what to eat, no food preparation — would you do it? There’s a part of me that would find that appealing. But I also find many foods appealing in a strictly sensory context.
10. If the world worked on a barter system, how would you fare? If I could barter storytelling for the basic necessities of life, I’d do okay.
11. What’s your favorite part about visiting a new place? I feel an endless sense of possibility when I go somewhere I’ve never been before. I’m always hoping to see something I never imagined exists, from some cool piece of street art to beautiful scenery to, well, frankly, anything that is unfamiliar.
12. What was your favorite plaything as a child? This is tough. I loved a lot of art toys, like etch-a-sketch and spirograph. But I think I’ll go with Barbie. I enjoyed creating al sorts of elaborate scenarios and dressing my dolls up appropriately.
13. How important are clothes to you? Not as important as they were to Barbie. Seriously, I like clothes for special occasions, but I’m not very interested in them on a day to day basis.
14. Have you ever used an online dating service? Not recently, but, yes. I met someone who became a good friend on OK Cupid.
15. What are the five items you must have on a deserted island? 1) a book on practical boat building, 2) a guide to edible wild plants, 3) a leatherman or Swiss army knife or something of that sort, 4) a flashlight, and 5) a blank journal. (I assume #3 includes a pen.)
16. Is there anyone you talk to every day? I talk to Cindy most days. I have a zoom board game get-together with another group of friends several times a week.
17. What do you like to do during winter when it’s too cold to go outside? Stay inside? Seriously, I cower next to the heater vents and read or knit.
18. What is your strongest professional skill? I used to claim that my most important job-related skill was the willingness to call up people I didmd know and ask them questions. Now that I am retired, I would say that research is still an important skill.
19. Is there something new you’d like to try? I am always looking for new things to do. But they are mostly related to things I already do. Examples include things like learning a new story, trying a new type of dance, learning new crafts techniques, and planning trips to new destinations.
20. What is the biggest risk you’ve taken? In 1998 I took a leave of absence from work and went on an extended camping trip in Africa.
21. Is there something you have too much of? I have too many books and too much yarn. I'm working on reducing the stashes of both. I also have a lot of t-shirts and a huge backlog of puzzles to do.
22. What is something you’re known for? Atrocious puns.
23. Is there a road trip you’d like to take? A few, mostly to go to national parks I haven’t been to yet.
24. When you were a child how did you imagine your adult self? I had a number of plans that were unconventional, such as being the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500. Mostly, I wanted to be a biochemist but also get married and have children. I assumed I’d lead a sedate suburban life of quiet despair, like my mother did.
25. Do you enjoy being on boats? Very much.
26. Have your parents ever disapproved of the person you’re dating? After high school, I mostly kept my parents from meeting guys I was involved with. When my 10th grade boyfriend (who was a couple of years older than me) came to our house, my father said afterwards, “he has an obvious fault. He’s enamored of you.” Gee, thanks, Dad.
27. What’s the longest you’ve slept for? Other than maybe when I was sick, probably 12 hours or so, after having been up 56 hours straight working on a robotics project in grad school.
28. What’s your favorite thing about nature? Sunsets.
29. Do you go out and celebrate your birthday? I usually go out with friends if I’m not traveling.
30. What’s your favorite album from your favorite music artist? That’s tough. My favorite music artist is Pierre Bensusan, but I can’t really choose one album. Maybe Intuite, because it has the piece “Agadiramadan” on it.
2. Do you make changes all at once, cold turkey style, or incrementally? It depends on what kind of change we’re talking about. My natural inclination is to try to do things cold turkey, but that’s rarely as effective as doing things incrementally.
3. Is there a place in the world you never want to visit? I draw the line at active war zones. I also have an aversion to Egypt, because y mother was an archaeology major in college and I got dragged to see every mummy in the greater New York metropolitan area when I was growing up.
4. When was the first time you really felt like a grown up (if ever)? This will probably sound odd, but the first time I made travel arrangements (plane ticket, hotel room, etc.) for myself.
5. How are you more likely to make an important decision, by reasoning through it, or by going with your gut? Usually I methodically list the pros and cons of choices and then make a gut decision.
6. Do you ever get more than one song stuck in your head? Yes. Most often it is a couple of songs from the same album (or score of a musical).
7. Have you ever had a random encounter or fleeting moment with a stranger that stuck with you? I was once at a hotel in Madagascar and ended up talking with a Canadian sapphire miner over breakfast. One thing we talked about was the sorts of conversations you have with strangers while traveling, precisely because you know you won’t see the person again. He got up to leave and said, “oh, by the way, I once fucked a goat.” (This story is absolutely true, by the way.)
8. Do you need to agree with an artist’s lifestyle or politics to appreciate their art? To spend money on it? I have mixed feelings about this. There are plenty of evil people who have created great art. My general feeling is that I could spend money on that art after that person is dead.
9. If you could get all the nutrition you needed in a day with a pill — no worrying about what to eat, no food preparation — would you do it? There’s a part of me that would find that appealing. But I also find many foods appealing in a strictly sensory context.
10. If the world worked on a barter system, how would you fare? If I could barter storytelling for the basic necessities of life, I’d do okay.
11. What’s your favorite part about visiting a new place? I feel an endless sense of possibility when I go somewhere I’ve never been before. I’m always hoping to see something I never imagined exists, from some cool piece of street art to beautiful scenery to, well, frankly, anything that is unfamiliar.
12. What was your favorite plaything as a child? This is tough. I loved a lot of art toys, like etch-a-sketch and spirograph. But I think I’ll go with Barbie. I enjoyed creating al sorts of elaborate scenarios and dressing my dolls up appropriately.
13. How important are clothes to you? Not as important as they were to Barbie. Seriously, I like clothes for special occasions, but I’m not very interested in them on a day to day basis.
14. Have you ever used an online dating service? Not recently, but, yes. I met someone who became a good friend on OK Cupid.
15. What are the five items you must have on a deserted island? 1) a book on practical boat building, 2) a guide to edible wild plants, 3) a leatherman or Swiss army knife or something of that sort, 4) a flashlight, and 5) a blank journal. (I assume #3 includes a pen.)
16. Is there anyone you talk to every day? I talk to Cindy most days. I have a zoom board game get-together with another group of friends several times a week.
17. What do you like to do during winter when it’s too cold to go outside? Stay inside? Seriously, I cower next to the heater vents and read or knit.
18. What is your strongest professional skill? I used to claim that my most important job-related skill was the willingness to call up people I didmd know and ask them questions. Now that I am retired, I would say that research is still an important skill.
19. Is there something new you’d like to try? I am always looking for new things to do. But they are mostly related to things I already do. Examples include things like learning a new story, trying a new type of dance, learning new crafts techniques, and planning trips to new destinations.
20. What is the biggest risk you’ve taken? In 1998 I took a leave of absence from work and went on an extended camping trip in Africa.
21. Is there something you have too much of? I have too many books and too much yarn. I'm working on reducing the stashes of both. I also have a lot of t-shirts and a huge backlog of puzzles to do.
22. What is something you’re known for? Atrocious puns.
23. Is there a road trip you’d like to take? A few, mostly to go to national parks I haven’t been to yet.
24. When you were a child how did you imagine your adult self? I had a number of plans that were unconventional, such as being the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500. Mostly, I wanted to be a biochemist but also get married and have children. I assumed I’d lead a sedate suburban life of quiet despair, like my mother did.
25. Do you enjoy being on boats? Very much.
26. Have your parents ever disapproved of the person you’re dating? After high school, I mostly kept my parents from meeting guys I was involved with. When my 10th grade boyfriend (who was a couple of years older than me) came to our house, my father said afterwards, “he has an obvious fault. He’s enamored of you.” Gee, thanks, Dad.
27. What’s the longest you’ve slept for? Other than maybe when I was sick, probably 12 hours or so, after having been up 56 hours straight working on a robotics project in grad school.
28. What’s your favorite thing about nature? Sunsets.
29. Do you go out and celebrate your birthday? I usually go out with friends if I’m not traveling.
30. What’s your favorite album from your favorite music artist? That’s tough. My favorite music artist is Pierre Bensusan, but I can’t really choose one album. Maybe Intuite, because it has the piece “Agadiramadan” on it.
