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October Prompts - Part 1
Nov. 4th, 2022 01:20 pm1. What was the last item you returned or exchanged at a store? I can’t remember returning or exchanging anything within the past several years.
2. What’s an unlikely movie sequel you’d like to see? I tend to favor documentaries and quirky comedies, neither of which are really the sort of thing that are conducive to sequels.
3. Do you tend to read reviews of films or TV shows that you're considering watching? What about reviews of books or albums? How much influence might a good or bad review have on you? I read reviews of movies, plays, and books, largely to find out about things that I might be interested in seeing or reading. How much influence they have depends on who the reviewer is. My best example of that is back in the days when John Simon was the theatre critic for New York Magazine. In that case, I knew that anything he praised, I was likely to find dull, while things he hated were likely to be right up my alley. I also read restaurant reviews and reviews of shows at art museums, by the way.
4. How are you about deleting emails? Not great. I am always trying to clear things out and not making much progress.
5. Who or what are two people or things you keep mixing up with one another? I can’t think of any. Well, maybe many Republican politicians and Satan.
6. Are actual paper road maps obsolete? When was the last time you actually used one? I love maps. I sometimes browse a road atlas to think about potential road trips.
7. Has a phone or car GPS's instructions ever resulted in you being completely lost? Not completely lost, but definitely confused. I particularly hate it when my map app is determined to shave a fraction of a second off the route, so makes me take 734 useless turns instead of a straight line. (I may be exagerating just a tad.)
8. What TV show has a theme song or opening credits sequence that you really love? Feel free to name more than one if you want! It wasn’t a great show, but the theme song for The Monkees was fun. Some other TV shows that had memorable theme songs were The Addams Family, The Golden Girls, Gilligan’s Island, and M*A*S*H.
9. Of websites you look at daily (or almost daily), which have you been paying attention to longest? Probably the New York Times Crossword Puzzle.
10. Some animal groups have collective nouns, e.g. a swarm of bees, a murder of crows, a school of fish, etc. What would be a good collective noun for people in your profession or hobby? A Scheherazade of Storytellers
11. What is the difference between living and existing? Existing is just the basic functions of survival = food, clothing, shelter. Living is that plus all the things that add emotional satisfaction. For me, that is mostly creative activity of any sort.
12. Would you break the law to save a loved one? It depends on what law. I don’t think I could murder someone, but, short of that, I might.
13. Are there any songs that always bring a tear to your eye? “Somebody I Used to Know” by Gotye, because I associate it with the end of an important relationship. More generally, “Cat’s Cradle” by Harry Chapin.
14. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? I like to think my storytelling brings happiness to other people. My various crafts endeavors bring me a lot of happiness.
15. What was your excuse the last time you arrived late to something? I was slightly late to meet a friend the other day because I got distracted by walking through a farmer’s market on the way. More often, I can blame either traffic or the metro.
16. In what way is your life lately imbalanced? I don’t get enough exercise.
17. Do you put your socks on before or after putting on trousers? It depends on what socks and trousers you are talking about. If I’m wearing sweatpants, I need to put socks on first. Similarly, I sometimes wear compression socks and need to put those on first. But, normally, I put on socks only when I am getting ready to put on shoes to go out.
18. Now that self/indie publishing has become easier, have books gotten better or worse? In general, things have gotten worse, mostly because most authors benefit from having an actual editor look things over.
19. October 19 is "Evaluate Your Life Day". On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you evaluate your life to date? I’d say somewhere around 8. I’ve gotten to do a lot of wonderful things and I still have plenty more to look forward to.
20. How have TV shows changed over the years? When I was growing up, there were shows everybody watched, e.g. Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H. That gave us a common culture to talk about. Nowadays, things are more fragmented, with different people using different streaming services.
21. As a child, were you afraid that someone or something was hiding under your bed? As an adult, do you still sometimes have that fear, even though you know it's ridiculous? What scared me had to do with shadows and the scrapings of a tree against my window. The only thing under my bed was dust.
22. What’s one of your language-related pet peeves? I hate it when people use “loose” when they mean “lose.”
23. When you get home super tired and super hungry, do you usually eat first or sleep first? I eat something light and then go to bed.
24. You’re taking an exam. You aren’t sure about the answer to question 5, but you know it’s either “lions” or “tigers.” You get to question 11 and realize whatever the answer to 5 is, 11 is the other answer. Do you write “lions” as your answer to 5 and 11, thereby ensuring you’ll get one of them right? Or do you write “lions” for 5 and “tigers” for 11, risking two wrong answers but giving you a chance at two right ones? I am, frankly, hard pressed to think of a situation like this in real life. If you really pressed me, I’d put “tigers” for both, because I like tigers better than lions.
25. Would you rather earn more money or have more time off? When I was working, I’d have gone for more time off with no hesitation. I live a pretty frugal life.
26. In a general election, do you mostly just vote based on party? What if the party you prefer put forward a terrible candidate, while a party you like less put forward a much better candidate? I vote for whoever I think is the better (or, at least, less awful) candidate.
27. Are both bad and good things needed in order to truly live life? Can you have the bad without the good? The good without the bad? Nothing is completely good or bad. Living well requires seeing the good even in things that may seem bad at first.
28. Is there one dream that stays clear in your mind despite the fact it was more than a few years ago? I had a recurring dream as a child, involving my bicycle growing wings like Pegasus.
29. When were you packed in tighter than a can of sardines? I’m sure it was ln some form of public transportation, but I don’t remember anything specific.
30. Is there anything useful to be made of empty prescription pill bottles? They are useful for storing small things like paper clips.
31. What are you likely to find behind your sofa? My sofa is not against a wall, so I can see exactly what is behind it. At the moment, that is a couple of stacks of books.
2. What’s an unlikely movie sequel you’d like to see? I tend to favor documentaries and quirky comedies, neither of which are really the sort of thing that are conducive to sequels.
3. Do you tend to read reviews of films or TV shows that you're considering watching? What about reviews of books or albums? How much influence might a good or bad review have on you? I read reviews of movies, plays, and books, largely to find out about things that I might be interested in seeing or reading. How much influence they have depends on who the reviewer is. My best example of that is back in the days when John Simon was the theatre critic for New York Magazine. In that case, I knew that anything he praised, I was likely to find dull, while things he hated were likely to be right up my alley. I also read restaurant reviews and reviews of shows at art museums, by the way.
4. How are you about deleting emails? Not great. I am always trying to clear things out and not making much progress.
5. Who or what are two people or things you keep mixing up with one another? I can’t think of any. Well, maybe many Republican politicians and Satan.
6. Are actual paper road maps obsolete? When was the last time you actually used one? I love maps. I sometimes browse a road atlas to think about potential road trips.
7. Has a phone or car GPS's instructions ever resulted in you being completely lost? Not completely lost, but definitely confused. I particularly hate it when my map app is determined to shave a fraction of a second off the route, so makes me take 734 useless turns instead of a straight line. (I may be exagerating just a tad.)
8. What TV show has a theme song or opening credits sequence that you really love? Feel free to name more than one if you want! It wasn’t a great show, but the theme song for The Monkees was fun. Some other TV shows that had memorable theme songs were The Addams Family, The Golden Girls, Gilligan’s Island, and M*A*S*H.
9. Of websites you look at daily (or almost daily), which have you been paying attention to longest? Probably the New York Times Crossword Puzzle.
10. Some animal groups have collective nouns, e.g. a swarm of bees, a murder of crows, a school of fish, etc. What would be a good collective noun for people in your profession or hobby? A Scheherazade of Storytellers
11. What is the difference between living and existing? Existing is just the basic functions of survival = food, clothing, shelter. Living is that plus all the things that add emotional satisfaction. For me, that is mostly creative activity of any sort.
12. Would you break the law to save a loved one? It depends on what law. I don’t think I could murder someone, but, short of that, I might.
13. Are there any songs that always bring a tear to your eye? “Somebody I Used to Know” by Gotye, because I associate it with the end of an important relationship. More generally, “Cat’s Cradle” by Harry Chapin.
14. If happiness was the national currency, what kind of work would make you rich? I like to think my storytelling brings happiness to other people. My various crafts endeavors bring me a lot of happiness.
15. What was your excuse the last time you arrived late to something? I was slightly late to meet a friend the other day because I got distracted by walking through a farmer’s market on the way. More often, I can blame either traffic or the metro.
16. In what way is your life lately imbalanced? I don’t get enough exercise.
17. Do you put your socks on before or after putting on trousers? It depends on what socks and trousers you are talking about. If I’m wearing sweatpants, I need to put socks on first. Similarly, I sometimes wear compression socks and need to put those on first. But, normally, I put on socks only when I am getting ready to put on shoes to go out.
18. Now that self/indie publishing has become easier, have books gotten better or worse? In general, things have gotten worse, mostly because most authors benefit from having an actual editor look things over.
19. October 19 is "Evaluate Your Life Day". On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you evaluate your life to date? I’d say somewhere around 8. I’ve gotten to do a lot of wonderful things and I still have plenty more to look forward to.
20. How have TV shows changed over the years? When I was growing up, there were shows everybody watched, e.g. Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, All in the Family, and M*A*S*H. That gave us a common culture to talk about. Nowadays, things are more fragmented, with different people using different streaming services.
21. As a child, were you afraid that someone or something was hiding under your bed? As an adult, do you still sometimes have that fear, even though you know it's ridiculous? What scared me had to do with shadows and the scrapings of a tree against my window. The only thing under my bed was dust.
22. What’s one of your language-related pet peeves? I hate it when people use “loose” when they mean “lose.”
23. When you get home super tired and super hungry, do you usually eat first or sleep first? I eat something light and then go to bed.
24. You’re taking an exam. You aren’t sure about the answer to question 5, but you know it’s either “lions” or “tigers.” You get to question 11 and realize whatever the answer to 5 is, 11 is the other answer. Do you write “lions” as your answer to 5 and 11, thereby ensuring you’ll get one of them right? Or do you write “lions” for 5 and “tigers” for 11, risking two wrong answers but giving you a chance at two right ones? I am, frankly, hard pressed to think of a situation like this in real life. If you really pressed me, I’d put “tigers” for both, because I like tigers better than lions.
25. Would you rather earn more money or have more time off? When I was working, I’d have gone for more time off with no hesitation. I live a pretty frugal life.
26. In a general election, do you mostly just vote based on party? What if the party you prefer put forward a terrible candidate, while a party you like less put forward a much better candidate? I vote for whoever I think is the better (or, at least, less awful) candidate.
27. Are both bad and good things needed in order to truly live life? Can you have the bad without the good? The good without the bad? Nothing is completely good or bad. Living well requires seeing the good even in things that may seem bad at first.
28. Is there one dream that stays clear in your mind despite the fact it was more than a few years ago? I had a recurring dream as a child, involving my bicycle growing wings like Pegasus.
29. When were you packed in tighter than a can of sardines? I’m sure it was ln some form of public transportation, but I don’t remember anything specific.
30. Is there anything useful to be made of empty prescription pill bottles? They are useful for storing small things like paper clips.
31. What are you likely to find behind your sofa? My sofa is not against a wall, so I can see exactly what is behind it. At the moment, that is a couple of stacks of books.
