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July 2023 Prompts - Part 2
Aug. 17th, 2023 07:54 amThe travel part of the catching up will have to wait until early next week, as I am off to New York for Lollapuzzoola (a crossword tournament) and theatre binging. In the meantime, have my answers to the other set of July prompts.
1. If you could have a conversation with one person from history who would it be? Assuming this refers to a famous person, I’d have to choose either Sophie Germaine or Madame Curie. Both of them were ground breakers as women in technical fields (mathematics and chemistry, respectively) and had to overcome a lot to achieve their well-deserved success.
2. How many times have you seen your favorite band in concert? Hmm, band versus individual performer? I guess I’ll go with Pink Martini, who I’ve seen in concert at least 7 times, possibly more.
3. What is something you do every day? Uh, wake up? Breathe?
4. What was the last piece of candy you ate? I don’t remember, actually. I’ve had other sweets in the past couple of months, but not candy per se.
5. Which wild animals are a common sight in your area? There are foxes all over here. Deer are also common.
6. What would be your perfect road trip? I tend to like a mixture of beautiful scenery and odd attractions. I’d enjoy a road trip in Texas and New Mexico that included a few national parks and, say, Roswell.
7. Which possession would you not want to inherit from a relative? My parents owned the ugliest lithograph of all time. It was of a chicken plucker and it hung over the bar in what I suppose normal people would call our rec room, which was mostly the room where Dad watched sports on TV. (We also used it for parties.) Both Mom and Dad liked it because “it’s so colorful,” but that color was chicken blood and feathers. Neither my brother nor I wanted it after they died. I suspect my brother just threw it out, though I thought he should try to auction off all the stuff we didn’t want. (You can google "Chicken Plucker, Seymour Rosenthal" to see this atrocity yourself.)
8. Do you get a lot of visitors? Not really. Mostly I get together with friends in public places (restaurants, theatres, and the like).
9. What do you consider good character traits for a friend? Reliability is at the top of the list. It helps to have common interests. Being able to listen well.
10. Have you ever been to a vineyard? I lived in California for 22 years. I have been to several vineyards. I’ve also gone wine tasting in some other countries, including Australia and South Africa.
11. When was the last time your living situation changed in any way? I bought my condo in 2007. The only real change since then is that it’s gotten messier.
12. What have you learned today? It’s 7:24 a.m. About all I’ve learned is that I still have odd dreams. (I had a dream involving a former boss, who returned to government work after years in the private sector and was asking me why we couldn’t use a BBC channel for secure communications. Please don’t interpret this dream.)
13. Do you prefer to be around introverted or extroverted people? I prefer being around fellow ambiverts who can adapt to whatever mode is necessary in a given situation.
14. What simple pleasures did you enjoy this week? Sleeping in my own bed after having been away from home for about a month.
15. Have you ever been somewhere where you didn’t speak the local language? I’ve been to several countries where I don’t speak the language. I think Japan was probably the most challenging because several of the places I went didn’t have signs in English. I also remember an overnight train trip from Greece to Bulgaria in which there was a rather raucous conversation in a mixture of a very little English mixed with German, Russian, Italian, and Spanish. I understood maybe a third of it. (Oddly enough, one of the other people involved was from the town next to my home town.)
16. How often do you go grocery shopping? Usually a couple of times a week.
17. If you could go back and witness any historical event what would it be? This is really tough. Maybe Shackleton’s arrival at South Georgia after the wreck of the Endurance.
18. Do you have any home exercise equipment? I have small dumbbells that were my mothers. Someday I should learn what to do with them. I also have a set of those stretchy bands, which I do sort of know how to use.
19. Have you ever seen a shooting star? I am fairly sure I did as a child, but not since. I should try to get to a good viewing spot for a meteor shower someday.
20. What's the next DIY project you are going to do or want to do? I’m not sure this counts, but I do have a small bookcase I need to put together.
21. Do you find it easy to make friends now? Somewhat. It mostly involves being in places where there are people one could make friends with.
22. Have you ever studied abroad? No. I wish I had gone to Israel for a semester in college.
23. Have you ever locked your keys in your car? Only once that I can remember. My car keys fell out of my pocketbook without my noticing when I went to the video store (which gives you an idea of how long ago this was). I could see them on the car seat. Fortunately, I was less than a mile from home, so I just walked home and got my spare keys.
24. Do you get carsick? Rarely.
25. What are your top five favorite movies? Local Hero, Genghis Blues, Singing’ in the Rain, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Vampire’s Kiss. (The latter probably makes me lose all credibility, but really, Nicolas Cage as a yuppie who thinks he might have been bitten by a vampire. How could I not love it?)
26. What sport is your favorite to watch? Baseball.
27. How often do you brush your hair? Multiple times a day. Unless I am staying at home, in which case maybe only a couple of times a day.
28. Have your friends ever randomly stopped by your house? Not since childhood (or maybe college, but dorm rooms are sort of different). They generally know better than to expect to find me home.
29. What is an act of kindness you'll never forget? When I broke a rib a couple of years ago, my friend, Kim, brought me groceries and did my laundry.
30. Would you ever wish to explore a cave? I don’t want to explore a cave that nobody has ever been in before, but I’ve been to a few tour caves and those are pretty interesting.
31. Do you like wearing shoes? Or prefer to go barefoot? I like to go barefoot at home, but wear shoes outside.
1. If you could have a conversation with one person from history who would it be? Assuming this refers to a famous person, I’d have to choose either Sophie Germaine or Madame Curie. Both of them were ground breakers as women in technical fields (mathematics and chemistry, respectively) and had to overcome a lot to achieve their well-deserved success.
2. How many times have you seen your favorite band in concert? Hmm, band versus individual performer? I guess I’ll go with Pink Martini, who I’ve seen in concert at least 7 times, possibly more.
3. What is something you do every day? Uh, wake up? Breathe?
4. What was the last piece of candy you ate? I don’t remember, actually. I’ve had other sweets in the past couple of months, but not candy per se.
5. Which wild animals are a common sight in your area? There are foxes all over here. Deer are also common.
6. What would be your perfect road trip? I tend to like a mixture of beautiful scenery and odd attractions. I’d enjoy a road trip in Texas and New Mexico that included a few national parks and, say, Roswell.
7. Which possession would you not want to inherit from a relative? My parents owned the ugliest lithograph of all time. It was of a chicken plucker and it hung over the bar in what I suppose normal people would call our rec room, which was mostly the room where Dad watched sports on TV. (We also used it for parties.) Both Mom and Dad liked it because “it’s so colorful,” but that color was chicken blood and feathers. Neither my brother nor I wanted it after they died. I suspect my brother just threw it out, though I thought he should try to auction off all the stuff we didn’t want. (You can google "Chicken Plucker, Seymour Rosenthal" to see this atrocity yourself.)
8. Do you get a lot of visitors? Not really. Mostly I get together with friends in public places (restaurants, theatres, and the like).
9. What do you consider good character traits for a friend? Reliability is at the top of the list. It helps to have common interests. Being able to listen well.
10. Have you ever been to a vineyard? I lived in California for 22 years. I have been to several vineyards. I’ve also gone wine tasting in some other countries, including Australia and South Africa.
11. When was the last time your living situation changed in any way? I bought my condo in 2007. The only real change since then is that it’s gotten messier.
12. What have you learned today? It’s 7:24 a.m. About all I’ve learned is that I still have odd dreams. (I had a dream involving a former boss, who returned to government work after years in the private sector and was asking me why we couldn’t use a BBC channel for secure communications. Please don’t interpret this dream.)
13. Do you prefer to be around introverted or extroverted people? I prefer being around fellow ambiverts who can adapt to whatever mode is necessary in a given situation.
14. What simple pleasures did you enjoy this week? Sleeping in my own bed after having been away from home for about a month.
15. Have you ever been somewhere where you didn’t speak the local language? I’ve been to several countries where I don’t speak the language. I think Japan was probably the most challenging because several of the places I went didn’t have signs in English. I also remember an overnight train trip from Greece to Bulgaria in which there was a rather raucous conversation in a mixture of a very little English mixed with German, Russian, Italian, and Spanish. I understood maybe a third of it. (Oddly enough, one of the other people involved was from the town next to my home town.)
16. How often do you go grocery shopping? Usually a couple of times a week.
17. If you could go back and witness any historical event what would it be? This is really tough. Maybe Shackleton’s arrival at South Georgia after the wreck of the Endurance.
18. Do you have any home exercise equipment? I have small dumbbells that were my mothers. Someday I should learn what to do with them. I also have a set of those stretchy bands, which I do sort of know how to use.
19. Have you ever seen a shooting star? I am fairly sure I did as a child, but not since. I should try to get to a good viewing spot for a meteor shower someday.
20. What's the next DIY project you are going to do or want to do? I’m not sure this counts, but I do have a small bookcase I need to put together.
21. Do you find it easy to make friends now? Somewhat. It mostly involves being in places where there are people one could make friends with.
22. Have you ever studied abroad? No. I wish I had gone to Israel for a semester in college.
23. Have you ever locked your keys in your car? Only once that I can remember. My car keys fell out of my pocketbook without my noticing when I went to the video store (which gives you an idea of how long ago this was). I could see them on the car seat. Fortunately, I was less than a mile from home, so I just walked home and got my spare keys.
24. Do you get carsick? Rarely.
25. What are your top five favorite movies? Local Hero, Genghis Blues, Singing’ in the Rain, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Vampire’s Kiss. (The latter probably makes me lose all credibility, but really, Nicolas Cage as a yuppie who thinks he might have been bitten by a vampire. How could I not love it?)
26. What sport is your favorite to watch? Baseball.
27. How often do you brush your hair? Multiple times a day. Unless I am staying at home, in which case maybe only a couple of times a day.
28. Have your friends ever randomly stopped by your house? Not since childhood (or maybe college, but dorm rooms are sort of different). They generally know better than to expect to find me home.
29. What is an act of kindness you'll never forget? When I broke a rib a couple of years ago, my friend, Kim, brought me groceries and did my laundry.
30. Would you ever wish to explore a cave? I don’t want to explore a cave that nobody has ever been in before, but I’ve been to a few tour caves and those are pretty interesting.
31. Do you like wearing shoes? Or prefer to go barefoot? I like to go barefoot at home, but wear shoes outside.
