October Prompts
Oct. 25th, 2025 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreUsually I wait until at least the end of the month to do these, but this happens to be convenient for me to do right now, while I try to find all the various scraps of paper listing other things I want to write about.
1. What was your favourite subject in high school? In general, I liked my science classes, particularly chemistry. I also really liked the Great Books class I took one semester senior year.
2. Name three people whose lives have been improved by knowing you, and explain why. Cindy, because I listen to her complaints about work and help her plan travel. Kim, because I’m supportive when she’s depressed and I come up with interesting things for us to do. The Gentleman with Whom I am Conducting the World’s Longest Running Brief Meaningless Fling for somewhat obvious reasons.
3. What profession would you have chosen, if not your current one? Maybe a bookseller.
4. How do you react when you realize you've made a mistake? Mistake? What’s that? Seriously, my first instinct is denial, but then I try to figure out how I can fix things.
5. Describe your favorite sound. Waves crashing against a beach, especially on a stormy day.
6. Imagine you are attending your dream concert—what songs would you want to be played? What does the stage look like? I rarely attend concerts that have more than one performer. I would love to see Jonathan Richman again and I wish he would perform both “Give Paris One More Chance” and “Here Come the Martian Martians,” neither of which I’ve seen him do live. Beyond that, I’ve never seen Luka Bloom live and would like to. And it’s been years since I’ve seen Eric Bogle, but I don’t think he's touring any more.
7. Where are you from? I grew up in a ridiculously small town on (well, off the south shore of) Long Island.
8. If there was one person who you had the power of giving immortality to, who would it be and why? I have read enough fantasy to believe that immortality is not a gift, since it doesn’t guarantee eternal health. And one would invariably outlive the people one loved the most.
9. What is your favorite game? Why? Well, the game I play most often (with two different groups of friends) is Code Names. But, if I had to choose one game, it would probably be backgammon. I used to play it all the time, both with a couple of different friends and with my mother (who I taught to play).
10. What is your all-time favorite sports team? First is the Red Sox and second is whoever is playing against the Yankees, aka the Source of All Evil in the Universe.
11. What is a smell that you remember from growing up? The smell of the ocean. I also really love the smells of a couple of flowers - honeysuckle (though it can get overwhelming) and lily of the valley.
12. What is the best decision you have ever made in your life? Probably going to MIT. It opened up a lot of doors to me. And the great thing about MIT is that people there tend to be very devoted to whatever they are passionate about, which is not necessarily their studies.
13. What is something you are optimistic about? It’s rather hard to be optimistic given the politics of our times, but I like to think we’ll get past the more ridiculous aspects of the current world situation and regain the rule of law.
14. What would you say is the biggest accomplishment in your life so far? I had a successful career and am in a good financial situation in retirement. That has enabled me to see much of how magnificent our world is.
15. When was the last time you failed at something? I’ve continually failed to achieve total world domination, but I’d settle for having a clean and organized home.
16. Which wild animal would you adopt as a pet and why? I wouldn’t adopt any wild animal as a pet. Wild animals need to be in their proper environments and suburban America wouldn’t cut it as ideal for any of them.
17. When was the last time you tried something new? I think the paper conservation class I went to in Greece in June counts.
18. What is your favorite room in your home and why? Probably my bedroom, which is usually the least chaotic part of my house.
19. If TV and the internet didn’t exist, what would you do with your time? I’d spend a lot of time reading and listening to music and, hopefully, also making music.
20. What are some major inventions that happened during your lifetime? I am old enough that there are lots of things that didn’t exist in my youth. The most obvious is personal computing and, especially, cell phones.
21. What have you done that was "out of character.” I was almost 40 before I ever slept a night in a tent. With is something I discovered that I really enjoy doing.
22. Name four items that can always be found in your refrigerator. The things I always have in my refrigerator are mostly condiments, e.g. mustard, sriracha, and orange marmalade. There’s pretty much always packets of yeast. There’s also probably things like butter, sour cream, and some sort of fruit, often oranges and/or apples.
23. Do you have any fantasies of living in the jungle? Only for brief periods of time. The jungle tends to be hot and humid and have scary insects.
24. What is on your mind right now, and will it affect your sleep? I’m trying to get some travel plans finalized. I doubt that will affect my sleep.
25. What childhood character traits did you have to let go of but wish you didn’t? What can you do to adopt these traits again? I can’t really think of anything. I think I’m a better person than I was as a child.
26. Do you prefer character-driven or plot-driven novels? Why? I definitely prefer plot-driven novels. If nothing happens and it’s just people talking to one another, it’s hard to keep my attention.
27. What is your favorite type of weather and why? I like dry and crisp air, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s Fahrenheit and slightly cloudy skies (to avoid glare). That way I’m comfortable and, as long as it’s dry out, my hair won’t be entering the room an hour before the rest of me.
28. How are you going to entertain yourself when you’re retired? If you are retired already, are you spending your time the way you envisioned it? I think I’m spending my retirement more or less the way I thought I would. The first thing I did after I retired was the Smithsonian Certificate Program in World Art History. I try to go to a fair number of educational events. And, of course, I travel a lot, though there are always more places I want to go.
29. What conspiracy theory do you believe is true? I don’t believe any of them are true.
30. Which person would you like to see more often than you do now? The gentleman with whom I am conducting the world’s longest running brief meaningless fling, of course.
31. What qualities do you judge harshly in others, and how might they reflect parts of yourself? The things I look on harshly in other people are definitely traits that I feel bad about myself for. Those include being disorganized and lazy and being judgemental.
1. What was your favourite subject in high school? In general, I liked my science classes, particularly chemistry. I also really liked the Great Books class I took one semester senior year.
2. Name three people whose lives have been improved by knowing you, and explain why. Cindy, because I listen to her complaints about work and help her plan travel. Kim, because I’m supportive when she’s depressed and I come up with interesting things for us to do. The Gentleman with Whom I am Conducting the World’s Longest Running Brief Meaningless Fling for somewhat obvious reasons.
3. What profession would you have chosen, if not your current one? Maybe a bookseller.
4. How do you react when you realize you've made a mistake? Mistake? What’s that? Seriously, my first instinct is denial, but then I try to figure out how I can fix things.
5. Describe your favorite sound. Waves crashing against a beach, especially on a stormy day.
6. Imagine you are attending your dream concert—what songs would you want to be played? What does the stage look like? I rarely attend concerts that have more than one performer. I would love to see Jonathan Richman again and I wish he would perform both “Give Paris One More Chance” and “Here Come the Martian Martians,” neither of which I’ve seen him do live. Beyond that, I’ve never seen Luka Bloom live and would like to. And it’s been years since I’ve seen Eric Bogle, but I don’t think he's touring any more.
7. Where are you from? I grew up in a ridiculously small town on (well, off the south shore of) Long Island.
8. If there was one person who you had the power of giving immortality to, who would it be and why? I have read enough fantasy to believe that immortality is not a gift, since it doesn’t guarantee eternal health. And one would invariably outlive the people one loved the most.
9. What is your favorite game? Why? Well, the game I play most often (with two different groups of friends) is Code Names. But, if I had to choose one game, it would probably be backgammon. I used to play it all the time, both with a couple of different friends and with my mother (who I taught to play).
10. What is your all-time favorite sports team? First is the Red Sox and second is whoever is playing against the Yankees, aka the Source of All Evil in the Universe.
11. What is a smell that you remember from growing up? The smell of the ocean. I also really love the smells of a couple of flowers - honeysuckle (though it can get overwhelming) and lily of the valley.
12. What is the best decision you have ever made in your life? Probably going to MIT. It opened up a lot of doors to me. And the great thing about MIT is that people there tend to be very devoted to whatever they are passionate about, which is not necessarily their studies.
13. What is something you are optimistic about? It’s rather hard to be optimistic given the politics of our times, but I like to think we’ll get past the more ridiculous aspects of the current world situation and regain the rule of law.
14. What would you say is the biggest accomplishment in your life so far? I had a successful career and am in a good financial situation in retirement. That has enabled me to see much of how magnificent our world is.
15. When was the last time you failed at something? I’ve continually failed to achieve total world domination, but I’d settle for having a clean and organized home.
16. Which wild animal would you adopt as a pet and why? I wouldn’t adopt any wild animal as a pet. Wild animals need to be in their proper environments and suburban America wouldn’t cut it as ideal for any of them.
17. When was the last time you tried something new? I think the paper conservation class I went to in Greece in June counts.
18. What is your favorite room in your home and why? Probably my bedroom, which is usually the least chaotic part of my house.
19. If TV and the internet didn’t exist, what would you do with your time? I’d spend a lot of time reading and listening to music and, hopefully, also making music.
20. What are some major inventions that happened during your lifetime? I am old enough that there are lots of things that didn’t exist in my youth. The most obvious is personal computing and, especially, cell phones.
21. What have you done that was "out of character.” I was almost 40 before I ever slept a night in a tent. With is something I discovered that I really enjoy doing.
22. Name four items that can always be found in your refrigerator. The things I always have in my refrigerator are mostly condiments, e.g. mustard, sriracha, and orange marmalade. There’s pretty much always packets of yeast. There’s also probably things like butter, sour cream, and some sort of fruit, often oranges and/or apples.
23. Do you have any fantasies of living in the jungle? Only for brief periods of time. The jungle tends to be hot and humid and have scary insects.
24. What is on your mind right now, and will it affect your sleep? I’m trying to get some travel plans finalized. I doubt that will affect my sleep.
25. What childhood character traits did you have to let go of but wish you didn’t? What can you do to adopt these traits again? I can’t really think of anything. I think I’m a better person than I was as a child.
26. Do you prefer character-driven or plot-driven novels? Why? I definitely prefer plot-driven novels. If nothing happens and it’s just people talking to one another, it’s hard to keep my attention.
27. What is your favorite type of weather and why? I like dry and crisp air, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s Fahrenheit and slightly cloudy skies (to avoid glare). That way I’m comfortable and, as long as it’s dry out, my hair won’t be entering the room an hour before the rest of me.
28. How are you going to entertain yourself when you’re retired? If you are retired already, are you spending your time the way you envisioned it? I think I’m spending my retirement more or less the way I thought I would. The first thing I did after I retired was the Smithsonian Certificate Program in World Art History. I try to go to a fair number of educational events. And, of course, I travel a lot, though there are always more places I want to go.
29. What conspiracy theory do you believe is true? I don’t believe any of them are true.
30. Which person would you like to see more often than you do now? The gentleman with whom I am conducting the world’s longest running brief meaningless fling, of course.
31. What qualities do you judge harshly in others, and how might they reflect parts of yourself? The things I look on harshly in other people are definitely traits that I feel bad about myself for. Those include being disorganized and lazy and being judgemental.
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