"From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines, going where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me."
Walt Whitman (1819-92)
"When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break."
Akhenaton (d. c.1354 BC)
And now, the current weather, from some random person we pulled off the street:
Thursday, December 09, 2004
100 Questions
meme
Function: noun
Etymology: alteration of mimeme, from mim- (as in mimesis) + -eme
1 : an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture
2 : answering 100 question lists
I found this list on the Sanity Optional blog, and figured I'd give it a try.
Have You Ever:
01. Bought everyone in the pub a drink: Yes. Pizza too. Call me an idiot.
02. Swam with wild dolphins: No, but I have with sharks.
03. Climbed a mountain: Yes, several.
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive: No, but I did have my own Spitfire.
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid: Not yet.
06. Held a tarantula: People hold tarantulas??!?
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone: Nope. Never really had the facility and the opportunity in the same place at the same time.
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it: Yes. Every single day.
09. Hugged a tree: No, but I've cried under one.
10. Done a striptease: No, but I've watched plenty of them.
11. Bungee jumped: Yeah, right. I've going to willingly jump from a high place, and trust a little elastic rope to stop me from going sploosh at the bottom, for fun. Nope, if I jump, it's not going to be with any elastic, and it won't be fun.
12. Visited Paris: Three times. Love to do it again one day too.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea: Yes, both from land and at sea. Incredible.
14. Stayed up all night long, and watch the sun rise: Sure have.
15. Seen the Northern Lights: No, and I really want to.
16. Gone to a huge sports game: Yep, Red Sox.
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa: Don't they have an elevator?!?
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables: Yes. Hated the part about nursing them along them eating them. Somehow it seemed kind of cruel.
19. Touched an iceberg: Not yet, but I've flown over hundreds of them.
20. Slept under the stars: Yes, it's cool.
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon: No, see the bungee jumping answer. High place, hot air, not real comfortable with that.
22. Watched a meteor shower: Yep, lots of times. I particularly like the Persieds on August 12, but one of my favorite memories was back in 2001 when I took a kerosene heater into my backyard in the middle of the night and sat under a blanket with my wife and granddaughter watching the November Leonids.
23. Gotten drunk on champagne: I've gotten drunk on almost everything. Even Ouzo.
24. Given more than you can afford to charity: Well, since my wallet is currently empty, I must have at some point. I have been known to empty it at a moments notice for someone, and to tip a waitress in a bad mood 100% or more.
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope: My favorite, favorite hobby. I've got two really good ones, a refractor and a reflector. Here in Richmond, the city lights make any deep sky viewing impossible, but I did get to see Temple Tuttle hit Jupiter. Before I moved to the city I used to do astronomical photography.
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment: Like in church? Sure.
27. Had a food fight: Yeah! Reminds me, gotta write a blog entry on that.
28. Bet on a winning horse: Yes, I went to the harness track in Pompano Beach several times and never failed to pay for my entrance fee and the gas. There's a track here too, and I haven't allowed myself to go yet. Stuff's addicting.
30. Called in sick when you were not ill: Once. Then again, that's assuming that being really tired, dragged and burnt out isn't ill.
31. Asked out a stranger: Hmm, that one is kinda hard to say, being a guy that was young before girls did that sort of thing. I was kissed out of the blue by total strangers several times, does that count?
32. Had a snowball fight: Yep.
33. Photocopied your bottom on the office photocopier: Copiers are that sturdy?
34. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can: Yes, but not often. And not in public. Once I tried a rebel yell at the Dolly Parton Tennessee Roundup in Myrtle Beach and what came out was more like someone killing a sheep with a cat. My wife looked at me and said, very seriously, "Don't ever, ever do that again."
35. Held a lamb: Nope. Ate 'em though.
37. Taken a midnight skinny dip: No.
38. Taken an ice cold bath: Yes.
39. Had a meaningful converation with a beggar: Yeah, there's a blog entry about here somewhere.
40. Seen a total eclipse: Of the sun, yes when I was about 12. Of the moon, lots of times.
41. Ridden a roller coaster: Yes. Hated it.
42. Hit a home run kick ball: I think so. Been a while. Like, at least 1/3rd of a century.
43. Fit three weeks miraculously into three days: Every summer when I was a teenager.
44. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking: You mean, untrained people can dance and not look like a fool?
45. Adopted an accent for an entire day: No, but I did one on the radio.
46. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors: Lived in it, at least on my father's side. My mother's family comes from Lebanon, and its a tad dangerous to go be all touristy there right now.
47. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment: Yes, that's happened.
48. Had two hard drives for your computer: I am such a geek, I have THREE computers with two hard drives in them!!!
49. Visited all 50 states: Not yet.
50. Loved your job: It's happened. Not applicable now, since there's not, like, a job.
51. Taken care of someone who was shit faced: Whole lot of times. Wrote about some of them here too. More to come.
52. Had enough money to be truly satisfied: Yes. I'm pretty easy to satisfy.
53. Had amazing friends: Since I've had times when I didn't think I even had a friend, any friend of mine is amazing and wonderful to me.
54. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country: Yes. On more than one continent.
55. Watched wild whales: No, I wish. One day I'll do that one. Reserve one for me please.
56. Stolen a sign: Yes. Sheesh, how did they know THAT?
57. Backpacked in Europe: No, always took a bus.
58. Taken a road-trip: Yes. Don't ask. There was alchohol involved. Memory is a bit foggy after that point. It ended with my hands almost frozen to the steering wheel while I drove through the mountains in winter with no doors.
59. Rock climbing: I. Am. Not. A. Fool. I am not shaped for delicate things like balance.
60. Lied to foreign government’s official in that country to avoid notice: Yes.
61. Midnight walk on the beach: Hundreds.
62. Sky diving: See number 59. I'm still not one.
63. Visited Ireland: No, but I flew over it three times.
64. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love: Can you be heartbroken and not be in love? If you weren't in love, your heart couldn't break.
65. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them: Yes, more than once. I usually look for the prettiest girl. Hey, why not, nobody else is doing it...
66. Visited Japan: Not yet. On my list. Chatted with it though, as recently as this week.
67. Benchpressed your own weight: Never tried. Know better.
68. Milked a cow: No, but I've eaten one.
69. Alphabetized your cds: Only when I have just two. even then its random as to whether its alphabetized or reverse alphabetized.
70. Pretended to be a superhero: Actually, I AM a superhero. I can read people's minds after they write it down first.
71. Sung karaoke: Nope, hum a few bars and I'll see if I can fake it.
72. Lounged around in bed all day: Love it. No one else does though.
73. Posed nude in front of strangers: Depends on your definition of "stranger." And perhaps your definition of "pose."
74. Scuba diving: Nope.
75. Got it on to "Let’s Get It On" by Marvin Gaye: I really hate motown music. But there was that Dr. Hook song, "Only Sixteen," uh, maybe I better shut up.
76. Kissed in the rain: Yes.
77. Played in the mud: Used to play a game called "Sugar Donut" when I was about 13. We would go get in the ocean and get wet, then go roll in the sand so that we looked sugar coated and go sit somewhere and laugh at everyone looking at us.
78. Played in the rain: Yes. When I was young we had a minor flood on my street, and I went out and played in it. It was cool.
79. Gone to a drive-in theater: Saw the first Planet of the Apes movie in one, initial release. Last movie I saw in one was "Harper Valley PTA and I don't remember much of the movie, windows kept fogging up. There were, of course, several years between the two films.
80. Done something you should regret, but don’t regret it: I regret everything.
81. Visited the Great Wall of China: Not yet. But I eat in a restaurant that has a great big lighted picture of it, so it you look at it just right and squint your eyes it SEEMS like you're there.
82. Discovered that someone who’s not supposed to have known about your blog has discovered your blog: I try to write so it doesn't matter.
83. Dropped Windows in favor of something better: Well, I was carrying this window, and someone offered me a candy bar, and... OK, I lied. I'm Microsoft through and through. Bigger really IS better, even if it doesn't work quite as good.
84. Started a business: Done that.
85. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken: Once. Still there.
86. Toured ancient sites: Love it. Even better, I have some ancient Roman coins, so I can sit and hold ancient history in my hands whenever I want to.
87. Taken a martial arts class: Was a Blue Belt before both of my knees were kicked out of joint in a sparring match.
88. Swordfought for the honor of a woman: No, but I have fought a woman for a sword before.
89. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight: Yes. How geek is that.
90. Gotten married: Just the once.
91. Been in a movie: No, but was in a Carnivale Cruise Lines brochure, on the cover.
92. Crashed a party: Nope. Oh wait, make that yes.
93. Loved someone you shouldn’t have: Wow, like do I have to LIST them?
94. Kissed someone so passionately it made them dizzy: Yeah. Done better than that too.
96. Had sex at the office: I am not ABOUT to answer this question.
97. Gone without food for 5 days: No. But I've done without chocolate that long a couple of times.
98. Made cookies from scratch: Yes, that's Christmas this year.
99. Won first prize in a costume contest: I think I did. I dressed up as Obi Wan and a friend dressed up as Darth Vader, and we did the light saber fight. It was fun.
100. Ridden a gondola in Venice: No, but I do have Venetian blinds in several rooms.
Well, there then. Kinda fun. Bring on the next set...
I don't like the sound of all those lists he's making - it's like taking too many notes at school; you feel you've achieved something when you haven't.
--Dodie Smith, I Capture the Castle, 1948
