Tag: Quiz-Things

Oh, let’s see what the weekly quiz has to offer, I haven’t done one of these in a bit:

1. If money wasn’t an issue, would you move to a new home?

No. Easy!

Well, fleshing out a bit, I suppose it depends on what is meant by “money isn’t an issue”. We can afford a mortgage someplace and it’s all fine, but we still have to work where we are? Then, again, no. I like the house we’re in.

Now, if we’re saying “You are now rich as shit and you don’t have to work and hell, you can probably afford two houses”, then my desire would be to split time between a cottage in the Finger Lakes and a penthouse in downtown Buffalo. Of course, The Wife would get a vote. She might not want the downtown penthouse…and come to that, with dogs, that might not be a great idea.

2. Do you listen to different music when you’re happy than when you’re sad?

I’m not really sure, to be honest. I have been digging more into classical and classic rock of late, because I need to constantly remind myself when things are going very badly and they’re going badly because apparently many of us want things to be going very badly, that humans are still capable of doing amazing things. But I don’t stop listening to new stuff, either.

3. What’s your favorite way to unwind after a tough day?

I always shower when I get home from work. It’s a physical and metaphorical rinsing of the day’s detritus from me. When it’s less hot, I’ll participate in a quick dog walk first.

4. What’s the first book you remember from childhood?

I remember a storybook full of old fairy tales. I have no idea which volume of that type it was, and my memories of it are very vague. I do look at such things when I see them at used bookstores and library book sales and antiquarian places, but I do not know that I would remember my specific book were I to see it again, either.

5. What made you smile today?

Apparently dogs of the pittie/staffie variety like to bake themselves in the sun. Today it’s very hot in Buffalo Niagara, and we try to keep an eye on Carla when she’s outside. At one point she had a ten-minutes-in, ten-minutes-outside thing going on. After the last time she came in, this is what she did:

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Here are questions from this week’s Sunday Stealing! Which are a day late. Oh well.

1. What’s your life’s motto?

Life’s too short to not wear what you want. (I just made that up, to be honest.)

2. Where were you living 13 years ago?

Same town, but in an apartment just a few miles away from where we are now! At that point we were already looking into the house idea. My mother wanted to move with my father up to Buffalo from the Southern Tier, and live in a duplex with us on the other side so they’d have a support system. That’s how it played out.

3. Is anyone jealous of you?

There’d better be! I don’t manifest this much weirdness to not have someone out there envying me.

4. Where were you when you heard about the 9/11 terror attacks?

In my car on the way to work. I was at the shitty telesales job at that point. (In fairness, I sucked at that job.) At that point, it wasn’t even clear what kind of plane it was. I was picturing some doofus in a Cessna.

5. Do you consider yourself kind?

I try to be. I fall short at times.

6. Can you change your car’s oil?

Yes. I don’t, though. I like having skills, but I don’t worship at the altar of DIY.

7. What’s the last thing you heard about your first love?

Sheesh, who even is my “first love”? I suppose the one I’d have to consider shared something on Facebook. (Yes, we’re friends. She lives in Florida now. Terrific person, there’s a reason I crushed on her hard. A while back her sister was cleaning out the family house and found my confessional note that I wrote way back in, I dunno, eighth grade? Yikes!)

8. Have you ever been burned by love?

Oh, yes. Luckily, it’s been many years. I still remember 18-year-old me, swearing off the whole damnable business, just thinking, “I’m just gonna have fun for a while and stop looking for love because it’s never gonna show up….” (yes, I was a dramatic weirdo, whaddaya want from me), and then my roommate’s birthday celebration was joined by, among other folks, a cute oboe player I didn’t know very well….

9. What was the last thing you paid for with cash?

Popcorn and asparagus at the Farmers Market the other day.

10. Do you hug your friends?

Not usually, though I’m not unwilling.

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Sunday Stealing is all about your bed! By the way, did you know that there’s a low-budget horror movie from 1977 that’s become a cult classic, and its title is Death Bed: The Bed That Eats? It’s about a bed that has been possessed by a demon and thus it literally eats people who sleep on it. So that’s fun! (You can watch it on YouTube, if you insist.)

Anyway, onto the questions, about bed stuff (it’s all G-rated, folks):

1. Let’s say your alarm wakes you up with music. What would be the worst song to hear first thing in the morning?

Honestly, I’m not sure. Sometimes the song has been something quiet and peaceful, which doesn’t really help. And I wouldn’t want to wake up to Toby Keith, for example…but there’s zero chance of that.

We did used to have the clock radio set to WNED, the local classical station, and WNED used to run the BBC’s news update at the top of every hour. So there were a few times we were awakened, if the alarm was set for 6am or some such thing, to a British person calmly reading news copy like “Authorities are still working to collect the bodies.”

2. How many pillows do you sleep with?

I use two while sleeping, and sometimes my head goes under the top one. I use a third, smaller pillow to prop my head for reading, but when I put the book side, off goes that pillow.

3. What size mattress do you sleep on?

Queen at home. When we’re staying in a hotel we try to get a King.

4. Do you always sleep on the same side of the bed?

Generally, yes…as you’re in the bed, I’m usually on the right side. We recently spent a weekend in Toronto and we had to flip, though, because the hotel room’s AC unit was blowing directly on The Wife, and she didn’t like that.

5. Do you make your bed every day?

I wouldn’t say we “make” the bed, but we do tidy it up a bit.

6. Do you keep water on your bedside table?

Yes, though I rarely actually drink out of it.

7. How often do you change your sheets?

Weekly? Biweekly? Honestly, I’m not sure.

8. What’s under your bed?

Stuff, dust, and cats.

9. Do you sleep in total darkness or do you like to have a light on?

I need light, but not much. A light in the hallway is fine, or the soft light from the humidifier. Total darkness freaks me out. I hate not being able to see anything. When we’re in hotels, I’ll leave enough of a gap between the thicker curtains to allow some light in, maybe just an inch-wide gap of light, during the night and in the morning.

10. What do you remember about your childhood bedroom?

Which one? We moved a lot…but when we settled in WNY, I had the upper part of a bunk bed, which gave me extra room down below. That was fun.

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Looking over this week’s quiz, I think I can answer some of these. Let’s give it a shot!

   What was the last song you listened to?

Yesterday I started listening to Wagner’s Das Rheingold, leaving off somewhere in Act I.

    What is your favorite thing about the place you live?

There’s a wonderful blend of nature and urban here. Plus proximity to water. I do not know how people live in waterless places.

    What is your earliest childhood memory?

“Just images, really. Feelings.” –Princess Leia

And that’s really about it: no specific memories, just images of things and places. A toy airplane that I loved. A park I enjoyed going to. 

     If you could be any animal, what would you be?

Probably some kind of cat.

    Who do you trust the most in your life?

The Wife.

    How many languages can you say “hello” in?

Let’s see: English, German, French, Spanish, Elvish, and…that’s about it.

    What is your favorite kind of weather?

Cool, and little wind. For photography currently I need no precipitation, as Miranda is not weather-sealed.

    How did you discover that Santa wasn’t real and how old were you?

In 2nd Grade we spent Christmas on vacation in Florida, going to Disney World and other locations. I bought the idea of Santa finding us in our camper in whatever campground we were in on Christmas night. But also at that point I was losing teeth occasionally, so there was the tooth fairy to contend with. One day I lost a tooth and dutifully stuck it under my pillow…without telling my parents. I just assumed. Next morning the tooth was still there. Some time later, after I mulled this over, I asked my mother point-blank if there was a Santa Claus. She shook her head, maybe a little sadly.

    What is the best feeling in the world?

Laughter that’s not born of meanness or spite. Having a dog curl up with you. Smelling the morning coffee on a day when you’re not going to work. And the sound of people laughing at you when you’ve been hit in the face with a pie. I doubt that one’s terribly relatable, but there it is.

    What is your favorite color?

Blue! And red. And green. And yellow, and purple, and pink, and gray, and brown, and black, and white. Oh yeah, orange.

    Is there a language you would love to learn?

I wish I would have kept up with my high-school French. Spanish, too. 

    How do you feel about reality TV?

Which kind? Cooking shows usually make me happy. I enjoyed the first few seasons of The Real World way-back-when. But reality teevee also normalized a certain businessman-turned-politician-turned-would-be-dictator, so there’s that.

    Did you ever skip school when you were a kid?

Sure, didn’t everybody? Not very much, though. Maybe only once.

    What is your least favorite food?

If I was James Bond and I was up against a super-villain whose scheme was to rid the world of broccoli, I’d stand down and let them have at it.

    Do you have a good luck charm?

Nah, I don’t believe in good luck charms…but maybe there’s a kind of minor superstition to wearing overalls each and every day? Hmmmmm. And I also feel like myself more when I have a camera in my hand….

 

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From SundayStealing we get these questions:

When do I feel most authentically myself:

When I’m writing or taking photos. 

What I’m thankful for today

Ooof. I’m not gonna lie here: Thankfulness has not had a good run of late.

A memory I hope I never forget

So many! But I’ll go with looking at the girl I was sitting next to at the local college bar, where we were celebrating a mutual’s birthday, and wondering why I hadn’t noticed how pretty she was. Later, we married.

Other ways I connect with long distant friends

Mostly social media these days.

How I reconnect with myself when I feel lost

I read and I listen to beloved music and I go to the woods or to the water.

What would be my signature drink if I owned a café

We’ll assume that by “Cafe” we mean “bar”, in which case I make some terrific Mojitos, if I do say so myself.

Something I’ve let go of, as I’ve grown older

The feeling that I need to treat American conservatives as though they have real and genuine insights about things that are based on facts about the world.

The things I’m most likely to lie about

Hmmmm. This one’s kind of interesting, innit…I find myself trending more toward blunt honesty as I get older, but what would I lie about? Probably something mainly harmless, like “Did I like the cake you made,” when in fact I wasn’t in love with it.

What’s something I wish I had more time to learn

Photography! And I think I’m doing fine. I just wish I’d decided to approach it more seriously years ago. I had no idea, folks!

Social media trends that puzzle me

Endless political content. You see this on Tiktok a lot: people who just make video after video after video responding to the latest talking points on the other side. Even I, who am firmly on the left side of things, wonder if it all feels pointless after a while.

Local phrases and terms I use often

“Go Bills!” Also, “wings” refers to Buffalo-style chicken wings, and nothing else. Zubaz is a pattern, not a specific brand of clothing. I also expect not too many other places refer to “Lake effect” this or that (mostly snow).

If I could only wear only three colors, I’d pick these…

Blue, white, and brown–thus preserving my ability to wear most of my overalls. (The black ones would, sadly, be ruled out…unless black is stipulated as being available because everybody needs something in black, right?)

Favorite books, music, tv, movies, and media this month

Well, The Great British Baking Show is winding down, so that’s a bummer. We’ve started a re-watch of Scrubs from the beginning, because after the latest instance of watching a Netflix series that only had ten episodes, The Wife expressed a bit of annoyance. (That was Nobody Wants This, in which a podcaster who focuses on stories about the dating life finds herself involved with a Rabbi. Recommended, by the way.)

Music? There’s an album out called John Williams Reimagined, in which a bunch of Williams themes are re-arranged for a piano, flute, and cello. The recasting of dramatic music as chamber music is fascinating.

Books: I’ve started Bystander, which is a history of street photography, and Ian Fleming: The Complete Man. 

Movies…last night we watched Salt, a thriller from 2010 featuring Angelina Jolie is an FBI agent who might turn out to have a secret past she doesn’t know about. Very entertaining.

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Gramps turned eighty the other day,
and everybody was there.
He was dressed up in a brand new suit,
sittin’ in his big arm chair.

Then a beautiful, young, naked woman
stood up in front of the group.
She offered gramps some super sex,
So he said, “I’ll take the soup!”

–“Bad Jokes“, Prairie Home Companion

So I have a big pot of soup on: the first cauldron of Buffalo Chicken Soup of the 2024-2025 Soup Season! Now, I tend to limit my soup consumption to the colder months, so for me, Soup Season usually starts in October and winds up, oh, March or April, depending on how grim that particular spring happens to be. This annoys my family members, who believe that there’s no such thing as Soup Season and who would cheerfully eat delicious soup even when it’s 85 out in July. What do you all think? Is all year Soup Season?

(Oh, and I made a couple of small alterations to my recipe this time around, and if I like the way it turns out, I may update my Official Buffalo Chicken Soup recipe on this site! Exciting! Stay tuned!

Moving on, we have this week’s Sunday Stealing quiz. The numbering is again wonky, so we’re not numbering these. And these questions lend themselves to short, pithy answers, which is always fun!

What’s your guilty pleasure? 

I don’t really believe in “guilty pleasures”. If I like something, I like it. There’s more than enough opportunity for guilt in this world.

Which meal is your favorite: breakfast, lunch, or dinner?

Yes.

I mean, I like them all…and it’s also fun to have meals at each that is traditionally served at another meal! Waffles for dinner! Pizza for breakfast! Burgers for lunch–oh wait–

What do you do when you want to chill out after a long day?

Change into comfy clothes (almost always involving overalls), read a bit, watch something on the teevee later on. Maybe an adult beverage, but lately, we only indulge those if we don’t have to work the next day. This is probably best in terms of health and expense.

How would you spend your ideal weekend?

That depends! Maybe road-tripping, or relaxing at home, or going somewhere local and doing photography. Always a bit of time reading and writing, too.

Do you listen to podcasts, or mostly just music? What’s your favorite podcast?

I do listen to podcasts, though not many; I listen to music more than that. Some podcasts I like are: James Bonding (guess what that one’s about!), Functional Nerds (interviews with geeky writers), Noble Blood (somewhat gory tales from history), and The Open Ears Project (in which notable people discuss a particularly meaningful piece of music).

Do you prefer to go to the movies or watch movies at home?

Ooof, this can get contentious on social media. I love going to the movies and yes, the actual act of movie viewing is better in a theater than at home…but everything else about going to the movies has become sufficiently a hassle that we just stay at home. The expense and the time costs just aren’t worth it anymore, except in very special circumstances.

What was your favorite TV show growing up?

It probably depends on when “growing up” can be said to have happened…but through it all, there was Star Trek, so…Star Trek.

What’s your favorite TV show now?

The Repair Shop (which is going through a bit of thing because its host got into legal trouble). For non-“reality” shows, I’m thrilled that Ghosts has returned. It’s interesting to me that I have now had two beloved shows whose premise was “Couple ends up running an inn in a rural location where they have to contend with a very quirky population, and by the way, she really looks great in sweaters.” (The first was Newhart.)

How would you spend your birthday if money was no object? 

A week somewhere in the Finger Lakes, including the Ithaca Apple Festival, and I’d take a thousand photos.

What’s your favorite season? What do you love most about it?

Fall. I love the relief of breaking temperatures, I love the color, I love the food. All of it.

Do you prefer camping or going to the beach? 

I haven’t been camping since I was a kid and I’m not sure I really have a hankering to do it again at all (though I’m intrigued by “glamping”), so…the beach. Especially if it’s Waikiki.

Which phone app do you think you use the most?

Chrome or Gmail. Or my phone’s camera app. Also Snapseed and Lightroom.

Would you instead cook, order delivery, or go out to eat? 

Cook first, go out second. We never order delivery.

How do you drink your coffee?

From a mug. (OK, fine: mostly with cream. Sometimes black. Never sugar.)

If you could have any animal as a pet, what would you choose? 

I dunno, let me ask our cats and dogs!

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OK, I’m up early on a Sunday drinking coffee and we’re hoping to get to Letchworth today, but I’ll just toss off a quick quiz-thing! And I’m doing this one before I read Roger‘s answers!

1. What’s the best birthday party you’ve ever had?

I never had a birthday party. Next! (When I turned ten we had a family dinner at the Big Restaurant in Olean, as we had just moved there. The place was called The Castle, and it was part of a resort-hotel thing that was quite the going concern back in the day. Nothing of The Castle remains. It fell on hard times and different fashions, the idea of vacationing in a place just for the resort and not much else kind of fell by the wayside, and The Castle gradually rotted and now is gone.)

1. Where is your favorite place you’ve ever visited?

I love too many places to name a favorite, I think, but of all the places I have gone, I could see myself living in Ithaca, or Geneva (NY), in the Finger Lakes region.

1. How do you like to spend your free time? 

Reading, writing, photography, listening to music. (OK, sorry about the weird numbering here. As I start a new paragraph to answer each of these the WordPress list thing is renumbering as best it can, so each question is ending up Number One, and I’m not going to bother changing it.)

1. What’s one of your favorite bands?

Just one? Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors.

1. What is the cutest animal you’ve ever seen in person?

Excluding our own pets? I’ll go with the otters I saw at the New England Aquarium with my mother back in the 80s.

1. How would you describe your style?

Cottagecore, with overalls.

1. If your wardrobe could only be one color, what would it be? 

Blue, I guess. Because of all the denim!

1. What was the first concert you ever went to?

A concert band at the University of Wisconsin in LaCrosse. I was in kindergarten. If we’re talking rock or other pop music? That would be the first time we saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra.

1. What is the best book you’ve ever read?

The Lord of the Rings. (BTW, I include The Hobbit in there.)

1. What’s your favorite movie of all time? 

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

1. What’s the stupidest movie or TV show you’ve ever seen?

Hudson Hawk. (Which actually has some kind of weird charm to it, believe it or not. It’s best known for being a colossal flop, but it has some real gonzo goofiness going in there.)

1. If you could only have one food for the rest of your life, what would you choose?

OK, this particular quiz is really old-school, isn’t it? This feels like first-generation blog quizzes from back in 2003. Anyway, for purposes of this thing, I’d say…pizza? It has so many variations. But even that would get boring very quickly.

1. What are your biggest pet peeves?

I’m reminded of George Carlin’s quote: “I don’t have pet peeves, I have major psychotic f*ckin’ hatreds!” I’m not sure what my biggest ones are, but fresh on my mind are dudes who have to voice every disagreement they have with any opinion they see, guys on crotch-rockets who are obviously riding that thing for Adventure (I use “crotch-rocket” to refer to a specific item; it does not mean a generic motorcycle), people who will run into someone they know someplace and then stand right there to catch up without ever once looking around to see if they are blocking traffic in some way (because they always are), and overalls worn with one strap unfastened (don’t ask me why, I just don’t like the look).

1. Are you more into brains or looks?

If I have to interact with you, I hope there’s a brain in there.

1. Do you celebrate any holidays? What’s your favorite?

In order: Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving. Halloween always feels like it should be more of a thing in our household, but it usually isn’t. I still have a weird thing about Valentines Day, even though I’ve been married for 27 years to a woman I started dating when I was 19. The last few years it’s been very hard to get excited for Independence Day, but here’s hoping we can get that mojo back.

Oh, and I don’t care what anybody says, “Sweetest Day” is not a thing.

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