Tres Preguntas

From drc:

1. What is the biggest bubble you have ever blown with bubblegum? Uh, not very big. 3 inches in diameter, tops.

2. How did you tell your parents you are gay? Summer of 2002. I had just quit my job in Minneapolis and was moving all my stuff back to Detroit to sit until I got back from galavanting about the country and could decide what to do with it. I had put a rainbow stripe on the back of my Jeep in January, and hadn't driven home since. So, on account of the fact that my parents would be seeing it and wondering what was up with it, I figured I might as well tell 'em. My sister came home from school for the day for moral support. We were kind of busy with the unpacking and it got to be late-ish at night, and Emily told me she needed to get back home, so if I was gonna say something I had to do it soon. So we were all standing around in the living room and I said, "I gotta tell you something. I'm gay." My mom cried a lot over the next few days, and then I left for a month, dropped in, and left for a few more months before I settled at home for a while. The topic has not been broached since, though I've made a handful of very mild offhand remarks in my mother's presence. (Em, does that sound about right?)

3. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? (Since you are moving to Cali!) Hell no! And I hope I don't ever. The idea of being swallowed by the earth does not appeal to me. I'd rather take my chances laying down in a ditch and hoping the twister hops over me.

From Dave:

1. If you were a candy bar, which would you be and why? I can only even think of, like, three kinds of candy bar. I'd be a Whatchamacallit. A little bit of this, a little bit of that. Enjoyable, overall, but you're not quite sure what's in it.

2. Could you be any more of a sweetheart? Probably, but it'd be hard. ;)

3. Do you have change for a twenty? As a matter of fact, I do not. Ask me again on Friday.

From Kelley:

1) What one thing are you most afraid of? Failure. And the accompanying feeling of inability to do anything about it.

2) What is your dream job? I mean, not just within your field, but if you could be absolutely anything that you wanted to be, what would it be, and why? Bartending at a beachside shack in a tropical location. And/or a bed and breakfast proprietor.

3) If money were no object and the whole world were at your disposal, where would you choose to live, and why? Based on the research I've done so far, I would likely split my time between Auckland, NZ and San Juan, PR. Auckland because the Kiwis have such a laidback, sensible mentality, and the whole of Oceania is easy to access from there. San Juan because of my beachside shack thang and hel-LO the Latin ladies! Plus, since Auckland has seasons, I can always get whatever weather I feel like having.

From Lachlan:

1. If you were to be reincarnated as an animal with human intelligence, what animal would you be? Since I'll be smart no matter what, I think I'd like to be something cute but agile. Maybe some sort of big cat. Or a bonobo, because they have lesbians that masturbate with their tails.

2. What is your most embarrassing moment from childhood? When puberty started rolling around, I totally hadn't noticed that I was starting to grow hair under my arms until a friend of mine pointed it out while we were laying out in the sun on the cement in the backyard.

3. (Turn about is fair play!! hehe) What is the most embarrassing item of clothing you own (and still wear)? And still wear? That narrows the field. Heh. Maybe some raggedy period draw's or something. (TMI! TMI!) Nobody necessarily knows that I've got those on, but I'll be screwed if I end up in the hospital.

From lauren:

1) What floats your boat? Good music, good booze, good friends. :)

2) Name a fond sangria-drinking memory (That shit was gooooood. thank you ;) Warm summer Ann Arbor nights on the porch at Dominick's with my friends, except for that one time when I get kicked out for drinking underage. (Glad you liked it!)

3) What is your favorite thing to do outdoors? Rollerblading any of the numerous trails here in the Twin Cities.

From Robert:

1) If you could erase peoples minds and reprogram us good, bad or other... Would you? Nope.

2) Why did you answer like you did? Variety is the spice of life. Sure I wish I could change some people's minds on certain things, but everyone has something unique to offer the world and my tinkering with their brains messes that all up. I'm not nearly creative enough to ensure a diverse populace.

3) And if you HAD to change one thing... (what we like/hate about others or add an extra arm or two) what would you change on all of us? Man, first visit and already with the hard questions! Everybody's a little bit different. I can't think of one uniform quality of humanity that irks me. Maybe I'd make everyone just a little bit shorter, so I don't feel so short.

BTW, welcome!

From Tiffany:

1. What was your favorite cartoon as a kid? Voltron and Thundercats.

2. At what age did you realize you knew how to spell your full name? I have no idea how old I was when I first thought, "Hey, I can spell my name!" But I was probably about 4 when I could do it. Now I'm gonna have to ask my mom.

3. Did you ever get your name on the board (with checks) in school? With checks, like I got in trouble? Maybe once or twice and I was probably devastated when it happened. Much like the one time I got a 69% on an english test in 7th grade, and me and the other smartest kid in the class were the only ones that failed. I cried and cried.

From Carla:

1) What is the best piece of advice you've ever been given? Just do what makes you happy. The details will work themselves out.

2) Who would you cast to play you in the movie version of your life? I'm putting a placeholder answer here. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head, so I'll have to go do some research.

3) How did you think babies were made, before you knew how babies were made? I really have no idea what I used to think. I remember hearing the stork story. My first memory ever is of my sister's birth but I have no recollection of my comprehension of how she got there.

From Kimberley:

1. If you ruled the world, what is the first "law" you would enforce? Something like the Equal Rights Amendment.

2. If Dewayne's door was unlocked all that time ago when you happened upon his house, what would you have done? Ooh, I don't think I would have tried the door. But if I did and it were open, I probably would have poked my head in, but not entered. Knowing him, he probably has some crazy alarm system that would go off immediately and all his neighbors would have swarmed down from out of the trees.

3. If you have your own 10 pm sex show a la Dr. Drew, who would your sidekick be? Carla! Totally Carla.

From Tea:

What's the craziest hairstyle you've ever had? Probably the little afro puff I had going on last summer Not particularly crazy, but very different for me.

Favorite catch phrase of all time? "The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they will be when you kill them." ... Is that what you meant by catch phrase? Now I'm thinking maybe you meant something more slogan or ad jingle like.

Do you miss me when I'm gone? ;) I do! It's been too long since I've seen ya. :)

From Sherri:

1. What is your worst memory and would you erase it if you could? Wow. I'm not sure. My first thought was of hearing about people's deaths, but there hasn't been anything truly traumatic. So, since I can't think of anything I'd rather not remember, I guess I won't be erasing anything. If I ever have occasion to witness a random stranger's grizzly death, I might be interested in erasing that.

2. How many fingers am I holding up? One thumb.

3. Toilet paper: over or under and why? Over. It looks better, and it's easier to access.

From Shasta MacNasty:

1. So what do you make of this whole "good hair/bad hair" thing black women have going? I hate that this terminology even exists. Folks judge each other's hairstyles and deem other people's hair more or less difficult to work with, but "good" and "bad" connotes something entirely different. That said, I use "good" and "bad" anyway and to me it's more of description than a value judgement. "Good hair" looks a certain way, so when I say someone has good hair, I don't necessarily mean that their hair is inherently better than someone else's. And I wish I could say that I don't give a crap about what society thinks and I'm just gonna go natural, but frankly I like being able to wash and go and get a comb through it and have it swing around a little, and to do that I gotta perm it, even though I don't straighten it anymore.

2. Was there ever a time you regretted posting something on your blog? Nope. I'm trying to think if I ever posted something then took it down later, but I don't think I have. The few times I was unsure about posting something, people seemed to generally ignore it (i.e., I got no comments), so.... meh.

3. Do I look fat in this dress? You look better in the dress than that skinny bitch on tv.

From srah:

• Is there a story behind why your parents named you Erica? If I had been a boy, they had the name Aaron Matthew (or possibly Matthew Aaron) picked out. When they find out I was gonna be a girl, they didn't like "Erin" so they went with "Erica" instead. It had nothing to do with that chick on All My Children.
• What would your name have been if you were a boy? See above.
• If you had kids, how would you raise them differently than you were raised? Off the top of my head, I'd say I'd put them in public school. My Catholic school experience was pretty good, but it's also pretty insular. And I'd try to cut the apron strings a little sooner. I like to think that I'd have faith in my having raised them well enough to trust them with certain responsibilities, especially by the time they've finished college.

From Tracey:

1. If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be? I'd have less debt, or at least I'd have a clear plan in place and the means to significantly reduce the debt I have. I'd love for the debt to go poof, but I kind of also look forward to the challenge of paying it down and the reward of paying it off. I can't do that on my current level of income, but I think once I get back into my "normal" occupation, I'll have no problems accomplishing that.

2. If you had one superpower, what would it be and why? Teleportation! I like to get around and doing it instantly and for free would be awesome. I would also be late for work less often.

3. If you never had the internet, how different do you think your life would be? I wouldn't have half the friends I have today. I probably would never have taken my 'round the country road trip, which is one of my proudest achievements. I'd be less knowledgeable about the world in general and politics in particular (not that I'm particularly knowledgeable about politics, but I'm far more aware of things than I was even three years ago).

For Brent:

1. If you could have a Ph.D. in any subject other than your current training, what would it be?You know, I'm not really dying to have a Ph.D. It's so... academic. But if I must have one, and we're considering my current training to be anything vaguely related to the fields of chemical engineering, food science, or pharmaceutics, then I'd like something in the arena of hospitality management. A Ph.D. in this field is probably excessive from an academic standpoint, and doesn't really compare to practical experience, but it is something I'm interested in since I hope to be a hospitality business owner some day. I don't take pleasure in studying philosophy or social sciences, just for the learning. So I can then take that degree and... keep on studying and studying forever. Ick. I don't do that fuzzy stuff. I'd rather have something I can concretely apply.

2. If you were offered the opportunity to either go into space or travel the world for a year at no cost, which would you choose?Easy. Travel the world. Hands down. Fuck space. What's there to see out there?

3. What would be the title of your autobiography/memoirs?I've been thinking about this very question for a week now, and I have yet to come up with a satisfactory answer. Can I conduct a focus group first? ;P

From Lauren:

1.) Why? Because.... I can't cooo-ooo-ooooome WHEN YOU FUCK ME! (I can't come when you fuck me. I can't come when you fuck me!)

2.) What is the worst thing your mother ever told you? "Maybe you just haven't found the right guy yet." Actually that's not that bad, that's just the most recent. "They're totally being racist." Or something to that effect. I'm sure my mother didn't say "totally." That's it right there.

3.) How about squash? Not so much.

From Enigma:

1- Would you like to be famous and if so, in what way? I wouldn't mind being known for something, but I wouldn't want to be a huge celebrity. I don't know what I'd be known for, though. My luck it would be something like, "that girl who fell out of a tree and impaled herself and lived to tell it," doomed to a life of appearances on Montell Williams. I could live with being a minor blog celebrity, not that I'm expecting or striving for it. To quote someone's (I forget whose) tagline, "Famous among dozens"!

2- When did you last sing to yourself and someone else? To myself, I've been singing all day and all night since I've been on the computer with my headphones on and my roommate's not home. I sang with him while he played his guitar a couple weeks ago (a wretched experience).

3- What do you like best about your life? What I like best about my current state of life is just the fact that I'm out living on my own. The situation is currently not optimal in anyway, but I keep saying to myself, "at least you're not sittin' up in your parents' house with no job like you were a year go." What I like best about the sum total of my life so far is that I've made a point to travel and get around and see things and people. I'm not a seasoned world traveler by any means, but I've been places that a great many people haven't and probably won't ever. It amazes me how many people never freakin' go anywhere. I think it's weird that so many people don't even have passports.

For Casey:

1) What is your favorite color? For the longest time I was on a green kick. I still have furnishings that are hunter green that I'd really just rather get rid of. Then I noticed that a good half of my wardrobe was blue. But I've also been into the red lately. And, strangely, orange and yellow combinations (I'm not usually into that bright stuff). It depends on what we're decorating, though. So the official answer is Blue, with Red as a close second. I like blue more for clothes, and red more for furnishings.

2) If you had a significant other who was cheating on you, who would you feel most hostile towards--your SO, or the one who messed around with them? I guess it depends on how my relationship is going at the time of the transgression. If my SO had a track record of doing assholish things, I'd probably feel most hostile towards here. If it was completely out of the blue, I think I might feel more hostile towards the 3rd party. I wanted to say that I'd blame it all on the SO, except I'm betting in the heat of the moment my gut would surprise me. Even though I might feel more hostile towards the mistress, I'd definitely place the blame squarely on the SO.

3) If you had to either climb a mountain of poop or swim a river of pee, which would you pick? (Bonus points if you can tell me why my grandmother sometimes asked me that, because I sure as hell don't know.) Am I equipped with protective gear and a respirator? If I didn't have to smell it or touch it I'd climb the mountain. But if I have to go full contact, I'll take the swim (taking care to keep my head above water pee). I think your grandma just wanted you to be prepared.