how can I begin anything new with all of yesterday in me?

• Can you tap dance?
  no
• When was the last time you felt disappointed in yourself?
  today. Alexander Pope put it perfectly: “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.”
• How about feeling disappointed in someone else?
  I think that what we term 'disappointment' in someone else is usually just a failure of our own expectations, for which the other person is not responsible.
• Do you commonly feel more jealousy or envy?
  envy--I am plagued by what eludes me.
  (For those unclear on the distinction between jealousy and envy, read this article. All will become clear again.)
• Do you rely on the heads/tails flipping of a coin sometimes for decisions?
  never. I'll go with my instinct or go with logic, but chance really doesn't enter into it.
• Do you have any specific chores you do around the house?
  oh, to be a child again.
  I clean what gets dirty. I do what needs doing.
• Have you ever owned a garden?
  "owned"? Part of gardening, if you're doing it mindfully, is developing the sense that you don't run things. That you're a lucky observer and very minor participant in a world that goes on all of its own accord. That you do what you can, but that's not a whole lot.
• Who was the last person to text you?
  Mumbles
• Does a blank sheet of paper sometimes prove to be inspiring?
  sometimes. Other times, though, it proves to be intimidating, oppressive, stultifying, imposing, or just a finger-cutting bastard.
• For you, does comfort or fashion come first in dressing?
  yes.
  Form follows function, y'know?
• Have you had two friends that absolutely hated each other?
  I doubt that there's ever been a point in my life where some two of my friends haven't felt that way about each other. God knows I've always utterly hated at least one of my friends' friends. Or family members. Or boyfriends/girlfriends, lovers, husbands/wives, children, parents, or pets. It happens.
• Do you ever find yourself trying to be the referee amongst your friends?
  I have, far in the past. No more. May the better man win.
• Is there someone who always gives you inspiring advice?
  always? That's a pretty tall order.
  My friend R. He's a lot of other things (sometimes more of the other), but also extraordinarily inspiring. A lovely fellow.
• Everyone has a role model. Who's yours?
  “Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you're just a reflection of him?”
  [Bill Watterson]
  In other words, be careful about modeling yourself after what you perceive someone else to be. Are you seeing who they really are, or only the surface? Or, indeed, just a reflection of him?
• Do you ever "play drums" on tables or other hard surfaces?
  no, because tapping and that sort of thing is a pet peeve of mine. (I do mindlessly belly-whap, though, as I'm wandering through my parents' house, just like my dad does. Drives my mom up a wall. I'm sure she misses it when I'm not there...right?)
• Has a laptop ever burned your legs?
  no, but more often than not I use a lap-desk like this one so the laptop is raised up a little bit. My new(er) laptop is significantly less hot than the older one, though, which helps a lot.
• Do you know anyone who has a scar through their eyebrow?
  I have one!
• Do you feel compelled to brush your hair hourly?
  I very rarely - like, once every two months? Or less? - use an actual brush in my hair. I'm not precisely vain about it, but I also take really good care of my hair. Brushing = bad.
• Who was the last person to flip you off?
  the guy tailgating me on the way home through the last 6" snowstorm. I drove "the back way" so I could avoid most of the traffic, because I knew I wouldn't be driving fast at all. Dude was on my bumper from the time that I pulled away from work. I blinked my brake lights at him a couple of times, but he wouldn't back off, so I finally floored it, pulling out of a stoplight--absolutely covering his front end with snow, ice and road goop. He backed off, but I could see his mouth moving. Well, dumbass, if you weren't following two feet behind my car with no one behind you, I wouldn't have needed to teach you a MFing lesson, now would I?! He stayed behind me (a car length, at this point--finally!) for another couple of miles before I made my final turn toward home. I believe that was when I got my gesture.
  Right back at ya, $%&*face.
• Give me a list of the objects currently close to you.
  Everything that I own, relatively speaking, is within six feet of me. To be parsimonious and clever, I'll choose the most interesting seven items:
  
  1. Jon Pardi's Write You a Song CD
  2. OPI "I'm a Princess, You're Not" nail polish
  3. Aleksandar Hemon's The Book of My Lives
  4. a bottle of Chanel No. 5
  5. a pair of emerald earrings
  6. Bertrand Russell's Magic 8-Ball of Knowledge
  7. a black golf ball
• Are you doing anything the day after tomorrow?
  that's Friday, right? I'm working, of course. I think it's supposed to snow, the first of a reputed stretch of 11 to 20+ inches in three days. I'll probably go to work, come home afterward, maybe do my laundry, and go to bed early after reading most of a novel.
• Anyone's birthday coming up soon?
  my half-birthday, shared by someone...someone for whom music has sometimes said things better than I could say them. Not for lack of trying.
  I did my best, it wasn't much
  I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
  I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
  And even though it all went wrong
  I'll stand before the Lord of Song
  With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah
• Would you ever wear fake eyelashes?
  ugh, no.
• Do you make the effort to smile at people?
  only the people that matter
• Are you good at following directions?
  depends who's directing me, and why
• Have you ever just screamed really loud in an attempt to feel better?
  randomly? No. I'm not such a noise-for-no-good-purpose type. I'm more the throwing-shoes type.
• Are you in any way still a child at heart?
  yep. I love to make rivers of gravy in my mashed potatoes, and to make my raspberry bismarks 'talk' in cartoony voices. Despicable Me made me sob.
• Quality triumphs over quantity, correct?
  not in every way. I'd rather have lots of grubby $100 bills than fewer crispy $1 bills, for instance.
• Have you ever danced when there was no music playing?
  hahahahhaahaha--in a sense, yes
• Do you have someone that you can just act a fool with and not care?
  I have plenty of friends like that. Some more readily than others.
• Have you ever listened to the Uilleann pipes (Irish pipes)?
  not in person. Maybe about five years from now, though, God willing.
• Do you like Laffy Taffy?
  not a big taffy fan.
• Is there any food within an arm's reach of you right now?
  no. There is a bottle of water exactly an arm's reach away, though.
• From where you're sitting, can you touch a wall?
  I'm leaning against a wall. The left-most wall is maybe three feet away, and the right is ~five.
• Would you ever stand at the bow of a ship and yell "I'm the king of the world"?
  no.
• Do you know anyone who every second word they say seems to be a curse?
  [God-awful grammar.]
  I've got a pretty foul mouth at times. No one with whom I spend time is all that bad, really.
• Have you received a text today that made you go, "WTF"?
  not today. It happens pretty often, though. One of my good friends and frequent text buddies has a loose relationship with spelling and word choice.
• When at a restaurant, do you put your napkin on your lap?
  generally, although I'm not such a stickler that I'm ridiculous about it
• Is there a saying you always seem to be using?
  it varies. I go through them like everyone else does--and almost always have something I'm struggling to kick.
• Are you feeling even the least bit tired?
  I can barely keep my eyes open to type. Still sick, exhausted, and I think there's a cat hair wrapped around my contact lens.
• Is there currently any caffeine or alcohol in your system?
  probably not. I had tea this morning but it was gone by about 2:PM.
• Do you prefer electric or manual pencil sharpeners?
  I generally use mechanical pencils, rendering the point moot.
• Are your biceps at all noticeable?
  they're there, but not stand-out noticeable. I think they look masculine on a woman.
• Have you ever seen a walrus?
  I've seen both the animal and the human version in person!
• Do you have a preference: white erasers or pink erasers?
  I like the gray, actually. Picky, eh?
• Did you ever have one of those easy bake ovens as a kid?
  Easy-Bake is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc.
  And no, I did not.
• When it comes to dropping food, do you believe in the 10 second rule?
  that depends greatly on the circumstances. What type of food, where is it dropped, and who's around to make the "Eeeeeeew!" noise if I'm observed eating it?
• When it comes to driving, do you know about the 2 second rule?
  yes.
• If given the opportunity, would you ride on a camel?
  no.
• Do you believe that cell phones actually do cause cancer?
  no.
• Is there anyone you know who won't get one because of this belief?
  I don't think that I know anyone who doesn't have a cell phone
• When people you know cry, does it make you feel like crying too?
  depends why they're crying. If I've punched them in the face, I'm not likely to start crying with them, am I?
• Laughter is universally contagious, right?
  not bloody likely.

[from The Cat {a much longer post that I divided into smaller ones}, who got it here; the title quotation is by Leonard Cohen, from 'Beautiful Losers']