I will not live by rules like those

1. Why doesn't poetry say outright what it means? who says it doesn't? Meaning is in the mind of the reader.
2. What is your opinion of Orson Welles? great director
3. If you were a lotion, what would your label say? smooth & subtle
4. What side is your good side? the front?
5. What is your favorite work by Edgar Allen Poe? not a Poe fan--not much delicacy there
6. What is the difference between a norm and a value? norms are general, and values are personal
7. Who is your favorite Star Wars character? Yoda
8. Why haven't we begun to colonize the moon? un·in·hab·it·a·ble
   ˌənənˈhabədəb(ə)l
   adjective
   (of a place) unsuitable for living in.
9. Is the force with you? I have my moments, but I'm not usually quite like that 
10. What is your favorite spoof movie? Top Secret!
11. Would you ever own a:
* human slave? * robotic slave (where the robot is conscious of itself)? * trained ape slave? * human clone slave? of course not
12. What can no one stop you from doing? loving the person I love
13. Who would you be bored without? something to read and somewhere to write
14. What is your only hope? it's not at the "only hope" stage
15. Would you rather visit France or Puerto Rico and why? Puerto Rico. One of my college roommates was half Puerto Rican (her mother grew up there), and she cooked the most delicious food. It was extraordinary. 
16. Have you ever corrupted someone or dragged them down? corrupted? No. Dragged down? Well, that's certainly debatable. 
17. If you could say/teach one thing to all the youth of America what would it be? listen to what Frankie say
18. Does any part of your body get in your way? yes
19. Leia or Amidala? Leia
20. Do you trust your feelings? sure
21. Do you feel empty or passionate most of the time? passionate, definitely - though sometimes it's a passionate emptiness
22. What was your moment of triumph? I thought I had an answer to that, but it turns out I was mistaken
23. Explain what piety is: reverence. Paying attention and living the life.
24. In what ways are you a rebel? all kinds of ways. I don't fit the mold of all sorts of roles that I'm trying to play.
25. In what ways are you a conformist? all sorts of ways. I have to adjust to get along, in myriad aspects of life.
26. Do you like movie endings that leave you wondering, or tie up all the loose ends? it depends on the movie. They shouldn't all go one way or the other.
27. What movie has the best soundtrack? once again, it's Singles, the 1992 Cameron Crowe film
28. What adventure would you like to undertake? I'd love to go to Iceland, if I could maneuver the overseas travel part without completely losing it
29. Do you tip gas station attendants when you get full service? I don't think I've ever gotten full service at a gas station. It's simply not an option in this part of the world.
30. Do you own any souvenirs? If so, what from where? I own shot glasses from all over the world - and a few other things from a few special places
31. Does your age make you embarrassed? why would it? The alternative would be to have died before I reached this age, after all. Is that preferable?
32. Are you the strong and silent type? silent, anyway
33. What do your shoes look like? no shoes. Very summertime.
34. Do you ever admire yourself while naked? funny, I could usually answer this with an unequivocal No, but about a week ago something happened that requires me to allow that it happens very occasionally. 
35. If you could make someone's clothes magically disappear who would you do it to and where? eh. I'm trying to work on my "vindictiveness," so I'll choose not to.
36. Who is more foolish, the fool or the fool that follows the first fool? the follower. Learn from observation, not only from experience.
37. A good website for the bored (not a diary one): YouTube
38. Did people REALLY land on the moon? yep
39. Would you rather live for a month in India or Alaska? Alaska
40. What is one country you would NEVER visit and why? I have no strong urge to go to Switzerland
41. Who is the busiest person you can think of? the busiest person that I know is a former colleague who is now in charge of a division due to the firing of a few people with whom we used to work. She is an extraordinary person with terrific skills, so I can imagine no one who would do a better job with the mess that she's inherited - but it's still a mess, and I don't envy her the battle to get it all resolved and set straight.
42. What is the average length of your relationships? I am still friends with my first kindergarten friend, and I've recently bonded with someone from work. So there are long-term friendships and short-term friendships and many in between. It's not necessarily the length of time that matters, but the connection.

[From the 5000-question meme; this is the second half of the forty-third part (questions 4151-4200). The title quotation is by Sophocles, from Electra.]