when I discover who I am, I’ll be free

(All of the following start the same, except as noted.) Would you rather...

1. --go into the past and meet your ancestors or go into the future and meet your great-great grandchildren? past. I would love a conversation with my dad's dad.
2. --have more time or more money? money. There is no such thing as "more time." Time just ...is. What you do with what you have, though, matters.
3. --have a rewind button or a pause button on your life? pause. So much just goes too fast.
4. --be able to talk with the animals or speak all foreign languages? animals. I would love to be able to tell my sweet boy how I do love him - and know that he knows.
5. --win the lottery or live twice as long? lottery. Longer life is not always the win one hopes it will be.
6. Would you feel worse if no one showed up to your wedding or to your funeral? this is a non question. No wedding of course, and I will hardly be there to judge the funeral, right?
7. --be without internet for a week, or without your phone? HAhahahaha phone
8. --meet George Washington, or the current President? George intrigues me
9. --lose your vision or your hearing? hearing, definitely. Losing my vision is a very deep fear.
10. --work more hours per day, but fewer days or work fewer hours per day, but more days? more hours, fewer days. I often work longer days anyway, and then one shorter one toward the end of the week "to make up." It is a crazy schedule. 
11. --listen to music from the 70’s or music from today? uh, neither? I am certain that either one of them would get to be too much, across the board. Maybe my favorite thing about music is variety.
12. --become someone else or just stay you? oh, ya know. "I wish I could be more like someone you wish that I could be..."
13. --be Batman or Spiderman? Batman. Much cooler costume.
14. --be stuck on a broken ski lift or in a broken elevator? elevator. At least it is enclosed.
15. For your birthday, would you rather receive cash or gifts? cash. You never have to adjust your face for that, and I just have such a poker face anyway.
16. --go to a movie or to dinner alone? dinner. 
17. --always say everything on your mind or never speak again? never. speak. again. There might be some hope of having relationships that way.
18. --make a phone call or send a text? text...almost all of the time. Every now and then, there is nothing in the world I would rather have than your voice in my ears. 
19. --read an awesome book or watch a good movie? unanswerable question. There are book moments, and there are movie moments. 
20. --be the most popular person at work or school or the smartest? oh Lord, are those my only choices? Can I just be a decent human being? 
21. --put a stop to war or end world hunger? those two are inextricably linked. There is no choosing "which" will end.
22. --spend the night in a luxury hotel room or camping surrounded by beautiful scenery? bring on the hotel. As has recently been determined, I am not cut out for the rough lifestyle. No eating fish straight from the stream, or cutting into a horse to take a warm nap.
23. --explore space or the ocean? ocean. Neither is likely, though..
24. --go deep sea diving or bungee jumping? deep sea diving. It has fascinated me since the first time I saw The Big Blue (Le Grand Bleu).  
25. --be a kid your whole life or an adult your whole life? adult. Being a kid is tough as hell.
26. --go on a cruise with friends or with your spouse? nope. I am not the cruise type. And indeed I do realize that this is not the question. 
27. --lose your keys or your cell phone? no. This is not a question. There is not much that I really need--keys, phone, wallet. Everything else can be sorted.
28. --eat a meal of cow tongue or octopus? octopus. The tongue thing...not gonna happen.
29. --have x-ray vision or magnified hearing? pretty sure that my hearing is already magnified. Better vision would be magnificent, thanks.
30. --work in a group or work alone? alone. There are plenty of things that I like to do with others, but work is not one of them.
31. --be stuck on an island alone or with someone who talks incessantly? island, please.
32. --be too hot or too cold? cold sounds wonderful.
33. When you’re old, would you rather die before or after your spouse? me first.
34. --have a cook or a maid? maid, at least in this house. In a smaller house, maybe a cook.
35. --be the youngest or the oldest sibling? no point in wanting to change what is, like this. I am, and will always be, the youngest.
36. --get rich through hard work or through winning the lottery? lottery. Is there any question?!
37. --have a 10-hour dinner with a headstrong politician from an opposing party, or attend a 10-hour concert for a music group you detest? politician. 
38. --be an Olympic gold medalist or a Nobel Peace Prize winner? medalist. I do love a good game of table tennis.
39. --have a desk job or an outdoor job? "outdoors" is bad.
40. --live at the top of a tall NYC apartment building or at the top of a mountain? ughhhhh. Neither!
41. --have Rambo or The Terminator on your side? Rambo. Sly seems more amiable. Is that a strange opinion?
42. --be proposed to in private or in front of family and friends? public proposals are an invitation to lifelong humiliation and pain. Search it online sometime and find out just how bad it can be. 
43. --have to sew all your clothes or grow your own food? growing my own food seems remotely plausible, however unlikely. Sewing my own clothes would be a humiliating disaster.
44. --hear the good news or the bad news first? bad. I am not a glutton for punishment, but I hate finding out too late or from someone else what I could (and should) have been told earlier by someone who supposedly respects me.
45. --be your own boss or work for someone else? everybody works for somebody. It is just a matter of finding the degree of interaction that is tolerable in each direction. 
46. --have nosy neighbors or noisy neighbors? nosy. In this house, I am definitely a double-winner.
47. --be on a survival reality show or dating game show? dating. (I am picturing "the dating game," not one of the disgusting modern versions.)
48. --be too busy or be bored? again - surely there is a tolerable medium in there somewhere. Why does the opposite of "busy" have to be "bored"? Why would it not be something like "content" or "capable of perspective and balance"?
49. --watch the big game at home or live at the stadium? home. Except in some really limited circumstances, I think I have lost any tolerance for big crowds.
50. --spend the day with your favorite athlete or you favorite movie star? movie star, I guess? 
51. --live where it is constantly winter or where it is constantly summer? neither one. The passage of time would not make sense to me without a corresponding change in the weather.
52. --travel the US and see the sights in a motorhome or by plane? plane.
53. --be a little late or way too early? early.
54. --have an unlimited gift certificate to a restaurant or a clothing store? clothing.
55. --date someone you met online or go on a blind date? online, I suppose. I have done that before - but I have never been on a blind date.
56. --your kids wear a uniform to school or clothing of their choice? within reason, uniforms make sense.
57. --have many good friends or one very best friend? different friends for different activities, purposes, moods. Your roller derby buddy may not be the perfect church partner. 
58. --live in Antarctica or the Sahara Dessert? see #51, above.
59. --be able to take back anything you say or hear every conversation around you? takebacks - like message recall in email - would be wonderful sometimes. In all seriousness, if they ever figure out a way to do that reliably in FB Messenger or text, I would be much happier.
60. --be 4’5” or 7’7”? short.
61. --be poor and work at a job you love, or rich and work at a job you hate? A-Ha! A meaty question. I could very happily work a job that I love, for far less money than I make now. The ease with which I answer this question reveals two things: I am not "happy," and I do not come within miles of loving my job.
62. --have your flight delayed by 8 hours or lose your luggage? delay is temporarily. Loss can be permanent.
63. --be in your pajamas or a suit all day? pjs - no doubt.
64. --have your first child when you are 18 or 40? I wish that when I was 18, I had... nevermind. I will try to sort this out in a future post.
65. --be the star player on a losing basketball team or ride the bench on a winning one? "would you rather make a contribution or not?" "does individual praise mean more to you than group success?" "do you like to play basketball?" Hmm. So many questions. Answer: no. 
66. --spend the next year exempt from all taxes or have a one-month paid vacation? vacation.
67. --have the best house in a bad neighborhood or the worst house in a good neighborhood? "worst." Even the worst house in a good neighborhood is still more valuable - for more reasons - than the best in a bad.
68. --be filthy rich and live 400 years ago or be poor but live today? no, because the conditions are likely remarkably similar in terms of health and safety. Yuck. See #22, above.
69. --be gossiped about or never talked about at all? never talked about. There is much to be said for invisibility.
70. --end hunger or hatred? See #21 above. It is hard to come up with 100 discrete questions, is it not?
71. --be an unknown major league baseball player or a famous badminton star? badminton FTW!
72. --go without TV or junk food the rest of your life? I would rather train myself to stop indulging in the worst of either. I still do not have TV service, but there is enough waste in my life that is equivalent.
73. --spend the day at an amusement park or lazing on the beach? lazing on a beach would be dreamy. The more secluded, the better.
74. --be fluent in all languages or be a master of every musical instrument? no. I would like to be capable of more on the piano and of not stabbing my eye out with drumsticks. And I would like to be able to understand more French.
75. --sing a song in front of complete strangers or your closest friends? ugh.
76. --own your own boat or your own plane? boat.
77. --meet the president of the United States or a movie star? movie star.
78. --spend two weeks stuck in a psychiatric hospital or stuck in an airport? airport.
79. If you had to give up one thing for the rest of your life, would it be brushing your hair or brushing your teeth? I would happily shave my head if it meant I could keep brushing my teeth.
80. --spend 20 years in prison and be exonerated as innocent or be put away for four years (despite your innocence) and be considered guilty forever? four is better than twenty, regardless of what others might think.
81. --own a house or rent a residence? own.
82. --be known as a one-hit wonder for a novel or a song? novel.
83. --take an action-packed European vacation or spend two weeks at the same Caribbean resort? Caribbean.
84. --be a character in an action-packed thriller or a romantic comedy? thriller.
85. --be stuck on a train or a bus? "stuck," how? Probably a train.
86. --be a part of an arranged marriage or spend your life as a single person? single. My own judgment is bad enough, but anyone else's is probably worse.
87. --babysit a crying infant for a day or have an unwanted houseguest for a week? houseguest.
88. --be locked in an amusement park or a library? oh bliss... library, please!
89. --sing like an opera star or cook like a gourmet chef? cooking is way more fun than singing, particularly opera.
90. --have your debt forgiven or have guaranteed good health for a decade? make the debt go away.
91. --live the rest of your life as a monk or followed continuously by paparazzi? the monastic life holds great appeal.
92. --be given a lifetime supply of delicious food or books? books.
93. --be able to breathe underwater or fly through the air? flying would be convenient.
94. --be known for your intelligence or your good looks? I just said all of the curse words that I know. LOOKS. For crissakes.
95. --eat pizza or ice cream as the only food for eternity? pizza. Eating ice cream gets old fast. At least there are varying types of pizza, and lots of different toppings. And, thank God, lots of thicknesses and crispinesses of crusts.
96. --mentally or physically never age? neither. I am not loving getting older in either direction, but the alternative, while those I love are doing so, would be hell on earth.
97. --change your eye color or your hair color? as much as having dark brown eyes would change my life for the better, I would be f'ing thrilled if I could change my hair color right this moment. Happily, that is set to occur just a couple weeks from now. Woot!
98. --have the details of your financial life or your love life be made public? my finances are much less private than the details of my truly personal life. Credit can be rebuilt.
99. --spend a year as a cop or a teacher in an inner-city neighborhood? nope.
100. --have a family of 12 children or never be able to have children at all? see #64, above.

[from here. The title quotation is by Ralph Ellison, from Invisible Man]