from "Questions to Get to Know Someone"
76. What hobby would you get into if time and money weren't an issue? collecting shoes and jewelry
77. If you didn't have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time? read and write
78. When people come to you for help, what do they usually want help with? legal advice, tech support, or personal issues - I've been told that I'm easy to talk to
79. What is something you think everyone should do at least once in their lives? try psychotherapy. There is not one person on this planet who could not benefit from talking through their mental salad with someone who's unbiased, trained to help, and legally bound not to repeat a word of it.
81. If all jobs had the same pay and hours, what job would you like to have? I would want to write, though "the hours of a writer" appeal to me a lot more than the hours that I currently work so that is hardly a selling point!
82. Who's your go-to band or artist when you can't decide on something to listen to? lately, it's Alkaline Trio (again) [link died]
83. If you were dictator of a small island nation, what crazy dictator stuff would you do? push for democracy, get people involved in their own government, and step the Hell down. I'm too old and too fucking grumpy to be in charge of anything.
84. What is something that most people consider to be a luxury, but you don't think you could live without? I have a lot of stuff, despite efforts to cut down on the things that had filled my house. I am surrounded by things that are supposed to make my life easier, softer, simpler, better. While that is certainly true, to some extent, it is also true that the mere presence of all these things has a cost. My house is large. I have become a certain sort of person by virtue of what I own, what is important enough to have been moved from place to place. I have, at times, prioritized things over people.
This is a long way of saying that much of what I own could easily be considered a luxury. Could I live without it? Yes. If I found the perfect condo tomorrow (with the caveat that it had enough room for blah blah blah that I would not leave behind) - I would hire out an estate sale company and sell 50-75% of what I own and gratefully bail out.
85. What would be your first question after waking up from being cryogenically frozen for 100 years? "Who the fuck is responsible for creating this Goddamned nightmare for me?! [They'd better already be dead or I'll kill them right now.]"
86. What is something that a ton of people are obsessed with that you just don't get the point of? Crossfit
87. If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance at winning a medal for? alphabetizing
89. If you had unlimited funds to build a house that you would live in for the rest of your life, what would that finished house be like? notwithstanding the "sell it all and get a tiny condo" answer above, I would spend about $350,000, maybe $400k for the following (and still spend half the year someplace warmer than this):
- Finished basement with a bedroom, a small gym, and a very luxurious bathroom
- Two bedrooms, each with attached bath outfitted with multiple shower heads and solar tubes
- Medium-sized eat-in kitchen
- Quiet living room in back
- Really excellent windows (including some stained glass) and noise-dampening insulation
- Heated floors throughout
- Attached 2-car garage
- No lawn, just wildflowers
90. What gets you fired up? basically decent people being thoughtlessly unkind - like wandering away from a text conversation. (If it would be rude in a phone call, it's probably also unkind by text.)
91. What makes a good life? a place to live, food to eat, bills paid, books to read, someplace to write, friends and family - and love
92. What risks are worth taking? ordering something new on a menu now and then; trusting that a stunning but creaking bridge will hold you; lunging toward challenge and lust and bravery rather than merely subsisting in a lukewarm existence; and saying the words (even though they can be hard sometimes)
93. What do you take for granted? that the love, support, and (seemingly) endless patience of family and certain friends will persist despite inconsistencies in my behavior
94. Who inspires you to be better? my friend Fluffy, from the library. Not because she is all holier-than-thou or filled with judgment or self righteousness. Quite the opposite, in fact. She is quiet, unassuming, sneaky-funny, smart, dear, and profoundly sustaining. I want to be more like she is.
95. What do you have doubts about? efficacy v. side effects ratio claims for certain prescription medications
[from here; the title quotation is by David Foster Wallace, from This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, About Living a Compassionate Life, and reads in its entirety as follows]
"'Learning how to think' really means
learning how to exercise some control over how and what you think.
It means being conscious and aware enough
to choose what you pay attention to
and to choose how you construct meaning from experience.
Because if you cannot or will not
exercise this kind of choice in adult life,
you will be totally hosed."
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