here we are, trapped in the amber of the moment. There is no why

 from Questions to Ask Your Crush

1. What was the best year of your life so far?  as far as I can recall, being 19 was extraordinary

2. What's your favorite thing to do on the internet?  window-shop for shoes, clothes and jewelry that I can't afford to buy

3. What do you spend most of your time doing?  writing

4. What do you spend way too much money on?  electricity bills

5. Who do you have a hard time taking seriously?  dire warnings about the pandemic coming from people who can barely keep their shoes tied without help

6. What do you judge people for most often?  behaving with deliberate unkindness toward people I care about

7. What's your favorite thing to shop for? Why?  books. Shopping for books is a joy unto itself, as is collecting them, quite apart from reading them. 

8. What's the best compliment that someone can receive?  to hear "you've been on my mind"

9. What's something you can do that most people can't?  sleep with my head almost entirely under the covers

10. How do you calm yourself down when you are angry?  spend some time alone

12. What do you find hilarious but most people don't find funny?  myself??

13. What was the most beautiful view you have ever experienced?  [snort] that's not for blogging about, to be sure

14. What fad have you held onto, even thought it isn't popular anymore?  fringey bangs. My hair has some unique ideas about the directions that it is supposed to grow and when/whether it should lie down or stand up, and this has been my method of controlling it for some time now. My stylist and I are looking into a new arrangement; stay tuned.

15. What event, small or large, has changed the course of your life the most?  registration for my freshman classes in college. I took 3 classes in my major and got pretty low grades in them all. As a result, when I needed to register for second quarter, my advisor gave me a great clue for life: "do whatever you want." Um, all righty then. I started taking whatever classes sounded interesting, trusting that eventually I would figure out the 'major' issues—later. That worked out pretty danged well. 

17. What's something that people go on and on about, and you just can't take sitting through?  [in-]fertility stories. It's not as if I don't care about their overall experience, but the gory details are often particularly gory and personal. Why isn't this a boundary?

19. What is the most cringe-worthy thing you have seen someone post on social media?  ill feelings toward a member of their family with whom they soon reconciled. The damage of that post, though, rippled in unexpected and cruel ways.

20. What is the most ridiculous rule you have to follow?  dressing like a grown-up for my half-hour slip-in masked-up visits to the office to swap files before getting back to working from home. As if anyone should care whether I wear dress pants or jeans for an event that takes 15 minutes max. It's foolish. 

21. What bullet have you recently dodged?  it involved a plant named Herman and a box full of movies

22. What country do you not know the location of, even though you should?  Peru

23. What do you have a hard time with, but most people find quite easy?  knowing when some people are making a joke

24. What's the most impressive skill you have?  I make really terrific popovers

25. What's a huge story in the news that you care absolutely nothing about?  pretty much anything to do with the election is wasted on me. I've made my decision, and in fact cast my vote. I'd be happy if everyone could shut up about it.

[from here; the title quotation is by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.]