he paused and rubbed his beard. Good God, she’d play a GIF of that over and over, if she could

3. What makes a man? 

    this is beyond impossible to answer in the current political and cultural atmosphere. Not gonna touch that with somebody else's fingers.

4. Would you date someone who had plastic surgery? 

    unequivocally, yes. A person's medical history, elective or otherwise, is not my concern except where it literally, physically, affects me. It's obnoxious and mean-spirited and thoughtless to believe that assessments of character can be made on that basis!

5. What do you think of romantic comedies? 

    they're all right, not my first go-to genre - also not a deal breaker. Some of them are pretty dumb, just like every other genre.

6. Would you prefer a son or a daughter? 

    I think I'd make a better boy-parent than girl-parent

7. When you were a child, did you like your dad or your mom more? 

    my mom and I share certain characteristics that made us clash when I was a teenager. My dad was more sympathetic - so I guess I "liked" him better at that time. As I've gotten older, though, my relationship with each has gone through the fire in various ways. Dad is less blind to my faults. Mom has come to accept certain truths about me that are at odds with her own life and choices. I realize that their relationship isn't perfect (far from it), which has been a surprisingly bitter struggle for me. Given my age, I guess none of this is too surprising. Anyway, my relationship with each of them is far, far better than it was in my 30s or 40s, much less my teens.

8. Do you think you’d be a good dad? 

    uh, no

9. How do you feel about beards? 

    I am extremely partial to them

10. Do girls have it easier than guys? 

    not really. I think it's too easy to generalize. Are there circumstances when being female is "easier" than being male? Sure. But is the reverse true? Yep, that too.

    I'm more interested in knowing a real person than in making assumptions based on gender.

11. What would you do if your kid came home drunk? 

    first, I'd try to figure out when and how I'd had a kid without realizing it...

12. How early do you decorate for the holidays?

    I have 2 mini trees up now, only because they were gifts from a friend who went out on the big annual craft day of the year last weekend. They are about 4 inches tall, and currently located on a small table beneath the upstairs TV. I will probably put up the rest of the decorations next weekend. 

    My dad and I are currently in negotiations for the development of another alt.tree - though it's likely that we'll work on it over the holidays for use next year. It's a riff on the dowel tree (c.2012) and the slat tree (c.2014), and designed for display in my dining room's china cabinet. I don't need any more trees - I have probably 2 dozen mini trees! - but do need space for more ornament exhibition. Even after radically paring down my collection a couple of Christmases ago, they are still more than ample!

 

 [from here; the title quotation is by Kate Meader, from Man Down]