• What's something you intended to do today, but didn't? I didn't go for a walk. The weather is just starting to be nice enough to get out more often than not. However, I woke with a headache that got worse as the day went on, so by the time I was through with work, I was in no condition to exert myself. It sucks to want to exercise, to be in the mood and in the groove, but to be unable to do so safely.
• Using only one word per person, what was your first impression of five people you know?
° D: magnetic (which turned out to be 100% true)
° friend A, my walking partner, whom I met while we were both at the money factory: serene (a wonderful mistake)
° M, a friend and former coworker who bought my house: bubbly (absolutely accurate)
° H, my former spouse: condescending (hilariously wrong)
° B, with whom I worked closely at my last in-office job: assertive (oh Hell yes)
• From what do you secretly long to be "rescued"? troubleshooting, repair, and maintenance of my laundry facilities. It's an unnecessarily complex setup that is not working properly, and I honestly don't know what to do to fix it. It is frustrating, infuriating, and every attempt I make to try and deal with it leaves me feeling more helpless and stupid.
• What do you do if you can't sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something productive? toss and turn. Counting sheep has never occurred to me in the moment. Getting up and doing something productive wakes me up even more. Even reading a boring book won't do it; I think it's the light that sets me off in the wrong direction.
• Which do you do more often: hum or whistle? ugh, neither. I've been told many times that I'm "allowed" to make noise - generally just after I've started someone by moving around nearly silently. (Hello, former roommates!) I can hum, and I can sort of whistle but not at all in tune. It's just not my thing.
• Who's the biggest "pack rat" you know? a friend who is often vocally scornful of his parents' hoarding tendencies, while he cannot resist buying the most random decorative items, supposedly to "replace" the random decorative items already packing his house over-full. The combination of idleness, disposable income, and obtuseness can make his space (not to mention conversation) a minefield.
• How would you define sin? a quick search came up with the following examples:
° "rebellion against God, wrongdoing, and corruption of the heart"
° "an offense against religious or moral law, or a serious shortcoming"
° "any
failure to conform to the moral law of God in act, attitude, or nature.
It is also lawlessness, missing the mark of God's glory, and first of
all committed in the heart."
It makes me wonder, though, if "sin" is possible absent a religious background. I read an article by Adam Phillips (described by The New Yorker as "Britain's foremost psychoanalytic writer") and think I've got a handle on it. It's an individual analysis, and based essentially on the effects our actions have on others. I'll buy that.
[from The Complete Book of Questions : 1001 Conversation Starters for Any Occasion; the title quotation is by Terry Pratchett, from Carpe Jugulum]
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