though I asked most distinctly for bread and butter, you have given me cake

1. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest? 

    my high school friend Andrew. He's gone on to not-unexpected good things that I'd like to know more about.

2. Would you like to be famous? In what way? 

    sure, why not? Make me a famous writer—but only after I've died and my brilliance is unexpectedly discovered.

13. If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future or anything else, what would you want to know? 

    is there any point in working out? If I keep exercising as I have been, even at my best, will it make any difference at all in my life? Is it literally just a waste of time? Ought I to be spending those minutes, even hours, doing something joyful? Is it worth all the blisters, aches, bug bites, sunburns, and complaining? Will I ever fit into that dress? Will I spend my entire life second-guessing what I eat, or over taking a nap instead of a walk, or even prioritizing work or play or relaxing over a workout?

14. Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it? 

    sure. I've dreamed of shaving my head a few times lately. Why haven't I done it? It's getting on toward winter in this part of the world, and hair provides a little insulation.

    I've dreamed of having a pool table in my basement. Why not? It would cost an absolute fortune to buy a table and have it installed in my basement, which is not quite big (nor the ceilings tall) enough to play comfortably. It would also throw off doing anything else down there.

    I've also dreamed of visiting Iceland, and it hasn't happened because: I can't take that much time off work; also can't afford to get there or, once there, to do anything adventurous; I've heard that even trying to photograph the scenery is depressing because it's so awesome in person and so hard to translate to a still image; and, I wouldn't enjoy a vacation like that on my own. 

25. Make three true “we” statements about someone you love.

    • We have a similar dry, sly, bizarre sense of humor. Most people don't really 'get' us at first (or ever).

    • We both love homemade bread. I prefer it slathered with salty butter, and they prefer it plain or in a sandwich.

    • We become more alike as we age. The sense of humor, the intolerance for people who drain our energy, the repugnance for leaving the house at all at least one day a week (which happens to be Sunday for both of us), the preference for hometown hardware stores to national chains (because they are staffed by people who can quickly and skillfully locate just the right whatever you need, rather than wandering endless aisles of screws or pipe adhesive or plant food) and so on.

26. Complete this sentence: “I wish I had someone with whom I could share ...“ 

    life, pizza, bed, politics, sweatshirts, vacation, milkshakes, long quiet walks, heads of lettuce, real kisses, laundry...

[based on "The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness: A Procedure and Some Preliminary Findings" by Arthur Aron, et. al, and adapted from "The 36 Questions That Lead to Love: Modern Love" by Daniel Jones, published January 9, 2015—a 9-year-old article that remains behind a paywall here but is republished in plenty of other places; the title quotation is by Oscar Wilde, from The Importance of Being Earnest]