What do you enjoy most about summer?
Submitted by Alex.
The fact that it's still light at 8 'o clock. Other than that, I think I hate summer. I don't handle heat well. There are bugs, specifically spiteful, dive-bombing, maniacal wasps. Then there's the issue of tornado season (i.e: Glory Freaks Out And Huddles In The Fetal Position On The Bathroom Floor season. Long yet true story. Tornadoes suck.). I much prefer fall, especially that magical bridge between autumn and winter when the bugs start dying and it's cool outside...yeah. I like that time of year the most. But summer? Eh.
]]>What do you absolutely refuse to eat?
Hmm, I just left a comment on Lilu's vox about this, but cheese is something I cannot and will not eat. As I told her, I use uncooked spaghetti sticks to dig the cheese out of pizza rolls. That's how anti-cheese I am. Besides cheese, I'll never eat deer, rabbit, duck, or any other similarly adorable animal. I know I'm a hypocrite for then turning around and eating, say, bacon (aka Wilbur), but whatever. I'm a hypocrite, then.
A hypocrite who hates cheese.
]]>What were the main household rules when you were growing up? What are the rules in your own house now?
Brought to you by the movie Georgia Rule.
No cursing, no dating, no smoking, no viewing of the Smurfs, MTV, or Vh1, no music of the non-Christian post-1985 variety, no driving until the age of 18, no tank tops, no cutting of hair (that was specific to me, but I broke the rule last year FINALLY and it was a non-event), no black or similarly dark nail polish, no eyeliner until the age of 15 or so, no piercings until 16, no radio...am I scaring anyone yet?
]]>What's that secret dream job you've always believed you'd be good at, but never gone for?
Submitted by wedgeh.
Huge movie/TV/music star. Mostly music star. Will never happen. Ever. Which is why I've settled for something having to do with politics. At least maybe then, if I rise to political prominence, I might be able to host Saturday Night Live or something.
]]>When was the last time you interacted with any sort of wildlife?
Submitted by warpedreality.
A week or so ago, when I faced off with a Giant Flying Cockroach in my kitchen. And won.
And no, I don't think it's a stretch to refer to the bug as wildlife. Trust me. It was of no species I've ever encountered before. It took me hours to kill it. Hours. It was immune to he effects of Clorox. Suffice to say, I did not handle the crisis well.
Besides that, I've always wanted to interact with wildlife, but I've never really been able to. For example, I wanted a Bill Bird-in-Hand for a long time. What is a Bill-Bird-in-Hand, you ask? It's a cardboard cutout of a guy with an outstretched hand that you put out in your yard so birds can get used to eating off of a human - or humanish, considering it's cardboard - hand. Eventually you replace Bill with yourself, and suddenly you're a human bird feeder.
I never got a Bill-Bird-in-Hand.
]]>What are the positive and negative associations that you and those around you have with blogging? Have attitudes changed over time?
Well, all I know is that blogging has definately reinforced my image as a "dork", as if that image needed any reinforcing. But mostly, and sadly, I've had to explain to most people what a blog is. So the attitudes are generally neutral and/or confused. But I personally think bloggers will save the world someday. I'm very happy to occupy my little corner of the blogosphere, and I hope my crap computer will allow me to do so for quite awhile.
]]>What words, for the life of you, can you never spell correctly?
Submitted by Byrne.
Immediatly, apparantly, prescence, oppurtunity, and a few other words that continue to allow the spellchecker on my toolbar to hold me hostage.
]]>Is it likely that the U.S. will have a female president in the near future? In your lifetime? Why?
Yes, but I for one would hope it is not Hillary Clinton. That, of course, is a well-known fact, so I'll focus on the questions at hand.
Some have suggested that the American people are fine with the idea of a female president until one actually seeks a nomination. That might be true. It's also true, however, that Hillary is the first female candidate with a real shot at the nod. I think that what we're seeing is unprecedented, and because this is such a unique time in American history, anything is truly possible. Some people will always carry their prejudices close to hearts, whether it's with regard to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or Mitt Romney, and that is a shame. But I don't think any of those three candidates are likely to be stopped from gaining their respective nominations or the office because of bias alone. I may be looking through rose colored glasses, but I certainly hope not. Only time will tell, but I would like to think we as a country have progressed beyond the point of this issue.
And if not, well, I'm sure America will be ready by the time I launch my own campaign. (Only 18 years away from eligibility!)
]]>If you could eat anything you wanted, and not have to worry about gaining weight/being unhealthy/inhumane, what would you totally pig out on?
Submitted by Jay.
Ah, an age old question I do not have an answer to. Why? Because I pig out with the intent to gain weight. And I just can't. I'm 4"11 and around 85 pounds, and no matter how much I consume, I cannot rise above 90 pounds. For example: I've eaten about 16 - no, 17 - homemade banana muffins in the last two or three days. Think it's going to matter? No. Why? Because I'm doomed to the fate of being called "chicken legs" for the rest of my life. Yes, there are worse fates, I realize that, but still.
As for the unhealthy aspect, if something's truly bad, I don't like it. Example: hot dogs. But then again, I love McDonald's with all my heart. Go figure.
Inhumane? I don't know. I've never eaten anything like rabbit, deer, or an otherwise similarly cute animal's meat. I'm a pansy. I'll go vegan one day, that I guarantee.
OK, Glory. It's 8 AM. Go to bed.
]]>What was your worst cooking experience?
That would be my snickerdoodle pancakes, but since I've already shared that experience, I'll go with this one:
So I was making a carrot cake. I wanted to, anyway. All I had were baby carrots. The recipe called for three cups of "shredded" carrots. So I spent an unknown but surely ungodly amount of time shredding them...by hand...with a hand grater. Does the word "torture" mean anything to you? Anyway, I managed about one and a half cups, but at that point, I wasn't going to slave away any longer. I made the batter and baked the stupid thing. It turned out OK. Just OK. Not great, just OK. Probably because I halved the amount of carrots. The next day, I recounted to story to my mom, who just said with a weird look on her face, "Why didn't you just stick the carrots in the blender?"
Um, I dunno, why didn't you bother to tell me that was an option?!
Then there were my strawberry shortcakes. The recipe would have made a ton, so I decided to make half. When it came time to soak the strawberries in sugar, I forgot I was only using half and wound up using twice the amount of sugar I was supposed to. And it was a lot of sugar to start out with. But the real "ugh" moment came when I pulled the actual shortcakes out of the oven. There was nothing cake-y about it. They were biscuits, and bad biscuits at that. We wound up eating the sugar-caked strawberries by themselves, which wasn't bad, but obviously, I'd wasted my time. Again.
But that's how you learn. And I still have fun, even when my hard work turns out crap.
]]>