Posts (page 2)

Belatedly as usual.  >_> *ahem*

1. How are you feeling?
I'm doing okay.  A bit under the effects of sugar at the moment. *bounce*

2. When is the last time you went to the doctor?
I think that was a year or two ago when my dad and I had bronchitis.  Man, I need to get a a general checkup one of these days.  Waiting for my new job's health benefits to kick in.

3. Ever broken a bone?
I was a passenger in a car accident in 1997 that resulted in a spiral fracture in my upper left arm.

4. Ever had surgery?
Not that I can recall.  I've had stitches once, but that's all.

5. When is the last time you were in a hospital?
I visited my mother when she was in hospital for treatment of a brain tumor, a couple of years ago.  Aside from the time I was rushed by ambulance to an ER for the aforementioned car accident, I believe I've been fortunate to have not needed to be admitted to a hospital for any reason.

1. What's your favorite shade of green?
Who plays favorites? Green in general is okay by me.  Hooray, green!

2. Do you wear green on St. Patrick's Day, and if not, do you ever get pinched?
Always, and generally as understatedly as possible.  My reason for doing so is less about celebrating Irish heritage and more about warding off malicious pinchers.  Stupid school bullies, influencing my adult behavior - what the heck.

3. Do you do anything else to celebrate the holiday?
Not really.

4. Have you ever consumed a green beer (or any other alcoholic beverage dyed green)?
Naaah. *grimace* (I would consider trying a cocktail that is made green by way of Midori, someday, though.)

5. Do you have a good luck charm, and if so, what is it?
I haven't got one.  Yeah, okay, that's boring; I don't care. ;)

Belatedly, yet again...

1. At your next birthday celebration you can have any flavor, shape, size, and style of cake you want. What do you choose?
I choose to be surprised!  Although, yeah, okay, I would secretly hope for a well-made real* Black Forest cake.

2. For friends and loved ones: do you buy a birthday cake or bake one for them?
Considering that I don't really know how to bake birthday cakes all by myself, I've usually either just bought them, or enlisted the help of family members with baking skills.  (Particularly, I remember helping out in the making of Rainbow Poke Cakes when I was younger.)

3. Do you prefer sumptuous flavor or incredible decorations?
I prefer sumptuous flavor over incredible decoration, but, of course, the ideal cake would have both.  And ice cream.

4. What interesting cake, frosting, and filling combination would you most love to try?
(Wait, isn't this just a variation of question #1?)
I really couldn't say, offhand, simply because there are surely a lot of really interesting cakes out there that I haven't even heard of yet, but I'd sure like to try them.

5. Tell us about a school subject or hobby that is a "cakewalk" for you.
(Ha, ha, cute, going for a pun instead of another actually cake-related question.)
"Something very easy or effortless", eh? Well, I suppose my hobby of collecting neat pens might apply; I don't know. x)

What's kind of funny is that at work, on Friday, one of my co-workers celebrated his birthday.  A cake was brought in for him to share with everyone in the office; it was nearly unanimously agreed that the cake was made of awesome, for many reasons, not the least of which was its inner layer of rich caramel.  Many of us thought it was one of the best birthday cakes we'd ever tasted, and eagerly inquired as to where it was made, expecting to learn the name of a high-class bake shop but surprised to find that it came from Safeway.

1. What's your favorite game show to watch?
Lately, it's been Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, though in the past I've also very much enjoyed Family Feud, Jeopardy, and Wheel of Fortune.

2. What game show would you like to be on?
Ehhh... not much desire to be on any show, but if I must pick one, then, perhaps the aforementioned Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

3. Do you know anyone who has been on a game show?
I've been on a game show. ;)  In high school, I appeared twice on a locally produced teen quiz bowl show called Challenge of the Minds.

4. What do you think the worst game show is?
No idea.  Could I just lump all the present-day "reality shows" into one generic answer?

5. Bob Barker, Howie Mandel or Alex Trebek?
Oh, they each play to their strengths.  Alex certainly comes across as the most erudite of the three, and Howie arguably the most animated, but when it comes down to it, you gotta give props to Bob for sheer staying power.  Dude's been hosting The Price Is Right longer than I've been alive, man.  When he retires this June, it'll be the end of an era.

Started typing this up on Friday, really, but got pretty busy before I could finish it.

1. If you were a crayon, which color would you want to be?
Hot magenta! ;)  Not only is it a neat color, its history closely parallels my own: it was added to Crayola's lineup (along with other fluorescent colors) shortly before I was born, and was the only color from that era that was not renamed when the fluorescent series was revisited shortly before I graduated from high school.

2. Which color do you think you would be regardless of what you wanted?
Oh, possibly one of the middling colors -- did you ever notice how Crayola's larger boxes had not only "red orange" but also "orange red", not to mention both "blue violet" and "violet blue", and all the other between-color pairs?

3. Would you rather be used and get blunt, broken and lose your wrapper, or not be used and stay pristine?
Use me, use me, 'cause I ain't your average groupie crayon.

4. Would you rather be in a small set of crayons or a large set?
I'd rather be in a large set.  Not only because they say variety is the spice of life; a larger box with a wider selection implies to me that the box's owner has a discerning eye for color and possibly even above-average creativity.

5. Would you rather be Crayola, or a different brand?
No preference, no worries.

Notable persons with whom I share a birthday:

Bob Marley, Charlotte Rampling, Christopher Guest, Belle Starr, Dwight L. Moody, William Burroughs, Robert Hofstadter, Robert Peel, Roger Staubach, Red Buttons, John Witherspoon, Hiram S. Maxim, André Citroën, Vivian Wu, Jennifer Jason Leigh, John Carradine, H.R. Giger, Henry "Hank" Aaron, Bobby Brown, Tony Jaa, Koriki Choshu, Nolan Bushnell, Brad Fitzpatrick.

If you belong on this list too, have a wonderful ice cream and cake kind of day!

It's Sunday, you say? Yes, well, that hasn't stopped me from posting belatedly before. ;)

1. American football: good times or couldn't care less?
Could not care less, frankly.

2. Do you have a favorite sports team?
These days? Naaah.  Not for football or any other organized sport.

3. What's your favorite junk food?
Uh -- whatever's closest at any given moment? *cheesy grin*  I do like Sun Chips and Chex Mix a lot, but I'll usually eat whatever snack's handy or being offered.  Unless it's pork rinds; no thank you there :B

4. Are football players paid too much?
I think in America there is an excessive cultural emphasis on sports such as football, which drives up the participants' salaries.

5. Who do you think will win this year's Super Bowl?
Y'know, ... I don't even know who's playing this year.  XD  So there's no incentive for me to even watch.

I used to watch TV on Super Bowl Sundays just for the commercials, but now, thanks to YouTube and its brethren, I figure I'll be able to catch the good ones afterward anyway, eh?

This could be cool to some of my friends, so I'm helping to spread the word around:

Can you draw? Would you like to make a webcomic, but think it would be too much commitment? Or you can't think of characters and plot details?
Can you write story and dialogue? Woud you like to make a webcomic, but don't want to inflict your drawing on the world?
Do you have l33t Photoshop skillz, but aren't comfortable drawing or writing original material?
Would you like to make a webcomic, but don't want the hassle of trying to stick to a schedule, or create a website, or build an audience?
You can make a webcomic with the help of all those other people in a similar situation.

1. Would you rather have a fun job that doesn't pay well or a boring job that does?
Depends on what my other responsibilities are.  If I needed the money desperately and could find fun elsewhere, I would try the boring job.  If I were able to determine that I could get by on the fun job's pay, though, I think I'd prefer to go for the fun job.

2. Would you sacrifice your morals for a job?
I would be extremely uncomfortable with that, and vocal in active opposition to being asked to do so.

3. Would you ever take a job that requires you to be in costume?
Careful asking -- I might jump at the chance ;)

4. What is your fantasy job?
Anything that lets me help people, by doing something I'm reasonably good at and enjoy doing, in a supportive and respectful environment that fosters learning.  Oh, and good pay and full medical benefits would be really nice, too, but not essential.

5. Would you like fries with that?
Hmm.  Does it come topped with cheese curds and gravy?

How do you pass the time during a flight?  What do you bring in your carry-on?

Ooh, I haven't flown for a few years, but I still remember when I used to fly here and there across the continent.  I was always sure to bring along a good read, some writing/drawing materials, a one-time-use camera, a bit of cash, minor toiletries (tissues, bandages, lip balm), and some kind of portable snack such as a granola bar.  I was also sure to bring a jacket or sweatshirt on my person, even in summertime.  I think that's about it.  Perhaps someday I'll be able to buy an iPod.  Then I'll be able to add that to my list when I resume traveling someday.

It's Sunday, you say? Yes, well, I'm just gonna answer these as I would have on Friday. ;)

1. What did you eat yesterday?
Thursday morning I ate battered French toast with butter and syrup, accompanied by orange juice, for a late brunch.  I forget what I had for dinner.

2. Are you more likely to yell or give the silent treatment?
I try to do neither, but if I'm pressed past my limits, I'm more likely to raise my voice than quench it.  I almost never give the silent treatment; I find it too unbecoming of myself and I get frankly a little creeped out when I'm given the silent treatment, so it's not something I'd wish on someone else.

3. Who did you last grieve?
I don't know... I can tell you that I remembered the tragically early passing of one of my high school friends again recently, as I've been considering trying to establish a scholarship at my alma mater in his honor when I've returned to being gainfully employed, but nothing comes to me beyond that.

4. What feels good today?
My prospects for imminent employment! :O

5. Friday fill in: Thank you ___ for ___.
Thank you, pop music, for bizarre lyrics.

Bonus! From FiveOnFridays.com:

1. What are your siblings' names? Are your names related by a theme?
I have a brother named Andrew and a sister named Rebecca.  Our names aren't particularly related.

2. What are your pets' names?
My household has two dogs, Chado (who belongs to my sister's family) and Mochi (who belongs to my parents).  Oh, and my niece has a fish she named Taddy 'cause she thought it was a tadpole when it was itsy-bitsy. x)  My parents also have some koi who don't have names.

3. Do you give pet/nick names to your car (or other large possession)?
Haha, you sure you wanna know about my nickname for my large possession? ;D
Seriously though -- nah, my family never did that while I was growing up, so my siblings and I never really picked it up either.
Lately, though, I have been starting to refer to my family's cars on occasion as "he"s or "she"s, to the amusement of my sister.

4. What meaning does your surname have?
I have no idea.  Quite possibly it means nothing.  The story that my grandma tells me is that my dad's surname used to be somewhat different several generations ago.  Supposedly, once upon a time, a French guy wanted to marry a Filipino girl, but her daddy wouldn't give his blessing to the union unless he changed his surname to sound more like a name from the girl's family's ethnicity.

5. If you could name your own country or island, what would you call it?
Quite possibly, if I needed to come up with a name real quickly, I might go with "Seilleri", which I would pronounce much like "C'est la vie".  It's a name I came up with in high school as part of a class project (I forget for which class) for which we were supposed to pair up and create a fictional nation (complete with all sorts of relevant details such as population demographics, imports and exports, terrain and political maps, you name it) which would exist on a sort of alternate Earth with all the other pairs' nations.  Seilleri as I imagined it back then was an island chain.  I had drawn up painstakingly detailed maps and had clipped photos from my dad's National Geographic magazine collection to help illustrate what I had in mind.

1. When is your birthday?
February 5th.  Just a little over three weeks from now.

2. How old will you be?
Thirty-four.  Shush.

3. Do you prefer to throw a party or attend a party?
Whatever gets my friends and family together :D  Although... it's nice to just show up without having to be in charge.  And especially for a birthday party, it's great to be surprised, spoiled, and showered with attention.

4. Presents: take 'em or leave 'em?
What? x'D  Um... I greatly appreciate gifts.  But even just being thought of on my birthday is enough for me :)

5. Best birthday so far?
Man, I don't even remember all of them.  It'd be hard to say.  My 32nd birthday party was huge, with friends and family showing up from all over the place (including my previously mentioned best bud Tony), though it was tempered by the discovery of my mother's brain tumor just a few days before, and the very sobering and unsettling thought that the unusual amount of extravagance that had been expended to put the party together had likely been as much for my mother's benefit (celebrating in grand style in case she wasn't around next year) as for my own.  (And it didn't help dispel the thought when my birthday was celebrated extremely frugally in my household the following year, with a modest cake presented to me with song by whoever happened to be in the house at the time.)  I think I'll just say my best birthday is yet to come.