I don’t mean to be difficult, but these seem awfully similar to ones I answered the other day. So if I sound repetitive, it’s because my opinion has not changed since a few days ago.
QUESTIONS:
1 – Are you thin or thick-skinned? Are you easily offended or tend to let it just roll off your back like a duck does with water?
If you are trying to offend me, you’ll have to go all racist on me and I will definitely be offended. Short of that, if you are a hard-ass Republican and want to build a wall to keep brown people from seeking asylum, I’ll probably get pretty hostile. Actually these days, Republicans, in general, give me a rash.
2 – How important are morals in a healthy society? What are the most important morals for citizens to have? (Credit to Rory for this question)
I don’t think morals matter. I think doing the right thing is important. And I don’t think you need a religion, dogma, or a church to know right from wrong.
3 – What will your epitaph be?
Damned if I know.
4 – I don’t admire either/or questions much, which is why you won’t see ‘em often. Today is an exception) French toast, pancakes or waffles?
Whatever. As long as it’s real maple syrup on top.
1] What are your strengths and of your strengths – how have they helped you throughout your life?
I write well and I have a good eye. They got me a profession and a hobby which have seen me through life and have kept me entertained too.
2] What are your weaknesses and how have they or have they hindered your successes in any way and what have you done to overcome them to rue your day?
I have a temper and it’s a lot of work to control it. But as I get older, it’s not as difficult as it was, at least in part because I am not forced to spend nearly as much time with morons.
3] What makes people believe absurd conspiracy theories or alternatively are all conspiracy theories absurd? Use the answer which sits best with you.
I have no idea. I assume ignorance combined with stupidity. I don’t listen to these idiots and when they show up in my Facebook feed or comment on my blog, I bar them or ban them without half a second of thought.
The flat earth — according to Terry Pratchett
Anyone who believes the world is flat does not deserve a minute of my time. There’s enough crap going around without dealing with those idiots too.
4] How important are morals in a healthy society? What are the most important morals for citizens to have?
We don’t need morals. We need to understand the difference between right and wrong. I think most people are born knowing.
I think it’s part of our human DNA to know right and wrong, good and evil. We don’t need a god, religion, or dogma. We need to do the right thing.
You’re walking in a forest and you find a black suitcase. Inside it is one million dollars and a piece of paper, stained in blood and bearing the single word “Don’t!” Would you take the suitcase home or leave it?
I’d probably leave it. I’d be sure it was mob money and if I took it, they’d find me and kill everyone in sight. Too many cop movies?
Imagine you lapsed and cheated on your partner. You feel horrible and you know you’ll never do it again because the feeling is so awful. Would you confess?
First of all, confessing might make you feel better, but why would you do that to your partner? Assuming you don’t have an open marriage (been there, done that, but it’s a whole other story) or something like it, most people get really upset when their partner is bedding someone who isn’t them.
If you’re not going to keep doing it, what exactly does anyone gain from the confession except misery?
Would you live your life differently if nobody ever judged you for anything you did?
No. I don’t care who judges me. I’m old enough to figure I don’t have to listen to that crap anymore — unless it’s a really close friend, Garry … or the dogs start to talk.
Groomed Bonnie
If the dogs are talking, I think I could do something inventive and make a little money with that, so all you pups? If you’ve got something to say, speak up!
Would a fly without wings be called a walk? No? What would you call it?
Pathetic.
What’s something that brought joy and lightness of being to you this past week?
It didn’t snow. A cardinal came by. We didn’t run out of food OR money! Joy and lightness? Um, I don’t think so.
Writing this on the last day of the year to be published on the first of the new one, so it is the last and the first. May everyone’s New Year be full of joy, laughter, health, and hope!
For the parents in the crowd: What would be the absolute worst name you might give your child? If you’re not a parent (I’m not), then what’s the worst name you could give your pet?
I really can’t think that way. Anything his father would have given him would have been the worst name. He was fond of obscure Celtic names that no one has used in at least 200 years. Owen was a compromise.
Final house finch — Red in front and yellow in back? Is he a cross?
I let Garry name the pets. It’s safer that way.
What mildly annoying curse might you wish you could curse annoying people with?
Mildly annoying? Why bother? If it’s not VERY annoying, it’s not worth your breath!
What’s the weirdest thing you did as a child?
I was such a weird child. I have no idea. I was just weird pretty much all the time.
Last birds of the year
Do you believe things happen for a reason or are random?
Things happen for a reason or randomly. Sometimes a little of both. I think we tend to make reasons for random events because we can’t bear that something so awful happened for no reason at all.
And finally, in the spirit of New Year’s: What’s a resolution (if you make them, I don’t) you’re making for the New Year? How confident are you in keeping it a reasonable amount of time?
I don’t do resolutions. If I was going to make one, it would be that I make it until the next one! I sincerely hope I make it.
What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in life?
Sometimes, I’m wrong. But sometimes, even when I’m right, I should just shut up about it.
How did you meet your husband/wife or significant other? How did you know he/she was “the one”?
I met Garry at the college radio station at Hofstra College (we didn’t become a University until a few years later) in 1963. He was the Program Director and Jeffrey, who I married the following year, was the Station Manager. The two of them were best friends.
Now I’m married to Garry.
I always liked him and I found him VERY attractive. We used to meet for lunch when I worked in Manhattan. He worked at ABC, which was not far. We were friends for a long time … then we were more. Then I divorced Jeffrey and I moved to Israel. Garry wrote me every day for nine years.
We got married when I came back. I still wonder why it took so long, but he says he was married to his career and didn’t have time for a life. I’m not buying it.
If you could take a year-long paid sabbatical, what would you do?
Go someplace warm and friendly. Not hot. With some gentle water nearby. Bermuda, maybe. Or Corsica.
What is your favorite thing to buy at a movie theater concession stand? (credit to The Haunted Wordsmith for this one)
Raisenets. I never buy them anywhere EXCEPT at the movies. They are a guilty treat.
What are some Holiday Traditions you and/or your family observe in December?
We have a little tree we put up. On Christmas day, we are usually alone together and we watch old holiday movies. We used to have dinner with family, but I think this year, it will be just Owen. Our world seems to be shrinking.
They aren’t my “best-selling” posts, but they are favorite for entirely different reasons.
How do you deal with negative people?
Personally? My life is singularly free of negative people. Otherwise, patience and occasionally getting really mad. I have to admit, it depends on what I think will get the job (usually customer service) done. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter. No matter what you do, it won’t help.
What is the first thing you think of when you wake in the morning?
How quickly can I get to the bathroom!
Would you rather be able to talk to the animals or speak all foreign languages?
It would be really convenient to speak thousands of languages. On the other hand, there’s no point in talking “Dog.” They would still ignore me.
Bonnie and Gibbs
November is a month in which many people give thanks. America (and other countries) celebrate an actual Thanksgiving Day. For example, Canada celebrates this in October.
What small thing happened today (or in the past few days) that you were grateful for?
We put up the bird feeder yesterday and it’s more than half empty today. That’s like two pounds of seed gone in about three hours. Shocking how expensive bird seed is, by the way. For some reason, I figured it would be cheap. It isn’t cheap.
Nothing is cheap, not even birdseed.
I was surprised. I thought it would a few days for the birds to find the feeder, but there were easily a dozen Chickadees and they were flying by in groups looking for a place to land! There were some other small finches eating their hearts out. I didn’t have a camera and it was raining, which slowed down my shooting. It didn’t slow down the birds!
Credit for this first question goes to Teresaof The Haunted Wordsmith. She asked for TEN books, in her challenge, so the SYW folks got off a bit easy..)
Name two books that have influenced you and share how.
O Jerusalem: Day by Day and Minute by Minute, the Historic Struggle for Jerusalem and the Birth of Israelby Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
I first read the book when I lived in New York. It’s a great book for anyone who likes history. But later I read the same book when I was actually living in Jerusalem. When they wrote “… and then they charged up the hill …” and I looked out my living room window and realized — that WAS the hill. Suddenly, I realized there’s a no comparison between wars fought thousands of miles away and a war fought in your backyard.
Angelique, by Ann Golan.
I was 13 when I first read the book and in my fifties when I read the last one that had been translated into English.
With all the power of Crown and Church arrayed against her, Angélique finds a way through every imaginable personal tragedy and emerges victorious. Bowed, but never beaten, her defeats are temporary setbacks. Her triumphs change the world.
She is deathlessly beautiful, but Angélique doesn’t win the day using sex.
When she leads, she carries a gun and a sword. She will kill in defense of her own and does. She fights for her family, her home, her beliefs, her rights.
She became much more than a fictional character to me. At a time when female role models were few and far between, Angélique was fearless. Unstoppable. No simpering lady of fashion, she was tough. Smart. She suffered the worst life could dish out. She faced down unspeakable challenges. And there were casualties. She became a kind of mystical image of perfection for me. A dream woman whose feet were firmly planted on the earth.
In your opinion, where is the line between art and not art?
I don’t think there is a line. Each person has their own version of “the line” between what is and isn’t art, but it’s not a real thing. It’s just where each individual puts it.
This doesn’t mean that I like everything. I don’t. There are many things deemed artistic that I find repulsive, even ugly … but I don’t define art.
Two Acoma seed pots
But on the other hand, if someone gives me a museum, I know what I wouldn’t put in it!
Trivia for Halloween: What item is banned only during Halloween from 12am October 31st to 12pm November 1st in Hollywood California?
Silly String. And I don’t know why either.
What is something that really annoys you but doesn’t bother most people?
Stupid people. But that bothers a lot of people. People who use bad grammar — but that hardly makes me unique. Actually, I don’t think I have an answer for this one. I think I get annoyed by the same stuff that annoys most people. The only difference is that I write about it.
Instead of our usual gratitude question, I’m posing this one for this week: What or who in your life brings you the most joy?
Garry. Maybe it has always been Garry. He aggravates me, annoys me, frustrates me. He’s the soul of my soul and heart of my heart.
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