Questions Upon Questions
More things I'm curious about, for those of you for a few minutse to kill:
1. ) Is Valentine's Day a good idea? I mean, do you think it's worthwhile to have a day specifically earmarked for being romantic, or should romance be something that should happen of its own accord and without prompting? And should there be some sort of equivalent for singles, other than the unofficial stuff-yourself-with-butter-tarts-and-fall-asleep-on-the-couch tradition? What would it involve?
2.) What is the best temperature for outside weather? Why?
3.) Tell me about a scary/bizarre dream that you had as a child that left an indelible mark on you, but now seems a little silly and foolish. If you can't remember one, tell me about an endearing habit that you had when you were a child that still have today.
4.) Name a TV show that you know is mindless tripe, but that you watch anyways. Explain that strange attraction.
Usual rules (answer some or all, show yourself or post from the shadows) apply.
posted by Ryan @ 10:14 a.m.
8 comments
8 Comments:
1. Valentines Day is nothing more than a marketing tool for Hallmark, candy makers, purveyors of other gift crap, and capitalists in general to make millions of dollars selling their wares but contributing nothing more to society other than making men and women feel guilty about not being romantic enough during the rest of the year. That being said, I don't mind getting gifts from my husband on this day at all, but I get gifts from him on other days during the year, too. If you're serious about your relationship, you will endeavour to be romantic as much as possible, not just this one day of the year. As for singles, perhaps Valentines Day should be more for them than the couples. Maybe this could be the one day of the year totally devoted to mingling and match-making.
2. I would love it if it were about 20 - 22 degrees celsius all year round. I love a temperate climate. I want to live in New Zealand. I hate heat, humidity, and the cold. I resent spending extra money on electricity to run my air conditioner in the summer and my ridiculously inefficient base board heaters in the winter.
3. My mother suffered from depression all her life and I remember as a child picking up on the fact that she was very unhappy. I used to dream that she drowned herself in the bathtub. Back when I was 5, I believed that drowning meant that you actually dissolved in the water and would thus go down the drain, leaving your shoes and clothing behind. I would go to bed at night and make sure I said "See you in the morning" and make sure I heard her respond "See you in the morning". If she said that, I felt safe. As an adult, this does seem foolish - especially what I believed drowning was - but it's poignant as well. Kids pick up on things, even if they don't understand what they are. This dream has taught me a valuable lesson if I ever have children of my own.
4. I always get hooked on Fear Factor if I happen to be flipping around. I haven't watched it in ages, because I don't stay up that late anymore. But it's so compelling to watch people try to eat sheep's uterus and pig rectums. I also used to watch Survivor. I like Jeff Probst, but for some reason I like the scheming aspect. I can't explain why.
1.) I don't like Valentine's Day. There shouldn't be a specific day for that sort of thing for people in relationships. For singles - just a day like any other day.
2.) Probably around 18-22 C. Not too hot, not cold. (I'm definitely a Fall person.)
3.) I normally don't remember my dreams. But I do remember one I used to have a lot when I was little and still lived in Markham. Sharks would be swimming around my bed, and I had to stay far away from the edges or else they would get me. I had it again the other night. Definitely silly and foolish, since they require water to swim around, but there wasn't any water around the bed. I do have an incredible fear of drowning and dark, cold, water, but that's probably unrelated.
As I child I'd name all my stuffed animals and stuff, and I still name things like my keyboard, etc. I like names.
4.) Xena. I just love it. I love the campy humour. I love the serious episodes. It's just fun to watch.
1. I am indifferent to Valentine's Day. If the couples want to celebrate their love, have at it. Do I think there should be a corresponding Singles' Day? No, because celebrating one's singlehood is just.. sad. I'm single. Fine. So what?—That's my attitude. Also, I buy myself candy on a near daily basis. Restricting this to one day a year would only interfere with the chocolate orgies.
2. I am a fair-skinned redhead who shuns the heat, and a whiney baby who hates the cold. I'll go with room temperature.
3. This is going to sound stupid, but there was this Bea Arthur-like old woman who jumped out from around the corner and yelled "Boo." That's it. Woke up terrified.
I had this other dream.. don't remember the details but the dialogue went something like "But if you're in here, who's out there? [singing] There's something in the meadowwww.." and there was a guy out in the meadow with a switchblade.
4. I second Kelly's answer of Xena. Used to watch that religiously. Nowadays it's Andromeda. Can't say why. I know it's poor man's Star Trek, but.. (shrugs)
1. I generally like the idea of Valentine's Day, as I generally like the idea of Christmas. (The religious connotations of the latter, I could take or leave, though.) But, like most holidays or "holidays," the commercial side of it has mostly ruined the original intent. I see nothing wrong with buying a dozen roses, but... should that necessarily be only on February 14?
2. I love winter, so a high of about -5 and sunny is fantastic. Summer is alright if things don't get too stupendously sticky; the summer I lived in Calgary it seemed every day was about 22 and sunny and dry. Perfect.
3. Two come to mind. One, the basement of the house in which I grew up had been turned into a giant maze, and a friend and I (can't remember who the friend was) had to escape it to live. The other was that somehow Nazis had taken over my town, and I was trying to escape by running down my street, but my legs wouldn't work and they caught me.
4. I don't usually watch mindless tripe... if I'm spending time in front of the Cyclops, I want to make sure I'm learning something, so it'll usually end up on Newsworld if I'm not studying the brilliant comedy stylings of the Kids in the Hall or laughing along with the sardonic Jon Stewart on the Comedy channel.
First off... Ian, how the hell are you? Long time no see. What are you up to these days?
1. I'm a die-hard romantic, but I prefer to offer romantic gestures on my own terms. That said, this is the culture that we live in, and I'm not going to boycott the night because I think it's too commercial. Also, I think it's a bit of a slap in the face to single people. Not that they need a special day of their own - that has a bit of a condescending, "participation ribbon" feel to it. All in all, too Hallmark for my liking, says the man who's going to buy champagne and roses on his way home from work tonight.
2. 18 degrees. Just warm enough that you can get away with shorts, but still cool enough to inspire a bit of sun-worship. Much hotter, and my pale nordic skin cooks lobster-style.
3. When I was really young, I remember dreaming that I went down to the basement, and there was a man driving a machine with a big, mechanical hand on the front, that made a "squishing" motion. My legs turned to lead, and the machine started slowly advancing. Other than that, I can remember dreaming that I was playing soccer, and then waking up because I'd kicked the wall as hard as I could. Ian: Switchblade in the meadow? Scariest dream ever. Was it ever Bea Arthur with a switchblade? If so, I'd imagine you'd have been the first eight-year-old to have a heart attack while dreaming.
4. About once a year, I get hooked on a really bad reality TV show. The most recent one was Paradise Hotel. The premise of this show was that you took single 20-somethings and put them in a tropical paradise, and they had to "hook up" (ie. room with) someone of the opposite sex to stay in the hotel. Each week, they threw in someone new so that there was always an odd number of either girls or guys. It was like watching an hour-long train wreck. I just couldn't look away.
It's kind of interesting to see how many GW-ers and GW-alumni have blogs.
1. I agree that Valentine's Day is an evil day that is centred on convincing people they need to buy things they don't need and to make people feel like they have to be in a relationship to feel fulfilled/normal. But sadly, Vday works like this for me: If I'm in a relationship, it's easy to have a united front, scoff in the face of commercialism and purposely do nothing overly romantic. However, when I'm single like I am right now, there is this teeny tiny weeny woony part of me that hopes that I have a secret admirer who is waiting to pop out from the shadows and declare his love for me. So I make sure I check my email, my snailmail and open the door to my office expecting to find a bunch of flowers and a sweet note waiting for me. I have a problem...
2. Any temperature below 85 degrees is freezing.
3. I once had a dream that if I stepped into our upstairs bathroom, I would be stretched out so thin that I would die. I actually developed a fear of that bathroom. It made absolutely no sense. I'm going to stop this story right here.
4. To my horror, I am a repeat offender when it comes to crap TV. I have been guilty of watching amongst others, Newlyweds, the Ashley Simpson Show, The Fabulous Life of...and even American Idol. BUt my most heinous offense hands down is Passions. That is the most godawful show in television yet I simply DON'T CARE. I sucked in my housemates from Queens into watching it as well so if I *gasp* missed an episode I could get a synopsis. I know it's bad but come ON, how can Ethan possibly still have feelings for Theresa?? Sure she went to the electric chair for him [only to be saved at the last minute] but she drugged him so she could have sex with him to have his baby! Ugh!
Elena.
1. In Korea, V-day is a little different. Girls buy chocolate for the boys... That's it. However, as a brilliant marketing ploy, Candy companies in Japan started "White day" a few years ago on March 14th. Same as V-day, but boys buy candy for the girls.
I personally am indifferent about V-day. For singles it sucks though. It is when I'm single that I like to invite many other singles out for a "lonely-hearts-club" dinner. What else are you gonna do?
2. I don't know what the best temperature for outside is... but I do know what the best temperature for outside is NOT. It is not -30 (with windchill) every day for 7 weeks straight (who remembers that brutal Kingston winter a few years ago?).
3. I have a bad habit of not brushing my teeth regularly... does that count?... ewwwwwwww
4. Right now I'm hooked on the Starcraft channel here in Korea. I have absolutley no idea what is being said or what the show is about. All I know is that they show you people who are playing Starcraft (a computer game) and I think they rank them somehow. Crazy!
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