From the archives: Back in 2003 I had three separate, count ’em 3, different blogs running on Blogger.com: The Miata Diaries, Photo of the Day & Brian’s Daily Rant. When I made the jump to a web home of my own I combined all of them, this article never made the transfer and has sitting in a file folder for the past 17 years. I don’t remember who Myla was, probably someone I swapped CD Mix discs with, and her website, A Parrot’s Meow, probably also on Blogger, is gone in the wind. Keep in mind that this was 2003, so some of the answers might be dated. For #15, the places I haven’t been to are e) & k)
I, along with a select few of the world's elite bloggers, have been chosen to participate in a questionnaire conceived and written by the talented and lovely Myla of The Parrot's Meow. Without further adieu:
1. Show your favorite digital photograph here:
Taken by hanging my arm down along the side of the car while driving & just snapping.
2. What is your motto?
Ya buy cheap, ya get cheap.
3. If you could meet any two people (living or dead), who would they be, and why?
a) John F. Kennedy - I want to ask him if he really was boinking Marilyn Monroe.
b) Zefram Cochrane - To ask what made him so sure his nuclear missile turned warp drive would work.
4. Creative Writing 101 (Just 5 minutes of what is on your mind.)
Five minutes of what is on my mind? This is going to be dull - and short. My high school typing class final grade exam consisted of 16 words with three mistakes. Of course that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. We were supposed to be learning touch typing and my heart was just not in it. Something I regret everyday now as I think I would be a lot faster at what I do if I could actually type with out having to visually pick out a key, have my brain determine which finger is closest to that key and then place that finger over that key and press down. Of course I have been doing this modified 4 finger hunt and peck method for a while and I've gotten better at it that I might just be able to better that test score. And if I'm typing a repetitive phrase I can really get a roll going. One mistake though and the clicking comes to a grinding halt, where I must grab a mouse and go back to highlight the mistake to allow corrections to take place. Damn, times up? I was just getting ready to tell you such an interesting story too.
5. What you want to be most remembered for?
...not blowing up the world.
6. If you wrote a book, what would the first line be?
The crescent moon hung there, halfway up the sky between the peach colored horizon and the cobalt blue of zenith, he had a light jacket on to ward off the slight chill, it was a perfect early morning for a drive with the top down, for a drive away from it all.
7. If you were King for a day, describe your first proclamation.
All trips of less than 7 miles would have to be carried out by bicycle. I would probably rescind this proclamation after a few months. Just long enough for every subject of my Kingdom to experience what it is like to ride a bicycle in traffic, so that perhaps they would have a little more compassion for me later when I'm riding along on the road.
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, or your situation, what would it be?
I would be independently wealthy. I blame this shortcoming on my parents, if they had worked a little harder...
9. There's no genie, but you've been granted three wishes.
a) I would make the weather everyday here in Aiken just like it was last Sunday, sunny with some clouds, high of 80 degrees, low of 55, humidity of 30% and a 5 to 10 mph wind.
b) Computer viruses would only damage the computers of their creators.
c) Ice cream would be good for you.
10. Last trip "out of town" you took, and when. . .
Hilton Head Island, returned just a week ago.
11. Find a word in the dictionary that you never knew before and post the definition to it here:
es·ti·vate 1- To spend the summer, as at a special place. 2- Zoology. To pass the summer in a dormant or torpid state. Kinda like what we did at Hilton Head Island.
12. What is the most daring thing you've ever done?
Get married 27 years ago.
13. Name something positively amazing (besides your birth) that happened the year you were born.
Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California.
14. Name your favorite Beatle.
George Harrison, the quiet one.
15. In 250 words (or less), answer me this:
"If money were not an object, and you were to leave tomorrow to travel around the world in 100 days, name your preferred method of travel and at least a dozen destinations you'd visit."
World, smchorld. I'd spend those 3 months acquainting (or in some cases, re-acquainting) myself with the good ol' USA via, what else, a Miata. "Hmmm, I wonder if you could hit all 48 contiguous states in just 100 days?"
a) Highway 1 in California
b) Vegas, baby, Vegas
c) Grand Canyon
d) Monument Valley
e) Old Faithful
f) Devil's Tower
g) Mount Rushmore
h) Crazy Horse Memorial
i) Carhenge
j) Gateway Arch
k) Wrigley Field
l) Niagara Falls
16. Name of the last book you read, and list your favorite passage from said book:
"That's a hell of a shiner."
Savard bolted at the sound of the voice. She wanted to turn her back, but realized it was too late. Embarrassment and shame flooded her. Anger and resentment rushed in their wake. She grabbed the sunglasses and put them back on.
Kovac stood just inside her door looking like something out of a Raymond Chandler novel: long coat with the collar turned up, hands stuffed in the pockets, an old fedora slouching down over his forehead.
"I suppose getting popped in the face is a common hazard of working IA" (Police Internal Affairs)
"If you want to see me, Sergeant, make an appointment," she said in the chilliest tone she could manage.
"I've seen you already."
Something in the way he said it made her feel vulnerable. As if he had seen something more than just the physical evidence of what had happened to her, something deeper and more important.
17. Last funny thing a child said to you.
Pass. I interact with children so infrequently that if one of them has said something funny to me, I've since forgotten it.
18. Put down one stanza from your favorite song lyric, one that has particular meaning to you, one that, had you thought of it first, would have written yourself.
They got Mount Rushmore on a cup
Everybody needs one of those
For a dollar more they'll fill it up
You can drink out of Lincoln's nose
They got the Hard Rock t-shirts, they got Elvis, too. And sooner or later, mark my words
You know they're gonna get you
Souvenirs, written by Gretchen Peters and performed by Suzy Bogguss
19. Put down your favorite movie line.
a) Joel, you wanna know something? Every now and then say, "What the fuck." What the fuck gives you freedom. Freedom brings opportunity. Opportunity makes your future. Curtis Armstrong as Miles in "Risky Business"
b) I've got a bad feeling about this. Almost any of the main characters in the "Star Wars" movies
c) I distrust a close-mouthed man. He generally picks the wrong time to talk and says the wrong things. Talking's something you can't do judiciously, unless you keep in practice. Now, sir, we'll talk if you like. I'll tell you right out, I'm a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk. Sydney Greenstreet as Kasper Gutman in the "Maltese Falcon"
20. Name the actor you'd want to portray you in a movie based on your life.
Timothy Busfield <-----------------------> Me
21. Professionally speaking, if you could do anything at all, what would you do?I have always said that I'm doing what I always wanted to do and pretty much that still holds true. I'm a draftsman and ever since my first drafting course in high school I knew. I'd like it to be a little more old school though, I sure miss putting pencil to paper.
I’ve had an annoying pain in my right side for a while now, never very painful, say 2 or 3 on a scale of 10. It comes, hangs around a week or two, and goes, reappearing a week or two later. Well, three weeks ago, the pain appeared and was a bit more painful and appear in front and back at the same time. I called and got an appointment with the Physicians Assistant.
