Because Roger asked

Roger, getting tagged for that Sunshine Blogger thing, then tagged me and offered up these questions. I don't feel "heard" enough in my day to day life (I suspect that's it) so I kind of love these things (Why yes, I do have an ego, thank you for noticing) so here goes:


1. What is your favorite song? Do you have a significant memory attached to a time you listened to it?

What my favorite song is varies from point to point and time to time. I have lots of favorites but no single favorite. I guess I could say in the "significant memory" category, Charles Trenet's "Douce France," it was a song that was the opening and closing of the French-language tapes I had to listen to for a French class in college (I wound up disliking the class because the TA who taught it was rude to me without, I thought, cause, but I liked the song). I managed to track it down, amazingly, in the pre-WWW era, because I found a cassette in the "World Music" section of a record store that had it on there. (I actually think I like another of his songs - "La Mer," which is what became "Beyond the Sea" over here, better, but "Douce France" is the first one I remember hearing)

I'm also gonna add "Come on Eileen" by Dexy's Midnight Runners, as it's the one song I remember actually getting me out on the floor at a school dance. (I am not much of a dancer. I would love to learn "proper" dancing, like ballroom, but have never found a willing partner.)

2. Where do you love to blog/write the most?
I don't actually have a "favorite" place; I either write in my office or sitting in my big reclining chair. I'm not terribly mobile about blogging as I have a larger laptop and I don't like dragging it different places. Also am not sure how far my wifi extends (I doubt, for example, I could blog in the backyard because I don't think my wifi reaches that far)
 
3. What can you hear right now? What would you prefer to be listening to?
The hum of the air conditioner.  The sound of a stream and birdsong would be preferable to me - it would be nice to be outdoors, somewhere, in the shade, on a cool day, with no insects to bother me.

4. What do you do when you feel you should be writing but are lacking in inspiration?
Usually for me "writing" (I assume this means "srs writing" and not "blogging" as I just blog when inspiration hits) means academic writing. And when I lack inspiration for that I do other tasks - data analysis, grading, whatever - that also need to be done. Hopefully I eventually burn out on those other tasks and so writing seems preferable.

5. What is your greatest achievement?
Ugh, I don't know. Completing a Ph.D.?  Most of what I do seems so small compared to what other people do.

6. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life what would it be?
I'm gonna cheat a bit here and say "pizza" but not specify bread, sauce, or toppings - because then I could do a barbecued-chicken pizza one day, and a pizza with Alfredo sauce and spinach on it another. The truth is two of my daily meals are almost always the same thing every day: breakfast is oatmeal, lunch is yogurt, fruit, and a pudding cup.

7. Who is your favorite author and why?
Again, hard for me to pick one favorite. I like George Eliot a lot; I like the way she is able to create a detailed world. (I like Anthony Trollope for similar reasons). I've probably read more Rex Stout than any other author....

8. What are your favorite (10? 50? 100?) songs of the 21st century?
"La Mer," Charles Trenet
"Douce France," Charles Trenet
"La Goulante de Pauvre Jean," Edith Piaf
"Sing, Sing, Sing," Benny Goodman
"Always," Irving Berlin
"The Christmas Song," Mel Torme (though I prefer the Nat King Cole version)
"I Will Survive," Gloria Gaynor
"Blue Skies," Irving Berlin
"Everybody Hurts," R.E.M.
"A Summer Song," Chad and Jeremy
"Just a Gigolo/Ain't Got Nobody," the Louis Prima version, though I know others have done it.

And, okay. That's a weird list but some of the songs are ones with happy memories attached, some are just songs I LIKE, some (like "I Will Survive") are the things I put on "11" when I'm feeling really bad and I need to be reminded that I won't always feel bad.


9. What do you believe these days, spiritually/theologically?

I'm pretty much what you'd call a Mainline Christian. Most of the tenets the Disciples of Christ list are the ones I follow. Outside of that, I guess I believe that you get what you look for in life: if you try to find what is good in life, you see what is good in life. If you are nasty to people, people are nasty to you. I believe I'm far, far from perfect but that I've been forgiven and that I am encouraged to strive to do better - to be more loving, to be more humble.

And a couple of Bible verses, though maybe not the first ones people quote when referencing their faith:

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9)

"Hold fast to that which is good" (second part of 1 Thessalonians 5:21)

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)














10. What are some of the worst awards winners, where you wonder, “How did THAT happen??
(Movies, music, TV, whatever)


I don't know; I tend to ignore most awards shows and things. I like what I like and I openly recognize that generally the stuff I like is not that popular, and that a lot of those awards shows are popularity contests that are more-or-less rigged to give the awards to what is most "profitable."

I will say I get annoyed when a show that I like and think is well-done gets cancelled and replaced by something that seems more calculated to get "eyeballs" just as I am annoyed when the local wal-mart drops something I like (and can eat) in favor of some other product that I either do not like or cannot eat. I like having choices and get annoyed when things become more and more "same."



11. Will Donald Trump be President? And if so, why?

"Reply hazy; try again" ;)

(I genuinely don't know and don't want make a prediction)



I'm not gonna tag anyone on this or come up with new questions; sorry. I don't know too many bloggers who would be willing to do this who haven't already.