As I said, my brother Mike dug out the "48 Things About Me" from when it went around my family via e-mail. It turned out that I filled it out on Saturday, January 28, 2008, almost exactly one year ago. I thought it had been at least a couple of years, so here's another thing you now know about me: I lose track of time. I had hoped it was longer ago, so there might be more genuine change.
One thing I thought was interesting was that I cracked nearly the same joke both last year and this year in my answers to these questions:
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
27. HAIR COLOR?
I would love to know what went on in my brain to make me come up with the same silly phrase for those questions. It beats the heck out of me.
I'll list a few questions in which I thought the differences between the answers were kind of interesting. I don't want to clog up the full blog with the January 2008 answers, so I'll paste them in as the first response to this thread. That'll make it easy for everybody to skip right by.
2 . WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
2008: I cried because I had no shoes. And then I met a man with no 50" Plasma HDTV.
2009: Don't remember. Probably during the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" when we watched it before Christmas. I always tear up at the end of that movie.
"To my big brother George, the richest man in town."
WAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! <-- See!
[I can only assume that I didn't see "It's a Wonderful Life" during the 2007 holidays.]
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
2008: Me? Never.
2009: Yes, it's the Magee family language.
[According to the writing rule of "Show, don't tell," the advantage goes to my 2008 response]
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
2008: Captain Crunch.
2009: Captain Crunch. I eat Cheerios more often though, 'cause the Captain ain't good for me.
[The added 2009 dietary angst is undoubtedly a reflection of a full year of bad diet and sporadic exercise. In truth, I do have a Captain Crunch restriction plan. I only buy the Captain when it's on sale, and then I only buy two boxes. Once it's gone, there's no more Captain 'til I spot it on sale again.]
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
2008: Hmmn ... you know, I'm not sure.
2009: Their demeanor.
[I don't know that this represents a genuine shift, but now that I think about it, I suspect that I have been trying to pay more attention to this when I meet people. It might be a side effect of all the politickin' I do.]
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
2008: Disorganized.
2009: Laziness.
[This is kind of interesting, though I'm not sure I know what it means. They both really are things that I try to keep in check, not always successfully.]
23.FAVORITE SMELLS?
2008: Fresh coffee, sautéeing onions and garlic, grass fields.
2009: Chocolate-chip cookies in the oven.
[Good smells, all! I think I was in the mood for dessert when I answered it this time.]
30. FAVORITE FOOD?
2008: Tough choice. Probably Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese and sour-cream dressing.
2009: Varies, but probably spaghetti, tacos, or chicken wings, depending on my mood. Monique has a secret pork loin plan afoot for tonight, so I suspect that'll be my favorite for the night. Monique knows her way around a pork loin!
[Dang, now I'm hungry. For those who were curious, Monique made a pork Stroganoff and mashed potatoes. It was yummy!]
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
2008: Goldfinger. ("He's the man, the man with the Midas touch...")
2009: "The Petrified Forest" (1936) with Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart.
[No getting around it, I love old movies. It's not that I'm against new movies, per se. But I do think a lot of recent movies have such a bleak perspective on humanity that the films aren't much fun to watch. What's amazing about the "serial-killer movie ban" that Monique and I instituted a few years ago isn't that we decided not to watch movies that featured sociopaths and multiple wanton killings. What's amazing is how many movies it knocks off our "to see" list every year. And yes, in retrospect "The Dark Knight" clearly qualified for the ban for all the reasons we instituted the ban in the first place.]
42. FAVORITE SOUND?
2008: It's hard to come up with an answer for this one right now because now I have that stupid Goldfinger song stuck in my head. I like listening to the birds chirp at our feeder in the mornings, so I reckon I'll go with that.
2009: Laughter.
[Honestly, both laughter and chirping birds are great sounds. So why is it that I now have the "Goldfinger" head stuck in my head instead of either of those sounds?]
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
2008: My real talent is that I'm pretty good at a lot of different things. Um, except maybe singing.
2009: Indexing.
[The true difference here was that in 2008 I answered this questionnaire while I was at home. And in 2009 I filled it out while I was at the office, and so my one professional skill came to mind.]
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And here's the full list from January 2008, for anybody who has waaaaay too much time on his or her hands:
ReplyDelete1.WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Yes. John Arden Magee comes from my two grandfathers: John Mertin Magee and Chauncey Arden Ricketts.
2 . WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
I cried because I had no shoes. And then I met a man with no 50" Plasma HDTV.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
Yes. (Somebody has to like it, and nobody else does.)
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Ham.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
No.
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Probably
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
Me? Never.
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
No.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Maybe. I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane once, so I'm obviously not very bright.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Captain Crunch.
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
No.
12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Usually strong enough.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM
A chocolate soft serve cone on a hot summer day.
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Hmmn ... you know, I'm not sure.
15. RED OR PINK?
Bright bubble-gum pink.
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Disorganized.
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
All of you who don't live in Michigan.
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU?
Yes.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
My bright bubble-gum pink rugby shorts and gray slippers
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
An omelet with a bit of chopped ham, red bell pepper, fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, black beans, and cheddar cheese.
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
Australia v. New Zealand Tri-Nations Rugby Match
22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Flesh. (Uh-oh, I've been discontinued!)
23.FAVORITE SMELLS?
Fresh coffee, sautéeing onions and garlic, grass fields.
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
One of the guys from the rugby team who had a question about tonight's banquet. (In fact, that was the 3rd of those calls that I fielded while I typed. Three phone calls in a day may be a new record for me. I don't usually talk on the phone much.)
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Yes. (Even if she did kiss Mike on the pitch during a rugby match while time was in.)
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Rugby and football (don't make me choose.)
27. HAIR COLOR?
Hair?
28. EYE COLOR?
Green.
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
No.
30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Tough choice. Probably Buffalo chicken wings with blue cheese and sour-cream dressing.
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS
Happy Endings.
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Goldfinger. ("He's the man, the man with the Midas touch...")
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
A grey tank top. (Why? Because it matches my slippers and I think you all know how strongly I feel about proper color coordination.)
34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer. Good heavens, have you ever seen Winter in Detroit? It's like an extremely grey Ragnarok. (On the bright side, it matches my shirt and slippers.)
35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both.
36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Hmmn ... how about a slab of homemade apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
The last time we did this I was completely wrong about this and #38, so I shan't try to guess this time.
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
39. BOOKS ARE YOU READING NOW?
The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote and Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
42. FAVORITE SOUND?
It's hard to come up with an answer for this one right now because now I have that stupid Goldfinger song stuck in my head. I like listening to the birds chirp at our feeder in the mornings, so I reckon I'll go with that.
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles. But the Stones still do a great show after more than forty years, which is kind of amazing.
44. WHERE IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Probably Paris when I still lived in Northern California. That was nine time zones.
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
My real talent is that I'm pretty good at a lot of different things. Um, except maybe singing.
46.WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Inglewood, California
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Everybody's.
I limit the Count around here. Count Chocula. Mmmmm. Yummy.
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