Melanie has more questions, I have more answers…

When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done? Of course. Won’t everyone have?

What does the world need less of? Busybodies: people who want to tell you what and how you should – and shouldn’t – say, think, feel, do, own, believe, write, go, eat etc. As the old song goes, ain’t nobody’s business if I do.

Do you feel older or younger than your age? Physically, definitely older; mentally, usually younger. Sometimes it’s fun being older…

What is a cause you’ll always passionately support? The freedom to say, think, feel, do, own, believe, write, go, eat etc. whatever the hell you want, as long as it doesn’t interfere with someone else’s freedom to say, think, feel, do, own, believe, write, go, eat etc. whatever the hell they want.

Do you believe in soul-mates? I’ve been married to mine almost 44 years.

What are three scents you like? The smell of someone’s clothes when they come in from the cold. Coffee brewing. Irish Spring shower gel.

What are some things that you might be considered too old to do, but that you enjoy? Watch The Three Stooges.

What is one food you absolutely refuse to share? Dessert.

Happy Labo(u)r Day, what’s left of it…

Melanie has some pretty profound questions, so I’ll see if I can come up with some pretty profound answers.

Are human beings required to better themselves and will doing that make them happier? Two questions here. The answer to the first, "Are human beings required to better themselves?" is "no." A person can live a "Got up, went to work, came home, watched TV, went to bed" life if they want and aren’t required to better themselves. That’s not really living, that’s more existing, but for some, that’s what they want. The second question, "Will bettering themselves make them happier?" is a little harder to answer. Happiness is a state of mind (unless you’re Charlie Brown, in which case it’s a warm puppy), and while bettering yourself can contribute to your happiness, it isn’t required.

Is it easier to love or to be loved? To love, because you can control that. You can’t control "being loved," since that requires the interaction of other people, which you can’t control. There is self-love, but that’s another thing entirely.

Outside traumatic brain injury, can memories be completely erased? Believe me, I’ve tried, but never have been able to. There are too many pieces that are tied to other memories that you might not want to get rid of.

Is there such a thing as a good death? Death is a release from pain. That, in and of itself, makes just about any death a good one.

What do you imagine is inside a baseball? I don’t have to imagine anything, because there are rules that govern how it’s made. A good description is here.

That’s all for this week…

Melanie warns us that she has "a mixed bag" today. So let’s get started…

Can you parallel park (if you drive)? If you don’t drive, can you still skip? Back when I could drive, I was actually pretty good at parallel parking, because we lived in Chicago and that’s how we parked. As for skipping, I remember how, but with my knees there’s a good chance I’d end up in the hospital.

Do you prefer early morning or late evening? Or something in between? Late evening. I don’t do early morning.

Do you like avocados? Yuck…

Is mind or matter more real? I’d say matter. Your mind can deceive you.

Are people in this current generation less or more sensitive than people from past generations? More sensitive to how other people treat them, less sensitive to how they treat other people.

All for now. Be good…

This week, Melanie has a special surprise for us: the questions have been borrowed from her friend Evil Squirrel (to whom I’d link, except Melanie hasn’t provided a place to link to), who asks these sorts of questions himself (provided that ES is, in fact, a guy; if not, then she asks these sorts of questions). Anyway, you’ll get the idea as I go through them…

When you just need to forget the world for a few hours, what helps you get away from it all? (Fuzzywig the Stoner Raccoon) I can spend hours on YouTube watching videos…

• Music videos (of course), including songs and discussions of music related items from such interesting folks as Rick Beato, Adam Neely, and Rhett Shull.
• TV commercials, particularly old ones, like the ones I use for One-Liner Wednesday, Stream of Consciousness Saturday, and The Week That Was. Lately, I’ve been on a beer commercial kick; before that, I was on a cigarette commercial kick. Of particular interest are whole nights’ worth of commercials, like this gem, all the commercials that aired during primetime on WJAR-TV on April 15, 1984.

• Other TV oddities, like station sign-ons, station sign-offs, Emergency Broadcast System Tests etc.

And many other types of videos.

If you woke up tomorrow with a unicorn horn extending from the top of your head, what would be the biggest advantage and disadvantage of your new appendage? (Mitzi the FRIENDLY Unicorn) Biggest advantage would be I could carry donuts on it. Biggest disadvantage would be I couldn’t kiss Mary.

What is the creepiest thing you’ve ever seen someone do, that you’d be willing to talk about, of course? (Snuggle The “I Like It Kinky” Friendly Bear) I was riding through the neighborhood on my bicycle when I was about ten, and passed a window where a woman was standing, back to the street, pulling up her girdle. I had nightmares for weeks after that.

What’s the silliest or pettiest thing that tends to really upset you? (Rainy, The Wickedly Obsessive Rain Loving Skunk) Twitter. Actually social media in general, but Twitter especially, because of all the silly and petty things there are about social media, it has to be the silliest and pettiest.

How comfortable are you with meeting others who are very different from yourself? I’m fine with it. I was a trainer and consultant for many years, and dealt with all kinds of different people. The following GIF notwithstanding…

Animations via Giphy.