Terry Teachout posts a quiz, and as always, I am powerless to resist its siren call. (I omit the three last questions, which are indicative of the quiz's origins in e-mail.)
What time did you get up this morning? Let's just say, "Too damned early", because one of the cats seems to have OCD when it comes to scratching in the litter box.
Diamonds or pearls? I like the way diamonds look, but I'm told that the diamond business is so evil that Halliburton won't even try to enter the market. I tend to really like sapphires, emeralds, and amethysts.
What was the last film you saw at the cinema? We took The Daughter to Nanny McPhee. Good movie, and always refreshing to see a Brit family film that recognizes that children are often shits.
What is your favorite TV show? Scrubs.
What did you have for breakfast? An almond granola bar and three cups of coffee.
What is your middle name? Just the initial 'C'. And if you think it odd to only have a middle initial, go look up what the 'S' stands for in "Harry S Truman". If I have one thing in common with President Truman, I'm happy.
What is your favorite cuisine? An entire cuisine? Chinese, I suppose -- I hold Buffalo's lack of a true dim sum house as a tragedy right up there with the fact that we once demolished a Frank Lloyd Wright office building. (Although for cuisine, "Buffalo Bar Cuisine" is right up there.)
What food do you dislike? Broccoli, which is what Darth Vader and Ernst Stavro Blofeld would be if they were vegetables. God could have prevented the entire "Forbidden Fruit" thing in the Garden of Eden if he'd just designated broccoli as the fruit of knowledge:
"Verily I say," sayeth the Lord, "thou shalt not eat the broccoli of knowledge!"
"And verily we shall not," sayeth Adam, "for it smells and likely tastes of dung."
What is your favorite potato chip? Zapp's Creole Onion and Sour Cream. (I adore salt and vinegar chips, but they make my saliva glands kick into overdrive. Seriously, I fountain saliva after I eat those. I can only eat them when I'm alone, as a consequence.)
What is your favorite CD at the moment? I'm putting myself through a bit of forced rest from the "Complete Recordings" edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.
What kind of car do you drive? A white Plymouth Acclaim with burgundy interior. Yes, this long-haired would-be hippie tools around town in a granny-mobile.
Favorite sandwich? Cappacola on a toasted bun or grilled sourdough.
What characteristics do you despise? Arrogance.
What are your favorite clothes? Wow, that's a tough question. I'll have to get back to you on this one. Hmmmmm....
If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? I'd love to go to Britain, rent a car, and go on a literary and mythical tour to see things like Stonehenge, Glastonbury Tor, Tintagel, Tintern Abbey, Locksley Hall, Hadrian's Wall, the Highlands of Scotland, and so on.
What color is your bathroom? Whoa -- there's color in my bathroom?
Favorite brand of clothing? Dickies.
Where would you want to retire to? East Aurora, NY. (Currently this would entail a move of about eight miles.)
Favorite time of day? You know what? I like each time of day, for different reasons. I like morning coffee. I like lunch. I like dinner. I like early afternoon when I get home, I like the two hours spent in and around church on Sunday mornings, I like early evenings and late nights. I don't much care for the middle of the night, but even that's OK in small doses.
Where were you born? Pittsburgh, PA.
Favorite sport to watch? Football.
Coke or Pepsi? Pepsi -- but not fanatically so. I like Coke too. Heck, RC's damn good.
Are you a morning person or night owl? Both, which may explain why I'm so friggin' tired all the time.
Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with everyone? I considered myself a Republican when I was in fourth grade. I got better, though.
What did you want to be when you were little? An astronaut.
What is a favorite childhood memory? Endless debates with friends, between 1980 and 1983, whether Han Solo would survive carbon freezing and whether Darth Vader was really Luke's father.
What are the different jobs you have had in your life? Technical services assistant in a University library; cook and shift manager at a Pizza Hut; assistant manager of a family restaurant; stay-at-home father; pharmaceutical telesales; stay-at-home father again; attempted freelance writing (never got far, which was probably a function of my half-assed effort at such); maintenance at The Store.
Nicknames? Never really had nicknames. I've tried to get people to call me "Maximus" lately, but that hasn't much taken off.
Any piercings? No.
Eye color? Bluish hazel, or something like that.
Ever been to Africa? No. But I liked Disney World's simulacra thereof at Epcot and the Animal Kingdom.
Ever been toilet papering? Well, I've partaken of TP'ing a kid in his bunk at a summer camp. Does that count? I've never done the "cover an entire house and lawn and shrubs and trees with TP" thing, though. It always struck me as phenomenally wasteful.
Been in a car accident? Not yet. A few near misses and spin-outs on ice, but never a full-on crash.
Favorite day of the week? Well, I've come to detest Mondays. Thursdays are OK, because they've got that feeling about them like at the top of a big hill you've just crested on your bike and now the easy part is starting. Saturdays tend to be consumed with domesticalia -- laundry, food shopping, etc. -- but that's also when Thistle and Shamrock is on the radio at night. I like Sundays during the day, but Sunday evenings are kind of blah with the impending Monday. Wednesday is just kind of there. Fridays are overrated. I guess that leaves Tuesday, when American Idol and Scrubs are on and the crappy part of the week is (normally) over with.
Favorite restaurant? I mentioned a place in East Aurora called Charlie's Diner last week; only been there once, but I loved it. Ted's Hot Dogs, of course. (Headed there as soon as I finish this quiz, as a matter of fact.) There's a little roadside burgers and hot dogs joint near my home called Taffy's that's only open in the warmer months. Ordinary food, really, but when you're sitting outside watching the traffic and eating as the sun goes down, ordinary food becomes culinary miracle. For chain restaurants, I love Don Pablo's. For pizza, I like Pizza Plant and Just Pizza (full disclosure: I'm not afflicted with the "NYC crust is the only true pizza and everything else sucks!" disease).
Favorite flower? Roses and African violets.
Favorite ice cream? Coffee Haagen-Dasz, for which I and some friends once embarked on a college road trip to find. (I'm not making that up.) I only indulge in this stuff once or twice a year now. But I adore ice cream.
Favorite fast food restaurant? The afore-mentioned Taffy's. I've also developed an appreciation for Wendy's and Arby's.
Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? I haven't been there in years, so I don't know if their classical selection is still as good, but Toronto's Sam the Record Man. Or Borders.
Bedtime? Between 11:00 and 12:00.
Last person(s) you went to dinner with? The Wife and daughter.
What are you listening to right now? The Daughter is playing a CD of Disney love songs in her room.
What is your favorite color? Purple.
How many tattoos do you have? Zero. I don't get the tattoo thing.
That's it. No tagging involved, so if anyone's inclined, there it is.
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