Someday the boring blogging will end....

I had to leave work early to pick up The Daughter from school, where she was sick; she apparently has the cold that I had last week. Oops. Oh well; usually these things go the other way around and she brings home the colds. Now I'm home and dinking around Blogistan, as well as editing my submission for the Buffalo News's short story contest. Not that I think I have any hope of winning, since my story stinks. One way or another, you'll all get to read it: if it wins, obviously, I'll link the Bejesus out of it here, and if it loses, I'll just post the thing here after I allow The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction to reject it. I've had a bit of fun writing it, as the contest had a restriction of a 1500-word length. The only thing I've written that short, even remotely that short, was The City of Dead Works (which is linked over there in the sidebar -- remember, folks the sidebar is your friend!), so this was a neat exercise. Maybe I'm finally figuring out how to do "brevity". Not that you'd know it from this post.

So anyway, I'll close down today's blog activity with, you guessed it, another questionaire type thing. This one I remember from when it circulated e-mail, but since Paul answered the questions, I figure, hey, what's time if not for wasting. So prepare for some wastage:

1-WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?

See the sidebar. The sidebar is your friend. I also finished a really fun book about heavy metal music the other day; I'll be posting about that sometime soon.

2-WHAT IS PRINTED ON YOUR MOUSEPAD?

"Fuel Your Future -- Air National Guard", and some photos of Air National Guard stuff. Jet fighters, paratroopers, aircraft carrier guys, the like. The Daughter got it on a field trip to the Niagara Falls Air Force base. (Here's one liberal, by the way, who has enormous respect and gratitude for the US military.)

3-WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOARD GAME?

I love chess, but I'm not very good at it. (A very evil roommate of mine used to employ the weirdest openings against me, just to watch me swear before I even touched my first piece. Harumph.)

4-WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MAGAZINE?

WIRED, although their cheerleading for the "End Of Copyright Forever And All Media Distributed For Free And Even So The Artists Will Get Paid" stuff gets to be a little much.

5-WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SOUND?

A sword being drawn; a lightsaber being ignited; a basket of wings being lowered into a deep-fryer; that deep-breathing that means that the kids are sleeping fitfully.

6-WHAT'S THE WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD?

Being completely powerless to affect anything at all in one's life.

7-WHAT'S THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF IN THE MORNING?

How long to coffee?

8-HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOU PICK UP THE PHONE?

I use the answering service to screen every single incoming call.

9-WHAT WOULD YOU NAME YOUR FUTURE CHILD AND/OR DOG?

For some reason, I hate this question.

10-WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN LIFE?

Fulfillment. Music. Books. Art. Sausage. Family. I'm sure it's gotta be one of those....

11-WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE FOODS?

Too many to list here. So go here, where I've already listed many of them.

12-DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST?

Depends. I don't speed all that much, but I do tend to go slightly faster than the speed limit.

13-DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL?

It depends on how much we ate for dinner. [rimshot]

Seriously, no. I used to, before The Daughter basically appropriated all stuffed animals in the house.

14-WOULD YOU CLASS STORMS AS COOL OR SCARY?

Scary, but I like being scared.

15-WHAT TYPE WAS YOUR FIRST CAR?

Red Volkwagen Rabbit, diesel engine. The engine was still going strong, but the body just kind of rotted away. The final straw was when I was driving home and the hood blew open.

16-WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ALCOHOLIC DRINK?

Yuengling's Lager. And Cockburn's Ruby Port.

17-DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OFF BROCCOLI?

The consumption of broccoli should be outlawed by Amendment to the United States Constitution. Heck, God should stick that one in the Ten Commandments. Maybe number 4-A. (And no lectures, please, on how freakishly healthy broccoli is. I don't care. As Samuel Jackson said in Pulp Fiction, "Hey, a sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie, but I'd never know because I wouldn't eat the filthy m*****f*****." The flavor of broccoli literally makes me gag.)

18-IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Red. But I wouldn't bother, more likely.

19-IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY OR HALF FULL?

Now, wouldn't that depend on the liquid? I mean, nobody, I don't care how optimistic they are, is going to squeal about the glass being half full if it's half-full of bile, right?

20-WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?

Star Wars.

21-DO YOU TYPE WITH THE CORRECT FINGERS ON THE CORRECT KEYS?

No. But I've typed incorrectly for so many years that I don't think I'd be any faster if I knew the "right" way to do it.

22-WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED?

Flat boxes filled with stuff we've toted from place to place for far too long.

23-WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH?

Good old American football. Keep that lunatic soccer stuff as far away from me as possible. A sport whose World Championship was once decided by a 1-0 victory on an overtime penalty kick is not one which I plan on taking seriously any time in the future. I also love figure skating (go Michelle Kwan!).

24-SAY AT LEAST ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU:
25-WHO HAVE YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
26-WHO HAVE YOU SENT THIS TO WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?

These questions are obsolete, reflecting as they do this quiz's e-mail origins. Pay them no mind.

27-DO YOU PREFER HORROR MOVIES OR COMEDY FILMS?

Comedy, if only because comedies that are funny are more easily found than horror movies that are scary.

28-WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TIME OF DAY?

Morning, Noon, and Night. Especially if I'm in Vienna. (Little Franz von Suppe humor there). Seriously, I pretty much like all the parts of the day equally. Except for 4:00 a.m., to which I respond as Bart Simpson did: "There's a four o'clock in the morning now?"

29-WHAT'S YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE?

Republicans.

OK, I'm kidding! Put down the bricks! Seriously, I hate red lights and annoying driving. I'll plan routes around the fewest number of traffic lights. I also hate when drivers act like they've never seen snow before in their natural lifetimes.

30-IS THERE ANYONE YOU HAVEN'T FORGIVEN?

Far, far too many.

31-WHAT TYPE OF MILK DO YOU DRINK?

Skim.

32-DO YOU MAKE YOUR BED IN THE MORNING?

Of all the pointless human activities, this one strikes me as the most pointless. Nobody goes in there except The Wife and I.

33-HOW MANY TVs ARE IN YOUR HOUSEHOLD?

Two, but only one -- the 19-incher we just took off my sister's hands -- is hooked up. The 25-incher with bad color is in a closet. (And we do have another one, somewhere, that will be escorted to Ye Olde Dumpsterre in the near future, so it doesn't count.) The Daughter will not have a TV in her room.

34-WHO PUTS THE GARBAGE OUT?

I do, usually -- unless there's a light bag and The Wife is heading out anyway, or it's a really stinky bag and I'm not home.