The Never Ending Toadfish Interview Cycle!

[Griffin NoName]

One:  Have you ever testified in court?

Yes. A road accident case. I said the lorry was on our right and my (ex) husband, who was up next after me, said the lorry was on our left. The lorry driver got banned anyway, despite his 90 year old mother depending on his income.

Two: Does your driver's license photo look like you, or did they photograph some alien being?

It looks like I used to look. Could be I was an alien, or I am now. Dunno which.

Three: Based on your behavior in the last 48 hours, would your Grandmother be ashamed if she knew what you'd been doing? (Assuming that Dear Granny is/was still amongst us...)

I doubt it. But she would be very puzzled

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1.  Which is your primary sense? Rank the others in descending order of usefulness.

2.  What would make you revise your opinion of someone - in the sense of having a completely different understanding of their personality?  (exclude the obvious, like them murdering someone etc).

3.  Does your voice change according to whom you are talking?

[Swatopluk]

1.  Which is your primary sense? Rank the others in descending order of usefulness.
Since the sinuses affect the ears and I am getting older, the eyes rule unchallenged. I guess it is also the sinuses that degrade the sense of smelling (in combination with some allergies). My tasting sophistication went downhill some time ago. I naver used pepper as a child, now it replaces salt as additional condiment almost completely. My pinkies tend to go asleep occasionally. Let's not talk about certain other body parts that are not to be shown in public

2.  What would make you revise your opinion of someone - in the sense of having a completely different understanding of their personality?  (exclude the obvious, like them murdering someone etc).
I do rarely snoop into other people's sex life . Seriously, apart from political revelations that area would be the prime candidate for a reevaluation.

3.  Does your voice change according to whom you are talking?
And on what I read/watched immediately before. I guess people become sometimes irritated when certain peculiarities sneak in without them knowing the context.

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1. How do you divide your spare time between watching TV/listening to radio, reading, surfing the net, ravishing virgins etc.?

2.  Do you work in your learned profession or are you doing something completely different (modify appropriately, if unemployed)?

3. How to comabt the ever increasing abuse of the Olympics for politics/commerce/etc.?

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

1. How do you divide your spare time between watching TV/listening to radio, reading, surfing the net, ravishing virgins etc.?

Radio is almost exclusively a while-driving pastime.   TV/internet/computer games more-or-less equally.  On weekends, I occasionally do Other Things.  <heh>

2.  Do you work in your learned profession or are you doing something completely different (modify appropriately, if unemployed)?

Depends on what you mean by "learned".    

I learned to do what I do now, and I'm doing it-- HVAC.   But, in college, I started out as Biochem, changed to Biology, changed again to computers, then changed again to biology/teacher.

Never completed any of those.

3. How to comabt the ever increasing abuse of the Olympics for politics/commerce/etc.?

Easy:  eliminate all sponsorship of athletes by government entities.

This would have the unfortunate side-effect of turning them into walking billboards for product(s).

Is that worse?  I dunno-- ask a NASCAR fan.....

In my opinion, ANY human activity is fraught with politics, some to a greater degree than others.

It's in our nature, as cooperative, but self-aware beings to BE political.

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1) All media is going to be reduced to a single supply-chain:  Radio, TV, Internet, Something Else. 

What would you choose, if by some magical formula, you had to decide for everyone?   Justify your choice with your considered opinion, please.

2) Space Exploration:  love it, hate it, it's a Waste Of Money, it's the Ultimate Purpose of Humankind, what?

3) If humans could modify Mars to be more human-friendly, but thereby ruining any possible chance of determining if there ever was life on it, should we anyway?  Or should we be preserving Mars as it is, pristine, and just modify humans to fit Mars, instead?

[Alpaca]

1) All media is going to be reduced to a single supply-chain:  Radio, TV, Internet, Something Else. 

What would you choose, if by some magical formula, you had to decide for everyone?   Justify your choice with your considered opinion, please.

The internets, definitely. It may take some learning and getting used to, but the internet provides a degree of user choice that even the most advanced TV interfaces can't remotely approach. It also provides a much greater opportunity for independent voices to be published, and the popularity of a particular source is determined by the number of people who choose to view it much, much more than by ad revenue and executive decisions.

2) Space Exploration:  love it, hate it, it's a Waste Of Money, it's the Ultimate Purpose of Humankind, what?

Love it. I know the money could be put to better use, but so much other money can be put to better use that the argument becomes irrelevant - we have enough money in the world to have a little extra to fund space exploration. Ultimate purpose - maybe, in the sense that it will broaden our understand of the way the world works, but not our immediate ultimate purpose until we screw this planet up so much that we have to move.

Otherwise, the amount of scientific insight it provides is so enormous that I think it's necessary.

3) If humans could modify Mars to be more human-friendly, but thereby ruining any possible chance of determining if there ever was life on it, should we anyway?  Or should we be preserving Mars as it is, pristine, and just modify humans to fit Mars, instead?


If we don't find a better planet, we'd better adapt ourselves. We're pretty good at that, y'know. If we ever do need to move there, we might be a bit more cautious about modifying planets, anyway.

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1. What color stands out most to you? (Or what combination?)

2. What shape do you find most aesthetically pleasing?

3. What shape do you find most intellectually pleasing?

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

1. What color stands out most to you? (Or what combination?)
Black and white with some other color (I favor green or bright yellow or red).

2. What shape do you find most aesthetically pleasing?
Tear-drops and other organic shapes, primarily.

3. What shape do you find most intellectually pleasing?
Ovals. I have no idea why.
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1. What color is your favorite item of clothing?
2. What's your favorite restaurant?
3. How far is the nearest mountain from your house?

[Sibling Chatty]

1. What color is your favorite item of clothing?

Bright, intense blue. All favorite clothing is blue or black.

2. What's your favorite restaurant?

Where am I and what time of day is it? Of all times, forever, money no option? Commander's Palace, New Orleans. (NOT Brennan's, the ORIGINAL that spawned the Brennan's family of restaurants.)


3. How far is the nearest mountain from your house?

Either in Arkansas, up by Anthrobabe's, or in West Texas, 'bout 400 miles west of here. They CLAIM to have one outside of Killeen, but a mountain that is that short is NO mountain, it's a hill with pretensions.

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1.  If, to appease the Evil Daemons of Illness (or else DIE!!! a horrible and gooshy death) you have to 'feel bad' for 48 hours would you choose a headache, a cold/upper respiratory illness or a stomach problem?

2. Why?

3. Gotta choose one to drive for six months: A nice looking car in an ugly color or an ugly car in a nice looking color? (And why...)

[Alpaca]

1.  If, to appease the Evil Daemons of Illness (or else DIE!!! a horrible and gooshy death) you have to 'feel bad' for 48 hours would you choose a headache, a cold/upper respiratory illness or a stomach problem?

Headache.

2. Why?

I'm used to them, and they impair my functionality as a human being least. Colds are indescribably annoying to me, and stomach problems leave me looking at least sixteen months pregnant and groaning while desperately rolling around on the couch trying to find a half-comfortable position.

3. Gotta choose one to drive for six months: A nice looking car in an ugly color or an ugly car in a nice looking color? (And why...)

Assuming that car performance would be the same, I'd choose the nice car in the ugly color. Most people I know tend to notice the car before the color, and I don't think a good color can mitigate the effects of a really ugly vehicle.



1. Do you find beauty and elegance in forms of abstract thought, like mathematics?

2. What's your favorite tool (in the broadest sense)?

3. Is it better to be too analytical and read too deeply into things, or to be oblivious to a lot of subtleties?

[Griffin NoName]

1. Do you find beauty and elegance in forms of abstract thought, like mathemathiics?

Yes, absolutely. Although they don't appear to be abstract when I think about them. Bit of a puzzle there perhaps.

2. What's your favorite tool (in the broadest sense)?

Wit - oh, and Mr Green

3. Is it better to be too analytical and read too deeply into things, or to be oblivious to a lot of subtleties?

I think it is better to be so, provided one can also enlist some kind of "regulator", but it brings much pain to me personally. People who are oblivious seem much happier but also seem to cause much pain to other people.

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1.  When did you last count your socks? What did you feel while doing so?

[if not socks, substitute another appropriate piece of clothing]

2.   Discuss the parable of the seven veils.

3.   What is your recipe for opening your heart to Mother Nature?

[Opsa]

1.  When did you last count your socks? What did you feel while doing so?

[if not socks, substitute another appropriate piece of clothing]

I never count my socks, or any other pieces of clothing. If I find one lonely sock consistantly moping around my sock drawer, I throw it out.

2.   Discuss the parable of the seven veils.

During the dance of the seven veils, the dancer sheds seven veils one by one. I believe this is to cast off barriers between herself and her true nature.  I think of this as a lot like how people act when they fall in love: they let down their walls a little at a time until they are (ideally) so at ease with one another that they can bare all, in a matter of speaking.

3.   What is your recipe for opening your heart to Mother Nature?

Ingredients:
You
Mother Nature

Add yourself to mother nature a little at a time, perhaps using the four directional winds as a guide to make sure you are addressing the whole and not just a part of mother nature. Blend well until throroughly incorporated and all remove all stray external thoughts as you go.

When you reach the bliss stage, try not to analyse, but hold for as long as possible. Any bliss is good bliss. Be in the now and feel the connection.

Bake for as long as you can keep in the moment. Reheat if you are distracted. Keep any unused leftovers in your heart for future use. Repeat  daily or as often as possible.


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1) What is your favorite time of the day or night and why?

2) If there's anything you could do to save the world, what would it be?

3) Complete this sentence: "The world is my ______".

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

1) What is your favorite time of the day or night and why?
Early, early morning, when the sunlight is pale and golden (though I'm very rarely up early enjoy to enjoy it) or dusk, when the light is like honey. It's beautiful.

2) If there's anything you could do to save the world, what would it be?
Give common sense and compassion to the whole lot of us.

3) Complete this sentence: "The world is my ______".
Curiosity?
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1. Do you still buy CDs?

2. Who is your favorite Discworld character?

3. When was the last time you simply let it (whatever 'it' is) be?

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

1. Do you still buy CDs?
Occasionally classic music, mostly because the versions I want aren't available for (legal) download without DRM.

2. Who is your favorite Discworld character?
The case of course.

3. When was the last time you simply let it (whatever 'it' is) be?
I try to most of the time. If life has thought me something is how foolish and useless is the illusion of control. We want to believe that we are masters of our own lives, our own environment, our planet and even the universe. In reality our margin of action, while potentially significant in our own lives, is very limited at best. I respect those who have the discipline (stubbornness?) to not let go and fight to the last, but frequently they have a heavy price to pay for their achievements.

1. How well can you tolerate noise and how much noise are you capable to tolerate in your daily life?

2. If you could live underwater, would you?

3. Do you talk to yourself?

[pieces o nine]

1. How well can you tolerate noise and how much noise are you capable to tolerate in your daily life?
It depends entirely on the noise.

No matter how tired or deeply asleep, I awaken immediately on the first  *HURK*  of a cat *HURK-HURK-HURKing* anywhere in the house, my ears desperately trying to swivel to triangulate the origins. I am concerned for the cat and the HURKing surface, though, not upset.

I've lived in an urban setting most of my life and can sleep through steady traffic noise, drunks having pissing contests (once with actual piss), and the people a few doors down playing very loud music at their party. I don't enjoy those sounds, but I can block them out.

Very loud gratuitous motorcycle revving is extremely annoying, as is intended.

Snoring, now, flips my homicide switch. It is a noise I cannot block out, accustom myself to, or endure.

2. If you could live underwater, would you?
Does 'if you could' mean the presence of a water-and-air-tight bubble of some sort, or the ability to extract oxygen from water myself without discomfort and panic?

As a triple-water sign, I'd like to be surrounded by the power of the water and the incredible beauty I've seen in some aquaria. As someone who nearly drowned in childhood, not so much.

3. Do you talk to yourself?
Inner monologue never shuts off and has been audible on occasion, especially when I'm working through a design problem or trying to find a lost object. But so far I can keep quiet when it's appropriate, and I'm not arguing with myself, losing those arguments, or stopping speaking to myself because of them.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1. Do you listen to music with headphones or speakers in your living space? If both, which is actually set louder?

2. Is your music collection meticulously organized (alpha-by-artist, or by date of release, or by genre) or are you content with a pile of (whatever media) stashed wherever?

3. Do you know the make and model of every component in your entertainment system, able to rattle off all the finer audiophile details at the drop of a hat? Or did you choose a glorified boom-box that fits unobtrusively on the bookshelf, priced-to-move at your local Big Box store?



Bonus: Have you ever (or would you ever) used music as a 'weapon' against an annoying neighbor?

[Scriblerus the Philosophe]

1. Do you listen to music with headphones or speakers in your living space? If both, which is actually set louder?
Headphones. I live with people who do not enjoy jungle or techno. And my laptop speakers suck.

2. Is your music collection meticulously organized (alpha-by-artist, or by date of release, or by genre) or are you content with a pile of (whatever media) stashed wherever?
It's mostly on my laptop and is organized by whatever system I set it at last on Media Player. What isn't digital, is in a couple different piles in a couple different places.

3. Do you know the make and model of every component in your entertainment system, able to rattle off all the finer audiophile details at the drop of a hat? Or did you choose a glorified boom-box that fits unobtrusively on the bookshelf, priced-to-move at your local Big Box store?
I pretty much have the glorified boom box. I've had the same one for about, oh eight years? I'm contemplating getting a new one that'll let me keep my awesome speakers, though.

Bonus: Have you ever (or would you ever) used music as a 'weapon' against an annoying neighbor?
Used it against my sisters, once. Does that count?
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1. Which side of your family do you look like the most?

2. Ever been to a hookah bar?

3. What does it take to *actually( make you angry?

[Sibling Chatty]

1. Which side of your family do you look like the most?

Hmm. My mother SWEARS I'm an exact copy of Dad's side (inferior, BY FAR to HER side, of course) while other people NOW seem to see a resemblance between me and Mom. (I'll just kill myself NOW, thanks.) I actually look most like my Dad's Dad. (And I'll thank you Brits to stop all the Welsh jokes, please. The short, stocky, brown haired, blue eyed Welsh ancestry does indeed show.) But there are a few attributes of my distant Grandmother on Dad's side, who was Native American/Freed Slave mixed. Suffice it to say, I look mostly like ME.

2. Ever been to a hookah bar?

Nope. Don't wanna go, either.

3. What does it take to *actually( make you angry?

Injustice, greed and blatant stupidity for the sake of "having your own selfish way". (See also US Government, the lobbyists that own it, and their asinine actions.)

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1. If you know that you were going to die a long, extended and painful death, would you kill yourself?

2. Why, or why not?

3. Do you think that a person in that position should have the right to do so?

[Griffin NoName]

1. If you know that you were going to die a long, extended and painful death, would you kill yourself?

Yes. At whatever stage I found it intolerable or before it became impossible if no one would assist.

2. Why, or why not?

I don't believe in the sanctity of life. I can see no point in extreme pain or disablement with no quality of life. Ok, if severly disabled and you learn to hold a brush in your teeth and paint nice flowers or whatever, and this gives enough pleasure to your life. But if I'd rather die than do that why shouldn't I?  I have never understood why society makes such a fuss about putting animals out of their misery but makes an equal fuss about forcing us to go through it. Can't see any difference.

3. Do you think that a person in that position should have the right to do so?

Always.  I belong to Dignity in Dying an organisation which is fighting for such rights in the UK. Have for a long time. It's on the political agenda. It will get the legislation through eventually. Sooner the better.

I also have a large poster on my wall "The right to a Good Death" with all the sensible things one would want. Like excellent palliative care for starters. Which it often absolutely isn't.

In the past week I've had long conversations with my mother about her sister and my cousin about her mother - ie. my aunt who just died!  Both have said over and over how she said she wanted to go 3 years ago and she has been forced to live through long dreadful pointless painful utterly depressing years. My cousin said tonight that towards the end a nurse said to her (about keeping her conscious) "you'd rather know what's going on wouldn't you?" and she said "No" and the nurse was completely taken aback. Which is mad. And maddening.

Actually I could go on ranting about this topic for hours, so I better stop.

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1.  What are the things you are putting off doing until you think you are going to die?

2.  How would you feel* if you died without doing them?

* assume you have the magical power to feel and know you went and died without doing them

3.  So why don't you do them, given anyone can die in a flash, or if answering 1. and 2. has changed your mind about doing them, why have you changed your mind?