I found this sort of interesting little questionnaire so I thought I’d try answering it even though, as usual, I don’t have good answers for all of the questions. Questions #9 and #19 are outdated so I decided to write my own questions to replace them. Also, I’m adding a “Part B” to #18. So here we go.

1. One of my favorite TV shows recently changed the actors who played two characters. Have you ever been bothered by a TV show or movie series changing actors who play a character you love? This almost always bothers me on TV series but not so much when it’s a comic book based movie series. I guess they change so often I expect it.

2. A coworker recently shared a link to a blog listing the “five things you should know before dating a journalist.” As a journalist, I can honestly say the writer was spot-on. What are some things people should know before spending time with you? 1. I don’t like to be asked a lot of questions, like an interrogation. Tell me something about yourself and I’ll tell you something similar about myself. 2. Don’t talk to me about pop culture. I have no idea who’s on American Idol or the other, similar shows and I don’t want to know. 3. I’m often a little slow to get started but if you are capable of talking about something interesting I can be a good conversationalist.

3. What is something you often do without realizing that you’re doing it? Hmmm… I have no idea. There might be something but I haven’t realized it yet.

4. Who has the capacity to make you angrier than anyone else in your life, and what in particular does he or she do to make you so angry? I don’t know. I do get angry sometimes – everyone does – but I can’t think of one particular person who sets me off more than anyone else.

5. If a fairy waved a magic wand and gave you the house of your dreams, where would it be and what features would it have? It would be right here, on the exact spot where this crummy old house is. It would be a Victorian style house, big but not really huge. Nice big kitchen with lots of cabinets and countertop space. Same color scheme as my current kitchen – yellow and blue with hickory cabinets – but with high end materials. Hardwood floors in the living areas, carpet in the bedrooms. Really nice tiled bathrooms but no “earth tones”. Nothing too over-the-top, just a really nice house.

6. What’s a belief that you hold with which many people disagree? – That Barack Obama is a pretty good president – not one of the greatest, just good. Here in Oklahoma almost everyone disagrees with that.

7. I used to talk in my sleep. In fact, I could carry on a conversation with someone when I was fully asleep, and my mom used this fact when I was a teenager to find out if I did anything wrong and was hiding it from my parents. If you were talking your sleep tonight, what do you think you would say? Something to or about my mother. I’ve been thinking about her almost constantly.

8. The fourth installment of the “Twilight” movie series (“Breaking Dawn Part I”) will be released in theaters soon. Movie theaters started selling advance tickets for midnight showings months ago. Have you ever attended a midnight premiere showing of a movie? Never. I can’t think of any reason why I would ever want to do such a silly thing.

9. You’re on the road, somewhere west of the Mississippi where it’s a long, long way between towns. It’s long after lunchtime and you’re very hungry. Finally you see a shabby little building with gas pumps in front, a faded, painted wooden sign that says “Cafe” and a pink neon sign in the window that says “Eat”. Do you stop there and get something to eat? Certainly. Sometimes old places like that turn out to be pretty cool. You never know what wonderful things you might discover if you don’t take a chance.

10. If a company opened a theme park aimed at adults, what would you name one of the rides? It wouldn’t be a ride; it would be a giant ball pit with a big sign in front of it with the words: They Didn’t Have These When We Were Kids (Although, come to think of it, there are young adults now who did play in them when they were kids. Damn I’m getting old.)

11. Imagine you just moved onto Sesame Street. Which puppet would you want as your new roommate? The obvious, only possible choice would be Kermit.

12. Have you ever had a weird crush on a famous person that didn’t make sense to you? No. Of course I had crushes when I was a teenager but none of them were weird and they all made sense.

13. If you get ten minutes to interview any celebrity of your choice, who would you like it to be? Oooo… tough question. Neal Asher, I guess, but I have no idea what I would ask him.

14. You’ve just won the complete DVD collection of all the movies starring one actor or actress. Which actor/actress would you pick? Another really tough question. Sidney Poitier, I think. The collection would include several old favorite movies and a lot that I haven’t seen.

15. Actor George Clooney recently told People Magazine that he doesn’t use Twitter “because I will drink in the evening and I don’t want anything that I could possibly write at midnight to actually end my career.” What is something you’ve said through social media and then regretted it? I’m always careful not to say anything I might regret but the entire last year I spent hanging out on music message boards was a huge waste of time so I guess I could say I regret everything I said that whole year.

16. VH1 has re-introduced its hit show “Pop-Up Video,” which gives behind-the-scenes facts for popular music videos. What musician would you be most interested in learning behind-the-scenes facts about? Neville Marriner

17. If you stumbled across someone’s personal written journal that was accidentally left in a public place, would you read any of the content? No. If it was someone I know I would be tempted but I would also be afraid I’d learn something I didn’t want to know.

18. A. What is the title of a self-help book that you’d never want to see on a store bookshelf?
I don’t even look at self-help books but I think the worst would probably be something like: How to Escape the Cult of Individuality and Learn to Fit in By Being Just Like Everyone Else Observing people, it seems like that book must really exist and has been read by a lot of people.
B. What is the title of a self-help book that you would like to see?
How to Cure Your Addiction to Self-Help Books

19. If you could change the traditions associated with one holiday what would it be and what would you change? I would change Valentines Day. I would keep the red and pink hearts but if I could change it, Valentines Day would be about all kinds of love and affection – every kind of good feeling one person can have toward another – not just romantic love. It would celebrate the love parents have for their children and children for parents, the love siblings have for each other and the platonic love of close friends and the love that good people have for all mankind. Getting kind of high-minded I suppose but why bother having a holiday if it’s not for something special? UPDATE: It would not be a major gift-giving holiday – just, if anything, cards and small, inexpensive tokens of affection, and little homemade gifts.

20. Should a marriage license have a renewal date or expiration date, like a driver’s license? Absolutely not!