Sunday, September 12, 2010

Le Tag

I'm not much of a tag player, but for Genderist, at Haiku of the Id, sure.

A. Tell me a story about a vivid memory you have when you were in the third grade.
I went to a small parochial school in the Bronx (the only one of New York City's boroughs to have a 'the' before its name). Our window overlooked the elevated rail tracks about a block away. One day, two elevated trains ran smack into each other, arching up like a lambda. We all wanted to whip over to the window to check it out, so our teacher had us immediately write a paragraph about What I Was Doing When The Trains Collided. To this day, I think that a lame assignment.

B. If you could go back in time and visit the you who was a senior in high school the night of your graduation, what would you tell them? Would you give them any advice?
The fellow who wrote Jonathon Livingston Seagull said once that given that assignment, he'd tell his younger self to be calm, and to be sure that things would work out. He said he noticed that that was what the angels always said. Which I guess is because for those where it doesn't work out, nobody bothers to come back. I'd tell that person to stretch a little more in college, and try the courses that sounded difficult, or boring. Course, if that happened, I'd have ended up in the Air Force with different people, and the chain that resulted in meeting my wife wouldn't have happened, so maybe not.

C. If you could go back in time and have a drink with any person in history, who would you visit and what would you drink? (If you choose a Biblical person that's fine, but you also have to answer with a nonBiblical person, too.)
I'm tempted to say Carrie Nation, but I suppose that would be rude. I'd visit Lewis and Clark, and taste some of the icy cold water from the mountains.

D. What children's book would you say best describes your personality? Why?
The Little Engine That Could. I'm not the brightest around, by far, but I'm persistant as all hell if something's important to me.

Okay, her rules were to make up four more questions. I suppose ''What's your bank, account number, ATM PIN, and mothers's maiden name" are out of the question, so how about these:

A. If you could speak any language fluently, what would it be, and what would you most like to say in it?
B. Is it better to be smart or satisfied? If you have a reason, what is it?
C. How far would you travel for a really good meal - one that you just can't get easily?
D. Should Han Solo have shot first?

And as to whom I'd dedicate these to -- how about Stag, Carolyn Ann, Lady Banana, and anyone with a quizzical streak?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

So two mice are wondering how to get out their hole. Every time either one of them looks out - they see a big cat, who growls at them. The first mouse looks at the other and says "What shall we do? We'll never get out of here!" The second mouse replies "Don't worry, I know what to do!" All of a sudden, there's lots of barking, and the cat runs away. The second mouse says to the first "See! It pays to know another language!"

:-)

Carolyn Ann

Unknown said...

Okay - here goes... :-)

French or Chinese. I'm not sure which. French, most likely. I've loved that language since Comprehensive (High) School, but don't it that well. I like the sound of Chinese - the staccato of Cantonese, and the music of Mandarin. My cousin speaks Chinese.

Smart. I don't know why. Perhaps because I'm neither?

I've traveled to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico for a steak. And if I knew that the hamburgers at the main hotel in Oaxaca were as good as they were when I was there - I'd go there. Other than that? New York City or Nola in New Orleans. On of the best meals I've ever had: filet mignon (done to perfection) covered with an apple and walnut gravy. With mashed potatoes, and a decent beer (Sam Adams in that case, if memory serves).

Yes. :-)

Carolyn Ann

Cerulean Bill said...

Neither? Not hardly, CA.

genderist said...

Fun!

What WERE you doing when the trains collided? Do you remember that part?

Cerulean Bill said...

Actually, I do. I was thinking about how boring the class was.

Curiously, that didn't make it into the writeup!