QOTD

343 posts

QOTD: How Do You Feel About Having Guests?

pN1HPThe holidays are nearly over. Some of you are thinking “thank god”, others are sad to see them end. For many of us, having guests (or being a guest) was involved.

In theory, it sounds great. For the host – a house full of people who are happy to see each other, dinners full of laughter and chit-chat.  Off all day sight-seeing and having memorable experiences. For the guest – seeing someone you haven’t spent time with in ages, new places to go, long, tipsy talks into the night.

In reality – maybe not exactly the way it looked in the preview. I feel very ambivalent about guests, either having or being.  Continue reading →

QOTD: Your Secret Holiday Gift Wish

Gooooold Fingaaaaah!

Now that we’re done with Chanukah, done with Christmas and Boxing Day, and wending our way through Kwanzaa, it’s time to stop thinking of others and concentrate on ourselves. Self, you might ask, what was your secret heart’s desire for this holiday season, the thing you dared not ask for, and yet hoped that someone would bring to you simply because they know you too well? Continue reading →

QOTD: What Did You Get for Christmas?

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Despite being an infidel non-believer, I celebrate Christmas. To me, it means spending time with family, days off, food, a tree, and a little gift giving. So to you fellow atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and Zoroastrians, I don’t mean to offend with this post.

Now, let’s get down to business. What did you get? Tell us.  And a fonz from me if you post a picture of your gift. Continue reading →

QOTD: What Was the Topic of Your College Application Essay?

college

The question is simple. Whilst applying to college, what was your essay/personal statement about?

I applied to four schools and IIRC, I used versions of the same story for all four essays. In high school, my friends and I decided to spend a Saturday in San Diego. Once there, we thought, why not go one step further and go to Tijuana, Mexico, which is just one town, and one international border crossing, over? Continue reading →

QOTD: Your Terrible Winter Travel Stories

highwaystormThis isn’t a competition, but if it were, the Canadians here would win hands down. Team Canada!!! More snowstorm-driving miles (older members) and kilometres (younger members) per capita than anywhere else in the world, except maybe Siberia.

It’s amusing to tell lurid stories of near-disasters on January roads to Californians who have never seen snow, watch their eyes get round, watch that ‘oh they’re exaggerating’ (we’re not) suspicion enter their eyes. But driving and flying and, indeed, walking down the damned street when it’s cold and icy and snowing sideways are no joke. Continue reading →

QOTD: What is Your Otherkin?

“Otherkin”?  What is this “otherkin” business? you ask.

Let me ask back: do you think of yourself as being somewhat non-human? Do you believe, in your heart of hearts, that you are actually an elf? a dragon? a wizard? a wolf? an alien? Then you are an otherkin.

There are few limits when it comes to otherkin-ing. Your alter-ego will find you itself, and it could be any creature from other cultures, writings, computer games, a TV series, or your own mind. Continue reading →

QOTD: Music To Have A Recession To

If you were to run your eyes over the lists of best-selling singles and most downloaded songs of the past few years, it would be hard to find many songs that directly mention the late-2000s recession, despite the massive impact it has had on much of the public. This is hardly surprising; political songs rarely chart highly, love is always going to be a more popular song theme than unemployment and one of music’s greatest assets is its capacity for escapism which is much needed by many at the moment.

You could say that there are subtle nods towards the situation, such as the appearance of slightly dystopian or politically charged videos from some of the most popular artists around, less songs dismissive of the poor compared to ten or fifteen years ago, less conspicuous consumerism and lower budget videos, but a lot of these trends can be explained by other influences. Lower budget videos are a direct result of the internet and how we watch videos now (I’ll let “Michael Destiny” explain this one). Continue reading →

QOTD: What’s Your Favourite (Work With Me Here) Diet?

Christmas is coming! Cookie recipes paper the walls of the kitchen! So of course it’s time to talk dieting.

There was a time for a while that ‘dieting’ was a dirty word, not sure why, and not sure if it still prevails. So let’s agree that what we’re talking about here is the effort to keep something of a lid on what you eat. No one likes to refrain from eating something they desire (luuust for) but sometimes it’s necessary.

A list of formally set-out diets would fill a book. Atkins.  Weight Watchers. Paleo. A while ago I was describing to a friend what I was trying to avoid eating, and she said, “Oh, the no-white-food diet.”
Continue reading →

QOTD: Do You Think We’re Meant to be with One Person for a Lifetime?

TiMER is a sci-fi romantic comedy (yes, you read that right) set in a world that has developed the technology to predict when you’ll meet your soulmate down to the very second. The film explores the anxiety behind wanting to be certain that the person you’re with is The One and whether there is value in a relationship that will not last a lifetime.

I recently got asked the following 3 questions which made me come back to these themes: Continue reading →