39 posts tagged “qotd”
Have you ever served on a jury? What was your experience?
Submitted by jacolily.
I have my first jury duty coming up in a week or two. Not sure how I have made it this far with out being requested to serve where it is valid that I serve (been requested a 2 times after I moved away).
Did you order Girl Scout cookies this year? What kind?
Thin mint and peanut butter (peanut butter w/ chocolate have a different name on the East Coast (if I could find the box I had two cookies but seems to have been hoovered I would tell you).
What word(s) do you always make a typo in?
Frustratingly, I continually mis-type information as informaiton. I really hope that one day I don't mistakenly add the misspelling to my spelling dictionary.
What is one of your addictions?
Submitted by Paperheart.
Coffee is my main addiction. It is one I really would hate to give up. The morning coffee, either a 4 shot americano (iced or hot with little water) or a large mug of dark, thick, pacific island arabica will do the trick. I am a huge fan of the coffee in the Netherlands, although I enjoy it in a larger quantity.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Why?
Submitted by abcdefg81.
I have been thinking about this a lot. I really like Portland, Oregon. But, there are others on the list. I have been traveling a fair amount (understated with 99k miles already flown this calendar year) and I get home sick for a few places. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to me, as I was born there and lived a large chunk of my life there, I get there every two or three months for work (or I create some reason to go) - just like the week of Nov. 13th I will be there. I really love Amsterdam (not for the popular reasons) as it is a really comfortable laid back city that speaks English well, they love their technology, and they mistake me for being local (meaning they sometimes refuse to speak English to me). This past month I really enjoyed my trip to Sydney and was very taken by it (the weather would be slightly wrong as I like temerate (55F to 80F with low humidity). I also like England (Oxford, London, and Brighton area is now growing on me). I really don't think I would live where I am now, other than the good schools, I have friends and family here, and it is comfortable.
While in Sydney I was asked a similar question and said I would love to have a place in the SF Bay Area, Amsterdam, London, and Sydney. I would love to add Portland, but I do not have enough work there to justify it (but that could always change).
Oddly, I have been rather homesick for Fall in Europe as this is the first year in four that I have not been in Amsterdam, London, or elsewhere in northern Europe. But, I have also been not travelling for nearly four weeks and that feels really strange (in a not liking it kind of strange).
What's your favorite thing to shop for?
Submitted by JadedButterfly.
There are two things I really enjoy shopping for, books (particularly used books) and food (particularly at farmer's markets or knowledgeable grocers). Both of these are shopping experiences that in their preferred settings inspire sharing of information and knowledge. I enjoy interacting with people whom are passionate about what they are selling.
I have strong interest in books, which includes great writing, but also great bookmaking with wonderful paper, care with typography, and careful book binding. Used bookstores is often where I run into people who understand these details and talk intelligently about the items on their shelves. Smaller book shops occasionally also have this shared passion and care. The smaller stores can dive deeply on a subject, like cooking, gardening, mystery fiction, design, etc. and expose me to something that is in line with my interests or will take a tangent from an interest and open up a whole new realm for me to learn and explore.
Food shopping is one of those things that is similar. The farmer's markets are great places to connect with those who have passion and understanding of their products. The learning about the food and how they are grown and the tips and even deep knowledge that is shared with regards on how to masterfully cook the elements is something that is not easily gained in books, or it is quite rare to garner this knowledge in this manner. Learning why a certain variety of apple has slightly different properties grown in local soil and climate is interesting. Gaining the understanding of why the texture and cooking methods need to be slightly altered is really wonderful to have at one's fingertips.
I also enjoy going through grocery stores when I travel to look at products that are similar and different. I am fascinated by the packaging, types of products, and variations in breadth of stocking. Finding organic dairy is common in certain cultures in their regular markets, there are 20 or more varieties of dry meat sticks, non-pasteurized dairy is a highly regarded product, or various cheeses that are seemingly common as well as those held up as "special". The differences in fresh fruit and vegetables that are available as well as the relative price differences from what I am used to.
One things that is intriguing is how different cultures let the customer interact with various foods before buying. In Britain it is rare to be able to feel fruits and vegetables before purchasing (it is getting to be more common to touch items, but it still does not approach the US high touch purchasing culture). Other countries will offer to let you touch meat or fresh pasta prior to purchase (usually the purchase is considered done when you touch the product).
The display of meats is interesting as in some countries and markets the meat is still live (as in a walking and breathing animal) or had not been skinned and is still whole. While yet other cultures will highlight certain elements of the animal (rabbit head cut in half to show the brains are fresh and ample). This things are still a shock to me and makes considering a purchase or even consumption much more difficult, but that is the lovely American way of removing a hint of the source of the product from the packaged product manner in which I grew up.
What TV show(s) will you be watching this season? Why?
Submitted by ducnly.vox.com.
It will be Studio 60 that I am watching. After the premiere I was hooked, actually I was hooked months before as I heard there would be a new Aaron Sorkin television show. I had me anxiously awaiting its arrival and i had been trying to lower my expectations, but that was hard as Sorkin really reset the standards I view most other television by. Watching the premiere I realized the show met my high expectations. I really love the dialog and banter, the cinematography of the sweeping shots moving from one conversation to another in flow and having no dead spaces while the show is on is terrific. I found I really like the cast of Studio 60, to be honest I had not paid attention to the cast at all in the run up to the show.
Now the tough part will be watching it, as I am in the midst of travel missing the second show tonight and flying for 20 hours the following Monday. I may need to invoke the poor man's Tivo to catch-up.
What's your favorite vacation destination?
This is tough. I travel a lot for work and conferences. There are parts of this that are vacation, but largely to get face time with people I really enjoy. This travel is often based on who is where at what moment and what conversations will be had there. Many of the places I have traveled I would go back for fun and pure enjoyment. I really enjoy Amsterdam (not for the usual reasons, but for the people, architecture, English, and tech); London and Oxford, England; Paris; Brugge, Belgium; Calvi, Corsica (Corse); Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, British Columbia; Vienna and Innsbruck, Austria; and San Francisco (and Bay Area), California. All of these are a mix of people and place that draw me there. I do go to Austin, Texas for SXSW, but I am not sure I would go to Austin were it not for the people.
Things that I like about places are city/town feel, which includes walking and interesting architecture. Friendly nature of the people in the places. Good food and relaxing culture. Natural beauty that is woven into the city patterns.
There are some places I would like to return as I have not been in a long time or wish I had spent longer. These include Berlin, Germany; Brussels, Belgium, Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts; Florance, Italy; and New Zealand (never been).
Picking one place. Now that is really tough.
What do you collect?
I seen to collect bits of paper. Okay, paper. These take the form of receipts, business cards, magazines, newspapers, and books. I keep telling myself I am a living the digital life and paper is unimportant to me, but I have stacks of these particles around me. Digital bits just disappear on a whim, but paper is something that just keeps reappearing.
Other people in my life think any bit of paper that comes through the mail slot with my name on it is something that has to be added to my (occasionally small) stack of paper (oddly checks get thrown out and I don't see them). I have an organization system that works for me until it is time to clean and the prioritized stack (three of them) get jumbled into one and external forces (cleaning people, kids, or any other person that has entered our house) get blamed for "reordering" the stacks.
The items put in donation or recycling/shreading stacks automagically end back-up on shelves and tables with attempts to reintegrate themselves into the "interesting" or "needed" order of things.
Granted, I like books as I don't need power or adapters to read them. I like the feel of them, particularly wonderfully crafted first editions on quality paper with torn edges (whether it is for affect or real, I like torn edges and I am a sucker for them - if I need to cut the joined pages I am over-the-top impressed). Over time I like the smell of them (old libraries and antiquarian bookstores have a comforting scent, but I would not wear it as a cologne). I like the thought of books, which leads to knowledge and talking to others about the books, oddly I am missing this last component in my life (but I can dream).
What is your favorite children's movie?
The Red Balloon, about a boy in Paris with his magical big red balloon, was a huge favorite. It was one that I and many others in class would request on days we could. I have the VHS version and have been waiting for the DVD to come out. The movie was such a favorite when I was a kid I had the picture book and some other items related to it.
When I went to Paris for the first time when I was in college it seems a little familiar all from this movie.
