Adventures of a Tofu Slut

Happy Friday the 13th!

1. What's one thing you've always wanted to do, but never have?

This could go places that I'm not ready to go, so let's just say, move to Sweden. Okay, "always" may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but it's definitely been in the back of my mind for the last 10 years or so, or possibly even since the creation of the Reform/Alliance Party.

There's a sad little story here. Back in June of 2001, when I had just started this job, I came across a posting for a one year position for a cataloguer at an English language school in Sweden, and I didn't apply, much as I wanted to, because I'd just taken my first professional position and I didn't want to screw up my chances at later employment by looking flaky. So no Sweden for me. One day, though.

2. When someone asks your opinion about a new haircut/outfit/etc, are you always honest?

There's a big difference between haircut and outfit, in my opinion. If someone asks me about an outfit (and I'm talking about friends here), I can say it looks bad, because they can take it off and never think about it again. Not that I really think anyone values my opinion quite that much, but you get the idea. And I do tend to be pretty honest with people about things like this if they ask, because I *really* hope people are honest with me. If I'm wearing pants that give me camel toe, please, for the love of Pete, TELL ME.

I'd never say really bad things about a haircut though, no matter what I thought, because that's more a part of a person. I can always come up with something positive, even if I don't ever actually say that I like it. Of course, when the pictures get pulled out 10 years later, all bets are off.

3. Have you ever found out something about a friend and then wished you hadn't? What happened?

If I did, I don't remember.

4. If you could live in any fictional world (from a book/movie/game/etc.) which would it be and why?

Hmm, hard. Okay, it's pathetic, but I always wanted to live in a situation like Friends, where I would have a group of friends that I hung around with all the time, and who lived across the hall, and we just wandered in and out. Although I'm sure I'd get tired of that pretty quick. Ooh, or in a musical, where people break out into song and choreographed dance (with chorus boys!) in the middle of the street! Or, I don't know, the world of any romance novel, where anyone even remotely connected to the lead characters eventually gets a whirlwind romance of their own, because you can't have anyone left unpaired. I could use those kinds of odds.

5. What's one talent/skill you don't have but always wanted?

There's so many, but I think the one that comes up the most is that I wish I were artistic/crafty. I feel like I should be -- I mean, I'm musical, and I've had minor success in theatre and dance. I think it's definitely a mistake that I'm not. But I'm really not. I was in the art club in junior high, and I still can't believe that I wasn't kicked out for lack of talent.

I vote that all Friday Fives be about food.

1. What drinking water do you prefer -- tap, bottle, purifier, etc.?

Definitely Brita filter from the fridge. It's the only kind of water that I actively enjoy drinking. Most bottled water I find tastes like plastic, although I drink a lot of it if I'm not at home, since it's portable and usually comes from a cooler of some sort. And the water from the water fountain at work is ass, but if I put it in the fridge first I can pretend it's not so bad. Key to water for me is teeth-freezingly cold.

2. What is your favourite flavor of chips?

Salt and vinegar. Or possibly Ruffles all-dressed. But mostly salt and vinegar.

3. Of all the things you can cook, what dish do you like the most?

I'm not entirely sure that I actually actively like anything that I cook. And I can't decide if it counts if it's from a recipe, because then the fact that it's good should really to be credited to the recipe author. Still, that said, I make a mean stirfry, assuming I manage not to undercook the rice.

4. How do you have your eggs?

Hardboiled, in salads or as egg salad sandwiches. Or scrambled, with dill. Or if someone else is making them for me, deviled. Oh, and last week I made a tasty frittata with swiss chard and tomato (which would have been tastier had the tomatos actually come off the pan when it was finished). I'm actually going through a big egg phase right now, which is strange, because I never used to eat them.

5. Who was the last person who cooked you a meal? How did it turn out?

Um. Okay, this is a little sad that I can't remember anyone cooking for...oh, wait, Sarcasma's sweetie cooked us tasty pasta involving vegetables and peanut sauce last week. And I have to say, as an attempt at feeding us into agreement, it very nearly worked.

1. What was the last TV show you watched?
Eco-Challenge. It's highly addictive, partially because I really don't understand why people would hurt themselves like that voluntarily. And there were far too many bodily functions happening on Wednesday's show. Still, I'm enjoying seeing the people flail around, and get lost, and fall down. What?

2. What was the last thing you complained about and what was the problem?
Does it count if I'm just complaining to myself? Because I'm pretty sure that I spent the entire 3 hours from 5 am to 8 am alone in the library whining about the fact that I was there in the first place.

3. Who was the last person you complimented and what did you say?
I think it was last night, when I complimented Lara on her hand-beaded headband (and the rest of her costume, which I didn't see, but which must have been fantastic, judging by the headband).

4. What was the last thing you threw away?
The paper towel that I dried my hands on. No, wait, the envelopes from the 11 o'clock mail run went into the recycling.

5. What was the last website (besides this one) that you visited?
Real Names of Hip-Hop and R&B Artists. It was for work. Did you know that Snow's real name is Darrin O'Brien? Well, now you do.

How fitting is it that something as mundane as the phone would inspire me to start with the Friday Five?

1. Do you like talking on the phone? Why or why not?

I pretty much hate talking on the phone, especially to people I don't know all that well. I'm probably the only person ever who actually *got rid* of her private line as a teenager. Although mostly, these days, I hate making phone calls. See, I can never recognize anyone's voice over the phone, so phoning anyone where there's more than one person that could answer the phone brings up all these issues -- Do I ask for the person I need even if I think it's them? Do I assume I have the right person, but be prepared for the possibility that I'm totally wrong? And what about houses where I sort of know everyone who lives there? Then I feel rude if I just ask for the person I'm calling without saying hi to whoever answers the phone, but I can't tell who it is who answers the phone, and I don't want to be one of those rude people who say "Hi, who is this?". Not to mention with the proliferation of cell phones, I'm always afraid I'm going to call someone just at the moment they're trying to buy coffee or something. It's all far too stressful.

2. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone?

I guess that would be the person who called the library at 8:30 last night to find out how late we were open. Does it count as talking to someone if all I said was "9 o'clock" and "you're welcome"?

3. About how many telephones do you have at home?

"About"? I can do better than that, we absolutely, positively have one. Er, except for the ones stashed away in boxes, of which there are maybe 2. Oh, fine, about 3.

4. Have you encountered anyone who has really bad phone manners? What happened?

The only person that sticks out, and this is probably a case of bad overall manners, was a very badly timed wrong number that I got in Montreal. It was Saturday night and I'd just gotten home to find that my apartment had been broken into. I was waiting for my landlord to call me back and tell me when someone would be around to put a new lock on my door, since mine had been broken right off the door. So of course when the phone rang, I answered it, instead of screening like I normally do. On the other end was this guy, asking if I'd paged Monique. Buddy on the other end of the phone would not believe me when I said I hadn't, and kept calling me back, insisting I'd paged Monique. This finally deteriorated into nasty insults left on my answering machine (after I gave up picking up the phone), which went on until about 4 in the morning.

You know, it just occurred to me -- I wonder if the guy who broke into my place stopped to page Monique while he was there?

5. Would you rather pick up the phone and call someone or write them an e-mail or a letter? Why or why not?

Oh, dude, I'm all about the email. I already mentioned my phobias about the person answering on the other end, plus with email you don't have to make small talk! You never catch a person at a bad time, and if you forget what you were going to say, you can just finish the email later. It's all good.