Slightly Off KIlter

[ These came from Purple Ink this past week. ]

One of the members wrote:
Okay, I really need to find a new job. I'm bored again so here are some more questions:

I'm not bored, but I sympathize. I also enjoy this sort of thing, so here we go.

• How old are you? (okay, if you don't want to be specific how about a decade)
• Where do you live? Country? Type of home?
• What do you do for a living? Or what did you do?
• What type of education do you have?
• Who is in your family?
• Do you have pets?
• What do you look like?
• What languages do you speak?
• What languages would you like to speak?
• Who are your favorite actors?
• Who are your favorite actresses?
• What do you like to watch on tv?
• Favorite colors?
• Favorite films?
• Favorite play?
• Favorite magazines?
• Favorite type of cheese?
• Favorite drink?
• What was/is your favourite book (or other type of) store? Why? Is it still there?

How old are you? (okay, if you don't want to be specific how about a decade)

What year is it? 🙂
I'm 44.

Where do you live? Country? Type of home?

We live in a nice split-level tract house in a pleasant not-too-crowded
40-year-old development on the west side of the San Francisco peninsula. The
development is bordered on south and west by Open Space, Golden Gate National
Recreation Area, and walking trails. On north and east it's bordered by more
light residential area. We get raccoons and occasional skunks in our
backyard; there are often owls and sometimes deer if they're stupid enough to
come down from the ridge. There are coyotes on the ridge (sometimes we hear
them) as well as snakes and rabbits; there are lizards on the trail.

We have a terrific great grocery store a mile away and another, almost as
good, a bit more than a mile further. The airport is only 15 minutes away,
but we're not on the flight path!. The City is just under half an hour north;
Silicon Valley is less than an hour to the south. We have multiple walking
trails within a few miles, the ocean is nearby, there are several roads that
cross the ridge (and go through nice piney woods). Our east-facing windows
overlook the Bay, the airport, and the twinkling lights of the East Bay
cities. When it's not foggy we have a great view.

Our particular part of the development isn't overcrowded (the houses are set
at a reasonable distance from each other). Our across-the-street neighbor is
an elementary school and a City park. Our street is nice and wide. We have a
large public utilities easement (open space) in the middle of the block.

Our weather is, most of the time, perfect. We have a pleasant, fair-sized,
enclosed back garden.

I love where we live. We've discussed it many times and continually return to
the thought that we can't really think of any place we'd rather be.

What do you do for a living? Or what did you do?

I'm a combination programmer, technical documentation specialist, and web
weaver. I'm still all of those, even though I have been unemployed for three
fourths of the past 2 years.

What type of education do you have?

I've got a BS in Microbiology with partial credit toward a BS in Biochemistry
(I switched to Micro in my third year) and part of a minor in Computer
Science. Then, trying to decide what to _do_ with that degree (I never wanted
to "be" a microbiologist), I did 2 semesters of Forensic Science, followed by
two years in a Microbiology program, resulting in an MS in Microbiology with
a Computer Analysis thesis.

Who is in your family?

My immediate family consists of Spouse (Rich), self, and the furkids. Further
out the family circle, I have a Mom & Dad and one sister (3 years younger);
Spouse (Rich) has a brother (plus sister-in-law and niece), a brother-in-law
(plus niece), and his Dad and stepmother. My parents are still in
Pennsylvania; my sister is in Dallas Texas. Rich's Dad and BIL are in
SOuthern California; his brother's family lives in Seattle, WA.

Do you have pets?

We have four feline furkids. Three are purebred Maine Coons, two boys and a
girl. The fourth (another boy) is our token moggie and MC wannabe.

What do you look like?

I look like a "techie".

I'm 5'6", medium build, overweight (and lowering that!) but well-proportioned
so I don't look nearly as overweight as I actually am. I have wavy, red hair,
below my shoulders, blue eyes with yellow flecks, and glasses. I tend to
dress in jeans (lately black or dark grey rather than blue; I've found a
brand that fits well and looks good) and t-shirts or collared "Polo" shirts
with black leather velcro sneakers.

What languages do you speak?

I speak English (the central Pennsylvania dialect :-). I can "get by" with
American Sign Language (ASL) but I'm rusty. I know a few words in Spanish,
mostly menu-Spanish and fewer still in German.

What languages would you like to speak?

I would dearly love to be fluent in ASL. I also wish I had enough Spanish to
order in any Mexican restaurant (and to communicate with the waitress!).

Who are your favorite actors?

My favorite actors include Harrison Ford, Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, Fred
Astair, Spencer Tracey, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, …

Another respondent said
Johnny Depp is growing on me.

He does that, doesn't he? 🙂

I first saw Johnny Depp in "Nick of Time". Good movie; the character was a
nebish.
The next film I saw with Johnny Depp was Chocolat – _definitely_ not a nebish!
And then, there was "Pirates of the Caribbean" and Johnny Depp was placed
firmly on my list of People to Watch.

Who are your favorite actresses?

My favorite actresses include Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Audrey
Hepburn, Sandra Bullock, …

Another respondent said:
I hate to say it but I like Julia Roberts

I hate to say it but I like her too… However, I do think she could use
plastic surgery for the mouth 🙂

What do you like to watch on tv?

On the rare occasions that I watch television, I prefer documentaries,
wildlife and nature programs, BBC programs, Star Trek, and old movies. Most
of the time, though, we don't watch TV. We watch movies on DVD and treat our
TV as a nice video monitor.

Favorite colors?

When I was a kid, my stated favorite color was red. This has changed
(darkened) with age, so that today, my favorite color is more specifically
maroon (or burgundy; essntially any dark red or bluish red). I'm also very
fond of teal.

Favorite films?

There are so many movies I really like. My favorites include Fantasia,The
Great Race, 1776, the (original 3) Star Wars trilogy, most movies starring
Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, or Ginger Rogers, many of the musicals
from the 30's to the 50's, and many of Alfred Hitchcock's suspense films (but
not the thrillers). I also really like the Pixar animated movies and most
anything Disney has ever done.

Favorite play?

I grew up in a town that had a summer community theater program along with a
major University that staged a lot of plays. Admission wasn't expensive and
my parents (especially my mother) love plays so we went to a lot of plays. In
addition to what I saw from the audience, I ran props for the High School
Thespian club for two years and for the Penn State Thespians for another
year. I have seen a LOT of plays. Some of my favorites include 1776 (seen on
Broadway in 1972!), Light Up the Sky, You Can't Take it With You, Arsenic and
Old Lace, anything by Neil Simon, anything by Ibsen or Shakespeare, or Shaw,
… there are so many.

Another respondent mentioned
The Glass Menagerie

Oooh. One that I forgot to list!

We saw this one done in Sign once. It was really cool. There were two voice
interpreters, one male, one female, on a "balcony" above center stage,
looking down at the cast. They voiced the lines while the cast signed.

The only weird part was that the director didn't change any of the lines,
including the part about Pleurosis / Blue Roses (""I said pleurosis – he
thought I said Blue Roses"). Had they modified things just a little to
indicate that Jim and Laura were in an oral school, the misunderstanding
would have made more sense but signed, the misunderstanding was impossible.

In any case, it's always been a favorite play of mine.

Favorite magazines?

Of the magazines we subscribe to, I guess my favorites are Readers Digest,
MacWorld, Scientific American, CatFancy, and Smithsonian. Two favorites that,
sadly, no longer exist were Science Digest and Science80 (81, 82, 83…)

Favorite type of cheese?

I prefer soft white cheeses. I especially like Danish Havarti, Jack, Feta,
British Huntsman cheese ( a cheddar with an embedded layer of Blue), and
Gorgonzola (preferably in salad or melted over something Italian) I probably
shouldn't admit to this, but I also like Velveeta 🙂 I dislike Brie and
Swiss.

Favorite drink?

I guess my favorite drink is tea (hot or iced, year round), followed by plain
old water. I also like (not too sweet) lemonade, hot cocoa, Sunkist Orange
soda, and Hansen's natural grapefruit soda..

What was/is your favourite book (or other type of) store?

As mentioned in my
"If I ran a small store" entry, we used to patronize a
delightful little bookstore called "Future Fantasy". They sold t-shirts,
small sculptures and knick knacks (mostly dragons,
wizards, griffins, and the like) as well as books, books, books. They carried
fantasy and science fiction (duh!) as well as mysteries. They carried a lot
of books that weren't part of the standard Barnes & Noble or Borders list –
they even imported books from the UK, They also sold magazines, such as
Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine.

We didn't get in as often as we liked (they were about 40 minutes from home,
not in an area we go to regularly for anything else) but they were wonderful.
Sadly, the proproetor closed the store a few years ago 😦

Another favorite is Chaucer's, an independent bookstore in Santa Barbara CA.
Spouse grew up in Santa Barbara and his parents continued to live there.
Chaucers doesn't specialize – they carry everything from Science fiction to
travel books, non-fiction, mysteries, calendars… they have a room that is
1/3 of the store for children's books. The only problem with Chaucers is they
need more space. The shelves go to the ceiling, books are piled on the floor,
books are packed so tightly in the shelves it's difficult to remove them. But
you can find some gems there that you wouldn't find anywhere else.

Chaucers is still in business, as far as I know. Lately, I haven't been
making the excursions down to Santa Barbara. Hubby goes, stays for 3-5 days.