As someone who loved going to school, September was my favorite month. I would buy new clothes, a new notebook, new pens. It was a new beginning. Maybe because the Jewish New Year was also usually early in September, it always felt more like "the new year" than January 1. It was a time to take stock of yourself and to think about the future.
Lately, my mind has been flooded with random questions. At times, I feel bogged down with all these thoughts. Then I realized — what am I worrying about — I am a blogger! I now know other bloggers. Let me put my concerns on their shoulders and have them worry for me!
You’re a motley crew — some married, some single, some young, some old, some straight, some gay, some liberal, some conservative, some Americans, some foreigners, some just plain crazy. If I just throw out some odd things on my mind, maybe someone will have an answer to one or more of the questions, and help me ease my mind. Feel free to do the same on your blog, because I’d love to help you answer your own burning questions about life.
1. Sometimes I forget my grammar while blogging, like where to put the apostrophe. Does anyone recommend that popular book on puncutation, Eats, Shoots, and Leaves?
2. I haven’t smoked pot since I was fifteen years old. If I wanted to try it with Sophia, where do adults buy pot?
3. Has anyone actually found a new job by using Monster.com or Hot Jobs?
4. When you work as a freelance editor or designer, how much money do you ask up front?
5. Do you read other blogs one by one, or do you use an aggregator like Bloglines?
6. Now that I’m a bachelor again, is there a good website for simple, easy recipes for meals for one person?
7. Can I consider Heinz ketchup a vegetable?
8. Would it be smart to buy a hybrid car now or wait until the technology is perfected?
9. Are there any vitamins that you consider essential to take every day for your health?
10. What is your favorite hotel to stay in at Las Vegas?
11. What is the best time to visit Paris?
12. Which is a good ski resort to go to for someone who has never skied before?
13. What is the best oatmeal?
14. If I want to buy a gift for my friend’s 8 month old baby, would I buy the clothes to fit now or the next size up so he’ll grow into it?
15. If I were swimming at Santa Monica Beach and I saw a shark, what would be the first thing I would do?
16. Are those new N-routers for wireless internet really any faster?
17. Are those ‘natural light’ lamps that they sell at ‘The Sharper Image’ a waste of money?
18. Does anyone actually have an ergonomically correct computer set-up?
19. What type of flowers do women like to get on a date?
20. Do you feel guilty if you do an illegal download of a song?
21. How do people dust in those hard to reach places?
22. How do you motivate yourself to go to the gym three times a week?
23. With so many books out there, how do you choose what book to read next?
24. Should I contact my former agent and think about writing for TV again, or should I try something new?
25. If Sophia and I divorce and start dating other people, will they be uncomfortable if we are still good friends?
26. If I lie outside on my terrace naked, would I actually put sunscreen on my penis?
27. If I took a potential job offer in New York, would I miss my car and a bigger apartment for 1/2 the price?
28. After a job interview, do you send a thank you note in the mail or an email?
29. Is Direct TV really cheaper than cable?
30. Will I ever be able to buy a home in California or should I move somewhere else?
31. Is a mojito as good as they say?
32. I’ve never had a one-night stand. When I am older, will I regret never having this experience?
Megan — fixed the typo. It’s funny that onlly you noticed. Good teacher! And for the second part, don’t tell me you’ve never gone sunbathing? I wasn’t sure who else to ask the question — the pharmacist at Rite-Aid?
Now, let’s see… you’re a smart, single woman with a nice house…
I was born in Boise, Idaho, all of my siblings are there and if you show up with a CA plate, god help you….p.s. Boise being the new LA is kind of a stretch anyway….
#6 I do all my recipe shopping at Kraft.com
#26 Sunscreen, yes, that’s a very sensitive area.
#32 Why do the majority of women have negative comments about 1 night stands? Wrong guy? Too much to drink? Or they just don’t want to admit it? Personally, if you’re sober and find someone that’s really hot, why not? If you’re not looking into a LTR, then sex is sex. Some do with, and some do without! And the rest of them are afraid to admit to what really goes on!
3. Found my current one through Monster.com
5. Without Bloglines there’s no way I could keep up.
6. CookingForEngineers.com
9. I take a multivitamin/mineral with sustained release, full-spectrum essential fatty acids, and extra cal/mag/zinc
15. Punch it in the fucking face!
22. Five to six times, thank you… And I do it by looking at the blob of fat on my abdomen – Highly motivating
28. Both
30. Wait for the bubble to burst like we are, then pounce on a foreclosure
So many questions. Feels like a sign-in form for a dating Web site. Still, for what it’s worth:
2) If trying pot and getting it from friends in the form of a rolled cigarette, be sure to confirm that it is not honey oil (I think that’s the term). I damn near died by making this mistake. I was splayed on a bed with the room spinning for what feels like a week (though was only a night). And I still don’t know what the hell “honey oil” is. As for where you buy it … buggered if I know.
12) I live in Canada, in Alberta, close to mountains and skiing. Still, I can’t help you with your skiing question. Could never understand the attraction of sliding down hills on sticks. But they tell me Banff is nice for this sort of thing. (Note: please don’t feed the bears.)
31) Can’t speak to this other than to say it doesn’t sound like my kind of drink. I’ll stick to a standard gin martini and/or scotch. (Though, although no longer the drink of the day, I do like a Cosmopolitan occasionally, but only if I make it. Everyone else gets it wrong.)
1. No–it will show you only British grammar, and she admits to not following all the rules herself, so what’s the point?
2. I always figured I’d ask a former student if the need arose. . .
3. No.
5. One by one
6. Go to Rachael Ray’s section on the foodnetwork.com page–most of her ideas are for 2-4 people, but they keep well or you can 1/2 them. And they only take 30 minutes. . .or so.
7. If it’s good enough for Nancy Reagan, it’s good enough for you.
10. Bellagio or New York,New York
13. McCann’s Irish Oats
14. If it’s for the upcoming season (fall/winter) this size; if it’s a summer outfit, two sizes up so he gets maximum wear out of it.
19. Anything but red roses. Red roses are hackneyed.
21. I have a woman from Brazil who does that for me once every two weeks.
22. I do my best imitation of my mother criticizing my weight.
23. Judge them by their covers
25. Depends entirely on the “other people”
26. It would seem advisable
28. Both.
29. Direct TV sucks. All those ads about losing the signal when the dog sneezes are 100% true.
31. Yes.
Number 23, your question about choosing books, was near and dear to me and prompted a rant, Choosing what to read. For what it’s worth, I posted it on my blog rather than clutter this place. (Summary – I hate thick books.)
Go to Big Bear as a beginner skiier. It’s easy and close to LA.
I think Fish Oil is a good vitamin to take every day.
You could buy a house if you moved anywhere besides cali, NYC or Hawaii.
I send snail-mail thank you notes and often I’ve seen them posted in the office of my interviewer after I got the job.
I live in Montana…CA and TX plates EVERYWHERE. I also see alot in Idaho too.
Thanks for the typo fix; the former editor in me reared her ugly head. (But, I noticed you spelled “onlly” with a double l.)
You forgot to add cute. I’m a smart, single teacher who owns her own home, who happens to be very cute. How the hell am I still single? Oh, that’s right: men suck.
9. I got a check-up from a very competent doctor about a month ago, and he recommended B Complex, Fish Oil and, oddly, Centrum Silver (I’m 27). Dunno if that was me-specific, though.
20. No. This is because I only download two types of songs:
a) Songs by bands with which I am unfamiliar. I only download a few songs, just to see if they’re any good, and if they are, I buy the album.
b) Songs I wouldn’t be able to purchase: demos, unreleased live tracks, unavailable b-sides, etc.
If I were downloading for free in lieu of buying, I’d be a thief, and I’d feel like a jerk for it. That may make me a bit of a hypocrite, though. There’ve been a couple of instances when I found that I only liked the band’s one hit sound, and found the others to be rubbish, but I keep listening to my illegally downloaded version of the one I like. So, in that case, I should probably go out and buy the single.
Eh, screw it; I’m unemployed.
Wow, 61 comments! That’s pretty impressive.
I have one question regarding #2: why would you want to smoke pot with your ex? Shouldn’t you be focused on having great adventures with new girls? Not to be rude or anything, but if she’s your ex, then maybe you should be thinking about moving on. If I’m way out of line, I apologize!
Ned — thanks for your honest answer about illegal downloads.
WHL — the most impressive thing is that people are basically nice. That really made me feel better after this week of sadness on TV. And your question about new adventures is the number one thing on my mind, so I’m glad you asked.
Although, if I would use pot after so many years, I think I might feel more comfortable trying it with someone I know for a while like Sophia, just in case I act silly and embarrass myself by singing old Pink Floyd songs. That is if my allergies don’t make me cough out the smoke the minute I inhale..
Dude, this is so totally an excellent meme. Unfortunately, I have such a tiny blog-readership I fear my q’s will go unanswer-ed. As for yours…
1. Eats, Shoots, and Leaves is quite good. Not a primer, mind you–a good read, though.
2. Find friends who are really, really into music. As in, new music. As is, stuff you actually have to leave your house to hear.
4. None. I’m an asshole. Don’t follow in my footsteps.
5. Yes.
7. No.
8. Wait. Unless you can convert to 100% electric or only keep a car a year or two, it’s not worth it.
9. B’s & C. I highly recommend the Freeda family of vits.
10. Hahahahaha. Clearly, you have not read my Vegas posts.
11. Early summer.
12. Aspen. Beautiful, all levels, lots of other stuff to do. Where I (as a kid) really learned to ski.
13. Steel-cut oats. Accept no imitations.
14. Next size, unless it’s a preemie or you are a very good guesser.
19. None. That’s really gay.
20. Yes.
21. Dyson with extendo-hose (boyfriend’s) or broomstick with rag-wrap (my little shithole).
22. Hahahahahaha!
23. Gravitational pull.
24. Wait–should you throw yourself off a cliff into a vat of acid or…what was the other choice again?
25. Not if you (a) really are and (b) have really found the right person.
26. If it’s direct sun for a long time, you sure as shit better.
27. If you have to ask…
28. Snail mail. So much classier.
29. Yes, god-fucking-dammit. Landlord won’t let me get it.
30. Maybe. If a house is that important, move, though. Priorities, baby.
31. Enh.
32. Depends on who you didn’t have the one-night-stand with.
Do I win something for being the 65th comment?
You’ll have to leave 5 more first, Pauly D, http://www.citizenofthemonth.com/2005/08/22/she-exists/ got 70.
Neil, how was the mojito?
Hey Neil, been thinking about your response to WHL and your subsequent rumination about getting high with someone you don’t know as well…the stigma of singing Pink Floyd songs and all, I think it would be cool if you DID do that with someone new, risk is very sexy….
Maria, are you suggesting we dust off that old bong of yours and meet under the Hollywood sign?
Once again, thanks everyone for your response!
2. Drop wistful hints about your desire to try a very small amount of pot in various discussions with other adults, preferably those at one or two degrees of separation from your social circle. Someone will know where to get it.
32. Yes, sorry. If you are like most men you will regret every single variety of sexual adventure you did not have.
Hey NEil for the food try this site. It has worked wonders for me and I have this great recipe for a salad and salad dressing that only takes 10 minutes if you want it.
Recipes