In which we wonder what FP knows
Or, the perils of knowing a little on a lot of subjects.
Say, hypothetically, you were considering auditioning for a popular TV quiz show, confident in your general knowledge. However, the hypothetical quiz show in question requires you to also answer questions on a few specific topics – let’s call them, for the sake of argument, “Specialist Subjects”. What sort of things would you pick, and why would you pick them?
In which we listen to Stereolab
That’s the title of a song I’ve been listening to a lot lately, by Stereolab. It’s a beautiful lullaby of a song, sung in a way that makes it almost an instrumental, structured almost as a round, with a single verse which starts in the middle of a musical phrase. I’ve liked it for a long time, but just recently I’ve been listening to it quite often. It sounds like whirling stars.
I have a cunning Christmas present plan – but I’m not telling you what it is.
Anyway: what do you want for Christmas?
In which FP ponders a change
It’s time once again for the return of Polling Questions I’m Going To Regret. Today’s Questions I’m Going To Regret are:
Should I dye my hair?
And, just as important:
If I do dye my hair, what colour should it be?
Clearly, I’ll be giving priority to answers from people who have actually met me. Otherwise it would just get silly.
In which there is a shortage of cake
The other Thursday, I asked you for suggestions on cakes to bake for my birthday.
Unfortunately, any sort of birthday baking might be off the menu. The oven’s broken. Only one side of it heats up, which makes it a bit unpredictable to use. Certainly, it’s a bit vague as to what temperature it can get up to, and how hot it can keep itself. I’m not very confident about doing any baking in it. Bah.
And now, we have the debate: do we try to get the oven fixed? After all, surely it’s just one element that’s gone a bit wonky? Or do we just get rid of the thing and buy another? Why don’t we go the whole hog and rebuild the kitchen? Oh dear.
In which we wonder what to bake
Ages and ages ago, I suggested starting a new running series of posts: Poll Questions I’m Going To Regret. And then, of course, didn’t do anything with the idea. But, as I want your help, it’s time to resurrect it.
My birthday’s coming up in a few weeks, and I have to decide what I’m going to do. On two separate topics: what to do to celebrate it, and what sort of cake to take in to work.
Firstly: I’d like to do something, but I don’t have many friends that live nearby, and I have the awful feeling that if I invited everyone from the office out for a drink, about two people would come out for a quick half if I was lucky. So, today’s Poll Question I’m Going To Regret is: what should I do to celebrate my birthday, and who should I do it with?
Secondly, there’s an office tradition of bringing in cake to celebrate your birthday. Last year I baked a very very rich chocolate cake, but I don’t want to do the same recipe again.* So, today’s Poll Question I Definitely Hope I Won’t Regret is: what should I bake (if anything) this year? Leave your advice and recipes in the comments box.
* partly because it was so rich, it never got finished.
In which we decide that some things might do more hard than good
The other week, I asked you all a question. It was: Should I try answering personal ads in the local paper?
Now, the idea of the poll was to tot up the comments I received, and go ahead with whatever the result was. However, I suddenly realised that, to be frank, I trust some of you a lot more than others.
Specifically, although most of you said “yes, do it,” Dimitra and Vee both said I shouldn’t. Dimitra has this wonderful* skill of always being able to tell what people are really thinking, and always being right about what to do in a given situation. Vee is someone who I talk to a lot, and who I often agree with about things. So, those two votes probably have to outweigh those of everyone else.
More importantly, after writing that post I did try skimming through the local paper personal ads – I specified the local paper, because I don’t live near anywhere interesting, a long trek from any big cities – and, really, none of them jumped out at me. Other than in an “avoid! avoid!” way, that is. As Gripes of Wrath said: “Tiny rural region – here be nutters”. And, to quote Lyle, “it could be just like a visit to the freak tent in a circus.”
So, the result of the first Poll Question I’m Probably Going To Regret is: um, a bit undecided. The compromise is: I’m going to keep reading the personal ads, but I’m only going to try answering one if there are ones I actually want to answer. And, I promise, if I ever do go on any dates that way, I’m definitely going to be blogging about it.
* or annoying, depending on whether she agrees with you at the time.
Keyword noise: dating, personal ads
In which FP considers how to find someone
If this site was hosted on Livejournal,* it wouldn’t just be limited to entries. I could do exciting spiffy things like host polls. Instead, if I want to ask you to vote on things, I have to do it manually.
This is all leading up to me asking you a poll question, of course. And today’s Poll Question I’m Going To Regret** is:
Should I try answering personal ads in the local paper?
Go on, tell me what you think. New “only if you’re going to blog about it” answers, please.
* rather than being one of your geeky WordPress things with hand-edited templates and customised everything.
** It’s in capitals because, you never know, this might end up being an ongoing series.
E: feedback [at] symbolicforest [dot] com
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