What are your two favorite things to wear?

I had an interesting thought after reading this prompt, so before I get into my initial reaction I want to throw out something for you all to think about.

The prompt doesn’t mention clothing.

My brain probably did the same thing as everyone else and thought about hoodies or crocs, but as I lay in bed (I like to read the prompt as soon as the day changes over, if I’m up after midnight) I jokingly had an interesting thought. “I like to wear a smile. Or my heart on my sleeve.” Then it spiraled for a minute thinking about the idea of “wearing” something as a turn of phrase. I don’t like to wear my meals in my lap, but maybe you do. See where this goes? Think about that and get back to me.

Anyways, the actual things I like to wear. My favorite things. Generically I like comfy shirts and shorts, but I have a couple favorite shirts that I’ve either gotten for Christmas or purchased myself. Both shirts are Legend of Zelda themed. One is green and says “May the Triforce be with you” but it has the actual Triforce in place of the word. The other is gray and just has the Hyrule crest in a green gradient. They’re both super comfy and soft to the touch. I wish I could have a few of each, because if I’m not careful they’re going to go the way of my red Weezer shirt that I wore holes into. Now THAT was a soft shirt.

I’m usually more practical with clothing and the like, so I don’t go out of my way to pick something that is “in the right color” or anything. Outside of those two shirts I don’t think I have anything that I would say is a favorite thing to wear.

What technology would you be better off without, why?

This might require a short list to identify what technology is currently in my life.

• Computer/laptop
• Internet
• Cell phone
• Smart watch
• Car
• GPS
• Bluetooth earbuds

I’m sure I could add more if I spent time looking around and thinking about it, but let us use this list for now.

The thing I currently use the least is my smart watch. I really should wear it more often, but considering how little I use it in general I could get away with not having it and my life wouldn’t change much. Sadly, that wasn’t part of the original question. What would make my life BETTER without it?

There’s a balance of convenience versus necessity with some modern technology, especially based on use. The Internet is a wonderful thing if used without nefarious purposes in mind. Computers get more and more powerful every day, which leads to new advances in other fields. Cell phones evolved into smart phones, and we have the world’s knowledge at our fingertips. Cars are practically a necessity to live in most places of the United States because of the great distances, but we can substitute buses and rail systems for the more densely populated urban centers. GPS, whether it is in my phone or car, is incredible for navigation. Bluetooth earbuds are definitely a convenience more than anything.

So, do I cut convenience, or do something a little more interesting? I’m leaning towards the latter. Personally, if I could go back to a non-smart cell phone, like an old clamshell Samsung I used to have, I think that might make my life better. It would simplify (or at least uncomplicate) my daily routine and remove distractions such as social media. I could probably be more productive. Or maybe read more books.

I’d like to say “if it were only that easy” but in some regard it really is that easy. I could go get a cheap phone today and make that change, but I also do a bunch of writing on my phone. Like this post, for example.

Name your top three pet peeves.

I can only come up with one pet peeve, and that’s probably because I deal with this one thing almost daily.

Driving.

I’m always amazed, and irritated, by the things I see people do when driving. I am constantly on guard while on the road, and try to give proper respect to pedestrians, especially since I’m in a giant moving death machine and they’re, well, not.

People behind the wheel here have almost no spatial awareness or sense of timing, and they don’t read signs.

Right turn lane from one street becomes a new lane on another? People will stop and treat it like they’re merging into oncoming traffic, completely ignoring the new land added sign.

Left hand merge into traffic? Nope. One of two things typically happens. They never get up to speed and stop near the end of the merge lane, or the drivers in the lane they’re merging into don’t get over to allow room. First one is mostly in the city limits, the second is interstate traffic.

And on the subject of interstate traffic. Pay attention to your mirrors! If I’m behind you and I get over, maybe you should check to see WHY. It’s either something ahead (vehicle with flashing lights, construction, someone merging, slower vehicle) or you’re going too slow. This kind of ties into my motorcycle training, which I didn’t learn in Drivers Ed as a teenager. Always be looking 12 seconds ahead.

I could probably rant forever about this, but then I’d be writing a novel, and I’m already trying to do that for something else.

Who are your current most favorite people?

When I read this prompt I think that people are going to take it a couple of different ways, starting with “People you know personally” and “People you don’t know personally” because we live in an age of parasocial relationships.

I preface my answer this way because I won’t pick celebrities, social media “influencers” or the like. I might like them for one reason or another, but I don’t KNOW them, and they likely don’t know I exist at all! Which is just fine. The general track record of those people makes it hard to rationalize wanting to be part of their social circle.

So, anyways. My actual favorite people. People I know much more personally. I won’t rank them, but I’ll start with those I’ve known the longest.

• My family
• My roommates
• Friends from college who I still talk to frequently
• My tabletop gaming buddies
• Friends from my time working at Target
• Some coworkers from my current job
• My friends from Twitch

That last one is important for a couple of reasons, and is part of why I made the preface about parasocial relationships. The vast majority of them I haven’t met in person, but I’ve had plenty of back and forth interactions with them. I’ve spent countless hours playing games with some of them, helped them with charity events, had one-on-one conversations where we’ve emotionally opened up and been vulnerable. Those are the same kinds of things you would expect from friends and relationships you have in person and that’s what I’ve had with every group on the list, so that is why I count those online friends in the same way.

Nearly every group on that list I talk to daily. That’s a big part of why they’re my favorites. Because we’re so strongly connected.

What are your favorite animals?

Such a simple question, and like all the other simple questions so far, I’m digging in deeper. Favorite animals (thankfully plural) now versus in the past. What I learned about them that made me like them in the first place.

To start, I never really knew much about specific animals, so I couldn’t say for any particular reason why I liked polar bears. I just did, but that is, I assume, a very common thing for kids to do. I could be wrong, though. Aside from our pet cats, I liked polar bears through most of elementary school.

After polar bears I don’t think I ever really had favorite animals, at least none that I can recall. Throughout middle and high school I was engrossed in playing video games and reading the occasional book. Somewhere in there I ended up reading The Pearls of Lutra by Brian Jacques, which followed several different kinds of animals including some otters. At the time I didn’t think much of it, but it was my first book from Brian Jacques which made it more memorable to me than the handful I read later on.

I mentioned the book earlier because I think it helped sew the seed for my eventually liking otters as a favorite. Although I never really went out of my way to learn about them, I learned more about them over time, watched little clips and videos, and they grew on me. So much so that I made my first Pathfinder character have a sea otter as a familiar.

Well, those are all REAL animals. My favorite mythical ones are definitely dragons (I know, shocker) and phoenixes. Maybe I’ll discuss those later.

Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer? Why?

I could see the appeal of preferring the beach, but I also think that movies and tv (excluding the news) portray the beach in a more idealized fashion. People go “I love the beach” and I have to stop and think about why. You can’t spend all day there. You can’t really live there. There’s high tide and then low tide. Storm season. People only go for brief periods, typically on vacation.

The mountains, though, are where it’s at. The media of the last 50 years or so have covered all the different seasons you can experience in the mountains, so you know what to expect. You can live there if you want to, especially if you enjoy the much wider variety of activities you can do out there in the wilderness. Hiking, camping, rock climbing and bouldering, kayaking or canoeing, and fishing. Winter rolls around and you can add snow shoeing, skiing and snow boarding, snowball fights. There is so much potential if those are the things you enjoy. Personally, I just love the atmosphere, but if I got the chance to really live on a mountain I would totally adopt new activities.

That reminds me. Here are some pictures I took a few years ago from a trip to Colorado. I went hiking with some friends I was staying with. Enjoy!

What are your family’s top 3 favorite meals?

My family loves food, and it’s hard to nail down just three meals that I could classify as top of the list.

With Thanksgiving having been yesterday as of the time I’m writing this post it is front of mind. It’s my sister’s favorite holiday, and we usually cook a wide variety of dishes. Turkey, stuffing/dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn casserole, macaroni and cheese. Some years we try different side dishes, but those are the staples. Given that it’s one day out of the year I wouldn’t place it in the first or second spot, but I think it can take third.

Second and first kind of go back and forth, so I can’t say which is our most favorite. We love Indian food and Korean fried chicken. Between those two it’s difficult to decide because they’re both just so amazing. Chicken Tikka Masala, Butter Chicken, jasmine rice versus soy garlic korean fried chicken wings with coleslaw (or boneless wings with rice.)

Well, those are my go-to picks whenever we get Indian or Korean fried chicken. I’m sure my siblings enjoy other flavors and dishes from the places we order from. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to cook my favorite dishes there.

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?

I never really take the time to think this kind of question through. I’m sure there are several people from throughout history who I would love to meet. A challenge, though, would be the language barrier.

If the language barrier wasn’t a problem I’d like to meet Leonardo Da Vinci. Not because I could learn anything about what he’s designed or built, but because I’d love to understand how he thinks and sees the world around him. What goes into his decision making? What logic, simple or complex, does he apply to day-to-day life? It would be fascinating to pick his brain about things that might have influenced him throughout his life!

The things we could learn from people if we stopped looking at them for their historical contributions, inventions, achievements, and looked at them as people. To really see the world through them.

Do you trust your instincts?

My instincts are overall okay at best, and I only say that because there are some areas of my life where I’m keenly in tune with what’s going on while other areas I could be completely oblivious. There’s a balance in there somewhere. I’m sure this applies to most everyone.

But there is also something to be said for knowing when to not trust your instincts because they’ve been consistently wrong in the past. Call it negative instinct, maybe. Getting to that stage sucks, because you have to experience the frustration, pain, and/or hardship for yourself to be able to recognize the gap.

If you can get there, then you can try to adjust your lifestyle or living situation to compensate for the gaps while maximizing the areas where your instincts are strongest. Then you can really say you trust your instincts.

For me, this all adds up to trusting my instincts when it comes to practical and necessary things, like driving. More often than not, I enjoy driving, and I can get to places fairly quickly/efficiently. Navigating by instinct through a busy city, knowing shortcuts and alternative routes for when you think a train or school bus will stop traffic. Those kinds of practical things.

Where I sometimes struggle with listening to instinct is dealing with people. At work I’m usually fine, because there are predictable expectations and people are there to do the work. You can anticipate things better. Outside of work? Well, if I have zero expectations, I can better anticipate things and listen to instinct when things are about to change. But if it’s romantic relationship stuff? I see better from the outside looking in and can help friends in that respect but I can’t seem to help myself. If it’s not straightforward and obvious, or I’m not being told explicitly something, then I miss the signs and my instincts never seem to kick in. So, now I just don’t put myself in those situations. If my friends want to play matchmaker then okay, but my instincts aren’t helping them help me.

That’s how I look at it, anyway, when I try to live by instinct.

What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

I don’t know the last time I answered this kind of question. Typically, the question is about which season is a person’s favorite. Each season has its merits, and depending on where you live there are reasons to hate a season. But narrowing down to a specific month?

I don’t want to dig in too deep and analyze each month, because there is just too much going on. Every month has its own holidays, and each month is nationally, or internationally, recognized as standing for something important to people and society.

So instead of analyzing and picking apart months to weigh out which one is my favorite from a level that everyone could identify with, I’m going a simpler route.

July would be my favorite. It’s the first one that comes to mind because I feel like I have the strongest positive memories tied to it. Simple as that.

In my mind, July is the height of Summer. The heat. Grilling and barbecuing. Pools and sprinklers. Traveling and vacations. The smell of hot asphalt after the rain as I walked down the street to the convenience store for a cold soda. Walking from there to the other end of the tiny strip mall to the little family-owned, counter service only burrito place. Late night car rides with siblings to get fast food. I really could just go on. I’m sure there’s a lot of those things that happened in June or August, but my mind always connects them to the month of July.