Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Don't Cross the Streams

Ack! I’m been memed!

Thanks to Stewgad for the dubious honor of being subjected to:

The Meme With No Name!

1. What are the three stupidest things you’ve done in your life?

a. Trying to get that girl to be interested in me even though I knew better. I already told her that I liked her and she had, quite kindly, turned me down. I thought if I just kept at it she would change her mind.

b. Hanging on to the hope that a different girl would come around and realize that I was better than him. I still, to this day, get floored when I smell the perfume that she wore.

c. Trying to build myself into a bar-hopping social butterfly. I’m not. I never was. And really, I never wanted to be, but there was a period when I tried to become that.

2. At the current moment, who has the most influence in your life?

a. I realize that everyone idolizes their first big name advisor, but I’d probably still have to say Professor Advisor. He really represents a lot of what I hope to be able to do in academia. He is brilliant at a level that I don’t think I can reach, but what I’m more impressed with is how he handles himself. He never seems to be overly in awe of himself. He is one of the few people I know who seems to have no fear of admitting ignorance, even within his own field, although I admit this happens very rarely, simply because he is preternaturally aware of who is doing what research where and how . He constantly lets people know where they need to be improving, but without forgetting to tell them that he sees what they have been achieving. He is an extraordinarily kind man, and yet he gets things done.

3. If you were given a time machine that functioned, and you were allowed to pick up to five people to dine with, who would you pick?

a. I’m not sure I could answer this without making very clear what I study, but lets see if I can go vague enough…Mark Twain, Confucius, Jesus, Elizabeth I, and maybe…Michelangelo. That would be a nice group I think.

4. If you had three wishes that were not supernatural, what would they be?

a. Hey, I’m not proud, how about a superball win? Aren’t wishes supernatural by nature?… I would have to go for excellent health and happiness for me and mine, you and yours (is that #2? Or #s 2-5?). Assuming I’ve got one wish left, how about… A government that puts education above all else. Nah, that's definately supernatural...

5. Someone is visiting your small town. Name two things you regret your city not having and two things people should avoid.

a. Regrets

i. Functional, reliable and 24-hour public transportation

ii. Culture of the non-WASPish variety

b. Avoid

i. All of the Chinese restaurants

ii. All the STDs over in the student’s quarter

6. Name one event that has changed your life.

a. Probably the most influential thing that ever happened to me was moving out of the small town where I grew up. I’m so glad that I did grow up there, but, at 16, I was already getting more than a little but antsy. If my mom’s company hadn’t moved her, I like to think that I would have gotten out anyway, but it would have taken me a lot longer, I think. The way it happened, I was able to move out into the big bad world, but not all at once. Being able to stay with my mom for the rest of high school in the major city where we moved was a great way to move out of the small town in my mind bit by bit.

After doing that, I think I might build a couple of those answers into a full-blown posts. I guess that’s what memes are supposed to do, right. Hmm... makes me think. Thank you very much Mrs. Stewgad

I think just about everyone I read has already done this one, so I’ll risk bad luck and let this meme-trail dry up here unless you read this and feel a great need to keep it going. In which case, please do, and enjoy!

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