Interview Meme!

1. Leave me a casual comment of no particular significance, like a lyric to your current favorite song, your favorite kind of sandwich, or maybe your favorite game. Any remark, meaningless or not.
2. I will respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. Include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in your own post.
5. When others respond with a desultory comment, you will ask them five questions.


Here's my response to the questions I was asked by Fishy


1) do you talk to objects that you work with (when other people might hear you)

Yes, most often my printer, who sometimes has to be coaxed to do his job.

2) what do you want to have done before you die?

My friend Katy-the-Wise says that the meaning of life is to figure out what’s important and work to preserve and promote those things. (Paraphrased)

That sounds good to me.

3) what do you do to keep your mind flexible?

Blog memes? Seriously, I read a lot and I find myself trying to figure things out. I have a pretty analytical approach to life anyway, so lack of thinking is rarely my problem. I’m always analyzing situations and trying to figure out why people think and feel the way they do.

4) what do you like about working with the UU youth group?

One time, the kids were upstairs in the service and Jana-who-creates and I were preparing the room for youth group. An awkward teenager I don't know very well came in and was talking to us because he didn't feel like going to church.

I needed a folder from the RE office upstairs.

“Hey,” I said to the youth. “If you go get the YRUU folder from the RE Office, I’ll give you a dollar and Jana will give you advice on being cool.”

“Ok,” he said. When he brought me the folder, I handed him a dollar. I expected Jana to say something like “Watch Buffy, imitate Spike” or something else silly, but she regarded him seriously and said,

“What do you need to know?”

“Well, sometimes I want to talk to someone about something, but it’s not their thing and they are interested in something else. How do I talk to them about stuff I like, and how do I talk to them if they like totally different stuff?”

She started out explaining that sometimes the secret was to connect your interest to something they like, explaining that she reads comic books and can usually find a comic book about anything that might interest anybody else. Build a bridge between your interests and something they care about.

I then explained that people loved to talk about their interests, and if you get someone else talking about something they like, they will like you more and you will probably find that what they are talking about sounds pretty interesting just because the talker is enthusiastic.

I was just screwing around when I said my friend would give the guy advice on being cool, but I think we really helped him, and in a way that I wish somebody had helped me when I was 15 or so.

That's what I like.


5) if you had to grow all your own food, would you be a vegetarian rather than raise and slaughter your own meat?

Hmm… I’m awfully lazy. I might starve. More seriously, I find myself imagining some combination of eggs, fruit trees and fish. I suck at fishing, but I think I could learn.