233 posts tagged “qotd”

Do you believe that honesty is the best policy?

I always find that people who think to quote that, believe that honesty = mean spiritedness. Being honest means being true to what you believe and to treat everyone like an adult. However, being honest doesn't mean that you need to tell that stark white, bitchy black and white "truth".

Most of the time, that's not even the "truth," just the mean side of truth.

And I'm rambling but not making sense. It's 5 am and I'm just finishing my shift. You'll probably be hearing from me a lot during these times of the night. Expect less and less sense.

What never fails to make you laugh?
Submitted by BeautifullyBroken.

Maybe I'm mellowing but I rather like this question. I mean, it could mean so many things, like what kind of books make you laugh? What jokes make you laugh? What situations make you laugh? It's just a nice way of looking at things.

Of course, as a cynic and a possible pessimist, it could also be used as "What makes you laugh with cynicism? What causes you to give a mocking laugh?"

Though, I'm not typically a one who will give a mocking laugh or a poo-poo-ing laugh. I think it's passive aggressive. If I think something you're doing is stupid, I'll cut you a side-eye or make a "Who farted?" face. There will never be a question as to how I feel.

What makes me laugh? Let's start a list:

Movies:

Beerfest - yes, I know. No, seriously, I know. It's a movie about a beer competition. But it makes me happy, stop judging me)

Blazing Saddles - LOVE this movie. Absolutely love it. I lent it to a friend who's husband had fond memories of it from his youth and so she sat while he watched the movie, watching to see if he laughed. That's so much pressure! Would it surprise you to hear he wasn't able to laugh at any of it?)

Ghostbusters - I'm sorry but if you don't like Ghostbusters, we need to have a serious conversation. I'm not going to judge you for not liking Ghostbusters 2, though I thought it was quite good, but Ghostbusters! Come on! It's a work of genius!)

The Addams Family 1 & 2 - Whatever you think about the second one, Joan Cusack is genius and I love her. Plus her attempts to kill Fester make me laugh like a donkey.)

Team America - What can I say? Besides "Matt Damon!"?

I'm sure there are some I'm missing (though I mostly watch action movies) but those are off the top of my head.

Books:

Dave Berry's Guide to Guys - irreverent and it plays off of stereotypes but it's so good-humoured with this strain of cynicism, it's almost like me, distilled as a comedy book.

... okay, that seems to be it. I mostly read romances and suspense fiction. Some of those are laughs but it's mostly because the writing or situations are really bad.

TV

How I Met Your Mother - I just did a marathon of Season 1 and 2 and it is so funny, mixed with sweet, mixed with booze and topped with whipped cream and cherry. Love.

Big Bang Theory - I wasn't wild about this show when it first came out. I thought all the jokes would be grotesque stereotypes (Oh look! Nerds can't get laid!) but it's not. It's a lot sweeter than that. It feels like the writers like the characters and aren't willing to be vicious or cruel, just for an easy joke.

And... huh. I don't seem to watch a lot of comedy shows either. Mostly action or sci-fi which contain humour but aren't the "traditional" sitcom.

Is this the point where I have to assure you all that I am actually a girl?

And will I have to assure you again when I tell you I also like Family Guy?

As for jokes and things, I prefer jokes that aren't at someone's expense, in the sense that, while I may joke around, I don't like jokes where the heart of the joke is vicious.

How many times can I fit "joke" in a sentence? Damn, no wonder I never cut it as a writer.

I'm not a fan of practical jokes since it seems the basis of those are to make the person look ridiculous. I don't mind a crass joke if it's properly funny, that is, if it's funny in it's own right, regardless of crassness. Though I'll take the occasional poop joke. I like those.

I like word play jokes because it lets me use my brain sometimes.

But mostly, I just like to laugh. I like the weird witch's cackle I get when I'm feeling particularly evil, the weird deep throated laugh that I have no idea when I developed. 

Mmm, funny things. I like funny things.

If you were to open up a business of your own, what would it be?
Submitted by beth.

Thanks to RobbbieDobbbie, I realized I forgot to give love to another one of the businesses that I'd like to open:

An old-timey soda/ice cream shop!

Can you imagine me wearing the red and white striped shirt (why am I picturing a blond moustache too? Huh) making up ice cream sundaes and pulling soda, the real kind, flavoured with cane sugar rather than corn syrup? Mmm.

Though I'd probably also add some foods, make it a diner, soda and ice cream shop. That would be so much fun.

::sigh::

If you were to open up a business of your own, what would it be?
Submitted by beth.

Huh, pleased by another QoTD. Lovely and a change.

For me, I have a few different businesses I'd like to begin:

I'm thinking (semi-seriously) of opening a day care in my city (you wouldn't believe the waiting lists for new mothers. You basically have to sign your child up when you and your partner begin to think about having a child. Since the wait is typically 2 years, you'll be right on time). There are some pretty specific requirements and I would prefer it to be a Montessori day care center (parents tend to pay more for that) and I'd also like to have facilities for older children after school, rather than have children go to an empty home. That seems a bit ambitious though and if the day care happens, after school care wouldn't happen until I was more established.

Gee, I'm talking like I'm going to stay in town, aren't I?

Then I'd love to open a book store, even though you make NO money with books, especially when there are mega-bookstores who are able to sell below cost and are able to bulk buy whereas an independent bookstore can only truly thrive if they start to genre focus. I have a full store idea planned in my head that would never make me or my partners any money unless I made the most amazing coffee ever and that would finance all the book-selling (there's approximately 30% profit on regular books -- negated by the huge discounts offered by the mega-bookstores -- while there is approximately 300% profit on coffee. Maybe more. I forget the math).

I've also considered opening up a sex toys store with porn. It's so hard to find good porn for women.

I've thought about opening up a cannibis cafe (it's only illegal if they catch you) but I'm too pretty and too uneducated in self-defense to go to jail.

I'd like to open a pub or casual restaurant. No idea why. Especially after hearing all the things JennyExiled goes through ::shudder:: But I've always like the Irish pub kind of ambience. It's my favourite place to get drunk.

The problem with most of these though? I'm not really fond of people.

I find other people's children tiresome, quarrelous and needy (not yours, yours are great).

People have no respect for property they haven't purchased (I worked in a bookstore and you don't know the number of magazines we had to either eat the cost of or send back because some ass tore out a page).

Ugh, can you imaging how bored I would be sex if I had to actually cull the porn in my store to rate/rank them?

And I don't really like being around drunk or high people if I can't verbally abuse them or throw water at them to sober them up.

Why does everything involve other people?

Who is the best deceased musician/singer?
Submitted by sarahllr.

I really like this question even though I have no idea how to answer this. I can never remember who's alive or dead. I mean, Tupac's dead but he keeps releasing albums; it's just confusing! I thought Etta James was dead but then she threatened to kick Beyonce's ass (which would be fun and hilarious).

Is Nina Simone dead or just in seclusion? I think she's dead. She's quite amazing; she was ground-breaking in an era when women weren't supposed to be anything but quiet. She made music that still resonates and inspires those who listen to music and those who make music.

Elvis made current rock possible in that he was able to make it as mainstream and wide-spread because of his charisma, so I'm thankful for him, even though he also (to me) embodies the of excesses of super stardom and downward spiral that comes from someone without boundaries.

Hmmm, who else?

I'm thankful to Kurt Cobain as well because he was the symbol of my generation in the 90s and the grunge rock that I feel helped me become more myself and more aware of what is outside of my own secure circle.

There are just so many and I just realized how much I really do like this question. Thanks for reminding me to think about more than just the present but to acknowledge and appreciate how much amazing music came before my birth. I need to explore music more. I love it so much.

What question do you ask when you really want to get to know someone better?

"Hi, what's your name?"

Really, at that point, you can go anywhere with the conversation. Plus it seems too forward to say... the things that end up popping in to my head.

What food reminds you of your childhood?

It depends.

Mango and watermelon reminds me of summer times when I was younger.

Banana Strawberry milk drink (bubble tea) reminds me of my mother trying to make us banana strawberry margaritas (virgin, of course) when we were younger because we loved it at this restaurant. It wasn't until I started drinking regular margaritas and learned how to make them (with a mix), that I realized why my mom couldn't get it that bit of tang that the margaritas had: no margarita mix or whatever it is. Still good, very refreshing and reminds me of my mom.

Dumplings remind me of family dinners when everyone would get together at my aunt's house and make dumplings from scratch.

Peking duck-style wraps (if you've never had them, they're super yum) but made with turkey reminds me of Christmas and Thanksgiving. My mom used to make this delicious turkey with this great honey butter glaze (basically melted butter with honey -- we're simple people) and my aunt used to make the wrappers. It wasn't the same when we changed to just buying tortilla shells. Not the same taste or texture. I was thrilled when my aunt went back to her wrappers.

I don't know, there are so many and others that I couldn't tell you the name of because I've never had to order it:

This noodle dish with pork where the noodles are hand-pulled (not by us but at a restaurant) in a soy-style sauce.

This flat noodle dish with beef and green onions in a soy-style sauce.

The first time I saw a chicken head laying on the top of the cut up chicken.

The first time I tried pigeon (eh, it's okay. The head still freaks me out a little).

Lobster in a cream sauce with noodles.

Spicy crab with rice vermicelli.

Pot noodles with pickled cabbage.

Fresh strawberries from a U-Pick.

The weird taste of plum juice or tea or whatever this nasty drink is that my mom used to love and would buy on the streets of Taiwan. I kept trying it but yuck. I think it's an acquired taste.

The first time I tried this fruit that looks like an apple (with the red peel) but is also shaped like a pear (long and bulbous on one end) but with a really white flesh and a pure, faintly sweet juice.

The first time I tried another fruit from Taiwan that isn't exportable because, once it's picked, ripens too quickly for export to be feasible. It's green and when it's ripe, it's easily segmented. It kind of looks like a pine cone but with all the various segments attached. Does that make sense? Each segment breaks off and contains its own seed that's fairly huge.

Preserved plums, all salty and delicious but also an acquired taste.

Fried tofu with a little bit of soy sauce.

My mom's hamburger soup.

How we thought it was so much fun to add salsa or tuna to mac and cheese.

::sigh::

God, I love food. I don't understand people who eat just to live but don't find any enjoyment in it, who don't or can't savour the tastes and textures of what they're using to sustain life. They're really missing out.

What do you do for those who are less fortunate than you? What do you wish you did more of, if anything?
Sponsored by Nature Made.

I wish I did more to help. I mean, I give money to various charities, ones that I believe are helping people but at the same time, I wish I did more. I wish I did more hands-on work and help. I've started to be really interested in post-traumatic stress disorder, mostly because everyone who's been through a traumatic event, even something that would be considered fairly innocuous like a minor car accident, can go through a degree of post-traumatic stress.

I think if we can make people more emotionally stable and stronger, it can help make societies stronger. Right now, we tend to place too much emphasis on being fully cured, rather than learning from the struggle.

Hell, fuck learning, just living through the struggle makes us stronger.

And now I'm just babbling. Seriously, WHERE ARE THE POOPY JOKES?! I'm going to be seriously annoying soon.

What is worse? Ignorance or apathy?
Submitted by SavageBart.

Apathy.

Ignorance can be fixed. Knowledge can be gained but apathy means you know something needs to be done and you're just ignoring it because you can't be bothered to expend energy to deal with it.

And why the fuck am I so philosophical or introspective right now? Where are the poopy jokes? WHERE ARE MY POOPY JOKES?!

If you could be the parent of one famous person, who would you want it to be and why?

Lindsay Lohan because she actually NEEDS a parent, not someone who wants reflective fame. She needs someone to give her boundaries, to give her support and to not want to be her friend. Why would you, as a mother (or father, but since I'm a woman, I'll use "mother"), WANT to be your child's friend to the point where you are going clubbing with her or you're encouraging self-destructive behaviour? What about taking responsibility for your own life rather than blaming others for things that are going on in your life? What happened to wanting to put good into the world, rather than just take it and suck the very breath out of life?

Why go down in flames when you can actually live?

It's so sad to see a child falter and self-destruct due to the lack of good parents in the equation.

I'm also fairly certain, none of my children would ever be referred to as "Firecrotch." At least not without some beatings to the one who named her.