April Ask (62 Questions)

1. What three U.S. cities would you never, ever move to even for the job offer of your dreams? 

Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles. I don't hate them; just don't have any interest in them per se.

2. What combination of fixings makes your perfect burrito?

Rice, meat, salsa, guacamole, cilantro, grilled or sauteed vegetables.

3. What is the best gift you’ve ever received?

Baptism.

4. What is the most thoughtful gift you’ve ever given?

In middle school I painted my great-grandmother's house and gave it to my grandmother for Christmas. She has it framed in her living room.

5. Who is your role model or has had the biggest influence on your life?

Living: a certain friend. Dead (asleep): Gerard Manley Hopkins. Risen again: Jesus Christ.

6. Do you have any nicknames?

Rosco, Bean. Both currently out of use.

7. What’s one thing you wish you had known as a freshman in college?

Wake up early and do all your homework before your first class. Try to schedule early morning classes, and never miss a class. Your afternoon and evenings, entirely free, can be devoted to leisure, exercise, and extracurriculars. College would have been so much easier and fun if I had done that, and I probably would have made mostly As. Oh, and get a job!

8. How many siblings do you have?

One living.

9. Do you consider yourself a morning person or a night owl?

I used to be a night owl. Now I get up early and can't sleep in anymore.

10. How long did it take you to start enjoying coffee?

30.5 years. I started drinking it last fall, in lieu of buying or making tea every morning.  

11. What do your parents do for a living?

My dad is a small business owner. My mom is retired and cares for my grandmother.

12. What quality is your automatic “no way” when pursuing a potential relationship?

Smoking, gratuitous profanity, two-facedness, rudeness to strangers.

13. What are two of your bucket list items?

Visit England. Write a book.

14. Have you ever kept a New Year’s resolution?

No. I don't even make them anymore.

15. Were you closer with your mom or your dad growing up?

My dad when young. My mom later on.

16. What is something you are financially saving up for currently?

A house.

17. Where is your happy space?

The woods, anywhere. Catholic churches.

18. What is your favorite article of clothing you own?

Probably the linen shirt I'm currently wearing, and have worn once or twice a week for the past six years.

19. Do you have any specialty cooking dishes?

I used to make salsas and pasta salads. I haven't done that much lately.

20. What is one job you could never do?

Discounting the immoral jobs, probably dentistry.

21. When is your birthday?

June 27.

22. What is in your fridge right now?

My things, as opposed to my roommates: whole milk, several beers, muesli, bulgur wheat, La Croix sparkling water, butter, a loaf of stale bread that needs to be thrown away.

23. What are you worse at than 90 percent of the population?

Socializing.

24. Do you believe in aliens?

I have no grounds for belief in aliens, since no credible authority has told me of their existence. However, to speculate, I would guess there is some other form of life in the universe. Whether they have intelligence or self-awareness as we think of it, I can't say.

25. Do you think it’s the little things or grand gestures that count the most?

This is a both/and thing. Though, I believe the little things are the most telling about a person's character.

26. Have you ever been out of the country?

Yes. Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, Mexico, Canada, and Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, Missouri, Kansas, Washington State, and Washington, D.C. if they count.

27. What fact about you surprises people the most?

Oh, I don't know. I guess you'd have to ask "people." Some people tell me they are surprised to learn that I'm quiet. Others have told me they are surprised I'm not quiet. Take that for what you will.

28. What do you do for a living?

Basically bookkeeping and shipping.

29. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

Jumped off Chimney Rock? It's hard to say; I'm a pretty spontaneous person.

30. What’s your ideal vacation?

Europe.

31. If you could live in any other U.S. city, which city would you live in?

I don't know about cities. As far as regions, I'd like to try living in the Pacific Northwest. Mostly for the enviable climate for plants I like to grow.

32. What was your favorite family vacation growing up?

St. Augustine, Florida.

33. Are you a big fan of any major pro sports team?

No, I know next to nothing about them.

34. What was your favorite subject in school?

Spanish and English.

35. What are you better at than 90 percent of the population?

Plant identification.

36. If you could travel back to any one point in time what would it be?

Pre-Reformation England. Or, Republican Rome (not as a slave, though). Or, Victorian England.

37. What is the proudest moment or greatest achievement of your life so far?

Converting to Catholicism? Probably the most life-changing, at least.

38. How did you meet your best friend?

He was close friends with one of my close friends. The three of us used to hang out together.

39. If you could be any animal, what would you be?

Cf. past monthly asks.

40. Salty snacks or desserts?

Salty snacks. I don't care for sweet things much, unless they're berry-flavored.

41. What is a family tradition your family has?

My mom's side bakes a chicken on Thanksgiving instead of a turkey, because chicken tastes better, they say. My dad's side used to have goose and Christmas pudding on Christmas.

42. What do you think is the most important life lesson for someone to learn?

Humility.

43. What was your favorite toy growing up?

Legos.

44. Who was your favorite teacher or professor?

In high school, Mr. Thompson, my 12th grade English teacher. In college, Dr. Ponder, a horticulture professor.

45. What is the best advice you’ve received?

"Shut up."

46. What’s the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to you?

Well, I found a $100 bill on the sidewalk yesterday while out on a walk.

47. What do you feel people take for granted the most?

People take other people for granted the most, I think. That, or time. That, or God's mercy.

48. What do you like the most about (insert city of residence)?

I mostly like the family and friends I have in Auburn. I've lived in prettier, friendlier places.

49. What is the craziest scene or event you have ever witnessed?

I don't know. Maybe the slaughtering of a goat. I suppose I'm sheltered.

50. What is your biggest pet peeve?

The noise made by plastic wrappers, the mouth noises and sound effects to be heard while listening to NPR, the sort of small talk that consists of pointing out the obvious that had better be left unsaid.

51. What was the worst job you’ve ever had?

Cleaning bird cages.

52. What was the last book you read?

Cicero's On Friendship.

53. When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up?

An architect.

54. What was something that recently moved you?

The truck that took me to work this morning.

55. What skill or talent do you wish you had or were better at?

Latin. Playing harpsichord.

56. If you just won $1 million, what would you do with it?

Pay taxes, pay off any debts, buy a house, save anything left over.

57. If you had a superpower what would it be?

Reading souls.

58. What are you passionate about?

Catholicism, music, plants, language, spirituality.

59. What is your favorite movie?

Romeo & Juliet

60. Are you a cat person, a dog person, both or neither?

Both and neither. I like them better when they're somebody else's.

61. What do you think is your greatest strength?

I suppose I'm a pretty passionate and sincere person.

62. What is the last vegetable you would ever want to be?

What an odd question. Celery, I guess.