What's on my mind: (5/21/04)

For those who care and those who don't

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Another survey. Jieun sent me this one so I think I'm contractually obligated to do it.

1. WHAT TIME DID YOU GO TO BED LAST NIGHT? - 3:00 AM. My schedule is all screwed up right now. I tried to get up earlier yesterday to make myself be tired so I'll sleep earlier, so I did, and I was tired all day, but once it hits midnight, I get some sort of second wind and can't fall asleep. On the plus side, staying up late allowed me to get a 90 in expert in Minesweeper.

2. WHAT DID YOU EAT FOR LUNCH YESTERDAY? - 2 Cheeseburgers from Burger King for $2. I'm an incredible cheapskate. My lunches usually consist of either leftovers or $2 fast food meals. Current faves being the BK 2 Cheeseburger thing and a McChicken and Fruit N' Yogurt Parfait from McD. (There are 2 "and"s and an "N'" in that last phrase. A good writer I am not.)

3. FAVORITE PLACE TO GET COFFEE? - Not a big coffee person. Fave place I guess would be at a bookstore just because I love bookstores.

4. REGULAR OR DECAF? - Decaf. I dunno, actually. I'm not a coffee person, and I'm even less a caffeine person, like I avoid Coke and Pepsi and whatnot in addition to coffee. But being a non coffee guy in general, I figure if I am going to have coffee, might as well go regular.

5. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? - This is such a hard question to answer. I guess I'd go with Jieun's choice also, Jardiniere. But if the question is where I like to go most often, I dunno, I'd probably say Sushitomi. That or In 'N Out.

6. FRUIT OR FRUIT SMOOTHIE? - Fruit. I'm semi against fruit smoothies, or at least whatever Jamba Juice sells. If you look at the nutrition info, it's basically sugar and added vitamins. The worst part is, it costs a bunch and it doesn't fill you up. They used to have the tagline "Drink Your Next Meal". Meal me arse. It's an expensive sugary snack that makes you want to eat more. What a deal.

7. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR MEAT PREPARED? - Medium. Growing up, my family always overcooked food. Steak, fish, whatever, it was overcooked, so I thought it was normal. It's only after I left the nest that I discovered what properly cooked food tastes like. Correctly cooked salmon in particular was startlingly good.

   Anyway, yeah, steak just tastes better when it's medium versus well done, but if you don't care, knock yourself out. Just know that when you order well done steak, they choose the meat in the fridge closest to rotting. Since you're gonna cook the flavor out of it anyway, they figure you won't care.

8. ONION RINGS OR FRENCH FRIES? - This is a mood thing. Like, I'd say, Carl's Jr. Onion Rings, but Jack In The Box french fries. It all depends.

9. FANCY DINNER OR PICNIC? - Fancy dinner. I realized something about picnics, if I'm not comfortable eating, I just don't, so nearly any picnic I go to, I leave extremely hungry. I like picnics and all that. I just leave starving.

10. FAVORITE CANDY? - I really have no idea. Maybe Skittles? The new random Mike and Ike's that are coming out like root beer flavored? Oh, I love root beer candies. Especially A&W. Dad's Root Beer candy is significantly worse. It develops those cracks as you're sucking on it that cut your tongue. No clue if you know what I'm talking about.

11. FAVORITE DESSERT? - Creme brulee. Maybe this makes me a snooty highbrow but whatever, I like it. I know no french but I recently saw the plural of this in print as "cremes brulees". That can't be right, can it? It's gotta be either "cremes brulee" or "creme brulees". But what do I know.

12. NUTS ON YOUR SUNDAES? - I can go either way.

13. WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PREFER-MAID OR PERSONAL CHEF? - Probably personal chef. Reason being, I know enough how to clean. But for the life of me, I don't know how to cook. I've gotten worse since getting married also. When Jieun's not around I have to forage for canned soup and ramen. I've eaten tuna straight out of the tin. Not good times.

14. FAVORITE T.V. SHOW(S)? - I'm gonna say at the moment I like Apprentice more than Survivor. But those are my top 2. Alias next I guess but I haven't seen any of season 3 yet. I like the Sopranos a lot also, but I'm still on Season 3. I'm always behind the times.

15. T.V. SHOW YOU CAN'T STAND TO WATCH? - I'm not a Friends fan but I can stand watching it. I think I hate most those paparazzi shows on E! Where like camaras follow celebs all over the place, just generally hounding and annoying them. I find it vile and disgusting. On the other hand, when in line at the supermarket I always reach for Us Magazine and the section with paparazzi shots that show celebs being just like us. I'm a raging hypocrite.

16. LAST BOOK YOU READ? - The DaVinci Code. I'm currently working on Linux in a Nutshell. It's great being a nerd in Silicon Valley.

17. FAVORITE BOOK? - I used to say Catch-22 but it's been so long since I read it I have no clue. Maybe the Robotech books.

18. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW? - Insomnia. I liked it. 3.5 stars.

19. FAVORITE MOVIE? - The Shawshank Redemption.

20. LAST CD/DVD YOU BOUGHT? - I just bought season 3 of Sopranos. That's my new thing, instead of renting DVDs, buying them and reselling them on EBay. Especially for box sets, it costs way less than say, renting them from Blockbuster.

21. RADIO STATION YOU ARE LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? - I generally listen to KNBR when I'm in the car. If I'm in the car between 9-12, it's Jim Rome on 1050, 12-3, Rod Brooks on 1050, 3-7 Razor and Mr. T on 680/1050. I like neither JT the Brick nor Larry Krueger anymore so after 7 I listen to music in the car.

22. WINTER, SPRING, SUMMER OR AUTUMN? - Spring. Even though there are no real seasons in California. Spring feels like hope.

23. BEACH OR MOUNTAINS? - I like both a lot, but I can watch the ocean a lot longer than I can watch trees.

24. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM VACATION? - Someday I'd like to do an around the world tour. Maybe when I retire. I love seeing different cultures though, it fascinates me. And touristy things that other people hate, I actually love. So a worldwide tour of all the touristy things there are, that's my dream vacation.

25. DO YOU LIKE TO BE SURPRISED? - Depends on the surprise. Surprise, we got you a new HDTV system with tuner and subscription to Voom! I'd like that. Surprise parties I pretty much loathe. Don't like being the center of attention.

26. WHAT WAS THE LAST CARD YOU SENT SOMEONE? - Biblically, me and Jieun are one, right? Ask Jieun.

27. FAVORITE SPORT? - Poker. It's on ESPN. It's a sport.

28. FAVORITE COLOR/COLORS? - Right now I think blue. It used to be forest green. I also used to wear flannel. Times change.

29. FAVORITE PET? - First pet was goldfish named Goldie Gold and Action Jack after an obscure Saturday morning cartoon. We had hamsters later and a cat, all of which met ignoble ends. I've never owned a dog, but I think I like dogs best. Especially Andy and Eileen's dog, the most well trained dog I've ever seen.

30. PAPER OR PLASTIC? - I've gone over my anal recycling tendencies before, I think. But I use plastic to take out bathroom trash and recycling, and paper to take out newspaper. For the life of me, I cannot just get rid of either paper or plastic bags, I have to use them for those purposes, so it's a constant war against an ever growing mound of bags. I prefer getting paper just because you can put more groceries in it so there's less to deal with at home.

31. FAVORITE STORE TO SHOP? - Without question Fry's Electronics. I got a bunch of stuff on sale this past Saturday and it felt like Christmas. Bought an XBox with extra controller, 3 games for $150, not a bad deal. Also a 120 GB Seagate Barracuda (quietest drives in the business) hard drive for $40 after rebate, and the aforementioned Linux book for free after rebate. Good nerdy times.

32. FAVORITE PERFUME? - Egoiste. I'm making that up. But yeah, the commercial for Egoiste when it came out killed me. You remember it? Random women opening up windows and yelling "Egoiste!" and then closing them again. Absolutely hilarious. Me and my junior high friends (I think it was junior high) made fun of it all the time.

33. HOW MANY RINGS ARE YOU WEARING? - One, my titanium wedding band. I've explained why I got a titanium ring, right? One, it was cheap, and my love for Jieun is defined by my devotion, not cost. Two, Ed Harris' titanium ring saves his life in The Abyss. You just never know.

34. NAILS POLISHED OR UNPOLISHED? - Please. My nails are absolutely disgusting. You can see it in our wedding pics. My nails in those pics are a huge source of regret to Jieun.

35. SUITS OR DRESSES? - N.A.

36. IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOU WHAT WOULD IT BE? - I wish I had more passion. When you see someone who's doing something that they're passionate about, it's a beautiful thing, it just feels right. I can't have that because I have no passion.

37. CHARACTERISTICS YOU ADMIRE THE MOST IN A PERSON? - Sincerity. My dad's the most sincere person I know when it comes to his faith, like when he comes to believe something, he's go to ridiculous lengths to be consistent with it. Like passion, when you see that, it's powerful.

38. CHARACTERISTICS YOU DISLIKE THE MOST IN A PERSON? - Duplicity. I guess it's about the opposite of sincerity, but with more intentional deviousness.

39. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND TO THIS FIRST? - I don't anticipate anyone responding.

40. WHO DO YOU EXPECT NOT TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? - I'm gonna say Henry is most annoyed by this, so him. But then, me saying that will possibly make him do it, just to be contrary. Meta.