Here’s another edition of Sunday Stealing.
1. Are you afraid of the dark?
The dark increasingly disorients me. If I had been driving, I’d probably would have had to give it up.
My wife and I stayed in a timeshare in May. Even though I knew the layout of the room, going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was a bit terrifying. I retreated to my side of the bed and got my phone. I didn’t even need the flashlight, just the light from the screen. Before I left the loo, I left the light on and then closed the door. That minimal illumination did not disturb my wife, who is sensitive to being awakened by light when she sleeps.
To that end, I’m Afraid To Come Home in the Dark (1904) by Arthur Collins.
2. Can you curl your tongue?
Yes, in both directions.
3. Can you wiggle your ears?
No, but I’m not distressed by it.
4. Did you ever participate in a talent show?
I wrote about this about eight months ago. When I was in high school, there was a Red Cross training event in Manlius, NY, near Syracuse. At the end of the week, there was a talent show, and somehow, a couple of guys, one a blues guitarist, asked me to play with them. I stood on stage, people expecting me to sing. Instead, I played the comb. The whole thing was about 3 minutes. I got a standing ovation.
Is JEOPARDY a talent show?
5. Do you have any piercings or tattoos?
No. And while I’m more okay with them on other people, I’m unlikely to ever get one unless I reach 100.
Computer loyalty
6. Do you prefer Mac or PC?
It’s not a matter of preference. All of my computers at work were PCs, so that’s what I got at home. Indeed, I never had an Apple phone until 2018 after I lost my previous one. I’ve since replaced that one before I went to France in 2023. BTW, I believe there’s merit to the DOJ’s legal proceedings against Apple.
7. Do you still have your wisdom teeth?
No, I had mine taken out in my early twenties. Not incidentally, my daughter will likely need to get hers taken out this summer. As she has no dental insurance, it will be a costly procedure.
8. Do you watch cartoons?
I often see the Best Animated Shorts that were nominated for Oscars. I’ve seen the films Chicken Run; Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 1 and 2; Coco; Fantastic Mr. Fox; Finding Nemo; Finding Dory; Frozen; Howl’s Moving Castle; The Incredibles; Inside Out; Iron Giant; Isle Of Dogs; Moana; Monsters Inc.; Persepolis; Puss In Boots: The Last Wish; Ratatouille; Shrek 1 and 2; Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse; Spirited Away; Toy Story 1-4 Up; WALL-E; Wolfwalker; and Zootopia. And those are just the ones I can remember from the last 30 years or so.
Hospitalization
9. Have you ever been hospitalized?
An uncontrollable bloody nose when I was five and a half; the car accident in June 1972 for a day and a half; and sometime in the last 15 years when I thought I was experiencing heart irregularity, but I was okay.
10. Have you had braces?
No.
11. Were you ever a Girl or Boy Scout? (Or a brownie)
No. I was a Cub Scout for about a year. I was terrible at it. But I was very fond of our den mother, Mrs. Lia, and when her son Ray, who was in my den, got married in mid-October 1976, I was pleased to escort her to her seat.
12. What is one food you refuse to eat?
I would not say “refused” as much as I’d rather not eat anchovies.
13. What’s the most expensive item of clothing that you own?
Probably a suit.
14. What’s your favorite foreign food?
Recently, there was a story on CBS News about a South Asian restaurant that prided itself in NOT serving chicken tikka masala, which I thought was cool. Still, I’ll pick that.
15. Who’s your favorite fictional character?
Quite possibly, Peter Parker.