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Looking For Quacks In The Pavement

Category: Memes

  • Past, Present, Future – Round Two

    Getting right to the point:

    PAST: The term “rebellious teenager” is sort of redundant, when you get right down to it. It’s probably safe to assume that you made a nuisance of yourself more than once during those years. Tell us about the most memorable stunt you pulled. It’s okay, I’m sure the statute of limitations has run out by now.

    PRESENT: You can’t have completely lost your desire to do absurd and silly things. Fantasize for a moment (but not too long) about a silly stunt you wish you could get away with today. Yes, this very day. And then, of course, share your fantasy with the world.

    FUTURE: Hauling more cliches out of the closet we have the phrase “going out in a blaze of glory.” You’re 110 years old, give or take a couple of decades. Having made the solemn decree that you will go out with a bang instead of a whimper, what crazy scheme have you come up with to make your entrance to the afterlife the stuff of legend?

    I’d like to thank Lilith for her list of seed ideas, from which I picked this week’s concept. If you have some seed ideas to share, let me know via the email link right there below the duck logo. Remember, if you answer these on your website, please leave a comment so people can find ’em. And when you link to Past, Present, Future please use this URL: http://greyduck.net/ppf/

    Thank you!

    (update: my answers are in the comments. so there.)

  • Tidbits on a sickday, and my PPF answers.

    I just wanted to rattle off some quick and silly tidbits, but first I’d better appease those who say that I need to answer my own silly survey. Fine then.

    Past – My first “serious” kiss took place outside Dad’s apartment as my very first girlfriend was about to leave for home. Ah, Megan Webb, where are you now? If I had to speculate, I’d say she married that Tim guy she dumped me for and probably lives in Longview somewhere. Yeah, that’s about it.

    Present – Romance, to me, is an unexpected warm-and-fuzzy. Impractical and silly, yes, but whatever it takes to put a smile on her face. That’s what drives me, folks; I have to make people smile. A therapist would probably go on about my need for validation, but to hell with therapy. I’m not that poorly adjusted, dammit.

    Future – What does one do with money but spend it? I can see her coming home, seeing giftwrapped presents placed strategically around the house, each one with her name on it. The practical gifts are first, like towels and tools and that griddle she’s been wanting for just about forever. Later come dolls and pictures, and last comes jewelry and some sort of big-bang present to end all presents. No, I don’t know what that would be. I’m a firm believer in inspiration when it comes to romantic giftgiving.

    To elaborate, I’ll tell you about Abigail. A few years back we had the Christmas blowout, which is to say we spent way, way more money than we had any right to. I was given a bit o’ cash with which to hunt down a good present for Wendi, and I wandered up and down the length of the mall. I could have picked out any number of things along the way, but I wanted inspiration.

    And then I noticed the Geppeddo doll kiosk. Wendi loves dolls, so I took a closer look at the available selections. All kinds of adorable doll designs caught my eye, but I wasn’t inspired… until I saw this one design.


    “A doll in a plain white wedding gown,” you ask, “when there were more colorful and intricate dolls on display?” Yes indeed. You see, Abigail there reminded me so much of how Wendi looked on our wedding day that I couldn’t not choose her as the perfect Christmas present.

    That’s what I mean by inspiration.

    Okay, some tidbits.

    • This makes three attempts to find the perfect “now-playing” feature, but I’m now using Currently Hearing to display my Winamp usage.
    • On a related note, I rearranged a few things on the site. I removed the “freshness date,” tucked the music display and blogchalk under the calendar, and so on. What do you think, sirs (and madams)?
    • Yes, I have an Amazon wishlist now. Think on it as the bastard offspring of wishful thinking and pure untainted evil.
    • I’ve made a couple of lame attempts at night photography with the camera, but so far I don’t have anything worth sharing. Don’t worry, I’m still playing with the thing. The Gallery will expand anon.
    • While the idea of spending March tweaking my novel has some appeal, I don’t think I’m going to participate in NaNoEdMo. Sorry. I’d much rather spend my time working on a new, better novel. And this time, I’m going to actually plan the damned thing in advance. For one thing, I’m going to read and re-read Holly Lisle’s Forward Motion and actually follow some of the advice found therein. Good stuff, that.
    • And last but not least… it’s almost 1:00pm and my phone hasn’t beeped at me. Here’s hoping the Snap! Server lasts the day. For that matter, here’s hoping I last the day.

  • Past, Present, Future – Round One

    I threatened to do it, I agonized over doing it, I was too busy to do it last week, I agonized over doing a special website for it, and now I’m just going to do it and damn the consequences.

    Here you are, folks. Welcome to the first incarnation of Past, Present, Future. It’s going to live right here in the middle of my journal for the first stage of its existence. What I have done, however, is create a quaint little link for when you want to share the love with the rest of the Blogosphere.

    http://greyduck.net/ppf/ will bring you to the most-recent PPF entry automagically. It’s just that easy. Please note that if I’ve created a new PPF on Thursday night you won’t be able to see it until after midnight. If you see “No items returned,” you know to check back later.

    Oh, you actually wanted the questions? All right then. Here’s how it works. I take a seed idea and develop three questions or challenges, one each relating to (you guessed it) the past, the present and the future. My goal is to be relatively non-obvious and at least mildly challenging, to offer something a bit more fun than, “What are your plans for the weekend?” or, “How long have you been a homo sapiens?”

    You know the drill: Answer the questions on your own site or in the comments (“wisequacks”) if you’re so inclined. Use the link I just showed you to send interested parties to the current PPF. Please leave a comment, including your web address, so the rest of us can find your answers (and so I can get that lovely ego boost as I count how many folks choose to waste their time on this).

    And so, without further ado and to permit those holding their breath to breathe, I present the very first Past, Present, Future.

    PAST: I’ll bet you occasionally wonder whatever became of the very first person you kissed in a romantic sort of way. You may not know where they are now, but you could spend a couple of amusing minutes speculating. Go ahead and share that speculation with us.

    PRESENT: Our idea of “romance” changes over time. The giddy, heart-pounding energy of youth gives way to the soft, warm glow in a more mature heart. I’m not really going anywhere with this, I just like to play with words. Your chance to show me up comes when I tell you to offer your own definition of “romance.”

    FUTURE: You’ve come into a fairly decent sum of money, and the prime object of your affections doesn’t yet know. Wouldn’t it be fun to do something hopelessly, adorably romantic? This is the sort of thing you don’t get to do very often in a lifetime, so the romantic surprise should be appropriately memorable. Tell us how you’re going to bring that sparkle to the eyes of your one true love. We can keep a secret… for a price.

    (I offer no kudos for seed ideas this week, due to getting carried away with my own cleverness. It happens. If you want to plant an idea seed in my mind, use the email link just below the duck logo. Thanks!)

  • No More Friday Five

    Five questions about blogging? On Valentine’s Day? Feh. If I were you, I’d do Mari’s version out of sheer protest.

    “So why aren’t you doing Mari’s rendition?” – Because I could get into unspeakable amounts of trouble if I did. Just trust me on this one. This probably doesn’t say anything nice about my life or relationships, but there you go.

    “So where’s the much-ballyhoo’d PPF?” – I’m really sorry to have dropped the ball. The last seven days have been sheer bloody murder. I’ll have a chance to work on it this weekend, though, okay? Next Friday. Really.

    Now get out there and enjoy your V-Day/Prez-Day weekend. I know I will…

  • Friday Five: Food

    • What did you have for breakfast this morning? If you didn’t have breakfast, why not? – Two questions, okay. I had maple-flavored Malt-O-Meal for breakfast. And, I did have breakfast so the second question is irrelevant.
    • What’s your favorite cereal? – Oddly enough, Smart Start. It’s reasonably tasty and it’s good for me.
    • How often do you eat out? Do you want that to change? – And this makes a total of five questions. We don’t, as a couple or a family, eat out all that often. That’s a good thing given our finances, and it should only change if our finances improve drastically.
    • What do you plan on having for dinner tonight? Got a recipe for that? – Six and Seven. Hmm. Dinner is rarely a planned event at our house. It’ll probably be ramen noodles or sandwiches. If you need a recipe for ramen noodles, you really do need professional help.
    • What’s your favorite restaurant? Why? – Isn’t the “Why” sort of implicit? Morons. Nine questions, several of them redundant or irrelevant. Oh yeah: It’s a toss-up between Chang’s Mongolian, Tony Roma’s and The Original Hot Cake House. You know, the one right next to the Ross Island Bridge. And to answer the insipid question of “why,” it’s because I like the food. Duh.


    On a semi-related note, I’ve received quite a bit of encouragement for starting my own weekly “question” meme. I’m not sure if I should premiere it today or wait until next week. What do you think, sirs and madames?

    UPDATED 5pm: The overwhelming encouragement says, “Yes, I’m going to do it.” The bloody damned gods-awful afternoon at work says, “But not today.” Sorry. Thank you, all of you. I hope not to disappoint. Watch for a preliminary posting shortly.

    Oh, and it’s a sign of how frazzled I’ve been this week that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity presented by the presumably-third question. And if you don’t know what I mean by that, you’re probably a better person than I am…
    Friday Five

  • The Friday Fi… er, Four

    • As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why? – The one in my head. No, really. I’ve been a world-class daydreamer since I was five years old. Because, dammit, a good alter-ego is a lot more fun than somebody else’s creation.
    • What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got? – I wanted a lot of things as a child. Toys, mostly. What I really wanted, though, was the chance to stay somewhere long enough to actually make friends. Never got that.
    • What’s the furthest from home you’ve been? – Define “home” and I’ll get back to you.
    • What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t yet? – Self control. That, or Japanese so I can enjoy anime and manga without waiting for someone to translate it for me. Yes, I am a fanboy. I thought you knew that already.
    • What are your plans for the weekend? – What? Again? ARGH! What’s wrong with you people? Three weeks out of four, the fifth question is this?


    That does it. If they drop the ball next week, I’m going to start my own damned “weekly meme.” Several people, including myself, have submitted questions for the Friday Five. Surely they can do better. Right? RIGHT?

    Just for that, no link. I’m disgusted.

    (In case you’re wondering, we’re going to spend tomorrow cleaning the “office” to make room for Mr. Bailey’s Video Editing Workstation, and possibly seeing Two Towers. Sunday, I work. *sigh*)

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