
What motivates you to get up every day?
The topics are different every day but after pondering this awhile there are the same motivations.
A. Being useful and helpful to loved ones.
B. Finding at least one creative endeavor.
C. Contemplating philosophical questions along the way.
What words have always struck you as funny or odd when looked upon?
The word “rhythm”. I can never remember how to spell it. [I even did it while I wrote this.] It’s a mental block and love/hate relationship I’ve come to accept.
How often do you read the comments left by other bloggers on other bloggers’ published posts?
I find them interesting now and then. Especially those posts that I find difficult to agree with or understand. I want to hear where others have gone with their interpretations. This is from questioning my own ‘knee jerk’ reaction and from trying to figure out if I’m being too biased or judgmental.
How hard do you work to keep your long-standing friendships alive year in and year out and do your friends work the same way to keep you?
I personally don’t think keeping friends should feel like “work”. I treasure close friendships, but they can change over the years. Why wouldn’t they? We change (if only in our situations). I’m fond of old friends and treasure our memories of deep connection but maintaining them shouldn’t feel like a struggle and moving on is okay IMHO.
How many emails do you delete every week?
Too few. I don’t visit my email regularly. It needs a good cleaning.
Are you easily distracted, and what do you find distracts you the most?
I’m finely tuned to my sense of hearing and have been known to interrupt an outdoor conversation because I recognize a familiar bird call or natural sound. Yes… it’s a “Look squirrel!” moment. LOL
Have you ever had a strange unexplained encounter that left you shaken and baffled and if so, what do you think it was? Or what did your brain make you think it was?
I’m inclined to think this question is wondering about the paranormal. When my husband and I moved into our house we started experiencing occasional bangs on our living room floor that was just above the ceiling of our basement. It went on for months. During the winter, we attributed it to an old furnace. But during the summer, it became unnerving. I had taken a philosophy class in college which had a hardcore ghost hunter professor. He’d told fascinating stories and had offered help to locals who “were haunted”.
My mind is still open (believing some stories) on that topic. I applied one of the solutions that the professor had recommended years before. I opened the cellar door and pronounced out loud, “This is our house now. You are welcomed to stay but I’m appealing to you to leave us alone.”
We had NO more banging thereafter. You decide, {Did I mention that our backyard shares a property line with an old cemetery?}
Are we more scared of things that go bump in the night when in the dark or equally as concerned if the same thing happens during daylight hours? If so, why do you think that is?
It seems no surprise that a fear of being startled is involved. Our ‘animal’ instincts know we are most vulnerable to ambush when our vision is impaired. Darkness is a natural cover for ambush.
What do you think are the magical ingredients for writing a bestseller and do you think you could write one?
A bestseller and a wonderful book are not always one in the same. For a ‘bestseller’ it either has to be excellently crafted, incorporate current trends and/or concerns, or both.
When was the last time you stayed awake all night having fun with another person, and what were you doing?
I haven’t done all-nighters in thirty years. When I did, laughing, drinking alcohol, and a campfire were involved.
My favorite “nighters” now are when my 10-year-old granddaughter and I have a sleepover and we make up stories after the lights are out or, if need be, under the covers.
Would the 18-year-old you recognize the older you if you both collided on the street today? If not, why?
Certainly, my principles haven’t changed, and my interests are still pretty much the same. “What you see is what you get.” has been my lifelong attitude. We’d probably start off with a “high five”!
What are you most looking forward to in 2023?
Vindication for all the people so easily dismissed as “conspiracy theorists” just for asking questions.
Are you more curious or are you more passionate, or are you both?
Definitely curious to a fault.
Can you easily recognize your flaws, and do you think it is important?
Oh my. All I ever do is question my own motives and accuracy. Being honest with myself is IMHO the most valuable and necessary component to leading a ‘good’ life.
The musical album you loved the most in the last twenty years was… ?
I grew out of the habit of listening to the music stations on the radio once I had teenage children. There is a generational taste to music but, the 60s,70s,80s, were, and are, still regarded as the Best. Almost any “Best of” album from those decades would be welcomed.
Some of my favorite albums through the years were Carole King’s Tapestry, Deep Purple’s Machine Head, Glen Campbell’s Greatest Hits, Joy to the World-Three Dog Night -Their Greatest Hits, Michael Jackson’s Thriller and all of America’s albums. You figure it out. My tastes span many genres.
https://earthlycomforts.uk/2022/12/10/question-time-over-coffee-8/
Interesting about the house/banging/ghosts/cemetery. Possible writing fodder?
My belief in the unexplainable is often fodder for my stories. Thanks!
Hey Susan, a wonderful experience with regards to the bumping and thudding on the floor. I was mentored years ago by a ghost hunter who had years of experience dealing the hauntings in Borley Rectory nand he told me that sometimes that’s exactly what you must do – stand your grounds and exert your alpha power 🙂
Would your younger self recognise your older self physically do you think?
I also agree with the bestseller – especially and more so since the dawn of self-publishing has risen as a possibility for authors – but there is indeed a difference between self righteous bestseller and a wonderful book.
Look a squireel made me laugh, l am exactly the same 🙂
Good answers this week 🙂
Thanks! That professor was really cool. The stories I could tell!
Yes… my younger self would recognize me. I haven’t changed much at all (so I’ve been told).
Absolutely there are differences among books. We bring so much of ourselves to books that I don’t feel qualified to proclaim which are best. It’s quite personal.
🤣 Glad I tickled you. Oh my! I have a feeling you and I would giggle constantly if we met face to face. ❤
I am always laughing and always distracted. Suze my other half is always saying “Are you listening to me, l am being serious and l usually answer with … yes of course darling and it is serio … oh my did you see the shoes on that person? How bizarre and given that it’s raining! Or only today .. Who wears socks and sandals in the snow? When she was talking about the weather ….
Or something like that …
Ha! I’m the same kind of annoying/fun. Tremendously irritating to serious people. {That too makes me laugh.} Have a great day!
Thanks Susan, you too – have a lovely Sunday 🙂
I loved hearing about your maybe haunting of the house. Interesting how it turned out with no more banging around after your statement. 🙂