The Book of Daniel Vol. 2

1. What were some of the smells and tastes of your childhood?
That certain smell of the elementary school cafeteria is the one that's struck me lately, because the cafeteria kitchen at the college I'm teaching at  has had the same smell (as I remember it) every time I've walked past it this semester.  I was actually going to write a post about that here and hadn't gotten aroudn to it yet.  I guess the same cafeteria pizza would be a top pick for the taste side as well.

2. What did you have as a child that you do not think children today have?
Well, an analog childhood, for one.  Not counting game consoles, I didn't have a home computer until I was in 7th grade, a Windows 3.11 rig from a computer show, and home/consumer internet was still in its infancy - AOL 1.5 was, I think, my first firsthand taste of internet.  If we're talking specific toys - pipe-smoking Mr. Potatohead comes to mind.

3. What elementary grade was your favorite?
For fun, probably 5th - that was a year that I had good friends in class, some fun and memorable activities and no major issues.  For teacher quality, 6th - my teacher that year was very influential on me and, I believe, a direct reason for me studying and teaching history today.

4. What summer do you remember the best as a child?
To be honest, they mostly kind of blend together - I don't know how many memories I could actually assign to any specific summer break during those childhood years.  Endless summer, eh?

5. What one piece of advice would you give to your younger self, and at what age?
I don't know.  Maybe make a little more effort toward academic programs in high school, like joining the National Honor Society (which I was qualified for, but didn't feel like writing an essay at the time)?  But, it's never affected anything in adulthood or the real world.  Be more outgoing?  But, I'm naturally a textbook introvert, and I don't think I could've changed that.  I guess the main thing would just be a general "stop procrastinating."

1. What is your favourite food?
Pizza.

2. What is your favourite food preparation method?
Cooking, by default, since i haven't gotten too much into baking yet (I'm still pretty much a novice at all of it).  I'm probably best at seasoning.

3. What is your favourite cuisine or style of cooking?
To eat, Italian, Mexican, Indian, general American mutt...  for cooking, many of my best work so far have been pizzas and soups.

4. Do you have any dietary restrictions and if so what are they?
No meat.

5. If you could introduce the whole world to one ingredient to improve their culinary experience, what would that be and why?
Dill is great for more than just pickles.  I use it on home fries to add some extra savory depth.

1. What is the oldest object you own?
Not counting, like, rocks or something, I have both volumes of the book Adventures of Roderick Random published in the 1790s, so that'd probably take it.  For *my* oldest possession...  Oldest in at least semi-regular use... the main keychain that my Kramer-esque set of keys is built on is supposedly made from a WWII (presumably surplus) gunstrap, and I have a stereoscope viewer from the turn of the 20th century.  But I have other passive objects older than that too - some 19th-century books, an 1860s "Boss Tweed" bank, etc.

2. What object have you owned the longest?
 If it counts as an object, I have a philodendron plant that's as old as I am.  I'm sure there are still some early-childhood toys lurking around somewhere too.  My oldest in at least semi-regular use... maybe my Blues Traveler shirt that I've had since 1994?

3. What is the newest object you own?
I got a Kung Fu Tea Princess Peach collectible can and cup that I'd ordered from eBay today, both of which will end up in my game room (after the tea is drank), so I guess that's it by default.

4. Who is your oldest living relative?
Not actually sure.  There's very few of us left, so on both sides of the family it may just be my mom's generation.

5. Who is your youngest living relative?
Also not sure.  I know I have some cousins that have kids but I don't know exact ages.

1. Have you seen a solar eclipse? Total, Partial, Annular? When and where?
Yes.  I mean, this past Monday's partial.  I saw it from my back porch.

2. Have you seen a lunar eclipse? Full? Partial? When and where?
I'm sure I have, but I don't know any specific dates offhand.

3. Have you seen a comet? Which one? When and where?
Yes, Hale-Bopp in '97.  Seen from home.

4. Have you seen a nova or supernova? When and where?
I don't think so.

5. Have you seen a meteor shower? Which one, when and where?
Leonids, whenever they happen.

1. What is your native language?
'Murican English

2. Do you speak any other languages? Which ones?
I still have enough schoolboy Spanish left that while I can't do direct translations, and I dare not try to actually speak it, I can usually at least get the gist of it in written form.  

3. How difficult is it for you to learn or understand new languages?
In high school it was actually pretty easy; I actually skipped a year of Spanish (I went from Conversational to Spanish 2, doing Spanish 1 as worksheets over the summer).  In college, though, I did a semester of French and really struggled with it, so I think I lost most of my language absorption ability by that point.  I do at least still remember one French phrase from the old Muzzy commercial: "Je suis le jeune fille!"

4. If you were going to study a new foreign language, which would you want to learn?
French, Italian and/or German to supplement my art history, or Japanese so I can play Japanese games that never got English translations, and .  Not necessarily in that order.

5. How are you at reading subtitles in foreign films?
Er, perfectly fine.  That doesn't really seem like a particularly difficult skill.  I do certainly prefer subtitles to dubbing, if that's what the question is getting at.

1. What's a skill you'd like to learn?
Right now, I want to master using a pizza peel, so when it gets warmer I can use an outdoor wood oven.  Just can't seem to get the hang of it for some reason.

2. What's a hobby you'd like to try?
I dunno.  As I think I've mentioned before in this journal, I would like to get back into fencing sometime, and at my age it would probably be more as a hobby than anything else.

3. What's the best compliment you've ever received?
I'd have to say that some of the positive comments I've gotten from class observations from my department chairs while teaching have been some of the most gratifying.

4. What's one way in which you are awesome?
I mean, come on, how can I limit it to just *one* way.  After all, am I not an idol to millions?  Inspiration to children everywhere?  The man with the rear that makes the girls cheer?  All this and modest, too.

5. What's a gift you would like to receive (in case anyone asks)?
As I've gotten older I've become less and less into receiving gifts.  I think I'm more at a point where any material item I want, I'd rather just buy myself.  So, if you want to get me something, cash is fine. 

1. Have you ever been the president of anything?
No.  My political career was limited to running for Vice President of my 5th grade class, with a platform of "more class parties" (which I would've had absolutely no authority to provide), and gave out Jolly Ranchers as part of my campaigning.  I lost by one vote to a kid named Scooter, who gave out chocolate.  I should've gone with chocolate, maybe I'd have won, and who knows where I'd be now.

2. What do you think is the most important leadership trait?
The ability to listen, and the ability to understand and learn from the past.

3. What time period did you find the most interesting to learn about in history class?
I mean, I'm a history teacher so I probably shouldn't play favorites too much.  My specialty is US history (esp. 19th century), but really, it's all interesting.

4. What's something you think about doing, but you haven't gotten back into in several years?
I'd love to get back into fencing at some point; I did that in high school and a little in college.  At age 40 and 20+ years out of practice, I doubt there's much opportunity left for any sort of major competition (unless there's some sort of senior tour), but just doing it for fun would be cool.

5. If you could add one more random holiday to February, what would it be?
National Stay Home, Eat Pizza and Play Video Games Day, I guess.  But really, eh, there's enough holidays already.

1. Do you cook regularly or does someone else cook for you?
Myself, not that there's much choice at the moment.  Fortunately I've started learning more about "real" cooking over the last few years, so when time permits I can actually make some decent stuff.

2. Which are you better at making: sweet or savory foods?
I haven't gotten much into baking yet, so I guess savory by default (pizzas, soups, things like that).  I have made a couple of decent cookies, though, like Florentine lace cookies and a no-bake cookie from an old WWE cookbook ("Viscera's cookies").

3. If you had to work as a chef in a restaurant of your choice, which restaurant would best complement your current culinary skills?
Probably a pizza place, since I've gotten pretty good at those (and they're also my favorite to eat).

4. What is a cooking tip that you know, but other people generally aren’t aware of?
When making pizzas I use oil to stretch the dough instead of flour or cornmeal.  I find it easier to work with, gives a nice crisp to the crust when it comes out, and I don't make as much of a colossal mess with it.

5. Do you have a recipe you would like to share?
I'm not really advanced enough to really develop my own recipes yet.  But one of my favorite quick sides is home fries made with red potatoes, fried and seasoned with salt, pepper and a generous sprinkling of dill.

  

12/22
1. Are you easily offended or upset by things other people post online?
Not generally.  But I tend to avoid the more charged sections of the internet.

2. How much does the order in which the Friday Five questions are presented here matter to you?
Not at all.

3. Have you ever made an effort to be inclusive, only to have someone complain that you were not being inclusive enough?
No, I don't think I've run into that.

4. Are you having a happy holiday season?
Reasonably.  It'll certainly end up being better than last year's.

5. Which holidays do you observe or celebrate?
Secular X-mas, with recognition to Festivus.


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12/15
1. What tradition makes the holidays for you?
Given the option, I would gladly have A Christmas Story on a loop the entire day.

2. Have you ever gone caroling door to door?
I don't *think* so.  I did do caroling with a Sunday school group in my very-young church-going days, but I don't think it was door-to-door, just in the park or something.

3. What holiday tradition would you happily see the back of?
Xmas stuff showing up in stores and in public before Thanksgiving (or, at this point, before *Halloween*).  

4. Have you ever spent Christmas way from your home and family?
No, fortunately.

5. Did you put milk and cookies out for Santa?
I don't go for milk on its own, and the cookies (which I really shouldn't have at this point) wouldn't make it to the time Santa arrives.