Another "friends" meme

[stoutfellow]

I borrowed this one from kd5mdk. A lot of you know me from the Bujold list; I've been on that list for quite a few years, and though I don't talk about myself a lot (I think), I've said a fair bit from time to time. On lj, I've been rather more open than that. But, just in case anybody's curious, I thought I'd post this.

I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. I promise, I will not make fun of you, or say who asked what.
I then invite you to do the same. Remember, seriously basic stupid questions, don't be embarrassed, you would be really shocked what I don't know about you. So, ummmm.. what do you want to know?

If you want to post anonymously, that's all right too!

Comments

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

oh, dear! You should *never* offer this to the curious Hopper (g)!

Lessee, things I don't know about you...what were you like in high school? (that's the dumb question)

If you came lately to Catholicism, what were you before?

Alec wants to know if you believe in Purgatory (I'm not sure why).

You have mentioned that you don't date; have you chosen a celibate lifestyle, deliberately? If so, what are the advantages to it (aside from the obvious lack of arguments on the home front! (g)) (this is the impertinent question)

Feel free to delete this comment if these are questions you'd rather not answer, consider too inane for words, or so rudely personal that you'd like to slap me (g)! I *told* you I was curious!

Also feel free to ask me questions from the same meme. I just can't imagine *anything* I haven't written about ad nauseum (g).

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

What was I like in high school? Hmm... I thought of myself as a nice guy, and had some popularity - enough to be elected "Commissioner of Finance" my senior year - but, looking back, I think I was kind of a snot.

I was raised in a nondescript military Protestantism; starting in my teens I began arcing Rome-ward, with a several-year stop as an Episcopalian. Yes, I believe in Purgatory, of a sort; if you've read C. S. Lewis's comments on the subject, my picture closely resembles his.

As for the last question... I think I'll take that to private e-mail.

Nosy? Moi?

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

See why it's never good to give my curiosity free rein? (g) It removes entirely the fetters of good taste and sensibility! (g)

Okay, let's hear a good story about when you were a snot, hmmmm, Dad? Please? Just one story, huh? (scoots chair closer)

Your religious pedigree sounds somewhat like mine, minus the Roman Arch. Baptized and raised Episcopalian until I was 10, then confirmed Methodist. Stayed Methodist until early 20s, except for the Fulbright year in Germany when I lived in a Catholic dorm and went to mass twice a week. Joined the UCC Congregational church and stayed for over 10 years, switching to the Lutheran church when our boys were in a Lutheran school.

Now, for the first time in my life, we haven't attended services for @ 2 years, partly because I am too chicken to tell our old church that they *are* now old. I just came to a point where the ultraconservative viewpoints held by our pastor became unacceptable to me and I got tired of having to explain to the youngest just which of the propounded views we didn't believe. When the health crises have finally passed, I'll probably go back to the UCC Congregational church, although frankly, all the denominations have so much in common, I'm comfortable in most. I just really love the minister in that church, and he is a friend of the family.

As for the last, entirely personal, nosy, and obnoxious question...oh, goody! I'll look forward to the email. In my own defense...it would have been a *reallly* awful question if we weren't already friends offlist! Okay. *More* awful. (g) I've always said my tombstone should read, "She was a 'curious' woman."

Re: Nosy? Moi?

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

let's hear a good story about when you were a snot, hmmmm, Dad?

I really don't think there are any. There's just the common adolescent combination of arrogance, self-pity, and insensitivity.

Don't know what to ask...

[meerkat1.livejournal.com]

Right now my life is so stressed... that I can't think of any creative questions. So can I have a rain-check on this meme?

But I did want to note... that I am getting to know you so much better here on LJ than I did on the List... and that is wonderful... cause you are a pretty nifty person.

And the Great Divorce really affected my life and view of a version of Purgatory too. I would love to reread it *with* somebody sometime. You know... chapter by chapter and discuss it along the way.

Let me know if your interested.

Re: Don't know what to ask...

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

can I have a rain-check on this meme?

Sure; consider it open-ended. (And feel free to insert your question as a comment to any future post; this one's just the invitation.)

Let me know if your interested.

Sometime, yes. I can't just now, but maybe in a month or two.

[(Anonymous)]

(This is only anonymous because I haven't opened my own lj yet....)

My question is: Why don't you drive? It's a truly unusual thing, that, and to me quite impossible to imagine. Addendum question: If you -did- drive, what vehicle would you choose, and why?

~ Sunlizzard

[stoutfellow.livejournal.com]

I guess, mainly, it's that the costs, in effort and in money, of learning to drive (or of being a driver) outweigh the benefits. Most of the things I enjoy doing, I can do from within my own home - either directly, or via the 'Net. When I bought my house, I was careful to make sure that there was a grocery store and a bus stop within walking distance, and that's pretty much all I seem to need. There are, to be sure, inconveniences, but they don't strike me as severe, while the money that I don't spend on gas, and maintenance, and insurance, and the like is money that I can spend on the important things. (Like books...)

Starting about ten years ago, there was a period in which, every summer, I would say to myself that this is the year I'll learn to drive. The fifth time that summer went by without my making any progress in the matter, I decided that if I really wanted to, I would have done it by now. So I quit pretending, even to myself.

What would I drive? I've scarcely even considered the question. Nothing big, but beyond that I have no idea.

[hornedhopper.livejournal.com]

No, no, stoutfellow. If you *must* drive hypothetically, we want you safe, in a hypothetical big steel box (g)!