This Week's HodgePodge Q&A

Q&A:


1. My real life friends came through with another question this week so thank you real life friends.  When you've eaten in a restaurant do you complete their comment card? Do you take online surveys highlighted at the bottom of store receipts?

Can't say that I do. On a related note though, not long ago in a moment of boredom I decided to see what some of the 'get stuff free' sites were all about. I looked at several and went so far as to sign up for a few. I'm expecting a few free samples in the mail. One of the services, though, has been spamming me constantly claiming that I will be given hundreds of dollars for filling out surveys. That one's called 5-in-5, and it's a royal pain. Avoid!

E-bates is pretty swell. I made $10 cash back by doing a little online clothing shopping through them. Ditto MyPoints.com - I purchased a couple of gift cards through them and earned $10 cash back. Those weren't the fun ones thought. The fun ones, which I'd recommend having a look at, have been SocialToaster, CrowdTap, and Influenster. At SocialToaster, I easily earned a t-shirt, which they did actually ship to me free. At CrowdTap, I've almost made it to the $10 gift card reward, and at Influenster, I've enjoyed writing mini-reviews of a bunch of products - maybe they'll line me up for some free samples to review in the future. 

2. The (US) ban on women in combat was lifted at the end of January.  It will probably be next year before specifics are worked out but it's been reported over 200,000 front line positions will eventually open up to women.  Your thoughts?

Puts me in mind of a little poem I wrote back when I was an undergrad:

When the men are lost,

The cannon must be womanned

Lest the war be, too

Those lines were meant to pertain to the 'literary canon' - those classics chosen by the scholarly intelligentsia to represent the best of all literature - which used to be made up of all white men writing in English, but now includes both men and women of various ilks and nationalities...

I don't know, I guess I think that women shouldn't be disallowed from serving on the front lines. So in a sort of backwards way I arrive at the opinion that the new legislation is good. Equality wins.

3. In looking back at all the blog posts you've written, what's your favorite post title?

Hmm. I suppose it would be a little anecdote called With Apologies To All Of India.

4. What's worse-overly permissive parents or overly protective parents? Did your own parents lean toward the permissive or the protective category? If you're a parent where do you fall?

At first glance, my parents were very permissive. I was what we then-called a latch-key child, coming home to an empty house after school because both parents were working, which let me have the run of things... I think my parents' permissiveness was a necessity of their schedules. Had they been able to spend more time at home, they would likely have been more involved and authoritarian.

Below the surface, though, my parents exercised a measure of control over my behavior by instilling in me a desire to live up to their expectations. I'm not sure how they managed this feat, but I know I was as a child (and to some degree still am as a man) very concerned with making them proud of me, and very dismayed at the prospect of having them be disappointed in me. 

Being a latch-key kid gave me some valuable experience in looking after myself, not expecting things to be done for me... I am something of a free-spirit; I think under overly protective parents I would have rebelled more and had more issues with authority and probably behavioral problems. So in my estimation, overly protective is the worse parenting style.  

5. Candlelight-moonlight-firelight-bright lights in the big city....which one's your favorite?

Firelight without hesitation or doubt. Love how alive and immediate it is.

6. Dr. Seuss's birthday was celebrated on Saturday. What's a favorite book you remember (Seuss or otherwise) from your childhood?  Did books play an important role in your growing up years?  Explain.

I was quite a reader as a kid. My mom weaned me on Dr. Seuss and also read to me from other books... Herman Hesse's Siddhartha was one that I remember well. Pretty soon I was onto series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, Encyclopedia Brown, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings. I remember really digging Piers Anthony, too - especially his Xanth books, which were full of puns. By the time I hit middle school and was into Stephen King and Dean Koontz, being a reader was a big part of my identity. Still is, though I read less voraciously these days. Who would I be without books?

7. To quote Dr. Seuss...

"From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere." 

from One fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Q: How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

A: Fish.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

Not so random, but... did you know that the proper pronunciation of Seuss rhymes with 'voice'? We silly Americans are all saying it wrong!

Thanks to The Wednesday Hodgepodge for the questions this week. Thought-provoking as always.