Blog Questions Challenge: Ten Pointless Facts About Me

Thanks to my fedifriend Joel for nominating me for this challenge (after I had pestered him 😄).

Do you floss your teeth

Before I answer this, you must understand something about me: I strongly believe in truthfulness as a core virtue. Inasmuch as I am able, I never lie or purposefully dissimulate.

Of course I floss

Ok, humorous aside..., uh, aside, flossing is difficult for me as well. The gaps between my teeth are nonexistent, and I was never able to get into the habit of flossing as a youngster. Also, whenever I'd go to the dentist, invariably, the hygenist would forcefully snap the floss past the non-existent gaps between my teeth, treating each and every vulnerable little spot along my gums between my teeth to the dental equivalent to a wet towel snap against the butt. It not only hurt, it bled. Every time.

I use a combination of disposable flossers (I don't like the use of disposable plastic, but I'm not able to find a workable alternative at this time) and a waterpik instead of traditional flossing.

Tea, coffee, or water?

I'm fondest of tea, as I've been drinking it the longest.

I do drink coffee occasionally, but every time I drink it, I get that oddly alien feeling, like that Steve Buscemi "How do you do, fellow kids" meme, except it's more like, "How do you do, fellow coffee drinkers? This burnt bean broth is righteously provocative of a general wakeness, and the vaguely musty flavor is exceeding pleasant, no?"

Plain water I drink when I'm thirsty. I don't think of it so much as a drink, but a general consumable. I usually like to add something to it for flavor when I'm wanting to actually, uh, enjoy it. My current favorite additive is a few scoops of fine pellet ice, a splash of cranberry juice, and a good amount of stevia for sweetness. Shaken, not stirred. 😆

Footwear preference?

Man, I remember when Air Jordans were like a hundred bucks, and that was ridiculous. I don't care so much for brands, but I'm usually wearing something like New Balance or Adidas running or walking shoes, nothing fancy. I'd wear "trainers" with a three-piece suit, if I could get away with it. I don't see the point of pretty shoes that aren't comfortable. Also, I have fairly large feet, so it's almost like the comfort of my feet is proportionately important to me. 😅

Favourite dessert?

Hmm, so hard to decide. I really love a good baklava or halva, but also Key Lime Pie and Pecan Pie. I haven't had Key Lime in a really, really long time, so maybe that's my favorite, absence causing the heart to grow fonder.

The first thing you do when you wake up?

Not proud to admit it, but the very first thing I do is scroll the fediverse on Tusky on my phone while visiting the loo.

Age you’d like to stick at?

I usually say my brain stuck at 25, but having spent some time around 25-year-olds recently, I was shocked that they looked like... somewhat agèd children to me. 😂
So maybe I'm stuck at 35 now?

How many hats do you own?

I don't think I have any right now. Not that I could easily get my hands on, anyway. In the past, I've owned a few baseball caps and at least a couple cowboy hats (grow up in Texas and someone will just give you one, at some point).

Describe the last photo you took?

Good reminder, because I forgot to post it, but I haven't yet decided where to post it:
It's a photo of a magazine rack at a supermarket, and two magazines are visible. The top magazine is a TV Guide. The headline is "The CHOSEN" with other lines reading "The Last Supper — Jesus Breaks Bread During His Final Meal" and "Season 5 Key Moments." The image is a screencap from The Chosen where Jesus is breaking the bead and looking up in a prayerful and emotionally poignant look.
The bottom magazine is a "LIFE Explores" magazine with the headline "JESUS — How His Lessons, Miracles, and Devotion Changed the World." The image is from what appears to be a renaissance painting of the resurrected Jesus and His disciples.

I guess posting this is as good as posting the image itself. The reason I took the photo is because of the deeply conflicted feelings I had, seeing it. I was simultaneously happy to see a TV show I've genuinely and greatly enjoyed being promoted, yet at the same time felt conflicted because I felt the show has perhaps been declining from the purity of the Message by endorsing more minority theological positions.
I also had conflicted feelings with the second magazine, because while I genuinely love the message of the Gospel, I can't help but recall how the current benighted political administration is attempting to co-opt Christianity to further its own bloodthirsty ends.

So, is the presence of religiously-themed magazines a sign of a growing true devotion among people, or yet another cynical attempt to make money, or an abhorrently cynical push towards religion by those who would claim their own devotion while murdering innocents for their own benefit?

Worst TV show?

Hard to say, because if I really think a TV show is horrible, why would I continue watching it? And if I stop early on, how can I accurately judge how terrible it is? I think it's much easier to say what a horrible movie is, because it's more likely that you'd stick through the entire thing, then render a judgement on it, and feel justified in doing so, because you've seen the entire thing.

So, I think I'll modify the question to "Worst movie you've watched recently?"
That's easy to answer, it'll have to be Break Every Chain (2021).
Now, please understand. This is a Christian movie, and Christian movies are always horribly campy. But this is barely even a film. It's more like a stack of filmic vignettes pasted together with almost zero plot or character development. Throughout the viewing (which I had to break up in two days so that I didn't slip into insanity), I couldn't care less about the protagonist, and that's really saying something for me.

As a child, what was your aspiration for adulthood?

Both of my parents were highly-educated and involved in academia, so I always thought I'd end up getting a PhD in a technical field and teaching, even when I was kid. Unfortunately, that never happened, and probably never will. Academia isn't what it used to be, at least in the U.S. 🙄

100 Days to Offload 2025 - Day 24