Now that our lives are digitized I sometimes miss the days of honest to goodness human interaction. Sitting around with friends, having a real conversation, listening to stories of the days when, well, when people knew how to listen. Yesterday I drove downtown to Jimmy’s Italian Food Store to purchase ingredients for the Italian feast I am preparing tomorrow night for some IRL friends. I rarely drive to Dallas, it’s a freakin’ hassle to navigate construction and all of the gas-powered cell phones on the highways these days, but being a brave woman of the 21st Century I did it, for the love of food.
OMG! It’s true if you drive a Mercedes, BMW or big ass SUV there is no one more important than you on the road. I witnessed drivers in each of those vehicles run over into someone else’s lane in front of me. Luckily the other drivers swerved out of the way and avoided a collision. When I blew past to get the hell away from their crazy asses, I noticed each time the driver was holding a damn cell phone!
How timely it was that last night I received an email from my dad with this subject line:
The day has arrived – Einstein was right. Here’s a link to what followed.
I love my friends and family. I also love my cyber pals, and so, today when I read my friend Brigitte’s post, as her posts usually make me do, I smiled and decided to join in the fun and answer the questions that had been posed to her by two other bloggers.
Brigitte always adds worthwhile comments to the conversation here at HonieBriggs, and recently she commented on one of my posts about our trip to Italy asking, “where was the female representation?” Well, after going through more photos this morning, I finally found some.
Today’s pics are thanks to Brigitte! 😉 Here, just for fun, are my answers. Also included are links to some of my best kept secrets from the past year. Feel free to read them. Or not.
- Would you rather drive or ride in a vehicle?
I’m a driver. Definitely a good driver.
- Would your ideal evening be spent alone or with others?
It depends on who the “others” are.
- Are you a Day-person or a Night Owl?
I become a day person around noon.
- Talk radio or music in the car?
Sometimes music, but mostly silence. Oh, and yelling. Almost always some yelling.
- How much time do you spend at work, including traveling both ways?
Yeah, I’ve got nothing for this one.
- If you were to enroll in college today, what course of study would you choose?
Emergency Administration and Planning / Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Fiction or Non-fiction?
Fiction is just non-fiction funded by beautiful benevolent princesses who send it on a voyage in a rainbow colored rocket ship to discover new worlds where natural resources never end and the guardians of all life are wise and handsome princes.
- Live TV or On Demand?
For those times when there’s absolutely nothing else to do or when I need some serious down time, nothing beats the DVR.
- Plane, train or automobile?
D: All of the above, I wish I had my own plane though.
- Black or brown shoes?
No shoes required
- Swimming, walking or jogging?
What! Napping isn’t a choice? GAAAAHHHHH! Then I choose walking.
- What got you into blogging?
As if everyone isn’t already sick of hearing this. Self-love is pretty much my major motivation for blogging. I don’t want to lose what little sanity I have left. So, I write to give the voices an outlet.
- What have you learned about yourself through your blog?
I might be the only person who thinks I’m funny, but there are gracious people in the world who don’t mind humoring me.
- When you aren’t blogging what do you do?
Sword fight or sleep. Sometimes I sword fight in my sleep.
- If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go?
Home
- What’s your greatest vice?
The greatest one is…keeping the rest of them from killing me.
- Who is/was your greatest influence in your life?
My father
- Who is your favorite author?
Rudyard Kipling
- What music do you prefer to listen to?
Music swirls around my head almost all of the time, sometimes even when I’m sword fighting in my sleep. It’s probably easier to say what I don’t prefer. That’s easy, country music and death metal.
- If you could, who would you like to have cook for you?
Julia Child
- Imagine that you could meet anyone living or dead, who would it be and what would you say?
Oppenheimer – Dude, what the hell?
- Are you happy?
Happiness is subjective. I prefer to think of myself as willing to accept graciousness with gratitude and assholes with attitude. That really makes me happy!
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
Honie Briggs 
I’d like to hear more about your sword fighting! 🙂
It’s just silly word play. The pen is mightier than the sword thing. Not real sword play. That would be dangerous! 🙂
I really do wonder if alien archeologists someday visiting the long-dead Earth will ascribe the fall of humankind to the internet and cell phones. Excluding the real human horror shows (terrorists, abusers, politicians, etc.), the two groups who top my list of Worst Friggin’ Humans On The Planet: spammers and cell phoning drivers. They make me wish for those magical Twilight Zone powers of being able to give them a fantasy experience so horrifying that they change their ways forever.
Studies have shown that driving while on the cell phone (the “eLeash” I call it) is about as impairing as driving drunk. When I go out with certain friends, they know they have two options: put that f**king thing away or lose it. I WILL break it into tiny pieces. Head up the ass; head in the cell phone. Same thing, as far as I can tell.
And here’s yet another “gift” of the interweb…. Einstein apparently never said that quote (which is now, nevertheless, immortalized on countless blogs). Poor old Albert is one of the most mis-quoted people ever. Any time someone wants to add a little “omph” to an idea, they claim Einstein said it. (There are whole lists of things he never said! :grin:)
But it’s on the interweb, so it must be right! We are so, so, so doomed.
(Loved your answers to the questions!!)
Thanks Wyrd Smythe,
I certainly don’t want to attribute anything to Poor old Albert that he didn’t really say. That just ruins our credibility, mine and his 🙂 So, here’s a new quote that I think means the same thing about people who drive around on their phone.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
Oh, I hate being the overly pedantic ahole who ruins everyone’s fun, but in so far as I am an overly pedantic ahole, I have bad news: Old Al probably didn’t say that, either.
That one, at least, is disputed. That quote seems to come from Frederick S. Perls’ 1969 book Gestalt Theory Verbatim, where he quotes something Einstein supposedly said to him. He quotes it again in a 1972 book where he adds the part about not being sure if the universe is infinite. Most authorities seem to feel he was doing what is often done: using Einstein to add that special cachet to an idea.
There is a 1880 book by Guy de Maupassant where he quotes Gustave Flaubert saying, “But who knows? The earth has its boundaries, but human stupidity is infinite!” There is also a 1887 book by Jules-Paul Tardivel which includes a piece from 1880 where he writes, “today I know that there is no limit to human stupidity, it is infinite.”
If Einstein even did say it, he may have been quoting one of those French authors. Thing is, when you read stuff Einstein actually wrote, he’s not prone to calling average people stupid (although he does say that about some politicians).
Anyway…. 🙂
Well hell Smythy! 🙂
I think Oppenheimer would have agreed with you, Honie! If you had said, “Dude, what the hell,” I bet he would have said, “Man, I honestly don’t know.” He was actually extremely conflicted and tormented about what he created. And I really hope that scientists develop a driving cell-phone user-seeking missile so that we can just take out these menaces. Meh.
I know! Where’s Oppenheimer when you need him? Really!
First of all, I have a wonderful pic of you weaving in and out of traffic, cursing. You’re are my girl because I do the same thing. I’m guessing that any store named Jimmy’s Italian Food Store was worth the drive. Second, I freakin’ love all the womanly pics you’ve displayed because they are so curvy and womanly and well, it’s Italy. Third…I’m just gonna stop with the numbers thing and write before I lose count. I also love the quiet while driving in my car and the way in which you answered that fiction or non fiction question shows me just what a creative/deep person you are. I’ve read poems of yours here (and in your book) that remind me of Kipling’s “If” and I believe that was intended. Honie, you are funny so it’s not just me trying to make you feel good or humoring you. The person that you’d like to meet is indirectly much like my answer.
Thank you, Honie. I just think you are wonderful, talented and funny and you’re mentioning me is just so great. Thanks for playing and I too miss the face-to-face. I’m thinking you and I could have some great wine talks. ;). Love that Einstein quote and sadly, I fear it may come to that but I’m going to go with the good thoughts that we won’t let that happen. Thank you, friend and THANK YOU for participating and giving me a glimpse into your life. Have a wonderful weekend.
First of all…wine talks! I like the sound of that. Second, Thanks Brigitte, for everything! 🙂