Idiom Savant

And You May Tell Yourself, "Hi Ho! What Have I Done?"

I'll get back to posting... you know, actual content eventually, but first...

...I just wanted to make sure we were all caught up on what the latest Best Thing On The Internet is.

You Can't Spell "Quandary" Without "Q And A"

Below you will find five questions that have been posed to me by Lady Marmastew, along with the answers I have provided for them. This activity is the continuation of an Internet "meme," which is a Greek word meaning "my blog is on life support because I can't ever think of anything original to write about."

1: You have one of the best memories for pop culture of anyone I know. How do you do it? Do you try, or is it natural?

Thanks. I guess it's pretty natural at this point -- if you're interested in something, it just kind of follows that you would embrace it, explore it, investigate it, and just generally try to understand it as best you could. I couldn't really tell you how I happen to know half of the stuff I know; mostly, it's just the natural curiosity I think we all have to know what the stories are behind the things we like. I like context; I like knowing how this song, or that TV show, or that movie, fits into the larger conversation the world is always having with itself.

I'm pretty sure this all started with me imprinting on my big brother, who is also extremely knowledgeable about pop culture and was my first gateway to interesting music. (The first song I specifically remember listening to with him was "Killer Queen," not a bad way to start. He also turned me on to Archie comics, Mad magazine, and the Three Investigators.) His influence has waned a bit, since I've grown to be much, much smarter and better looking than he is, but I definitely wanted to be just like him when I was younger. Also, having a father with an appreciation for old character actors didn't hurt. (We used to beg Dad to do his Mr. Howell impersonation -- only recently did it occur to me it might have started out as a Mr. Magoo impersonation.)

All that being said, I must add the caveat I always add when somebody compliments me on knowing a bunch of worthless shit about old TV shows: While that may be true, I have, more than once, forgotten the birthdays of every member of my immediate family. So... don't be like me, is what I'm saying.

2: If I gave you two plane tickets to anywhere in the continental US and a free hotel, where would you go and who would you take? Assume money is not an object.

Chicago. I've been promising a few people who live there that I'd come visit them for a while now. Plus I'd just like to see the city -- roam her streets, feel her winds, glory at her lake-effect snows, eat her deep-dish pizza, ride her subways, if that's what they call them there. And since you're giving me the tickets… do you wanna come with? Seriously, it'd be a hoot.

3: What political issue bugs you the most?

My inclinations, sympathies and votes almost always skew left -- but I am not what I would call a very political person, in that I don't actively advocate a certain set of beliefs or regularly petition the government to take action on a certain issue. Besides the requisite ambivalence and laziness I am legally required to exhibit as a member of Generation X, there are many reasons for this, one being that I don't like arguments. Not just because I seek harmony and agreement in all things, but also because I'm always afraid I'm not smart enough to win. I fear being shown up as the idiot I always suspect I actually am. Also, there's this weird empathic urge I have to see all possible sides of any given issue.

That said: gay marriage. That any government would specifically forbid two people of the same gender from entering into the same legal compact that it grants indiscriminately every day to M/F couples just makes no sense to me. (This fits into a general vague belief of mine that government should just leave us the fuck alone more often -- I may be becoming at least a small-L libertarian.) Really, not just marriage -- any systematic denial to gay people of the rights regularly afforded to everyone else chaps my hide. I can understand a church not allowing gays to marry; I would not agree with that church's moral argument, but a religious organization has the right to give or withhold its blessings however it sees fit. But I think one has to separate "marriage as a religious sacrament" from "marriage as a legal and social agreement between two consenting adults." Or, hell, two or more consenting adults, come to that. I mean, why not? Why can't I enter into any kind of agreement I want to with any other person or group of people I choose?

Now, have I done anything about this? No.

4: You're a great singer, and seem to love to do it. Have you ever been involved in a choir/chorus, etc?

You're very sweet to say this -- but really, are you completely insane? I don't think I'm a very good singer at all. I have serious problems carrying a tune, or even figuring out what note I should be going for at any given time in the song. But, thank you for saying that, anyway. Yes, I was in junior choir at my church, as a pre-teen. The highlight for me was playing Pharaoh in our little production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," my first and only contact with the works of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (besides singing selections from "Evita" as Slim Whitman, strictly for my own amusement).

5: If you could go back in your life to any particular era just for a little while, what would you revisit and why?

Summer, mid-to-late '70s, during one of our multi-family beach vacations where we'd get a big house for a week or more. "Multi-family" is the key here -- other kids to hang out with were essential, since my siblings and I pretty much detested each other at this point. On one trip, I had a little inflatable raft with a Rebel flag on it, before I fully understood the political implications of it. Another time, the moms devised a scheme whereby each kid would get one glass for the whole week that he was responsible for, keeping it washed, etc. If you wanted a drink, you used that one glass. Obviously, the goal was to reduce consumption of… something, I'm not sure. But it was my glass. It had my name on it. I have no idea why I remember that one detail. Also, one of those trips was the first time I saw "Star Wars." I was having fun, I was happy, my mom and dad were happy, and as the years went on all of those things happened with less and less frequency.

So if you want to play along and now be interviewed by me, please leave me a comment or send an email saying: "Interview me."
* I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
* You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
* You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
* Then others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions and so on.
* Eventually, the continual loss of thermodynamic energy will lead to the heat death of the universe.