Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Question time

No one's leaving me shiny new comments today. What's up with that? Did I offend everyone by blogging about Israel?* Is everyone in a heat-induced coma?

Well, wake up, damn it!

To amuse me -- er, you -- for the rest of the day, let's play a little game called "Ask Dara anything."

Go ahead. Ask me a question. Seriously, anything. And I'll answer it.



*Apparently, my Israel post got mentioned by Slate. Who knew?

29 comments:

Melissa said...

Have you ever had sex in an airplane?

You said to ask. Seriously. What did you expect me to do?

dara said...

Velvet, thanks for playing. And this is a good question.

The answer is no, though. I'm a little claustrophobic and airplane bathrooms are way too tiny. I have yet to fly on a private jet, though.

Justin S. said...

Dara:

What's the deal with vegemite?

Sincerely,
Justin

Bonus question: Have you ever had vegemite on an airplane?

2nd Bonus Question: Have you ever had sex on a beach (not the drink)?

3rd Bonus Question: Have you ever passed out in front of Gumby's Pizza?

dara said...

Let me ask my Australian assistant about the vegemite. Her response to follow.

And to the bonus questions:
No. I have never eaten vegemite.
Yes. (Duh, I grew up in Florida.)
Yes, but you knew that.

Justin S. said...

Congrats on the Slate mention. I knew you when....

Ok. So I talked to MY Australian co-worker, and here's the deal with vegemite.

You spread it really thin between two pieces of toast, maybe with a little butter. If you can't see through the vegemite to the toast, you spread it too thick.

It is apparently "delicious."

And it's also an excellent cure for hangovers.

dara said...

You got more information than me. All I got was a laugh, and "Seriously?" I did, however, look it up on Wikipedia, which confirms your results.

dara said...

Isn't anyone going to ask me my favorite color or the air speed velocity of a swallow?

Miss Scarlet said...

So, favorite color?

dara said...

To quote Nine Inch Nails, "Black as my soul."

No, really it's teal green, which happens to be the color of the sweater I'm wearing today.

And, yes, I'm wearing a sweater. It's a summer weight cashmere/pima cotton blend, and my office is overairconditioned to the point of being friggin' freezing.

Ryane said...

what about, favorite way to beat this freaking heat here in DC?? (while not eating very thinly spread vegemite on toast, or having sex in an airplane bathroom?? ;-)

dara said...

Ryane, just don't go outside. Really. Avoid it as much as you can.

I can work my commute so that I spend less than 5 minutes outdoors each way. I strongly encourage this type of behavior.

Or, go to San Francisco. It was 69 degrees today during the Nats afternoon game vs. the Giants.

The White's said...

Believe it or not, the first question that came to my mind was the air speed velocity of a swallow.

Great minds . . .

Rel question, who will have a better football record - the Gators or the Noles?

dara said...

I'm going go out on a limb and say that the Noles will have a better record. But I'm biased.

And honestly, as long as they win the ACC, does the rest even matter?

Moreover, I won't be disappointed if the Gators do well. I just don't want them to win over Thanksgiving weekend.

Justin S. said...

Hello Dara,

New question. Why do all Florida football teams suck?

Pre-emptively... Yes, I know Illinois and Ron Zook suck. And Badger bashing doesn't hurt that much.

dara said...

Justin, Florida football teams suck because you're jealous.

Nicole said...

I'm going to resist the urge to jump into the fray about Florida football teams, as you know how I feel about that.... Congrats on the Slate mention. No questions yet, but I'm thinking....

dara said...

Nicole, I do know how you feel about the Florida teams. And for 10 years, you've known that, when faced with the choice, I'm rooting for my college team over my law school team. It's understandable.

Loyalty is a good quality. So, I understand why your husband remains a Kansas City Royals fan. Although, the Noles are a lot easier to root for -- they're a way better team than the Royals.

Jason said...

Two related questions.

a) What album do you tell people is your favorite in order to seem cool?

b) What is it really?

Bonus:

c) Why do we lie about our tastes?

dara said...

Hmm, if I were really trying to be cool, I would disavow most of my CD collection. Or get rid of the residual boy band and heavy metal CD's.

My favorite album, start to finish -- for my entire adult life -- is U2's Achtung Baby, but it barely inches out The Joshua Tree and The Unforgettable Fire.

This is not to be cool. If I were trying to be cool, I'd probably say Zeppelin 4 - which I love, but not as much. Not even close to how much I love Bon Jovi's New Jersey or {secretly} Daryl Hall & John Oates Out of Touch.

When I was in high school, I got in a fistfight with my sister -- our only violent fight ever -- over a cassette of Def Leppard's Hysteria. So far, that's the only album I've ever found worth fighting for.

I don't know why people lie about their tastes. I guess it's to seem cooler or to fit in with their peers. Maybe it's because, at least until a certain age, they're embarrassed to be different?

I generally don't lie about my tastes -- anymore -- especially since so may people that actually know me read this blog, and they've seen what's on my shelves. But when I was in college I sat through some weird-ass goth concerts to impress a boy. I'd never do that again.

Justin S. said...

I don't know how cool it would be to say Zeppelin 4. It's almost so obvious as to be uncool to say that's your favorite.

My favorite is Tom Petty's Greatest Hits, but greatest hits should probably be disqualified. Beyond that, it's hard to single one album... Led Zeppelin One, The Joshua Tree, Dark Side of the Moon and Born in the U.S.A. come to mind, though.

As for albums that would be possibly embarrasingly high on my list... Carole King - Tapestry, Supertramp - Breakfast in America, and Dixie Chicks - Home (I've gotten plenty of crap for the Dixie Chicks lately).

And maybe most embarassing, there's a Spin Doctors live album called "Homebelly Groove" that I really love.

Justin S. said...

Ok, I almost forgot my album that I'd say to sound cool... Radiohead - "The Bends"

It's a very solid album, critics and indie types both love Radiohead, and I would get extra cool points for picking an album that came out even before there's biggest critical success, "OK Computer."

It's probably a choice that would honestly fall in my top 10, but Bruce, U2, Petty and Zeppelin would edge it out.

dara said...

Justin, greatest hits are always disqualified. But Journey's Greatest Hits would definitely rank up there with one of my not-so-cool favorites.

In retrospect, it's clearly less cool for me to admit that Achtung Baby is my favorite and not The Joshua Tree. So, is that the answer to Jason's part (a) and (b)?

In certain contexts, I've been known to say that Abbey Road was my favorite album. It's one of my top 10, and I do have that poster in my living room. (Although I have The Joshua Tree poster in my bedroom; which is more important?) Maybe that's a better answer to Jason's part (a).

Ryane said...

oK. This question would be for the blogger-nerd (ie: me) amongst us. How do I post links to other blogs as a sidebar? I have tried to figure it out and I am a moron...you must know b/c you (very kindly) posted mine and I want to return the favor...=-)

dara said...

There are a couple ways to do it. The basic way is to do it in your template. In the sidebar section, you could create a links section. (I had a sample, but blogger won't let me post it as a comment. If you e-mail me at darao_75(at)yahoo(dot)com, I'll send it to you.)

Another way is by creating a blogroll of links through a website like Blogrolling, and just paste the html code into your sidebar.

The other way, which I don't know that much about, is to post a list of the feeds you read through a blog reader like bloglines. Personally, I don't know how to do it, but I've heard that it's possible.

Anonymous said...

Would you rather watch a movie with a monkey in it, or a movie with a robot in it?

dara said...

Peter, you haven't used that name in quite some time.

It depends.

Is it a cartoon? Is it a horror flick? Is it sci-fi?

If sci-fi, then definitely robot. If horror, then it's a toss-up. But monkeys win if it's a cartoon.

However, I'm really waiting for a romantic comedy featuring both a monkey and a robot.

HomeImprovementNinja said...

Okay, I have a question. What is something that you enjoy doing but you wouldn't normally tell people about it because it's embarrassing/dorky/pathetic?

dara said...

Ninja, I feel like I tell everyone everything via this blog! Nothing is off limits.

Okay, I generally don't disclose the true extent of my OCD. That's something that would scare some people. But I really do alphabetize almost everything and organize my closet in color order.

Um, probably the geekiest thing I do -- and don't really talk about -- is keep scrapbooks. But lately, that means that I keep things in piles to eventually put into theoretical scrapbooks when I get a chance.

I think this is sort-of related to the OCD. I have a hard time letting go of things like ticket stubs and the like.

Similarly, I really enjoyed the blog post where I took pictures to catalogue all of my shoes. Kind of pathetic.

dara said...

Peter: I'm glad you and your nephew figured that one out for yourself. But, from what I remember, Peter Parker was bitten by the radioactive spider in a lab in New York City.

You should probably warn your nephew that spider bites can be very painful.