when my nephews ezra and asa were last visiting i asked them if they'd rather eat peanut butter and honey sandwiches for every meal or chocolate cake. they both said cake. the next day as i was fixing lunch asa wanted to know where all the cake was. i tried to explain it was just a question--we were just imagining.
a couple of nights ago on a long family car drive, i overheard 6 year old bailey in the backseat telling carson how much she loved elvis and all his music. then she asked carson: "would you rather kiss elvis or die?" carson and marley both said they'd rather die.
i then asked all three of them if they would rather kiss elvis or the president. marley and carson chose the president. bailey was still stuck on elvis. they asked me to give them more questions. would you rather: be deaf or blind? suck your thumb until your 80 or smoke cigarettes all your life?(bailey is our only smoker) would you rather be caught picking your nose in public or eating out of a trash can? be a fish or a seagull?
the girls got really into it and started making up their own questions. bailey had some interesting ones: would you rather kick your own butt or slap your own hand? eat plastic or metal? eat 10 million hot dogs or 10 millions boogers? eat gas or fart gas? be eaten by a dinosaur or be eaten by a camel? hit mom or hit grandma?
by the end of the car ride our senarios had really digressed. they kept getting more stupid and disgusting. before we got out of the car my mom made the little girls promise to keep this a family game. they are never allowed to play with their friends.
today drying dishes in the kitchen, carson came up with a brilliant one. would you rather be deaf or blind and deaf? tough choice there.
i am particularly fond of scenarios. in college my friend beth teased me about a lion scenario that i constantly played out in my mind. wherever we went i would imagine my escape if a lion were to suddenly enter the scene. most of the time i found a way to escape, sometimes it was impossible, sometimes i was able to save a few other people, sometimes i sacrificed myself to save other people.
when we were teenagers beth typed up extensive questionnaires and passed them out to everyone she knew. i loved answering all her random questions, and even more, i loved reading everyone's answers after they turned them back into her. she kept them in a file.
from all my time spent living and working at a camp, having long distance friendships, and leading small groups--i've grown quite accustomed to probing people with ridiculous and occasionally deep questions. if you were a fruit what kind would you be? if you had to live inside a movie which would you choose?
i am equally fond of personality tests. i've taken too many myself, and as i'm getting to know people, i try to figure out their myers/briggs letters.
scenarios and personalities--i can't resist them, but i'm not very good at answering questions myself. i take them entirely too seriously. my sister michelle once asked me to choose a character from a movie that best fit my picture of my soul mate. i immediately thought of dead poets society, but no specific character from the movie worked. that question drove me nuts for weeks and months. i still keep a mental list of characters from movies who have qualities i like, but no one is right. and worse than that question was when she asked which fictional character i most identified with? i have yet to find one.
so in honor of ridiculous questions, here's a few for people who enjoy answering them:
1. would you rather sit on a porcupine or a burning log? (my dad came up with this one in the car)
2. would you rather kiss elvis or the president? (in honor of bailey)
3. would you rather travel back in time or forward into the future?
4. what one superpower would you most like to have?
5. what one talent would you like to have?
6. what made you smile today?
7. what color best describes your life right now?
8. what's your personality type?
9. what fictional character would you like to be?
and in honor of personality tests, here's a pretty good one:lord of the rings test
1.would you rather sit on a porcupine or a burning log? (my dad came up with this one in the car)
Burning log - atleast I wouldn't hurt a porcupine.
2. would you rather kiss elvis or the president? (in honor of bailey)
president. I don't kiss dead people.
3. would you rather travel back in time or forward into the future?
Future. we are already a composite of the past.
4. what one superpower would you most like to have?
Love. I think we all already have it.
5. what one talent would you like to have?
Being a good friend.
6. what made you smile today?
Your post.
7. what color best describes your life right now?
Slate blue.
8. what's your personality type?
Yes
9. what fictional character would you like to be?
Nanuck of the north
10. Aragorn (Stryder) Son of Arathorn
Aragorn's decisions often seem against conventional wisdom, but he knows what to do and why it must be done, regardless of the cost.
...cool stuff!
Take Care
Michael
1. burning log
2. elvis
3. back in time
4. the power to heal
5. artistic ability
6. conversation
7. slate blue/grey
8. i took that test but i forget
9. alice
lily and i got into the blind vs. deaf discussion a few weeks ago. lily would prefer to be blind. i'd prefer deafness.
Posted by: amy at November 11, 2004 09:34 PM1. Porcupine
2. GW, baby
3. back in time
4. the ability to read people's minds
5. drawing, painting, etc.
6. many things but the highlight was probably a random call from my dad in the middle of the afternoon
7. they're on opposite ends of the spectrum, but smoky blue and burnt red
8. I have no idea-is crazy a choice?
9. Emily in Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, and Emily's Quest
P.S. I so love your blog. I know I don't comment very often but I always read it and I'm updating my link to include it RIGHT NOW. :)
would you rather have diarrhea on the hour every hour or a snotty nose that ran constantly....thinking about nighttime also makes this one difficult. enjoy. love ya kel.
Posted by: Erin Weaver at November 11, 2004 10:35 PM1 - porcupine
2 - the president
3 - back in time
4 - i just got back from seeing the incredibles and i want to be like violet. (force fields...and talking to boys)
5 - musical talent (singing, the patience to keep up with an instrument...)
6 - seeing a boy i used to have in the three-year-old class at day care...he's around 10 or 11 now, and all grown up with long curly hair
7 - grey
8 - infj all the way
9 - seriously, i always wanted to be joon (i thought movies, not books)
10 - i was "most like denethor...people like you are rare..."
and i'd rather be blind. we have the "would you rather..." books in youth group. i'm always the only one who'd rather be blind. it's probably not the most practical, (you can't very well drive a car when you're blind, as the kids always point out) but it would be my choice, if i got to choose.
Posted by: steph at November 11, 2004 11:31 PM1. Hmmm. I'd have to go with the burning log. Sitting on it would put it out... Oh wait. Do you get to wear pants? Well, I guess I'd still go with the log.
2. Could I just sit on that porcupine?
3. Back.
4. That one like those twins in The Matrix or the blue guy in X-Men 2
5. You mean I'd have to give them all up except for one!?
6. "Would you rather hit mom or hit grandma?"
7. Black (Oooooo!)
8. The kind that doesn't take personality tests
9. Well, I was having such a hard time choosing that my wife picked for me. She said I should be the gypsy character played by Johnny Depp in Chocolat... hey, wait a minute!
Fun!
1. Porcupine...burning flesh is not my thing
2. Elvis
3. Back in time...being a kid was fun
4. ability to fly
5. read people's minds
6. I'm going with Joseph..."Hit mom or hit grandma?"
7. blue
8. Introvert
9. Lucy from 50 First Dates...not forever though
Burning Log
Elvis
Back in time (not back in time in my own life but maybe during the 20's or 40's)
tough choice between flying, and being invisible
Singing
My son breathing on my face as I was sleeping and then laughing when I opened my eyes
Neutral colors
People Pleaser
Claire from six feet under
Gimli, Son of Gloin
Gimli engages in a friendly slaying competition with Legolas, showing his mastery of his instrument of choice, the axe.
You are good with tools and instruments. You are not shy at telling others what to do. Time alone is important and solitary activities refresh you. You have good observational skills. In your desire for clarity in life, you may have the tendency of being remote or even "heartless". You like keeping your options open. Closure is probably not one of your strong suits.
Like Boromir, you are not content to sit on the sidelines while the action takes place around you.
Traits: Open minded, easy going, persuassive, optimistic about the future. On the dark side you could be exploitative and an opportunist.
I only posted the whole thing because I think it's pretty accurate, in some respects.
Posted by: Carla at November 12, 2004 09:04 AM1.thinking about how long it would take to get those quills out I think I'd rather roast my butt
2.is Elvis dead? I'll go with Elvis thinking he isn't.
3.i'm such a present day person i'm not even sure. today i will say past. i'd go back to junior high and change a few things with my adult confidence - i'd be myself and i would be kinder to the kids we made fun of and not worry about fitting in.
4.metabolism so i could go eat a box of grasshopper cookies
5.i'd like to be a really good sculptor
6.this post made me cry in the library - i'm not kidding the people around me were watching me wipe my eyes on my shirt
7.since moods often define my life lets say that my mood right now is that color that rises off hot pavement and distorts things due to my current lack of coffee consumption mixed with that burnt orange you only see in the fall because the day still holds possibility.
8.ENFP
9.Star from The Lost Boys - she's beautiful, frail, strong and a gypsy all at the same time and Clementine from The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
1. would you rather sit on a porcupine or a burning log? (my dad came up with this one in the car)
i would rather sit on neither, but if it was life or death i think that i would sit on a burning log....who doesn't like a hot butt.:)
2. would you rather kiss elvis or the president? (in honor of bailey)
The president of course as long as we are talking about GWB...you know he is my hommie...haha
3. would you rather travel back in time or forward into the future?
In the future because I've somehow convinced myself its going to be better then the present.
4. what one superpower would you most like to have?
no superpower...as superman's uncle said "With great power come great responsibility" I don't want that responsibility.
5. what one talent would you like to have?
i would like two singing and dancing.
6. what made you smile today?
talking to frodo baggins on the phone today...i love the laughter.
7. what color best describes your life right now?
blue...midnight blue...
8. what's your personality type?
ENFJ/P (I scored equally on j and p)
9. what fictional character would you like to be?
i'm a real character...not sure i would want to be a fictional one too...haha
and in honor of personality tests, here's a pretty good one:lord of the rings test
Eowyn, Lady of Rohan...but i know who i really am...samwise gamgee...i've seen it before and i stick by it.
1. First of all how long do I have to sit there? and second, I guess a burning log -- porcupine quills have barbs that hook you
2. the president....european style on both cheeks
3. back in time -- I've always wanted to meet my mom when she was kid
4. Invisible, although I liked Amy's "the power to heal"
5. teaching, the way that makes learning magical
6. Marlow and her big happy baby grin
7. Green
8. Gee, Kel, you know this better then me -- I just remember that I am an "I_ _ _ _" -- not too helpful
9. a cross of Huckleberry Hound and Laura Croft
michael. thanks for answering. i didn't even consider hurting the porcupine. you are kind.
amy. i believe you were an infj. (i'm the personality geek)
i'd definitely have to side with you over lily on this issue. there are many things i would give up before sight.
heidi. thank you. i'm smoky blues and rusty colors as well.
erin. thanks for making me laugh. after much consideration, i think i'd actually have to go with the diarrhea. i'd rather have hourly issues than constant ones.
steph. i want to see the incredibles. you're crazy for preferring blindness to being deaf(but then again you did want to be joon). and i think you are an infp.
joseph. since you don't take personality tests, i'll guess that you are an istj. and amy and i decided that black is good--classic, simple, kind of all-encompassing.
courtney. i'm with you on flying, but i would be afraid to read people's minds. i think your talent is in the karate department.
carla. i think invincibility could get you in trouble. you should fly instead. and i don't know who claire is, but i like the name. it means: giver of light.
meesh. you don't need to want to be clementine. you're pretty close already...all you need is the hair color.
james. you make me laugh. i don't know why you took that test again, you are forever samwise.
a. i've had daydreams about hanging out with mom as a kid too. i told her you wrote that and she said she thinks you would have been good friends. i imagine her to be kind of like kt. and i think you have the jesus personality type--right in the middle of all the letters, and so too perfectly balanced to be anything specific...but i could be wrong.
you're right...infp...i'm silly. : )
i just really can't go without music, hence the blindness over deafness. but i'm thankful i have full use of all senses right now.
Posted by: steph at November 13, 2004 11:47 PM1. Porcupine
2. GW
3. Back in time
4. Teleportation (oh, and Jay, it wasn't superman's uncle that said "With great power come great responsibility" it was Spiderman's uncle.
5. Ability to give unceasingly
6. a message saying "I love you" from my fiance.
7. Pink
8. ESFJ
9. Violet Baudelaire - for her inventing abilities, not the unfortunate events surrounding her life.
Oh, and I'd rather be deaf than blind. I think I could know more by site than by sound. I think I'd keep site over any other sense.
If you could only have one of your 5 senses, which would you keep?
rachel. thanks for answering the questions. if i could only keep one, it would be touch. and second to that would be sight.
Posted by: kelly at November 15, 2004 07:49 PMKelly, That's exactly what my fiance said. Touch first, then sight. I think I'd have to agree. And smell would be the first to go.
Posted by: Rachel at November 16, 2004 10:53 AMWhat a neat idea...
1. A porcupine. Once the quills were out I think the pain would be manageable. Burns are miserable for a long time.
2. Elivs as long as he sings "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You."
3. Back in time. There are a lot of things I would do differently.
4. Flying. I have always wanted to be able to fly.
5. For some strange reason I have this intense desire to knit. I have no earthly idea how to do it. I'm assuming I can find a book and teach myself. However, it would be much easier if I could just be a naturally gifted knitter...if there is such a thing.
6. Reading this post
7. Green...there seems to be a lot of growth happening. How exciting!!
8. Another ESFJ
9. Samwise Gamgee - I love him. Interestingly, I completed the test you linked to and that's who I was...Samwise. Yeah!!
9.
Posted by: Deb at November 17, 2004 09:26 AMdeb. i took the lordoftherings test with my sister jamie a couple years ago. she was samwise and i was frodo, so we decided we should be best friends.
Posted by: kelly at November 17, 2004 04:36 PM