Now that I’ve got some bitching out of the way.

January 15th – Polite company:
‘It’s never a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don’t really know.’ Agree or disagree?
Interesting. When dad got heavy into Jesus and spirituality over ten years ago, he would embarrass the shit out of me anywhere we went. Why? Well, he’s a dad, so he’s going to do that anyway; however, I was embarrassed because he’d talk to the person behind us in line at the grocery store about being spiritual, or giving up control of your life to Jesus, or my favorite: ‘what is your relationship with your father like?’ I’m looking around for an escape route just thinking back on it. The problem is, I don’t even know what percentage of listeners was positive response and what was negative response because I never waited to hear it. As soon as he’d turn to someone, I was just short of putting my fingers in my ears and saying la-la-la. He never got punched and if he got shut down, he never reacted, so maybe the response was more positive than I can remember.
I think people can be touchy about each topic – religion and politics. If someone asked me if I believe in God, I would say, yes. If someone asked me who I voted for, I’d say, I didn’t because I didn’t know enough about either candidate (which speaks more about my laziness or apathy than my political viewpoint). These are important topics and I think we should be discussing them because they’re mentally stimulating, if anything. I don’t think many topics are taboo if someone were to ask me, but a great deal would depend on the manner in which the question was asked. I mean, I don’t directly ask people how they feel about sexism or overt sexuality, but once I was in line behind a lady at American Eagle and I looked down at these men’s boxers – they had popsicles on them and said “Lick me” or something like that. I laughed and said, oh my God, how inappropriate. She gave me a “yeah, okay, whatever, I either don’t agree with you or I just don’t want to talk to you” reaction and I immediately thought, I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware these particular boxers were getting your son blowjobs, does he need another pair?
My point, yeah, I had one is that if I had tapped her on the shoulder and said, “how do you feel about sexually suggestive themes on men’s undergarments?” she might have reacted even less socially. I think it’s all about the approach, to be honest. If you want to talk about politics or religion with strangers, go for it – but find a way that won’t make people unnecessarily uncomfortable. The last thing (I would think) most of us want is to hear what we should or shouldn’t believe in or what we should or shouldn’t do, especially from someone we don’t know who is now bothering us while we’re trying to pay for our toilet paper and Vanity Fair. 

January 16 – Toot your horn:
Most of us are excellent at being self-deprecating, and are not so good at the opposite. Tell us your favorite thing about yourself.
Oh God, my favorite thing about myself? Well, um. Favorite thing.. favorite thing.. yes, you’re right, this is quite hard. I want to say “I think I’m pretty witty sometimes” but even that has an edge of self-deprecation. Okay, maybe my favorite thing about myself is that I am comfortable being alone. I recently made this argument in a tumblr post, but it’s like being able to laugh at yourself and you’ll never run out of things to laugh at: if you’re comfortable being alone, you’ll always be able to do things without others. Seems obvious and redundant, right? I just mean that you can see a movie by yourself instead of waiting for someone to become available, or you can try that new restaurant that no one else is interested, or you can go to London for three months and not know a soul but still do anything you want because you don’t need anyone else there. That’s what I love about myself. That I can do those things. I can be alone. I can perfect being alone. That being said, I still get lonely and I still whine about how I can’t wait to find the right man and get a move on with that part of my life, but the best part is that until that happens, I’ll be fine. Better than fine. I’ll be great. 

January 17 – In a crisis:
Honestly evaluate the way you respond to crisis situations. Are you happy with the way you react?
This just turned into a job interview. Crises and the way I respond to them. Alright. Well, the last crisis I had the opportunity to deal with would be the car accident. In the immediate moments following impact, I seemed to be very with-it. Even in the split seconds leading up to impact. I had extremely fast, coherent thoughts about what was likely about to happen and what I could hopefully do to avoid it. Then just after the impact, I made sure to grab my phone, which was luckily attached to the charger cord, and then try to open my door. When I couldn’t open my door, I checked to see if it was unlocked (which, I’ll admit, isn’t that entirely logical as my door handle would open it whether it was locked or not), then when I couldn’t get it open, I seemed to effortlessly (and without memory of it) slide across my stick shift to my passenger seat and get out of the car. Once I was out, I stood up very slowly, making sure I could – making sure I didn’t have any broken bones or serious injuries. I walked around the car and checked for the other vehicle, and then started taking photos of my car for record; when she got out of her car, I may have said something rude to her and then established that we were both okay before calling the police. I guess I handled it as well as I could have.
Another recent crisis.. being denied entry into the UK? I’m super proud of the way I handled that, honestly. I was polite and honest and very courteous and acquiescent, even though inside I was completely broken. 
I’d like to think I handle minor crises just as well. I deal with frustrating situations by being sarcastic and probably condescending, but otherwise, I probably take more than I should. I was built to take blows – mentally and physically – so I really do my best. In conclusion, yes, I’m happy with the way I react. I can only thank my instincts.

January 18th – Free association:
Write down the first word that comes to mind when we say
…home North Post Road 
…soil Garden
…rain Bed

January 19th – Apply yourself:
Describe your last attempt to learn something that did not come easily to you.
There’s something that I’ve picked up time and time again thinking that it would come naturally, and when it doesn’t, I get super frustrated and give up: guitar. My dad’s amazing on guitar, granted, he’s been playing since he was, what, ten? My brother’s amazing on guitar and he’s been playing since he was four or five, I think. I can do the base note in the chords for ‘Blackbird,’ but that’s it. I’m much better at Rock Band. I don’t think I’m dextrous enough to play guitar. I mean, sure, if it was higher on my list of priorities, I’m sure I could get at least decently good at it. I’ll stick to sitting in the audience and drooling over those who can do it better.

January 20 – Breaking the law:
Think about the last time you broke a rule (a big one, not just ripping the tags off your pillows). Were you burned, or did things turn out for the best?
Bitch, please, my pillows are well-tagged. Let’s see… Since I speed every time I get behind the wheel of my car, I’ll talk about the last couple times I was pulled over. (Only four times in the past ten years, I’d say that’s not bad. And only two tickets). The very last time was when I was heading to get a manicure or something, so, totally important and speeding to get there was necessary. At the top of the hill, I passed a State Trooper sitting off to the side on the other side of traffic. I slowed down immediately and looked in my rear-view. It looked like he wasn’t pulling out into traffic, so I figured I was clear. Then all of a sudden, he was behind me with his lights on. I pulled over and was laughing to myself because I’d actually thought about speeding up and taking a turn into a neighborhood. I was in a super good mood that day and was very cheerful with him. He told me he didn’t think he’d catch me, and that if I had gone into a neighborhood, he wouldn’t have pursued me. I was like, well, I thought about it! He said, you’d have gotten away with it! He walked back to his cruiser and for some reason, I didn’t even care if I was about to get a ticket. He came back with my license and insurance, we joked a bit more, he gave me a warning, and I took off for my appointment. Couldn’t have turned out any better.
The time before that, however… Another State Trooper (by the way, I adore the Nebraska State Troopers – they’re always very kind. And I’m not being facetious). Got pulled over about ten blocks from home, I was probably going well-over the speed limit on Dodge, as per. I had also just moved, so the address on my driver’s license was outdated (it was that of my childhood home and I was understandably very sentimental about it – I’d even moved another time in between and never changed it), and then I didn’t have a print-out of my insurance, as it was just updated and on my phone. She came back from her cruiser and said, okay, I’m giving you a warning, also, please update your driver’s license and then print out your insurance – you’ll need to have a State Trooper check it and sign off on this sheet and then mail it in and you’re good to go. I was like, okay, thanks, whatever I need to do. 
About a month or so later, I am on my way to work on a Friday and check my mailbox. Inside is a letter from the State of Nebraska. Oh, it’s a warrant for my arrest because I failed to show up for a court date I had no idea I had. Fantastic! I went down to the courthouse (and when I say, down to the courthouse, I mean I had to go about 180 blocks down to the courthouse), and they told me, no, this is actually a ticket. What? To get everything taken care of, I had to sit in small-claims, plead guilty to speeding, get a speeding lecture from the State of Nebraska representative (thanks, mom), and then pay $75 for court fees. 
All in all, it wasn’t the best way to spend a Friday, but I do have my warrant framed and hanging next to my BA and MA diplomas.