Since today is the 101st installment of 20 Questions Tuesday, I figured that I would fashion today’s topic after the ubiquitous Intro classes at American Universities. There was English 101, Astronomy 101, Physics 101, Archeology 101, Psychology 101, and (dare I say, Yes. I dare say) Anatomy 101. Anyway… today is 20 Questions Tuesday: 101 – Intro to 20 Questions Tuesday because I believe recursion is underused.
Thanks this week go to Peefer, JA Coppinger, Lord Pithy, Lsig, Dr B-Dawg, and Nadolny. Onto the questions:
1. WTF? Seriously. This is a question. Please answer it.
If I knew the answer to that, do you think I would be wasting my time writing on this second rate blog? Sadly, the world may never know the true answer to that question.
2. How much time do you think you've spent on your 20 questions installment since the beginning?
A good solid work week with some overtime.
3. Has Little Man ever asked, "Why?" twenty times in succession. If so, did you ever cop out and answer, "Because I love you"?
“Because I love you” only seems to confuse him more, since most of his questions seem to revolve around trains and train operation.
4. How many Under Construction fans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Number 1: I am not sure I have many “Under Construction Fans,” and, Number 2, I am sure that, unless it is an amazingly large light bulb, anyone able to read Under Construction is waaay to big to fornicate in a light bulb singly or with company.
5. How do you decide who to ask for questions each week?
I have an email list that I send out weekly. Anyone can get on that list. If anyone wants to be on that list email me using the email provided on my profile. I started out sending out an email to 8 or so people each week. I would cycle through a list of about 25 people but only send to 8 people a week, but I found that I would not be guaranteed 20 questions that way. I started just emailing my entire list. I have been slowly removing people from the list who stopped responding, so I am down to an email list of 17.
6. Why 20 questions . . . wouldn’t 5 have been simpler? Why Tuesdays? I mean, Wednesday’s are kinda nice . . . Was the inspiration for 20 Questions Tuesday divine guidance or just plain laziness? Why didn’t you decide to do 10 Questions Tuesdays? Why 20? You seem to not be a follower of trends. I'm surprised you didn't make it 10. Still a "t" word to go with Tuesday and it is 10 less than 20 and thus a lot less work for the lazy. How often do multiple people provide similar questions? And, does it occur more or less frequently than you would think?
Well, the first 20 Questions post (I have actually done 113 20 Questions posts now) was a 20 Questions meme that was going around. The next few were similar in length questionnaires that I found on the Interwebs. That kind of started me down a path. The concept ties in nicely with the 20 Questions parlor game that everyone knows and loves. I chose Tuesdays because it is my favorite day of the week. Pending on the topic I will get about 3 similar questions usually.
7. Do you normally have topics lined up in advance or do you make them up as you type up the e-mail?
A little of Column A and a little of Column B. Sometimes Tuesdays line up with significant dates. That makes the topic easy enough. The week of major holidays, topic fodder is pretty simple as well. Sometimes I stare at a blank email for a few minutes trying to come up with a topic.
8. What has been your favorite question/answer pairing over past run?
I am not sure that I can think of a “favorite.”
9. 101 Dalmatians is good family fun. What would 101 rabid skunks be?
Well, as long as all 101 were calm cool and collected, they would be no problem, but the second one felt threatened…. The olfactory horror
10. 101 is 5 in binary (according to the internet). What is the significance of that? Why doesn't the binary system get more love?
Well the significance is that it takes computers an awful lot of storage space to encode a concept as simple as 5. The binary system is a bit laborious to compute into and out of since we typically live within a base 10 system, ergo the lack of love.
11. How do you pick which questions to answer (assuming you get more than 20)?
I try to figure out which ones I think will have more entertaining answers. I sometimes get some real howlers as well. Those don’t make it even if I won’t have a full 20 without them. Some questions end up being too personal (either for me and my fam or for people who I know). It is all very un-scientific.
12. Have you ever knowingly lied to us, the reading public, when answering a 20 Question?
Flat out lied to obfuscate the truth? No. Have I altered an answer to hopefully entertain more? Yes.
13. How many questions do you typically garner when you send out the call?
At first I was averaging 15 and I would make Wifey come up with 5 or ask people at work for a question or 2, but lately I have been getting about 25 on average. For today’s I received 29 questions of which 6 or so were extremely similar.
14. Do you honestly think anyone cares about this?
Nope, I do not delude myself into thinking anyone really cares about my 20 Questions or my 20 answers. Well, aside from me.
15. What was your worst intro class in college in terms of the way it was conducted?
Intro to Anthropology. The exams had nothing to do with the lectures in the least. The lectures were very interesting, but they had no utility in regards to the grade associated with the class.
16. Are your answers free-form or are they carefully thought out with multiple drafts?
I will answer the questions and then wash over the answers once or twice trying to tighten them up if I have time. Sometime I end up posting my first pass.
17. Who do you aspire to be when answering the questions: Abigail Van Bueren? Heloise? Marilyn Vos Savant?
I would say that I am unlike all three. All three of these syndicated question answerers is that they honestly and earnestly attempt to answer the questions they are posed. I try to look at the question from a different angle and answer the un-intended question instead.
18. How long does a typical 20 questions take you to put together?
30 minutes to an hour. Very rarely do I get to focus on it, and finish it up in one sitting. Some people take smoke breaks, I write crap for a blog.
19. It feels like your research some of the stuff as you have facts and links that just don't sound like you would know off the top of your head. How much research goes on?
Usually, most looking up I do is to confirm what I was thinking as the answer, I have a lot of useless information in my noggin here. A LOT. The research that I end up doing typically has to do with finding the correct link for my answer. I would say I have to actually research an answer for 1 or 2 questions per post.
20. Do you still feel that the blog is useful for your writing skills?
I feel that this process is helping to keep me mentally sharp. Especially since my job is not that strong at providing me with mental gymnastics.
To recap:
Man, I am tired today
Some of the fam will be here this evening
Yippee?
Wifey had a meeting today
She really doesn’t want to get back into that game
I don’t blame her
Who wants to work for a living?
Not me, that’s who
It is time to switch out some of the music on my iPod
Listening to Spoon’s Don’t you Evah… again
Thanks this week go to Peefer, JA Coppinger, Lord Pithy, Lsig, Dr B-Dawg, and Nadolny. Onto the questions:
1. WTF? Seriously. This is a question. Please answer it.
If I knew the answer to that, do you think I would be wasting my time writing on this second rate blog? Sadly, the world may never know the true answer to that question.
2. How much time do you think you've spent on your 20 questions installment since the beginning?
A good solid work week with some overtime.
3. Has Little Man ever asked, "Why?" twenty times in succession. If so, did you ever cop out and answer, "Because I love you"?
“Because I love you” only seems to confuse him more, since most of his questions seem to revolve around trains and train operation.
4. How many Under Construction fans does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Number 1: I am not sure I have many “Under Construction Fans,” and, Number 2, I am sure that, unless it is an amazingly large light bulb, anyone able to read Under Construction is waaay to big to fornicate in a light bulb singly or with company.
5. How do you decide who to ask for questions each week?
I have an email list that I send out weekly. Anyone can get on that list. If anyone wants to be on that list email me using the email provided on my profile. I started out sending out an email to 8 or so people each week. I would cycle through a list of about 25 people but only send to 8 people a week, but I found that I would not be guaranteed 20 questions that way. I started just emailing my entire list. I have been slowly removing people from the list who stopped responding, so I am down to an email list of 17.
6. Why 20 questions . . . wouldn’t 5 have been simpler? Why Tuesdays? I mean, Wednesday’s are kinda nice . . . Was the inspiration for 20 Questions Tuesday divine guidance or just plain laziness? Why didn’t you decide to do 10 Questions Tuesdays? Why 20? You seem to not be a follower of trends. I'm surprised you didn't make it 10. Still a "t" word to go with Tuesday and it is 10 less than 20 and thus a lot less work for the lazy. How often do multiple people provide similar questions? And, does it occur more or less frequently than you would think?
Well, the first 20 Questions post (I have actually done 113 20 Questions posts now) was a 20 Questions meme that was going around. The next few were similar in length questionnaires that I found on the Interwebs. That kind of started me down a path. The concept ties in nicely with the 20 Questions parlor game that everyone knows and loves. I chose Tuesdays because it is my favorite day of the week. Pending on the topic I will get about 3 similar questions usually.
7. Do you normally have topics lined up in advance or do you make them up as you type up the e-mail?
A little of Column A and a little of Column B. Sometimes Tuesdays line up with significant dates. That makes the topic easy enough. The week of major holidays, topic fodder is pretty simple as well. Sometimes I stare at a blank email for a few minutes trying to come up with a topic.
8. What has been your favorite question/answer pairing over past run?
I am not sure that I can think of a “favorite.”
9. 101 Dalmatians is good family fun. What would 101 rabid skunks be?
Well, as long as all 101 were calm cool and collected, they would be no problem, but the second one felt threatened…. The olfactory horror
10. 101 is 5 in binary (according to the internet). What is the significance of that? Why doesn't the binary system get more love?
Well the significance is that it takes computers an awful lot of storage space to encode a concept as simple as 5. The binary system is a bit laborious to compute into and out of since we typically live within a base 10 system, ergo the lack of love.
11. How do you pick which questions to answer (assuming you get more than 20)?
I try to figure out which ones I think will have more entertaining answers. I sometimes get some real howlers as well. Those don’t make it even if I won’t have a full 20 without them. Some questions end up being too personal (either for me and my fam or for people who I know). It is all very un-scientific.
12. Have you ever knowingly lied to us, the reading public, when answering a 20 Question?
Flat out lied to obfuscate the truth? No. Have I altered an answer to hopefully entertain more? Yes.
13. How many questions do you typically garner when you send out the call?
At first I was averaging 15 and I would make Wifey come up with 5 or ask people at work for a question or 2, but lately I have been getting about 25 on average. For today’s I received 29 questions of which 6 or so were extremely similar.
14. Do you honestly think anyone cares about this?
Nope, I do not delude myself into thinking anyone really cares about my 20 Questions or my 20 answers. Well, aside from me.
15. What was your worst intro class in college in terms of the way it was conducted?
Intro to Anthropology. The exams had nothing to do with the lectures in the least. The lectures were very interesting, but they had no utility in regards to the grade associated with the class.
16. Are your answers free-form or are they carefully thought out with multiple drafts?
I will answer the questions and then wash over the answers once or twice trying to tighten them up if I have time. Sometime I end up posting my first pass.
17. Who do you aspire to be when answering the questions: Abigail Van Bueren? Heloise? Marilyn Vos Savant?
I would say that I am unlike all three. All three of these syndicated question answerers is that they honestly and earnestly attempt to answer the questions they are posed. I try to look at the question from a different angle and answer the un-intended question instead.
18. How long does a typical 20 questions take you to put together?
30 minutes to an hour. Very rarely do I get to focus on it, and finish it up in one sitting. Some people take smoke breaks, I write crap for a blog.
19. It feels like your research some of the stuff as you have facts and links that just don't sound like you would know off the top of your head. How much research goes on?
Usually, most looking up I do is to confirm what I was thinking as the answer, I have a lot of useless information in my noggin here. A LOT. The research that I end up doing typically has to do with finding the correct link for my answer. I would say I have to actually research an answer for 1 or 2 questions per post.
20. Do you still feel that the blog is useful for your writing skills?
I feel that this process is helping to keep me mentally sharp. Especially since my job is not that strong at providing me with mental gymnastics.
To recap:
Man, I am tired today
Some of the fam will be here this evening
Yippee?
Wifey had a meeting today
She really doesn’t want to get back into that game
I don’t blame her
Who wants to work for a living?
Not me, that’s who
It is time to switch out some of the music on my iPod
Listening to Spoon’s Don’t you Evah… again