Friday 5 for August 28: Tolerance

Tolerance


Levels of tolerance differ among various issues.


1. How’s your tolerance for alcohol?

I don't drink, so zero for me personally. However if others want to consume alcohol, just don't drink and drive.

2. How’s your tolerance for noisy neighbors?

I am sometimes noisy myself (loud stereo music) so I don't complain about noisy neighbors. Our building is usually quiet.

3. How’s your tolerance for physical pain?

Not much.

4. How’s your tolerance for intolerant people?

It varies depending on issues and personal values.

5. How’s your tolerance for bad music?

I have almost no tolerance hip-hop and gangsta rap. Zero for opera too. Sorry.

Firday 5 for August 21 - States

Today, Hawaii commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of its admission to the United States of America. It is a day of celebration for some, while for others it is a day of mourning. This week, the Friday 5 sidesteps the controversy but marks the day with five questions about statehood!

1. Who in your life is most likely at any time to be in a state of confusion?

Um… maybe it is myself!

2. Some people have described nirvana as a state of perfect nothingness. Which of the fifty United States could best be described as a state of perfect nothingness?

I haven’t been to many of the United States but one that comes to mind that has prefect nothingness could be Alaska. They have a lot of land that have barely anything on it except snow, bears, moose, and reindeer. Must be a nice place to visit or to drill for some much needed oil.

Hawaii is probably a runner up as we have a lot of ocean and northern atolls that are part of the state with hardly anything on them either.

3. When were you last asked to state your name and address?

Can’t remember… maybe when I last applied to get new checks from the bank and make sure that data was correct.

4. How many of the United States have you been in?

Let’s see – California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, New York, Massachussetts, Pennsylvania, Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Texas… plus Hawaii! So that would be 12.

I only drove into Arizona for about 10 minutes after crossing the Hoover Dam and then turned around. Virginia and Maryland just passed through on a bus to Pennsylvania.. oh I guess we stopped in Virginia since Arlington National Cemetery is there. I remember visiting that. Texas only in the airport awaiting a connecting flight between Florida to Nevada.

5. Why does it seem harder to maintain a positive state of mind than to maintain a negative state of mind?

Because it is way easier to focus on the bad things in life and have those things bother the shit out of you. We often take the positive side of things for granted so much that we probably never notice it.

PHOTO CAPTION: Back in 1959 Hawaii became the 50th State of the Union. There was a huge public celebration. Parades, hula shows, speeches, entertainment, cannon fire and a fly-over where some of the aspects of the far off first celebration. Hawaii people voted for statehood by a 94% margin.

50 years later the celebration of Hawaii's statehood is mired in Hawaiian activist politics. The voices for Hawaii soverignty and secession from the United States is a small but loud minority. As a result the state in fear of not offending these loudmouths, have subdued the 50th observance of statehood.

I blogged about today's statehood here...

Hawaii Statehood Photos here

Friday 5 for August 14: U G L Y !

U! G! L! Y! You ain’t got no alibi!

Welcome to this week’s Friday 5. Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below so we all know where to check out your responses! Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

1. What’s so ugly it’s kind of cute?



The old Isetta bubble car that was built in the 1950s and 1960s for the European market. This is the kind of car the Obama administration and the environmental wackos want us to drive someday... except have it powered by some kind of expensive biofuel such as corn. Or maybe pedal power like The Flintstones!

The Isetta is so ugly that in a way it is kind of cute. But I'd never buy one. Get into a collision with an SUV and your guts and brains will be part of the pavement.

Runner-up: Nash Metropolitan. 2nd runner up: Scion xB

2. What’s the ugliest article of clothing in your wardrobe?

Socks and underwear with holes. Good thing WalMart is nearby and most of the time no one can see these items of clothing if I wear them.

3. What’s the ugliest car on the streets today?

I absolutely hate those big "hoochie mama", pimp-mobile, bling cars, trucks and SUVs. You know which ones I am talking about. They are usually Cadillac Escalades, Lincoln Navigators, Town Cars, Ford Crown Vics or large Lexus LS 460's that have excessive bling and after-market accessories tacked on to them. They are topped off with those oversize 22, 24, 26 and 30(?) inch tires with the rims that remain stationary or move very slowly even when the vehicle is in motion! And you can hear the worst ones from a mile away because the owner-drivers have the stereo blasting awful hip hop and rap music long before the vehicle can be seen. YUCK. UGLY!!!



Runner Up: Any remaining Pontiac Aztek still on the road. These monstrosities of automotive design need to all be scrapped as soon as possible. CASH for CLUNKERS folks!!!!

4. Under what circumstances are you most likely to whip out your ugliest behavior?

When I am at deadline and a last minute change takes place and I cannot deal with it simply by using a computer (or get others to do the same).

5. Which of the United States of America has the ugliest shape?

West Virginia because it was the hardest one to draw when I used to draw U.S. maps back in grade school for some assignments. Whoever created the borders for this state was probably drunk or owed too many political favors to congressmen from other states... or maybe the Indians still occupied lands that went zig and zag near there. Right next to it is Maryland which is also shaped goofy and a bitch to draw. They should have made all the states look like Colorado, Wyoming and Utah... yeah that would be easy!

OK, now I'll try to have a good weekend and look for a Pontiac Aztek or a bling vehicle to take a photograph of.

Friday 5 for August 7: Baseball Clichés

These are my responses to this week's Friday 5, Baseball Clichés.

1. In what way this week did you strike out?

I may strike out if I am not fully prepared for the possible hurricane on Monday.

2. In what way this week did you hit a home run?

I only hit a home run once in my life during 4th grade P.E .baseball. Since then home runs for in my life are non existent. And definitely none this week!

3. In what way this week did you make a twin killing?

I smacked a big ass cockroach with my shoe in our parking garage. But that is only one killing. Not enough to do this question justice.

4. In what way this week did you make a diving save?

I save money every week by not going to the movies; they're too expensive. Cheaper to just wait for the DVD to come out and even after that wait a few more years before several movies that are hot now on DVD are selling for $9 or less at WalMart. And that is a long dive into saving.

I also saved several music and photo files to a new external 500 gig hard drive and some CDs.

5. Who saved the game for you in the late innings?

One of my doctors saved me from a misdiagnosed prescription product.

Friday 5 for July 31: Taboo!

Taboo (Arthur Lyman), originally uploaded by s0ntee.

From Scrivener's Friday5.org, here are today's questions and situation:

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy the questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below so we all know where to check out your responses! Please don’t forget to link us from your website!

This week’s 5 is inspired by the party game called Taboo, in which players must make their teammates utter key words by giving them clues. The twist is that each key word is assigned five Taboo words, and players are forbidden from using the Taboo words in their clues. For example, one key word might be milk, and its Taboo words might be dairy, cow, drink, white, and carton. Your clue might be something like, “It’s a beverage from Bessie,” or “You add it to coffee,” or “The land of BLANK and honey,” or “It comes out of breasts.”

Your task is simply to answer these five questions without using any of the Taboo words or phrases. Challenge yourself not just to avoid using the words, but to think of fresh, new answers to these sort of cliched meme questions!

OK I avoided using the words and still answered the questions. Maybe I don't totally get this exercise, but I still answered the questions.

1. Who’s making a positive difference in your life?
Taboo words: friends, family, husband/wife/spouse, boyfriend/girlfriend.

Maybe my boss, maybe a very close relative, maybe a very good acquaintance. Mostly though, no one.

2. Where would you like to be right now? Taboo words: home, bed, anywhere but here.



Honokaa, Hawaii on the Big Island of Hawaii.

3. What’s the first thing you’d do with a $5,000 (or your local equivalent) gift?
Taboo words: save, debt, vacation, payments, invest.

If there is no tax penalty, I'd use some of it to buy an Apple MacPro tower or MacBook Pro. Deposit the rest in the bank. Or maybe use all of it to apply to the cost of buying a new car.

4. What super-power would you really like to have?
Taboo words: invisibility, x-ray vision, flying, strength, transform.

If I can't use the above words, then I'd like to be totally literally transparent, super fast, super smart and persuasive beyond fault.

5. What’s your favorite sound?
Taboo words: laughter, music, ocean, wind, ____’s voice.

The Beatles! If not maybe the exotic xylophone of Arthur Lyman from the album pictured above or my favorite "Yellow Bird".

Friday 5 for July 24: Usefulness

Blue on blue
Originally uploaded by Jennie Faber

1. What’s something in your possession that has long outlived its usefulness?

Smith Corona Coronet electric typewriter exactly like the one pictured here.

2. Who in your life has proven to be a very useful person to know?

It depends on what information or help I need.

3. For group projects requiring collaborative planning and then collaborative execution, in what capacity are you most useful?

Doing some online research or even offline, writing & formatting the report.

4. What’s something someone gave you that you didn’t think much of but later became surprisingly useful?

I got the Smith Corona typewriter (above) as a Christmas gift when I was still in high school. It went with me to college where it was used to type out several reports and papers... this was about the same time the Apple II computer hit the market... but of course our school had no computers except a shared terminal system... which forced me to use the typewriter.

The machine is still around but hardly ever used. I think one of the keys is stuck.

5. What is the most useful book in your house?

Books are mostly for casual reading and information. When I had a DOS computer, a DOS book was handy to have. Manuals for some of my computer application programs were also handy in the old days. Nowdays most manuals are online or in PDF form.

Otherwise it was Webster's Dictionary, but that has been replaced with Dictionary.com online.

Friday 5 for July 17: Scattergories

What random letter was generated by the online random-letter generator? (this doesn’t really count as one of your five questions)

S

1. With what famous person, whose name begins with the letter in question #1, would you most like to be stuck on a desert island?

I wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone on a desert island as the competition for food and resources would be too demanding and we'd end up trying to kill each other.



But for the sake of this exercise, and hoping that the desert island is more like "Gilligan's Island" instead of "Survivor Island", then a famous person I would like to be stuck with in such a place starting with the letter "S" would be Shakira!

You know the latin pop singer from Colombia... Shakira could at least sing and dance for me and help me alleviate hours of boredom awaiting rescue... of course it is Shakira so given enough resources, maybe rescue would not be needed as we could get to know each other better... yeah right.

3. What food item, whose name begins with the letter in question #1, can always be found in your pantry?

Salt and Sugar!



4. What song, whose title begins with the letter in question #1, always makes you feel good?



"Sugar Sugar" by The Archies always made me feel good from when I was a kid.

5. What is your least-favorite film whose title begins with the letter in question #1?

"Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" - if you saw this Star Trek movie you know it is the dog of the bunch. William Shatner should never have been in the director's chair for this cinematic stinker.

6. What unusual animal, whose name begins with the letter in question #1, would be a fun pet?

Siamese Cat - I generally like cats, and well, this one starts with the letter "S" (okay it is not unusual, sorry)!