Musings...maybe

We haven’t posted for a while and it’s not like we’ve been overly busy, more overly lazy…

Wedding plans have been eating my face. I keep trying to convince Drex that we should just elope and get rid of the mess that wedding planning causes but he’s not such a fan of that idea. We got my dress though and I’m excited about that…and I bought my shoes today and convinced my mom that stockings in August on the East Coast are not a good plan (points for me!). Other than that, I guess things are moving along fairly swiftly in that department…just over 2 months to go which is super crazy.

I’ve been looking for a teaching job for next year. I’m sick of office work and though my friends were good enough to hook me up with the job I currently have, it’s definitely not what I want to be doing for the rest of my life (I would have to claw my eyes out if it were). I had 4 interviews and hadn’t heard anything back after a couple of weeks, so I checked my professional email on Monday and found that 3 of the 4 schools had decided to hire someone else. One of those schools was the school where I did my internship. I figured that job would be an easy one to get because I know the students, I know the faculty, I have what it takes to be successful at that school and it would take far less time to train me than it would to train a completely new teacher. I felt like the interview had gone fairly well, so I was really surprised to get that email. I called one of my friends (who happened to be one of the people who interviewed me) and asked her what I could do better in future interviews so that I can actually get a job. She said, “Oh, your interview was fine. You did really well…Sarah just doesn’t like you.” Um, can we say extremely unprofessional (Sarah is the principal at the school)? Her personal feelings should not dictate whether or not they hire me if I’m qualified for the job and based on what my friend said, I was more than qualified for the job. Then I realized that this woman who doesn’t like me is at the top of my reference list on my resume. Then things started clicking in to place: am I not getting jobs because people are calling her and she’s telling them that I’m a bad teacher???? If that’s the case, then I’m uber pissed because I didn’t get a job last year and I don’t know if I’m going to get one for this next year. I decided to take her off my reference list and we’ll see what happens with the interview I had yesterday. Side note: while I was talking to this friend, she mentioned that she and another teacher ran into one of my former students while they were at lunch the other day and they mentioned that I was engaged and his reaction was, “really?? We always thought she was gay.” I thought that was pretty great, or at least it lifted my mood from uber pissed to only slightly pissed.

Lately I’ve felt like we’ve missed out on a lot of things in the mohosphere. I don’t think it’s true because we religiously read the blogs and we hang out with people, I guess it’s just because it’s summer and so many people have left. I hung out with Gimple last night and we went to dinner at Leatherbys. We go there entirely too often, but it’s so good (get the cheesy fries, they’re amazing). Then we went and hung out with Hidden for a bit—well, actually, we watched him play Settlers of Cataan with some other friends. I miss the moho parties we threw…maybe I’ll have to plan another one soon so that we can have fun together again.

If any of you haves ins in any secondary schools in Utah Valley or the south end of the Salt Lake valley, please please please let me know because I desperately need a job.

S.

rant: judgmental mohos - the flipside

I always feel like I have to preface my ranting with some disclaimers. My rants are my opinions. They aren't infalliable, nor do I consider them so, even for myself. My opinions are subject to change, mood, and season, among other things. I also realize that I sometimes (read: often) come across to some people as aloof, elitist, or even self-righteous. Let me state that that is never my intent - I share how I feel about things, and I hope that people will take it or leave it as they see fit.

However, that brings me to my rant. Some people, in leaving it, decide that because they disagree on something that I am wrong and should somehow be brought down for what I say/believe. Most of my life I've had to guard or protect my opinions. Growing up in a predominantly non-LDS community does that. I came under fire for what I believed in at least on a weekly basis. Honestly, that was part of the draw of BYU - a chance to study away from the judgments of those who disagree. Of course, BYU isn't all I thought it would be, and the judging continues in completely different (and sometimes strikingly similar) ways.

The last time I ranted, I pointed out that I have largely been hugely impressed by the moho community's open-mindedness and acceptance of things outside of normal experience. That still holds true. There is, however, a fairly strong group that for some reason feels that anyone who doesn't see the 'struggle' or whatever in the same way is not only wrong, but should be called out for their wrongness. I've felt attacked (different from being attacked, perhaps, but it was how I felt) by individuals who disagree with what I believe, and try to give me hell for it. And there's a difference between debating a point and giving me hell. I can tell the difference there. I've come under attack for pursuing a relationship with Salad simply because she's a girl. Oh yes, that's different than all those 'bigots' out there who would judge you for pursuing a relationship with a guy.

Someone said I'm probably not gay, because I haven't ever had sex with a guy. This from someone who proclaims that we are not sex acts.

Someone said I'm not being true to myself.

Someone said I'm self-righteous and that I belittle people by sharing my experiences, because I obviously think I'm better than they are.

Is there any place for me to go to be free from the incessant judging? I feel like I'm in a forever abusive relationship sometimes, being ripped this way and that, emotionally manipulated and thrown through hell, all because I have an opinion and decide to keep a blog. And sometimes I don't want to be the enabler. I try my utmost to accept people as they are, and for the most part I think I do an okay job, but apparently it doesn't always come out that way. And apparently people aren't content to accept me as I am.

So to those of you whom I may have offended in the past, I'm sorry, To those of you who think that I feel some sense of superiority over you, I'm sorry. That's never my intent, and for the most part I don't feel better than anyone else. I have just as many weaknesses and make just as many mistakes as the next guy. If you think I don't, you're deifying me, and that's not good. I'm just a man, and I'd like it if people could accept that occasionally men make mistakes or have bad days or just plain mess things up.

I can't decide if getting this out is going to make me scale back my opinions on things, become more acerbic in my online talk, or just end up with me being the same old me. I'm honestly a bit scared at how it will turn out, because I don't like shutting up much, nor do I like being mean. I suppose I should try for being me then, but what if me isn't good enough for everyone out there? I don't know if I want to deal with the emotional battering.

Anyway.

~drex

Coming out part 2: Salad's parents

Ok, let’s get the vacation posts done with so we can move on to bigger and better things.

Montana (May 4-6)

We spent two days in Provo after getting back from California before we headed of to the amazing emptiness of Montana. I had to start classes and both Drex and I had to log some hours at work.

Slight aside: my professor is a hag. She is absolutely ancient and has no idea what is going on in current school settings. She’s been teaching at BYU since 1963 and hasn’t been in a secondary classroom since about then. It’s ridiculous. I told her, after the first class, that I was going out of town on Friday and that I would have to leave class early. She said, “Do what you have to do” and gave me kind of a nasty look; I wanted to punch her in the face.

Now, you might be asking, “why did Drex and Salad decide to go to Montana of all places???” Well, the sole reason for the trip was to visit my parents who, much to my bitter disappointment, moved there about 2 years ago. At least it made what I’m about to tell you easier to accomplish.

So, many of you know that we’ve been dating very seriously and talking about getting married. Before we started seriously entertaining the idea of marriage (or at least before Drex started seriously entertaining the idea) I told Drex that he would have to ask my dad for permission to marry me—I’m kinda traditional that way. We had also decided that this would be a good time to tell my parents about Drex’s SSA.

(Aside about getting my ring: so about 2 weeks before this we had purchased my engagement ring from Sierra West and I love it. I was really excited to wear it, so Drex let me wear it while we were in California. We decided that I wouldn’t wear it in Montana until we had talked to my parents, which made me exceedingly sad, because I had grown quite attached to my ring.)

We got to Montana around 5:30 and we had dinner reservations for 6:30 at some amazingly good restaurant. We had wanted to talk to my parents before going to dinner, but because of timing and being flustered, it didn’t work out that way. Dinner was great, but a little intense because my parents didn’t know whether it was ok to talk about wedding stuff or not. At one point, while Drex wasn’t at the table, my dad leaned over and asked, “is it ok to talk about the wedding??” I said it was, but nothing really came up, which I thought was weird. After dinner, we headed back to my parents’ house and changed clothes and putzed around for a few minutes. The kids were home from their dinner activity, which kind of put a damper on telling my parents because we don’t really think it’s necessary for my siblings to know and there’s really no place to talk in my parents’ house where you can’t hear what’s going on (wow that was a big run-on sentence…oh well *shrug*). My mom cornered me and asked if we still wanted to talk, and I said we did, but obviously not with the kids around. She banished my sister to her room with strict instructions not to come out and my brother was banished to the basement to become so enthralled with computer games that he wouldn’t pay attention if the house crumbled around him. After that was completed, we assembled in the living room to talk. Drex wasn’t even shaking and didn’t appear nervous at all, which I was quite impressed with. I know it can’t have been easy for him to talk to candidly with my parents given the fact that he barely knew them, but I knew he would say what they needed to hear. He started out with, “We intend to be married and we’d like to do it with your blessing, but I think you should know what Salad is getting into.” The conversation went on from there. My parents didn’t say a whole lot that night. My dad did most of the talking and just expressed concern, mostly for me and my emotional well-being more than anything else. I had a really hard time reading my dad during the conversation. I had no idea what he was thinking. After Drex had gone through things from his point of view, I reiterated to my parents how much I love Drex and the fact that I’ve spent countless hours praying, researching, seeking counsel and talking to Drex about everything. The conversation ended and we went on with the rest of the evening.

Saturday was fun…:P Ok, well it was mostly. Drex and I got up and watched Duck Tales with my brothers—yay for Saturday morning cartoons and pajamas! Then my sister came down and told us that if we wanted her to take our engagement pictures, we’d have to get ready and go fairly quickly because her work schedule changed. Sadly, we had to tear ourselves away from Duck Tales and get ready. After getting ready, Drex and I sat down to figure out timing with the Temple and everything and found that the Temple is going to be closed on the day we wanted to get married, so we had to pick a different date. A debate with the parents ensued, and while I know they meant well, I still felt kind of attacked and inadequate and like it didn’t matter what I did, someone was going to be upset with me. I *hate* that feeling. It was all I could do to not burst into tears and got running to my bedroom. Luckily Drex was there to calm me a bit and we chose a date and called the Temple. Then we went driving around up Lolo Canyon to try and find somewhere to take pictures. My sister was kind of irked because my parents decided that they were going to come along and she didn’t want my dad taking over the photo shoot—which he tried to do. After taking pictures up the canyon, we went down to the UofM campus and took some pictures there. A few of them turned out well, but I think we’re going to try and take some more pictures in a couple of weeks as well. After we got back we ate dinner, Drex took a nap, and then we watched Eragon—good movie, but if you’ve read the book, it leaves a bit to be desired.

Sunday was your typical Sunday. In Relief Society the biddies were complaining about how they can’t control their daughters and what they wear. One of the women had the audacity to say that the girls don’t know what they’re doing when they dress like skanks. Then another woman decided that two-piece bathing suits were specifically banned in the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet (which is a crock! I own a two-piece bathing suit that is much more modest than 90% of the one piece bathing suits I’ve seen lately). The one good part about RS was that my mom’s cell phone went off in the middle, playing the James Bond theme (it was my dad). I was appalled by the attitudes of the women toward controlling how their daughters appear. They pretty much said that they couldn’t do anything and they’d just have to wait for them to grow out of the stage. My dad always taught us the importance of wearing modest clothing and my mother stood right beside him on the issue. I’m grateful that my parents clamped down and taught me and made an effort to make sure that I followed the standards set forth by the church. The Sunday School teacher wasn’t as familiar with the gospel as she should have been and got caught up in finding relevant quotes so she kind of missed the boat on the deeper meaning. Sacrament Meeting was testimonies and Drex and I got a wee bit irreverent and counted up how many times certain phrases were said—good times. After Church my parents wanted to talk to us a bit. My dad had processed a bit more and had read the interview done by Elder Oaks and Elder Wickman. He asked some pretty pointed questions; nothing super personal, but pointed nonetheless. I think that conversation helped him to feel a bit better about the situation. Both of my parents stressed that they had no problem with the marriage and that we have their support 100%, they’re more concerned for my emotional well-being than anything else. During the discussion I had the feeling that I should ask my dad for a blessing, but was waiting for the right moment. After the discussion ended, Drex turned and whispered to me that I should ask for a blessing. I knew I needed it and I knew it would be amazing, so I asked. My dad was more than willing and invited Drex to join him. As they laid their hands on my head, I was overcome by the feelings of love and gratitude I have for the two most important men in my life. I was given some pretty neat promises and left with a feeling of peace and comfort. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

We ended up staying and eating lunch with the fam and then we headed back home to good old P-town. On the way, we stopped at Drex’s Grandma’s house to tell her that we’re engaged and to visit for a bit. After the visit we bee-lined it for home and, after saying good night, collapsed into our respective beds and slept.

To sum everything up: both of our parents are now aware of the challenges we face, Drex and I are engaged, the wedding date is August 8^th in Washington DC, we’re having a reception in Alpine on the 10^th of August for those of you interested in attending.

Ok, now we’re caught up on vacation. I’m sure Drex will have a meta-post with his take on the events described above. Now Drex can post on something cool and spiritual and I’ll find some more pictures of chapstick :P

S.

vacation: days 3-5 - san fran & fremont

day 3 - san fran (saturday april 28 2007)

Saturday morning began bright and early - we headed up from San Jose to Fremont to catch the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) from Fremont at 8:30ish. We grabbed some bagels along the way, clambered on the train, and headed into the city. We decided to hit up the shops in Chinatown first. We were scheduled to meet with some of my online friends from a forum at 11:00, so we meandered around for the time leading up to it. My friends were a bit late (about an hour because of construction and traffic issues), but showed up and we went to dim sum at a Chinese place with them. I think Salad will have to meta-post on this in the comments for a more in-depth or American look at Chinatown, because I grew up visiting my mom's family in the Chinatown in Brooklyn (I'm half Chinese). It was fun and reminiscent of other times, but mostly unremarkable to me. A bit touristy (read: very touristy). After dim sum we went intoa few more shops, then ran off to catch a bus. In the ensuing hulabaloo, my online friends got ditched, leaving me in a bit of a sour mood, and we headed off to Ghirardelli Square. We got the free chocolate, then walked down to Fisherman's Wharf, walked along the water area to Pier 39 where we saw a dock full of sea lions (which I brilliantly called mountain lions while bragging to Bob about being in the middle of San Fran), and took a rail thing over to Union Square. We hit up another Rasputin (Hidden was bent on getting that last DVD of an anime he liked), then caught the BART back to Fremont and the car. Dinner was Panera (mmm Panera), we went shoe shopping for Vanessa, and headed down to the third (and final) Rasputin (where Hidden still failed to find the last DVD). Then off to bed again.

day 4 - fremont (sunday april 29 2007)

Sunday was amazing for me. Probably a little bit less so for Salad, but it might have been my favorite day of the vacation. Salad and I left early to get to church in Fremont. We made it in record time (I didn't know how much Sunday morning traffic to account for) and ended up at the chapel about 50 minutes early for the 9:00 sacrament meeting. We roamed the halls and I showed the wonders of huge California chapels to Salad (2 chapels, 1.5 gyms, 2 kitchens, 2 relief society rooms, an elevator to the 2nd floor with about 40 classrooms, 2 libraries, etc.). People started showing up, and I got some really classic double-takes. Now, I spent 15 months total in this ward. I was part of the ward. I loved the people there, and had gotten to know many of them on a fairly personal level. That said, I didn't expect too many people to remember me very vividly. It had been over a year, after all. Much to my surprise, pretty much everyone remembered me, and the outpouring of love was huge. I don't want to come across as prideful or conceited, but I was a dang good missionary in that ward, and the members knew it. Anyway, everyone would ask Salad if she sang before they'd ask anything else. I sang in Sacrament meeting in that ward probably no less than 13 times. The bishop even asked if I would be singing anything in the meetings, but we hadn't planned ahead for it, so I said no. As luck would have it (of course), the girl who was supposed to do the musical number ran in semi-frantic, saying that she couldn't play the song because she hadn't finished learning it. The first counselor turned to me (5 minutes before the start of church, mind you) and asked if I would be willing to sing. Who am I to turn down a coincidence in church? So I sang "I Need Thee Every Hour" almost straight from the hymnbook, and it was awesome.

The best part of sacrament meeting, though, was the involvement of some key individuals. One of my converts, who I baptized when he was 11, was preparing the sacrament. Another of my converts was passing the sacrament. One of the kids that I did new member discussions for and kept active was passing the sacament as well. And another kid that I did new member discussions for and that we kept very involved got his mission call that week. A bunch of my converts were there and strong, and most of my favorite members were there as well. One of my favorite converts made the trip up to Fremont specifically to see me, despite having moved to another area. It was amazing, the Spirit was so strong, and I was nearly moved to tears many times.

The rest of the meetings were fairly nondescript. We went to the Chinese Sunday school and I translated everything for Salad. Priesthood was surprisingly good (I forgot what good Priesthood meetings were like), even if I had to conduct the music for opening exercises (they have a sense of humor in Fremont). After church, the Chinese group put together a potluck dinner at one of the member's houses, so we headed over there and got to eat a sampling of much of the best Chinese food you can get. I got to sit down and talk to a lot of the people I missed so much, and even got to horse around with all the little kids that were off limits as a missionary.

After the potluck we hung out with some of the people and eventually took a nap on the couch. When dinnertime rolled around we went down to Cupertino, the other area I served in, to eat with the former branch mission leader. Apparently the little branch in which I started my mission, which had averaged about 30-35 members at sacrament meeting when I got there and had 45-50 when I left was averaging over 70 people a week, and they were considering moving it to another building and breaking its dependence on the English ward. Going back to my old stomping grounds was a huge booster for me - to see that the work had continued forward and that the people that I had worked so hard with were still strong was amazing to me.

day 5 - fremont revisited (monday april 30 2007)

Monday was probably really boring for Salad. For the late morning/early afternoon, we perused Asian stores, bought and ate Chinese pastries and a boba drink, had In-N-Out again, and kept ourselves busy. Around 2:00 we headed off to my favorite member's house for the rest of the day. I had done a lot of music with her and had baptized her three kids. We did a bunch of music (she played, I sang), I showed her a bunch of the recordings I'd done over the past 2 years, and she made my absolute favorite dinner, chinese beef noodles. It was just as good as I remembered. She also had some authentic Taiwanese pastries (brought from Taiwan that weekend by her husband) and some other Asian desserts and such. When we left that night, she sent us off with a box full of treats. From there we headed into San Jose to pick Hidden up from dinner, and we drove back to Utah. It was a very long drive back, but we got back in one piece and without incident.

It was a tiring trip, but so good for me. I loved it, and had a great time, and hope to be able to do something like it again next year. That's about it.

~drex

Brought to Tears

So I'm supposed to be editing/writing a paper, but this is more important. Don't look at the time stamp Drex!

Drex and I were doing our scripture study tonight which, because of vacations and the fact that we no longer live in the same complex, hasn't been as regular as we would like it to be. We're kind of behind, but this is one time when I find myself extremely grateful for the fact that we haven't been as diligent as we should be. We were reading in Jacob 6 and I found myself overcome by emotion, to the point where I couldn't speak, as we read part of the chapter. Now, you must understand that I have only been brought to tears one other time while reading the scriptures and that was right after Drex and I started dating. The verses we read are as follows

4 And how merciful is our God unto us, for he remembereth the house of Israel, both roots and branches; and he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people; but as many as will not harden their hearts shall be saved in the kingdom of God.
5 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.
6 Yea, today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; for why will ye die?

I was touched so deeply by the part that says, "he stretches forth his hand unto them all the day long." Sometimes we are so blinded by the troubles we face that we fail to recognize the fact that we don't have to do everything alone. Someone else is there to take our burden and make the way easier for us.

We went to the Matis FHE last night and Brother Millet talked about the fact that the Lord cares for us enough to take on our burden, all we have to do is let go and let Him take over. Much easier said than done, I know. I've struggled lately with the idea that I don't have to take everything on myself; I can let others help me and I have to let others help me if I'm going to get anywhere--not just in the long run, but in the short run as well. God truly has, and does, stretch His hands out to every one of us...we just have to be willing to look up long enough to realize it.

Ok, I don't think there's much else I can say right now that will even remotely make sense, so off to paper land with me...

vacation: days 1&2 - driving & monterey

day 1 - driving (thursday 26 april 2007)

We started out as soon as Hidden was done with his last final. We left Provo at around 8:00PM (causing me to miss all of the 2-hour special of American Idol, grr). The drive was fairly uneventful. We cycled through drivers throughout the night/morning. I drove until we crossed the Nevada line, then passed out because I'm extremely adept at sleeping in moving vehicles. We made it through much of Nevada to Reno before I took my turn again, and I drove almost all the way through California before Hidden took over for the last 20 minutes or so (which I also slept through :P). After arriving in San Jose at Hidden's uncle's place (at around 7:00, if I remember correctly), we crashed on their air mattresses and floor and took naps for the rest of the morning. Although before we actually fell asleep, Salad had planted herself downstairs and was reading when Hidden and I heard raucous laughter coming from her direction. Salad, in her lack of sleep, had completely misread a word in her book: underfed. If you read "under-fed," give yourself a gold star. What she read was the past tense of "underf," meaning (now), to misread or mishear something. We were up again at around 12:30. One item of note at this time is that after awakening, Hidden and I were talking in the living room when a bird flew into the living room window. Bonk and a flurry of feathers later, we look out the window and don't see the bird until another bird flies in and starts feverishly pecking at it - it was stuck in the crosshatches of a chair on the porch. So here I am thinking that I'm seeing bird cannibalism before my very eyes, when the trapped bird gets free and I realize that was the point the entire time. Smart birds.

After that we went to In-N-Out for lunch (mmm...), went to Rasputin (a fantastic used CD etc store) and picked up some music and the first season of Duck Tales (woo woo!) on DVD (woohoo!), then headed to the Great Mall to try to find orange sunglasses and orange Converse hi-tops for Hidden (they had neither). We headed into downtown San Jose to pick up Salad's friend Vanessa and went out to Thai food for dinner (amazing). Then we rushed back to Hidden's cousins' high school to see their production of The Wiz. It wasn't bad, but didn't match up to Utah high school standards (I saw Orem High's production of Les Mis a few years back, and it was amazing). We did have a fun time trying to figure out if Hidden's cousin is straight (we don't think so) and making fun of some of the acting, though. After the play, we dropped Salad and Vanessa off (I think Salad was walking dead at that point) and Hidden and I visited one of his old friends from the mission. Hidden procured a car for Sunday and Monday so we could split up, and we went back to his uncle's house to sleep.

day 2 - monterey (friday 27 april 2007)

While we had originally planned to leave at around 6:30 to pick Salad up and head down to Monterey, Hidden's uncle talked us out of it, and we headed off at around 9:00 instead. We had a fairly uneventful trip down to Monterey, driving through some of Hidden's old stomping grounds and seeing all manner of fields of garlic, artichokes, and strawberries. Once in Monterey proper, we parked down aways from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row, then took a walk along the sidewalk for a while. Because Hidden and I had previously been to the Aquarium and hadn't been horribly impressed (either by the things to see or by the exhorbitant price), we skipped out on that. We ended up taking a few minutes at the small beach there, wetting our feet in the extremely cold Pacific and taking a bunch of pictures. Hidden almost had his flip-flops stolen by the ocean, Salad got freezing cold saltwater on freshly shaven legs, and I was mostly boring. At one point Hidden was writing Salad loves Drex in the sand, but the water came and washed it away. Glaring, Hidden spouted off "Boo, you whore!" at the ocean. We laughed. A lot.

We finished up there, picked up some sunscreen so Salad wouldn't burn too bad (haha yeah right) and headed off to 17-mile drive. The drive itself is beautiful enough, but we were also able to see some of the notable things along the way. We went through most of the stuff there, then spit ourselves out at Carmel. In Carmel we grabbed some food to go from a diner, then planted ourselves down along the beach. Two plus hours later we headed back to the car and up to visit one of Hidden's convert families for an authentic Mexican dinner. We also slowly began to realize the power of the California sun, as Hidden got some sweet tan lines, Salad burned all over (we told the family that she was radioactive), and I got the worst sunburn I've ever had on my legs (I don't burn often or easily, but I guess my legs got the brunt of it this time - by now they're finally fading into a tan). Dinner was fantastic (tacos like what), and we headed back to San Jose for boba drinks (smoothies with giant tapioca pearls - they're an Asian thing that's been big in Cali and elsewhere with Asian populations but that are picking up other places, too) with Vanessa. Then we headed off to sleep and prep for the next day: San Fran.

EDIT: Flickr Pictures! http://www.flickr.com/photos/8151244@N05/ (I think that's how it works)

samantha's questions - round:drex

1. Of course, every person secretly believes that he or she would make a marvelous movie star. If you could be the star in any major movie, which movie (and role) would it be?
Hey wait, I'm in a movie! We just have to make it a major movie. ;) A run on Broadway would be nice, too. Um...it's a toss up. I'd be Shawn Ashmore in X-Men as Bobby Drake/Iceman because I would have sweet ice powers and look hot in a leather uniform, or I'd be Jet Li in Hero, because I'd be the most awesomest martial artist EVER. And be able to fly. Ish.

2. Think of an amazing person you know. You don't necessarily have to have met the person, but you need to have some knowledge of him/her. What three personal traits would you like to borrow from this most amazing person? Why?
The person is Peter Petrelli, and the traits are telekinesis, spontaneous regeneration, and flight. It was a close call between flight and invisibility, but the mobility granted by the later trait would be much fun. The whys should be obvious - I'm one of those guys that from a young age wanted super powers. Telekinesis is just awesome - the idea of moving things with one's mind is really fun. Regeneration, especially of the variety that Peter manifests, would render me essentially invincible.
Oh, is that not what you meant? If we're talking real people, it would be my father for his patience, humility, and ability at dealing with things in general.

3. You wake up one morning to find that you've become a Muppet. Which one are you, and what is the first thing you'll do?
I'm Rowlf the dog, and the first thing I do is find my way over to the nearest out of tune piano (because I, Rowlf, love out of tune pianos) and play me some ragtime music. Drawn by my unparalleled piano prowess and my undeniable performing energy, a group of Muppets quickly materializes around me, and a spur-of-the-moment musical hit is born. We top the Billboard charts for weeks thereafter, and I begin the hit Muppet group "Rowlf's Renegades," who embark on a 7-month tour of the world.

4. As Queen of the Queerosphere I have granted you a hypothetical privelege. You may choose any person from the Queerosphere with whom to spend 12 hours. You must spend the entire time one-on-one. How will you spend your day?
Hmm. I already hang out with a lot of my favorite people in the Queerosphere, so I would probably choose someone I haven't been able to meet in real life. In that case, it would probably be the ever-mysterious -L-, and while I would want to pick his brain about a lot of things before the day was done, it would be far more fun to hit up a big amusement park and go on roller coasters all day. =D

5. There is a rumor that college students subsist on meals largely made up of mac 'n cheese and Ramen Noodles. Suppose that every meal you eat from this day forward must contain Ramen Noodles. How will you spice them up?
Ramen can hardly be considered a real food, but I have made some halfway decent stir-fry meals using Ramen. Oriental chicken salads with crushed Ramen noodles (not cooked) are pretty good, as well. Any pasta dish could probably get away with having Ramen noodles mixed in. I wonder how fruit salad with Ramen noodles would work. Or octopus.

~drex