Q1 - Special: In addition to standard menu items, many restaurants offer one or more specials of the day. If your waiter or waitress describes an appealing special but neglects to mention its price, would you order it without asking about the cost?
Q2 - : Earlier this year, pictures showing the Enawene Nawe tribe of Amazon indians aiming weapons at an airplane overhead made headlines across the United States. The photos, according to the producers of ABC's Nightline television show, inspired them to travel deep into the Amazon to meet the Enawene Nawe, a tribe that reportedly has never before been filmed for television. Do you think there is something inherently wrong with outsiders interacting with or filming never before seen indigenous tribes, or does studying their way of life outweigh any potential negative side effects caused by such actions?
Q3 - Housing: In describing the recent financial crisis here in the U.S., President Bush said: "Easy credit -- combined with the faulty assumption that home values would continue to rise -- led to excesses and bad decisions. Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on. Optimism about housing values also led to a boom in home construction. Eventually the number of new houses exceeded the number of people willing to buy them. And with supply exceeding demand, housing prices fell. And this created a problem: Borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages who had been planning to sell or refinance their homes at a higher price were stuck with homes worth less than expected -- along with mortgage payments they could not afford. As a result, many mortgage holders began to default." Do you believe homeownership is a privilege or a right?
Q4 - Television: What is your current favorite television show -- one that you make a point of watching during its regularly scheduled time as often as humanly possible?
Q1 - Today: Some people go out of their way to tell everyone they know that today (or pick your day) is their birthday, while others avoid it like a contagious bacterial disease characterized by fever and wicked bad diarrhea (for example, I once spent an entire with someone and never knew it was his birthday because he never told me). Do you tell people when it's your birthday or do you prefer to keep it to yourself?
Q2 - Keeping Track: How do you keep track of birthdays (BirthdayAlarm.com, a little black book, good memory, your computer calendar, Facebook, etc.)?
Q3 - Celebrating: How do you like to celebrate your own birthday? Do you do anything special for yourself, have a tradition you adhere to, take the day off from work and the rest of the world, etc.?
Q4 - Change: Some of the kids I grew up with felt cheated by the fact that their birthday was in late-June, July, or August... meaning, they never got to celebrate their birthday in school like all of the kids whose birthdays fell on a school day. If you could change your birthday, would you, and if so, what date would you move it to and why?
Tina Fey as Sarah Palin on 'Saturday Night Live'
Like many people, the moment I saw Governor Palin's picture, I immediately thought to myself, "This woman looks an awful lot like Tina Fey from NBC's '30 Rock' and 'Saturday Night Live!'"
Finally, for the first time in years, there's a reason to watch SNL.
Q1 - Food in Class: A friend reports that while waiting for his college course on Cross-Cultural Communications to start, a co-ed sat next to him and started eating her lunch (chicken-friend steak and mashed potatoes with a very strong aroma). Do you feel it's appropriate to bring your lunch to a college or university class and eat during the lecture/discussion? Would you personally do this?
Q2 - Publishing: A federal judge this week ruled against Steven Vander Ark, and U.S. author who was seeking to publish an encyclopedia about the Harry Potter series of novels. U.S. District Judge Robert P. Patterson concluded Vander Ark's already drafted "The Harry Potter Lexicon" would cause Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling "irreparable injury," and even went so far as to award Rowling and her publisher $6,750 in statutory damages and permanently blocked Vander Ark's publication from ever seeing the light of day. How do you feel about this? Should anyone be allowed to write a guide or reference book about another author's characters, or should only the original author or their publisher have the rights to publish guides about characters they created themselves?
Q3 - Staying Sharp: Everyone knows exercise helps maintain muscles and keep bones healthy. But can exercising your brain really help you remember and improve the way you think? Paying attention to your cognitive skills and taking steps to ward off Alzheimer's Disease is becoming more popular. Do you do anything in particular to exercise your brain?
Q4 - Retail: If you were forced to work at a retail store for 10 hours every week for the next year, which store would you choose to work for and why?
Q1 - Delivery: When I lived in Utah, a co-worker told me about a trip he was planning to Boulder, Colorado, to visit family. When I jokingly asked him if he would stop by my favorite Boulder sub shop and bring me back a Garlic-roasted Prime Rib Sub and a Chicken Salad Sub, he said yes. Much to my delight, the following week he walked into my office with a cooler containing ice and both of my sandwiches. Then, when a different friend from Utah told me he was planning a trip to my part of California, I asked him if he could bring me two subs from my favorite Utah restaurant. Like clockwork, he too showed up with a cooler full of goodies. If you could order in from any restaurant on the planet and have your meal delivered to you like my friends delivered mine, what would you order and where would you order it from?
Q2 - Reaching: We've all done it before (dropped something of value in a toilet). In the case of currency, how much money would it have to be in order for you to reach in and pull it out of a toilet. Is a dollar worth it to you? How about $20? More? Do tell!
Q3 - Fighting: Mixed Martial Arts (M.M.A.), which is best described as full-contact hybridized fighting, has made its way from the margins to the mainstream. Twice already, M.M.A. fights have been broadcast in prime time by CBS, and mainstream clothing labels like Ralph Lauren and others are said to be looking into the possibility of developing lines of M.M.A. casual wear. Recently, Mixed Martial Arts has even become popular among children. Kids as young as six-years-old train with instructors in the kicking, punching and pinning that characterize what many say is a violent sport. Do you think participation in Mixed Martial Arts puts children at too much risk, or is M.M.A. training and supervised fighting acceptable for children of all ages?
Q4 - Unemployment: The unemployment rate here in the U.S. inched to a nearly five-year high last month as employers trimmed jobs for the 8th straight month, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The unemployment rate rose to 6.1%, its highest level in nearly 5 years. That's up from 5.7% in July and 4.7% from just one year ago. If those figures are correct, around 6 out of every 100 people you know may be unemployed! Do you know anyone who is currently unemployed?
