1. What time is it? 11:48am
2. What’s your full name? John Martin (Only my mom in my family has a middle name.)
3. What are you most afraid of? Being so happy for so long. Surely, I’m about to be run over by an eighteen-wheeler. (Don’t call me Shirley!)
4. What is the most recent movie that you saw? Transamerica (for the second time, with the sender of this email).
5. Place of birth? Portsmouth, Virginia (same as the sender of this email, only I was born way after her there)
6. Favorite new food? Any kind of bread, but honestly, mostly as a vehicle for the butter.
7. What’s your natural hair color? Salt ‘n Peppa (heavy on the salt)
8. Ever been to Alaska? Yes, in Aug ’05 on an NCL cruise with my mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, cousin, aunt’s sister and her husband. (It’s as beautiful as everyone says it is there.)
9. Ever been toilet paper rolling? No; I was Mrs. Martin’s good boy.
10. Love someone so much it made you cry? Yes, but I only found that out when it came time for the divorce.
11. Been in a car accident? Yes — one, a minor one. And it was my fault.
12. Croutons or bacon bits? Croutons, only because they are a form of bread, but see #5 above.
13. Favorite day of the week? Wednesday; it’s dance night!
14. Favorite Restaurant? The Irregardless Cafe (and yes, they know it’s not a word)
15. Favorite flower? Plastic ones; and one is enough. I have exactly one in my home, a plastic (or is it silk?) orchid. I don’t know, it was a gift.
16. Favorite sport to watch? Tennis, but honestly, mostly as a vehicle to watch Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi in their heydays.
17. Favorite Drink? Bourbon and Diet Coke (and if they had diet bourbon, I’d drink that, too)
18. Favorite ice cream? It’s a three-way tie between coffee, butter pecan, and pralines & cream.
19. Disney or Warner Brothers? I love the t-shirt that says, “If you see a cop, warna’ brother.” I prefer independent producers myself.
20. Ever been on a ship? Yes, my Alaskan Cruise (see #8 above), and a Greek Isles Cruise in 1999.
21. What color is your bedroom carpet? Tan, though I think being gay, I’m supposed to say “ecru,” “taupe,” or “shell.”
22. How many times you failed your driver’s test? Never, I’m Pauline’s good boy, remember?
23. Before this one, from whom did you get your last email? Dr. Adriana de Souza e Silva, my COM 487 Internet & Society professor.
24. What do you do most often when you are bored? I can’t remember the last time I was bored. I don’t get bored, lonely, or jealous. See #3 above; I believe there’s a connection.
25. Bedtime? Between midnight and 2AM.
26. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest? I don’t know and wouldn’t blame anyone who didn’t. I wouldn’t have responded to this one if it wasn’t from one of my favorite people in the world.
27. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? The person who has the biggest choice of better things to do.
28. Who is the person that you are most curious to see their responses? Whomever might respond.
29. Favorite TV shows? On March 17, 2006, I will celebrate not owning a TV for four years. If I had one, I imagine it might be Will & Grace.
30. Last person you went to dinner with? My boyfriend, Robert. And right after that we went to see Ira Glass, who was phenomenal.
31. Ford or Chevy? My last car was a Camry, my current car is a Camry, and my next car will be a Camry. My parents just bought a Ford 500 if that helps.
32. What are you listening to right now? Emmylou Harris singing, “A Love That Will Never Grow Old,” which is such an incredible song. I have it on repeat.
33. What are your favorite colors? I like blue, except when I’m editing. Then I love red, red, red.
34. How many tattoos do you have? None, but have been thinking about one forever, and know what and where I want one if I ever get one.
35. How many pets do you have? No pets. Nothing living in my house except me. (See #15 above.) I’m very active, and I want to be able to be gone as long as I want to without having to get back to keep something alive.
36. Which came first the chicken or the egg? The sperm.
37. What would you like to accomplish before you die? Finish my Master’s degree, and possibly get my PhD.
38. How many people are you sending this e-mail to? To one, copying ten.
RETURN DIRECTIONS: Now, here’s what you’re supposed to do? Please do not spoil the fun. Hit forward, delete my answers and type in your answers. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you!
In case you haven’t heard, NPR has resurrected the 1950s radio show, “This, I Believe.”
This particular essay is entitled, “There Is No God,” and it’s by Penn Jillette, part of the Penn & Teller duo. I love the ideas he puts forth in this essay.
Here, you can either read it or press the 
button there to hear Penn read it himself.
I had a CT scan today to make sure this is just a pulled abdominal muscle causing my discomfort.
Don’t I look tiny? That’s not me, silly! I went in feet first, for one thing.
I had to arrive an hour before the procedure, presumably to drink two glasses of some not-too-badly-tasting concoction. I still don’t know what it was, but I do know that it wasn’t a laxative. Thankfully.
Both the nurse and the radiologist were a hoot. The nurse was named Amy, but I never did get the radiologist’s name. I do know that she favored Fanny Flagg — in her early years.
At one point, the radiologist had her gloved hand right by my face, and I said, “You smell like balloons.”
“Latex!” she said a little too excitedly. “You aren’t allergic, are you?”
“No, but I do have a little fetish, and that groin-area x-ray protector you have on me is bobbing up and down.” Just kidding: I did say that, but it wasn’t bobbing.
When she injected the dye in me, I felt it making its way down, and I said, “Wow, that feels just like the first stiff bourbon and diet of the night.”
That machine did four scans of me, during which I had to hold my breath for 8 seconds, 8 seconds, 22 seconds, and then 15 seconds, respectively.
The two 8-second scans were just to “outline my body.” The long one was the actual scan, and the 15-second one was taken after a little break, to give my kidneys time to flush the dye through.
At the end, I asked the nurse what the difference was between a CT scan and a CAT scan, and she said, “There is none.”
“Why’d they drop the A then?”
At first she looked nonplussed, then went off on some foreign language binge about axial cuts, which are vertical “slices” from side to side of your body, and two other big words that mean slicing and dicing from head to toe both vertically and horizontally.
When she stopped, and looked at me, I said, “I believe you.”
I met Gregor (wild_sun) at Helios last night and we had such a wonderful hour-and-some catching up. It’s been forever, and I’ve missed chats like the one we had last night.
We covered a gazillion subjects.
At scareyoke, I met Kevin (av8rdude). We hung out until about 12:30, then went over to Legends, but stayed 30-45 minutes the most. Uneventful evening.