Dad’s Christmas Gift – Twenty Questions
Posted by Christina | Filed under cgrenard
Dad Ocean Beach Pier 2010
I wanted to share the Christmas present I gave to my Dad this year, but first, a little background. In late November, I received an email from my Dad that read: “In the spirit of avoiding the build-up of ‘more stuff,’ here is what I think I would like for Christmas. From each of you, I’d like 20 interesting questions.” Dad had recently finished reading a book by Padgett Powell, called “The Interogative Mood.” The book consisted entirely of questions. Dad attached an excerpt in his email request so we would have an example. As I read the excerpt, I was surprised at how engrossing it was to read one question after another. I found that my mind raced to consider the answers to the questions in the nano seconds between reading each question. The questions were not themed or ordered in any way, they were literally just questions. Some random, some silly, some provocative, long, short, uncomfortable, humorous - I could go on but you get the idea. Reading a sample from Powell’s book was a unique experience and one I recommend. At some point, I would like to read the entire book. Over the next month, we all worked on our list of questions. The only rule was that there weren’t any rules. Just 20 questions. At Christmas, after opening presents, we each read our questions to my Dad’s delight. I thought I would share my questions (more than twenty, I think). I wrote them in paragraph form as Powell did in his book. And as you will see, they are random. I appreciate my Dad for coming up with such a unique idea for a gift. And he successfully avoided the build up of more stuff this holiday!
Here are my questions:
When facing a night in a hotel with thin walls, would you rather have a room next to a young couple with an infant and two toddlers, a couple on their wedding night or a hearing impaired insomniac? Have you ever thought about whether you would rather be blind or deaf? Do you consider yourself an eternal optimist, a situational optimist, a realist or a pessimist? In the event that an asteroid large enough to cause an extinction level event on Earth is within days of impact, do you think that the eternal optimists of the world would finally admit that maybe things AREN’T going to be okay? Or do you think they would maintain their optimism right up to the impact? If you see a beautiful flower and you are close enough to take a moment and smell it’s fragrance, do you stop and smell the flower, or do you walk by thinking to yourself that you really should stop and smell the flower but don’t have the time? Dateline or America’s Funniest Home Videos? Do you like movies that have scenes that take place in diners? Do you walk out of bad movies or stay to the end? Would you rather be well traveled or well heeled? If avocados became extinct, how drastically would that impact your culinary quality of life? Would you rather live in a world where wires were no longer needed or where avocados were extinct? No wires, or no coffee? Which do you like best, funny cat videos, wedding videos where someone catches on fire, videos where morbidly obese people attempt to parasail but end up face down in dirty lake water, drooling vomiting babies, or red neck jack-asses doing stunts? Do you like to hear the actual decision first, or the reasons for the decision first? What kind of a dog do you think a cat person would get? What is your favorite Christmas ornament? Have you ever tried to skip a stone on water? Which do you consider worse, indecision or confrontation? If you had a robot voice, what would it sound like? Which limb do you think you could do without? Would you rather travel somewhere with medieval castles or high tech skyscrapers? What is your prize possession? You can travel through time: do you choose the past or the future? Who would be your time travel companion? If you could have one toy that you no longer have back, which one would it be?
Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a great holiday.
Christina
Tags: Christmas gift, Padgett Powell, The Interogative Mood, twenty questions
Christina Grenard is a founder and creative principal of Blue Ink Syndicate – an entertainment company providing live performance art and show production, interactive media design, web marketing, branding strategy and digital film production.