Never-ending Q&A at G.C.

I didn't actually expect to get this many questions, but I promised I would answer them all. So let us continue, shall we?

What are your guilty pleasures?

If they're guilty pleasures, then why would I reveal them to you? Okay, okay. Very occasionally, I'll take a nap in the afternoon. This makes me feel guilty because I know I should be doing something useful, but sometimes I give in to the Afternoon Drowsy. Also, I really, really like to eat snack foods. I don't indulge very often (for which my ass thanks me, I'm sure) but some of the things that make me feel guilty when I eat them: chips and salsa, White Cheddar Cheez-Its, potato chips (though weirdly, I only like the Reduced-fat Ruffles--and NOT the ones with Olestra because that, um, "leakage" thing they had a problem with when it was first introduced really skeeved me out). And lots and lots of brownies. Also also, sometimes I'll have a cocktail before 5 p.m. Not at like noon or anything, but maybe 4 p.m. I know--NAUGHTY.

Something that makes you squeamish?

I don't much enjoy disposing of dead, decomposing animals. I realize I am not unique in this, but I suspect I am required to do this more than the average Jane. Or Joe, for that matter. The other day, I had to take care of two birds that had drowned in barrels of water in the garden. They had been in there awhile and were not pleasant. And on that very same day, I had to fling a skunk that had been run over right at the entrance to our driveway. It wasn't decomposing, but it had, um, exploded a little bit. I do not like it when the insides are outside, if you know what I'm saying. But other than dead things, I don't like picking up live things like slugs or snakes.

Scene in a movie that always makes you cry?

I don't really like watching movies that make me cry. I do tear up a little bit at that song, "The Wind Beneath My Wings."

I can't believe I just admitted that to the entire Internet.

Do you ever find yourself singing the Green Acres theme song? Like when in the Cistern?

No. Because A) I don't know the Green Acres song, never having seen the show, and B) if I am forced to go in the cistern, the only thing I do in there is cuss.

So are you teaching your sister to can during her visit?

No. Canning is not a particularly applicable skill for a veterinarian living in Tucson, Arizona. She's not a big cooking/kitchen person, anyway. Though she did watch me make grape juice yesterday.

What movie/TV show that features farm life actually got it right or closest to right?

This is a hard one for me only because I don't actually watch much TV and don't recall a lot of movies set in the country. However, remember "Funny Farm" with Chevy Chase? The frustration and disillusionment in that movie are pretty real, as is the inherent humor in dropping an urban person (like me) in a country setting (like here). And "Nobody's Fool" with Paul Newman (RIP), based on the book by Richard Russo, is as accurate a portrayal of small-town losers in upstate New York as you'll ever see.

To be continued (and finished, we hope) tomorrow . . .