Category: What the Boss likes

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – Interview a fictional character

Interview a fictional character

ohhhhkay.

Vel: So, here we are with God, the creator of the universe per one of the religions on the planet Earth.  So, God, we are told that you are omnipotent and omniscient by your followers.   But your autobiography doesn’t demonstrate that.  Care to comment?
God: Ah, well… I am.  I am.   You just don’t know how it works.
Vel: So make me understand.
God: (silence)
Vel:  so either you can’t or you won’t.  What don’t you want people to know about you Mr. God?
God:  This interview is over!
Vel:  Well, that didn’t take long.

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – Catching up

Catching up on some inspirations for Bloganuary.

What was your favorite photo you’ve taken?
I don’t like taking photos.  I find it ends up making me miss something, and I hate being in photos.  I suppose if I had to choose one, I do like a black and white photo, from *film*, that I took of the Heinz Chapel on University of Pittsburgh’s Oakland campus.  It makes a nice set with the behemoth Cathedral of Learning.  I’ll put the photo up when I get a moment.

Write about something mysterious.

No idea what this really means.   But here goes.   There is very little that I find mysterious. Anything that baffles me I find to always have an answer if I look hard enough.   However, I did find a towel in the middle of the floor of our entrance way that evidently either just appeared, or somehow the cats got it from the upstairs which doesn’t seem terribly likely since it was a rather large bath towel that I use to dye my hair (currently purple).  They are very large but not quite that large. Upon this towel was centered a red mouse cat toy.   It was waiting for me when I got home.

We have had some of our prior cats seem to understand the idea of trade since they would put toys in their dishes when they were empty.  But this rather nicely arranged offering is beyond me. 

What superhero power would you want?

Oh, heck, give me Captain Marvel’s suite of powers (MCU, which seem to be a combination of the comic book version of Ms. Marvel and when she became Binary).  I want to be able to fly on my own, including between galaxies or at least stars in a reasonable amount of time.

What’s the next book on your reading list?

Hmmm, I have three books I’m reading right now, one pleasantly cheesy post apocalyptic bodice ripper “Deal with the Devil” by Kit Rocha which I’m reading at work over lunch, a fantasy noir detective book “Wake of the Bloody Angel” by Alex Bledsoe, for evening reading,  and a book by John Loftus of Debunking Christianity, “How to Defend the Christian Faith” for picking up more anti-apologist arguments and techniques.  I’m very much liking our subscription to Scribd. 


But for my next book, at least to buy?  I think it might be Gastro Obscura, from the Atlas Obscura folks.  Even though I’m not thrilled with the term, I am indeed a foodie.  I have all kinds of cookbooks, a set of textbooks on how to butcher animals, etc.

“What is your favorite quote and why?“

““People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”

Attributed to quite a few people. H.G. Wells seems to have gotten closest. Basically, punch the Nazis.

Oh and one more that I forgot

“If you could, what year would you time travel to and why?“

1561, Nuremberg Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1561_celestial_phenomenon_over_Nuremberg

What the fuck was going on? Looks like a damn Star Destroyer.

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – “What is a cause you’re passionate about and why?”

I’ve skipped a couple days of “inspirations”, just not feeling it.  So I start again with the question “What is a cause you’re passionate about and why?”

My current readers wont’ be surprised that it is the separation of church and state and standing against the harm that religions do.  And it isn’t just Christianity, but that’s what I’m most familiar with.

I’m a former Christian, Presbyterian version, and now an atheist. In my journey, I’ve studied a lot of religions, and their sects. I’ve read the bible, the qu’ran, etc.

I’ve seen friends tormented because of the lies of Christianity, with its bullshit that some god only wants you to love the “right” people, that some god only approves of certain behavior, that some god will condemn you to eternal torture if you don’t do things “right”.  

I’ve seen people sure that they are broken or wrong because of the victim blaming that is part and parcel of most religions, excuses invented because this god does nothing at all.  It isn’t anyone’s fault that it does nothing.  It is imaginary. 

Religion is a bane of humans.  It is the delusion that some magical being agrees with certain humans, and that they are somehow better than everyone else, the “chosen”.  Alas, they can’t even agree among themselves what their various gods want. 

Religions have gotten away with far too much under the guise of being “good” and it’s time to stand up to them, showing just how false they are.  They deserve no respect, only acknowledgement and to be exposed for what they are: human fantasies, often sadistic ones.

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – ” What does your ideal day look like?”

I think I’m a day or so off on the challenge. Oh well.

Start with a good night’s sleep.  Sometimes that is a problem.  If I don’t have a snack before I go to bed, my blood sugar drops in the middle of the night and I wake up from nightmares.  Then it takes forever to fall asleep again. 

If I wake up after a nice night’s sleep, then I would wander downstairs to feed the dark legion their bit of wet cat food, and get myself a cup of coffee.  Preferably a dark roast with fresh cream, no sugar.  I would then go back upstairs to our den and spend a couple of hours looking at the news from around the world and tearing apart nitwits about their lies regarding religion and politics. (I guess that the ideal day would mean that these idiots didn’t find it necessary to bother others with their imaginary friend, so I’d do more reading, art and chatting, but I found this too much to ask for).  Interspersed with that would be chatting with my spouse about all sorts of things, from science, to gaming, to the nitwits I’m nattering at. 

Lunch would be something tasty, often a sandwich or soup or both.  I’m a texture fiend so I do love a good sandwich.  I’d spend the afternoon reading or puttering at my art.  I might also decide to cook something complicated or put in something to roast a good long while. 

In the evening, there would be a tasty dinner, either take out or something we’ve made.  There would be a bottle of wine or two.  Then I’d go to sleep…. After a snack.   

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – “What does it mean to live boldly?”

I pretty much started off my conscious existence knowing “To Boldly Go Where No Man Has Gone Before”.  

Bold means confident and/or courageous.  And for me, being bold has been difficult.  I have gotten much better at it the older I get.  

For me, living boldly is:

  1.  Speaking one’s mind without fear.  
  2. Standing up for what’s right, no matter what the “crowd” says.
  3. Taking care of myself and knowing my needs are as important as others.
  4. Trying even if I might never quite succeed.  
  5. Questioning everything. 

My younger self didn’t like to do any of these things.  She was always trying to be “Good”.  The good daughter, the good christian, the good student, the good friend.  All of that “good” wasn’t good at all.  Now, I’m the purple plaid sheep of the family and I like it.  

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – “What are 5 things you’re grateful for today?”

Today’s inspiration question is “What are 5 things you’re grateful for today?”

1. My soulmate who supports me and feeds me excellent beef stew.
2. My dark legion of far too many cats.
3. A good bottle of wine.  Last night, we had Annick Bachelet 2019 Les Charmes (Morgon) which is amazing!  I think it’s the first French wine that I’ve had that didn’t taste weak and insipid.  And the PA liquor stores had it at $15 a bottle.
4. A warm house to putter around in during an ice storm.  I mostly finished putting in a new floor of vinyl planking in a small bathroom today.  It ain’t as easy as is often shown.  Of course, this is our old house where little is square.
5. Time to natter on my blog.

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – I wrote too soon: WordPress’ question for 1/7 “What do people incorrectly assume about you?”

I thought that WP wasn’t going to send out a inspiration for bloganuary so went ahead with my own.  Lo and behold, they did send one last evening.

So, what do people incorrectly assume about me?   Not that much, happily, but many often assume that since I don’t show my emotions often, I don’t have them.  I am *not* a hugger, and most women just don’t get that. 

I consider my emotions private.  That does come somewhat from being very emotional when I was young and being humiliated for that.  Not always fun being a highly sensitive person.  But I also often just don’t see the need to show what I feel.

Of course, I also have people of the theist persuasion ever so sure that I simply *must* agree with them, but they incorrectly assume that about every non-believer in their particular version.  I do enjoy dissuading them of that conclusion.

What the Boss likes – Bloganuary – one of my own questions “What most influenced your adult personality?”

I don’t’ think WordPress is doing suggested questions for weekends so I made up one of my own, or rather my spouse did.  “what most influenced your adult personality?”

For me, it was having someone support me, aka my spouse, and role-playing games.  I could try out being brave, having an opinion, being a leader, etc all in a safe space where things weren’t “real”.  It made a HUGE difference for me and I am so glad.  I owe a lot to Dungeons & Dragons and my gamemaster husband.     

What the Boss Likes – Bloganuary – “What makes you laugh?”

January 7th, so what makes me laugh?

““To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women!”” – Conan

Or something like that. My taste runs to the absurd. I love Monty Python.  I knew of them and managed to rent a “video disc” of Life of Brian when I was in high school.  I was watching it with my parents, and gee, didn’t know about the full frontal nudity in it.  My sense of humor was nothing like *anyone* in my family. 

Along the same type is Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy:  ““In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.”


I also love Steve Martin, Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters.  This is one of my favorite Jonathan Winters skits:



I loved Steve Martin’s “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid”, since I love film noir detectives. 



The Carol Burnett Show was also a favorite, with Tim Conway, Harvey Corman, Vicki Lawrence, etc. 

Of course anything by Mel Brooks is marvelous.   Blazing Saddles is the best, though Young Frankenstein and Robin Hood: Men in Tights are great. 
*Definitely* not safe for work and has the “n” word, but in the best way possible.



But the best are the Marx Brothers.  You may think you’ve never seen one of their movies, but if you’d seen a classic Bugs Bunny, etc, you have.  They originated most of the classic skits.




and whatever gods bless Margaret Dumont, the perfect straight woman.