Second round had me matched up with Giorgia at http://romebean.cjb.net

1) why do you have a blog? is it to vent your rants, cos you're bored in your offline life, cos everybody has one so why shouldn't you, or what else reason?
Primarily, it is to have some sort of outlet besides verbally berating my family, friends, and co-workers with my problems and comments of my daily life. I like writing. That is odd since I never really took to writing courses in college (other than the writing required by foreign language classes).

2) as a non-european citizen, what do you think about europe new born single currency? do you think that will actually make a change towards a federal nation like a small US for us?
I means all the damned Francs I have from 1992 are useless! No, it is interesting. When I lived in France, I was quite aware there were differing laws that affected major and minor issues between each country (the ubiquitous French yellow headlights being one). I think it is necessary for Europe to realize French will always be French, Germans German, and so forth but to also put forth a united front to make a common market. If I had a way to wiggle into Euro citizenship, I might opt for it. I think the next decade will be exciting and, given the chance, I plan to go back to France for a while...maybe next summer.

3) where in italy have you been exactly?
Florence and Venice. Florence was nice. Somewhat rustic but pleasant. Venice was nice, too but I have recollections of dead cats floating in the canals. That was in 1985.

4) have you seen the bridget jones' flick? have you read the book first? have you actually read both 'bridget jones' diary' and 'bridget jones: the edge of reason'? if so, i mean, if you know what i'm babbling on about, do you relate more to daniel cleaver or to mark darcy?
Um...neither. I am not much on reading fiction (unless that book was non-fiction). So I can't really give an answer to the 'relate' question. Oddly, having Daniel Jones as a name (no, I do not play guitar for Savage Garden...wrong Dan Jones), I have some odd coincidental connection to that question.

5) (if you thought last question was stupid, then go on reading this one if you dare...) do you chew your nails, and, if so, do you swallow the chewed bits or spit them to the floor or elsewhere?
Ha! Yes, bad habit but I do chew my finger nails (no toe nails, though. Yuck!) I spit the damned things out. When I did not spit them out, they would on occasion get caught in my throat and cause at least a sore in the throat and often a mild infection of the throat - neither of which I liked. So, in a true testament to Skinnerian psychology, I started spitting the 'chewed bits' out.

6) my friend graham owns a yahoogroup called CultOfGraham, where more often than not he throws himself in complete autorants against everything and everyone. he's a metalhead. are you his US twin?
Can't say I know Graham or have any relation to him. I do get the 'you look like someone I know' comment. It is usually a musician (yes, a metal group more often than not) or, in one instance, someone's boyfriend. Graham sounds much more 'ranty' than me.

7) i thought that wales was the place where 'men are men and sheep run scared'...now you tell us it's texas instead...does that include president bush?
Well, given Jones is a Welsh name and I was in Texas when I made the comment...I was likely quite able to make the call. I think every place has a Wales/Texas. The French hate the Belgians, the southerners hate the folk in Arkansas, everyone hates the Yugoslavs. And everyone seems to make incest/beastality/pedophilia jokes about the people in the place they hate. What can you do about it? As for George, Jr... If he can't catch Osama, he can't catch sheep.

8) what is the biggest mistake you've made in your life, if any, the one that you'll always regret?
So far? One of the biggest was marrying the $#!thead I did last decade. It reaffirmed my belief that some people fall out of Satan's asshole and walk the Earth. Hmmm... that could be a Tenacious D song.

9) has anybody ever complained about the content of your website? why?
Nope. Not enough people read it to complain. And if they did, I'd tell them to try something tamer like www.iamaprudishasswipe.com

10) do you ever feel that the media spread a concept of beauty that not necessarily sticks to yours? have you ever been affected by that and, if so, how?
I have few illisions about my appearance. I do not fit the media concept of attractiveness in men. I have a lot of beefs with the media and socialization in the US. Those socialization issues may well exist in other cultures, too. If I had to name a woman I am both attracted to and fascinated with, it would have to be (no, not some supermodel)...Janeane Garafalo. Smart, not vapid, not shallow...the opposite of my ex-wife!

11) reading some bits of your website, i realised you're the cynical kind of person, that may be an attitude to protect yourself (like the mighty daria...:-P) but, above all, cynical people are often pessimistic. do you ever wish you were a 'glass half full' kind of person instead?
Optimists think the glass is half full, pessimists think the glass is half empty. I am sure God hates me and shorted me the damned ice. I guess that makes me 'psychotic'. Sure, I wish I could see more of the positives in life. I have been able to use negative feelings as good motivators at times.

12) what people do you know, or have known, that you wish you could get to know better?
Most people. I tend to want to dig in deep with people...not in that Hannibal Lecter way but dig in and uncover the inner workings of who and what they are. So, most people I know or have known I have wanted to know better. By name, the list would be long and would put me in days, if not weeks, of prolonged deep thinking...likely followed by depression.

I was matched up in my first round of BloggerInsider with Erica Lynn.
Here are her questions and my answers.

1) do you play any musical instruments? if so, which one(s)? if not, have you ever tried?

I took some guitar classes in college and still know the major (no pun intended) chords. I essentially am so out of practice I suck at it. I never really learned any other instruments other than the ubiquitous recorder-playing-in-4th-grade routine.

2) who would you consider to be your greatest inspiration?

Hmmm...likely my immediate family. There are a few reasons why. 1) They never seem to crap on me (as have many 'friends' and my ex). 2) Despite some big hardships, my family has done reasonably well getting on with things.

3) were you a good student in school? how do you feel about test scores and how they seem to define where someone goes for higher education?

Ugh, I was a poor student. I was the typical fairly bright kid who was not challenged by school until the 7th and 8th grades and had by them failed to learn very necessary study habits. I was able to gain some of those habits by college but I finished high school a sub-2.0 student...I just gave up on high school, to be honest. It was obvious to me the teachers were unhappy being forced to teach curriculum with blinders on and no ability to introduce much in the way of original material. College was the opposite in many ways.

As far as how test scores determine one's ability to learn. I am sceptical. Like I said, after 4 years of HS, I had a sub 2.0 GPA. College gave me (even with bad study habits) an average GPA of over 3.2. One might expect the reverse. I think people just have very different ways of learning and it takes an atmosphere that reinforces a particular style of learning. I think, had I had a better early exposure to better methods of learning, I could have made it at any school. I still think I could make it at pretty much any school now IF I could motivate myself. It is not some injustice I didn't go to Harvard or some other highly known school. I think I learned as much where I did go as I would have anywhere else.

4) have you ever broken somebody's heart? if so, why?

Hmmm...no one has told me I have. And I would assume they would have said something. I know of at least one person who had feelings for me and I did not reciprocate (bad fit). I can say a few people have broken mine/crapped all over mine/choose your own euphemism.

5) do you remember when the challenger blew up? if so, how did you feel on that day?

Yep, I was in high school, senior year. I was in the aforementioned mood of hating the obvious unhappiness of the high school teachers and giving up on the process. I recall many students making jokes about the event. Teens are just like that - lack of tact and knowledge of socially acceptable limits.

6) why do you keep a personal journal/blog? are there things you do not share even though you may want to? why or why not?

Hmmm...well, it is mostly an outlet. I see it like this. If I didn't keep some kind of written list of rants, I would unload on my coworkers and friends and push them away with my intense negativity. On rare occasion, the journal provides some insight to my mood and thinking. It convinced one friend I was actually a very idealist person and the failure of the world to meet my ideals makes me cynical (most people see me as just cynical). It made sense to me when it was explained to me. Of course, some refer to people who have a sense of how the world should be that is very different from how the world truly is as 'sociopathic'.

As far as items I do not share...I am usually open to answer any question that is asked (and I ask a lot of them, too). I do not offer much of any information to most people (I am very private in my life) unless it is requested and I feel comportable giving it but find I can be much more open to an anonymous crowd via a journal. I tend not to share items that may cause issues in my life. Example: I am in the early stages of a relationship and do not feel it would be relevant or helpful to mention there are two co-workers I am somewhat infatuated with. D'oh! ;)

7) do you have any oddities or fetishes? : )

Hmmm...Let me wiggle into that...I have some bad habits. Chewing my fingernails. I can by quite lazy at times. Um, holding a grudge...that is a big one (typical Scorpio). Oddities? Hmmm...well, there is a weird alien spot on my head. Kind of like the aliens on Alien Nation but my hair covers it. My feet are very wide (9 EEE). Other than that, if I should only have one of something, I only have one. If I should have only two, I have only two. ;)

Fetishes. Hmmm...dominant women (somewhere between 'willing to offer to pay the check' and 'black leather outfits'), red heads (Alicia Witt is yummy!) and brunettes (I'm not big on blondes), breasts (size is unimportant), highly intelligent women are a turn on. Wow, out of that list, my ex only matched one...breasts. HA! That is all I can think of. Maybe I should review my alt.com profile. ;)