jd yates

Somehow, despite knocking out several weeks with these two-fer posts, I still haven’t managed to get any closer to being caught up. I’m still exactly as far behind as when I started. How the hell does that happen? Oh well, here’s trying. Weeks 15 and 16 of Nick’s If… Project:

If you could have one specific power over other people, what would it be?

I think the obvious answer (though I’m told it’s just me) that I think the question is looking for is persuasion. I mean, what other power is there to have over other people? And who wouldn’t want to be assured everything they want from others? That seems to be the holy grail of abilities, and I certainly wouldn’t turn it down.

If you had to lose everyone you know in a tragic accident except one person, who would you choose to survive?

That’s an incredibly difficult decision to make. That’s a lot of loss to cope with, and how can I choose who to have to get through it with? I suppose it has to be my mom. I don’t even want to think about trying to figure out how to go on with my life without her, much less in a world where everyone I know is gone.

If you could have one meal from your past exactly as it was, which would you repeat?

I’ve had some incredible meals in my life… and I’m finding it difficult to make a decision because I’m not sure if I should be deciding for the food or for the company. I suppose I should try to satisfy both metrics. The most vivid memory that comes to mind is my birthday from last year. It was a small group of us, 10 or 12, having a slow dinner at Javier’s, like we had nowhere else to be (which doesn’t happen nearly often enough). Margaritas and cantinflas were amazing. Many tequila shots were had. I loved watching several groups of friends merge and get to know one another. I think everyone had a good time, I know I had a blast. Thanks, again, to Tiffany and Val for helping me put it together.

If you could become famous for doing something that you don’t currently do, what would it be?

I think I’d like to be famous for writing something. One of these days I’d like to author a book of some kind. Something witty, and pithy. But I hardly call what I’ve written here, or anywhere before, decent reading so I think it qualifies as something I don’t currently do.

..:: Week 16 ::..

If you could only keep one of your five senses, which would you save?

Sight. I find it least imaginable to exist in a world where I got all of my sensory data from something other than my eyes.

If you could have lived during any one period of time in past history, when and where would it be?

Didn’t I answer this one already? I don’t think there’s anywhere in history I’d rather be, than here. I can’t live without my technology… and everything else just seems like the dark ages.

If, one by one, you had to place each of the people with your right now in another period of history that you think suits them best, when and where would you place them?

Since I’m all alone in my house right now, I’ll have to reach a little further for an answer. An ongoing IM conversation with my friend Kyle makes him the closest to me at the moment, so he’ll just have to do. Maybe it’s the soul patch, but for some reason I feel certain he belongs in the seventies. Striped bell-bottoms and rose colored sunglasses in the middle of Woodstock, to be specific.

If you had to describe the saddest thing that ever happened to you, what would you talk about?

About a year and a half ago a friend of mine died. He was, for lack of better/less cliche words, a truly incredible person, someone I wish I’d given more of my time while he was around. That, coupled with the circumstances of his passing, and the fact that I’d had to deal with almost no death in my life up to this time made coming to terms with it extremely difficult. I wasn’t prepared at the time to use what little support system was available, so it was also a very lonely period for me. Few people understood or cared about what I was going through, and those that did I pushed away because I didn’t (don’t?) know how to lean on others. I still get really sad thinking about it… and that’s why I’ve generally avoided sharing the details here, in the past, and with most of my friends and family.

Somewhere in the process of writing this post, my computer met an untimely demise. I honestly thought it was done for good, and had even spent several painful hours rebuilding my Thinkpad to get me through until the next-gen Macbook Pros are released in the coming weeks. Fortunately my PowerBook has since, through the spontaneous regeneration powers bestowed upon it by the geniuses at Apple, resurrected itself (Labor Day = Easter for computers?). So, just when I had written this post off for lost, I get to pick it back up where I left off…

I remember fondly the days when neither time nor inspiration were the biggest hindrances to my blogging efforts, but suitable topics were in short supply. It would seem, now, that topics abound but spare quiet time and focus are found severely lacking. One day I will make a promise to myself to never again lament on my inability to post regularly on this blog, but that day is not today.

It’s once again time to deliver a two-fer “If…” post, as I’ve somehow managed to get yet another two weeks behind. Here it is…

If you had to name the most terrifying moment of your life so far, what would it be?

I have no idea how to answer this question. My memory in this particular area fails me completely. I wish I had a very interesting story to tell, but I can’t think of one thing that conjures the sort of fear worthy of the question. Perhaps this is a good thing and I should just accept it, but it troubles me to know that there are things I’ve been deathly terrified of and I just can’t seem to think of them.

If you had to be homeless for one year, where would you want to be?

The easy answer is here, knowing I have a solid network of family and friends to fall back on. However, were I to be forced to think of another place I’d hope to be in that situation, it would probably be San Francisco. I’m told they have extensive programs aimed at helping those who’ve met dire circumstances.

If you could have one street or square or park in any city or town renamed after you, which one would you select and exactly what would the name be?

As I have no particularly strong ties to any place other than Dallas I’m left to pick some completely arbitrary place and stick my name on it. As a matter of fact, I’ll see that arbitrary, and raise it to completely unknown. I choose Piccadilly Circus, because I find the name absolutely atrocious, and though I’ve never visited it, it’s in one of my favorite cities (London) and I understand it to be the Times Square of the UK. I would name it… JD Yates Square (except it’s a circle… oh, hell, I don’t know). Yes, I’m that narcissist.

If you could be guaranteed one thing in life besides money, what would you ask for?

Property? Of course that dodges the meaning of the question. Aside from material possessions, I will of course answer Love. Excepting the love of my family and friends, I can’t say that I’ve ever experienced true romantic Love. I eagerly look forward to it. More than that, I often find myself desperately seeking it (a recipe for disappointment, I know.) But that’s a topic for another, much more personal (potentially private?) blog.

..:: Week 14 ::..

If you could have one person alive today call you for advice, who would you want it to be?

I don’t know that I’m confident enough to think that I have meaningful advice to give anyone of any consequence (i.e. world leaders, etc…). I just finished catching up on a blog I read pretty frequently called CultureFeast. It’s owned by a local Dallas guy, written by various contributing authors, mostly local, and covers a wide range of topics from politics and religion to movie reviews and local music. At any rate, having that experience fresh on my mind, I think I’d want Daniel (the guy that runs the blog) to call for my advice, which would be to take some ownership in editing his contributors posts before they go live. They’re usually laden with grammatical, syntax, and sometimes even spelling or punctuation errors (though I’m sure I’m the only one who notices, but that’s not the point.) Reading it drives me absolutely insane about 70% of the time.

If you could have any person from any time in history call you for advice, and they were to listen to what you told them, who would you want to hear from?

I know, better than most, that simply because someone listens to your advice doesn’t mean they’ll act accordingly. And, again, without anything prophetic for the world’s leaders, I’m left to choose from a different circle of society. How about Britney Spears? That bitch needs some sound advice like Amy Winehouse needs drug rehab.

If you could easily visit one known planet, which one would you go to?

Knowing the sort of uninhabitable environments that await me on any other planet in our solar system, and most any other in the galaxy… the question assumes massive leaps in both space-travel and environmental suit technologies. The geek in me wants to maximize those assumptions, so I’ll indulge it. I’ll choose the third and fourth planets around Gliese 581. Scientists have found that these planets could possibly house liquid water, and potentially even life of some kind. Yeah, I’m that nerd.

If you could have been the author of any single book already written, which book would you want to have penned?

Choosing some piece of popular contemporary fiction seems more than a bit cliche, and hollow. I can’t see why I shouldn’t choose something classic, like The Odyssey. Because it’s survived for thousands of years and will be read and enjoyed for probably thousands more to come.