sionainn go out with iroshi? Straight chick + bi chick = mass confusion. So probably not.
2) When did you last call chorus_of_chaos? Not sure if it was within the last year, actually...
3) Is tygerr a nerd? I'd more precisely call him a geek. This is a good thing.
4) What planet should chorus_of_chaos be from? Somewhere with a lot of moons.
5) Where was atalantapendrag born? Earth.
6) Did hcolleen break up with you? She'd have had to date me first for that.
7) Would you set up sithjawa and boojum? No. But boojum set up sithjawa and me, does that count?
8) What would trickofthedark give deeahblita for his/her birthday? Some delightfully drawn porn.
9) Do you have a crush on shadesong? On her writing, maybe.
10) Is norabombay single? Definitely.
11) Would kellinator and chorus_of_chaos look good together? Dunno. I don't think there'd be a great meeting of the minds there, though.
12) Would you ever date wibbble? Not right now. And only if his wife approved. ;-P
13) How long have you known mamadeb? Since I was in my teens, actually. lmbujold's e-mail list is a great place.
14) Is sionainn athletic? She's a wench, which is better.
15) Has atalantapendrag dyed their hair? Probably.
16) What do you disagree with tsjafo about? We haven't actually had very many in-depth conversations, but I'd imagine there might be places, especially politically, where we'd agree on a principle and disagree on implementation.
17) What comic book character would elysianmusings be? A superhero ballet teacher? Do they draw such women?
18) Do you have smmc's screenname? Sure do.
19) If figment0 commanded an army, who would be his/her followers? Oh, dear. Um. Either a lot of Mormons, a lot of gamergeeks, or both.
20) What do you agree with amberfox about? Lots of things. Especially that we probably need to be local.
21) How would digitalambience conquer the world? By wheeling and dealing his way to the top.
22) Has tyrantmouth been to your house/dorm? Alas, no. We are not local enough for that to be a regular occurrence, either.
23) Does rubrchick drink? I suppose she might. Especially water.
24) How long would tigergladys dating amberite last? It might not even start, but if it did, probably a month or two.
25) Is thette popular? Hulda, or at least Hulda's bread, is. Yay fen! Yay game!
26) Where was trollprincess born? Also Earth. She at least grew up in the Pennsylvania part of Earth, one of the parts that is not one of those two big cities.
27) Where did you first meet raranax? At Grandma's. That was the visit where I sat on the cactus.
28) Would you wrestle silmarian in jello? Perhaps. I'm not sure his wife's as comfortable with me as she was, and I'm not sure how Darkside would take it.
29) Do you think elorie is hot? Haven't met her. Can't say.
30) What animal should popefelix be combined with? Perhaps a ferret or a lemur.
31) Is nalidoll your best friend? Darkside's got that spot, but she could be close.
32) Is trickofthedark in a relationship? Married, even.
33) What is easalle's favorite movie? Utena, I think.
34) If elysianmusings and pharminatrix were spliced together, what would it be like? A super-concentration of a billion different kinds of artistic.
35) Is cawingcrow related to sunshinegirl? Nope.
36) What exotic animal would ataniell93 like as a pet? She might well enjoy a snake, or Bad Tom before he went all bad.
37) What would you do if chorus_of_chaos died? Mourn. Possibly see if there was anyone local who could pay a certain man a certain kind of visit.
38) Does amberite know meacu1pa? Don't think so. Two different worlds.
39) Is rubrchick dead sexy? I'm assured so.
40) If tomb_of_osiris took over the world, who would be happy? Geeks everywhere.
41) If mamadeb and sithjawa were spliced together, what would be its name? Mama Sith. There would be scary cooking.
42) Does metaphorge have a crush on chorus_of_chaos? Nah.
43) Which president would bekithewitch be likely to idolize? Scotland doesn't have presidents. But it wouldn't be the Shrubbery.
44) What color should rubrchick dye their hair? Black, to match.
45) Would you make out with boojum? You should have asked me this before she got married.
46) Is meacu1pa an emo? I think there's a rule you can't be emo over age 25 or so.
47) How many monkeys could iroshi fight at once and win against? Lots.
48) Does onyxrising do drugs? Sidhe don't have to do drugs.
49) What video game does raranax remind you of? That text-based game where the currency is meat.
50) Are smmc and sithjawa married? Not to each other. And the Sith is not married. (Do Sith marry?)
51) If garnetdagger and nilo were Siamese twins, where would they be joined? The elbow, and they would have to have five hands.
52) Does elynne travel a lot? Not physically.
53) Where would karlita most like to visit? Nifty places around the entire world.
54) If juuro were hanging off a cliff, what would onyxrising do? Snap photos of the climbing feat in progress.
55) Could you see elance and metaphorge together? Not for particularly long, and I think her husband might be annoyed if he hadn't been consulted first.
56) Would thette and onyxrising make a good couple? Her husband also might be annoyed, but they would have tremendous fun scheming.
57) What is amberfox's shoe size? I'd guess 9.
58) What flavor of jello would tomb_of_osiris be? Lemon.
59) Have you flirted with grifyn? No. She is straight. Also married. I do not want to scare people. Too much.
60) Does sithjawa smoke? No. We would have to send the cigarettes to Antarctica too.
61) melcocha's eye color? Dark. And she has the gorgeous hair!
62) How tall is tigergladys? Tall enough to be beset by hamsters!
63) What is tsjafo's favorite band/artist? I think he's a lmbujold fan.
64) One thing you can't stand about lasayla? SHE DISAPPEARED OFF THE FACE OF THE INTERNET FOR A YEAR!!!
65) Have you ever dated chorus_of_chaos? No.
66) If elorie was a superhero, who would be his/her archnemesis? Stupid Person.
67) Is amberite a college student? Yep!
68) Which of your friends should swallowtayle go out with? I can't answer that on the grounds that she's my sister.
69) Would reichiere be a better ninja or pirate? Pirate.
70) What would sorcha007 think of eng1ne? Yay, a geek!
71) What is elance's favorite food? Strawberries? *arch look*
72) What rank would lasayla have in a giant robot army? Commander, chief snarker, or high-ranked minion.
73) What mental disorder does shadesong remind you of? sickhippo.
74) What is smmc's favorite game? WoW!
75) What would dustraven do differently in your shoes? Have very sore feet.
76) What animal does trystan_laryssa remind you of? Badger?
77) What would you do if you found out godai has a crush on you? "If I found out"? I seem to recall I flirted outrageously and had cybersex.
78) One quality you find attractive in raranax? He's both related and awesome.
79) Is cawingcrow related to you? Does the corvid thing count as related? Then yes.
80) Is sorcha007 friends with aratina? If they met, they would be.
81) Are hardartist and aratina going steady? Nope.
82) What languages does tygerr speak? English, probably some scraps of fan-created languages, likely snippets of Spanish, and both Geek and the Language of Luuuuuurve.
83) Does grifyn have a dog? shiba_inu is The Big Dog, so that would be a yes.
84) What is grifyn's biggest flaw? Probably paranoia. And not enough spare time.
85) Does raranax go to your school? Alas, no.
86) Does reichiere have a big secret? If so, her cats know it.
87) What is swallowtayle's favorite color? Not orange anymore.
88) Thoughts on popefelix? GEEK!!! (This is a good thing.)
89) Is ataniell93 a high school student? Long past that.
90) What word best describes tattooedchick? Emotional.
91) Is mamadeb 1337? Not quite that old yet. But she's more tech-savvy than many people in my parents' generation, without falling prey to abhorrent internet-specific abbreviations.
92) If chorus_of_chaos took over the world, who would suffer? The current mismanaged incestuous abusive healthcare system.
93) What song/movie would you recommend to bekithewitch? It would help if I knew her taste in music, but it's hard to go wrong with "White Reflection", because it makes me hyper.
94) Is silmarian introverted or extroverted? Introverted.
95) What is hardartist allergic to? Time-wasting e-mails like the ones he asks people not to send in his comic's site's FAQ.
96) If cawingcrow had a superpower, what would it be? Super Poly Organization!
97) Are popefelix and jdllama going out? I guess I don't have enough gay guys on the friendslist to warrant forcing opposite-sex pairings.
98) rubrchick's hair color? Dark. This has the added advantage of not showing up backstage.
99) How would popefelix kill elynne? Pun war.
100) Do metaphorge and rubrchick go to the same school? It would help if either of them were in school.

January 14, 1997

Joshian New Year’s was yesterday, and oh boy was that strange. You see…well, things have definitely gotten strange around here.

Yesterday was my second semi-serious proposal of marriage. I made this not to Josh, but to Kim. Yes, Kim. I think I’m falling in love, and I really shouldn’t be. I’m not sure why. She rejected it, of course; somehow this makes me think that Josh is going to hear strange things about me.

I talked with several people on the phone yesterday. I talked with Gretta; she is going to go to court for a Class 2 Misdemeanor or a Second Degree Misdemeanor or something like that. She was in possession of marijuana at school, which was not a good thing.

Shawn is gaining respect in Emily’s eyes; he is learning how to program his TI-82 and improving rapidly. This is a good thing. She wants his here-address, which I don’t have. I’ll have to get it to her.

Kim is collecting good quotes, and apparently I am quite a provider of them. I have said many things concerning…oh, many things. I must remember to write her the story of my phone call to Shawn after I got off the phone with her.

I was talking to Kim, and I made my second semi-serious proposal of marriage. It was to her. The first was to Emily. I have, however, made strong hints to Josh, but those don’t qualify as proposals. The strongest thing I’ve ever done to Josh in that respect would be called more a proposition, I fear. But anyway, I asked Kim to marry me. She refused, albeit in a good-natured way. After we were kicked off the phone, I called Shawn. After “Hello,” “Hello,” was said on either side of the phone line, I complained, phrasing carefully, “I’m pouting. My second semi-serious proposal of marriage was rejected!”

I was not aware that Shawn had been programming at the time that I called him. However, I soon became aware of this when he shouted, in that way you shout when you have just heard or accomplished something excellent, “YES!!”

After an initial shocked moment, where it seemed to me that Shawn had just shouted “YES!!” at the news of my rejection, I began to laugh, because that was obviously a clueless “YES!!” It was hilarious. And then he began to talk about how he had been debugging…I cracked up absolutely, and had to tell him the story. It’s one for Much Ado. No; it’s one for the Trilogy That Isn’t.

I called Kim again today, and left a message on the machine about the hilarious incident that had to do something with the question that my friend Shanna had asked her. Her family listens to the machine, you see, and I had to say something that did not disturb them unduly. I had fun doing that, y’know? So she called me back and we had a hilarious conversation about anything, everything, and nothing at all. I like talking with her.

Today, I drove John and William out of the room by saying that all I needed was to fall in love with a guy who had the same taste in girls that I did. That was interesting.

I’m working on a tape that I’m calling Identity Crisis. It’s my second conglomeration of REM songs, this one with a theme. This one, actually, is not going to have all REM songs on it; it will have at least one by Madonna, and perhaps some more by other artists. I’m definitely going to need some They Might Be Giants. The Identity Crisis theme is both Star Trek and a reference to this summer…all the songs will have some sort of bearing on it. I’m making the Identity Crisis tape for listening alternative to my normal tape, Finest Worktape. I like this tape. I like both of them.

I had an interesting experience with Shawn and our calculators today. We were standing in quite close quarters, so I was close enough to feel the heat of his body. That was turn-on enough, but to then have him linking our calculators…! That was wonderful. His calculator had the link hanging out of it, with one end uncoupled. I held my calculator still for him to place the link into. He plugged it in. I’m sure we were both aware of the extreme sexuality of the situation: there he was, putting a male end of a connector into a female coupling. This male end was his; the link was his, and it was already connected to his calculator. The calculator was mine, and he was putting his link into my calculator of his own free will—without my taking things over, merely my cooperation in allowing him to put it in. Coincidence? I think not. In fact…well, he will be mine! Or I will be his…or both, most enthusiastically.

I must think about exactly how serious I was in asking Kim to marry me. I think I was quite serious. We are counting to five now. I like the image. Now if we could find a sixth for Emily…oh, this song…Hmm. I’m thinking…I’m thinking about me and Shawn and Emily and Josh and Kim, the more the merrier, isn’t that right? I’m also thinking about the songs that I’m taping. I think that the REM guys are psychic, I’d swear to it.

Hannah came over, and Father Sir told the story about his voodoo doll. Hmm? Hannah and I exchanged looks. The teacher ended up going to the hospital with bleeding ulcers. Yes, I think that perhaps my talents come down to me through my father.

Kim is going to have to corner me about the principles of Wicca sometime. She said so, at least. I’m Joshian with quite strongly Wiccan tendencies, I think. Emily is some odd mix of Catholic and Joshian, which fit together quite well, for her, at least. Kim’s religious heritage is Unitarian (father) and Jewish (mother.) What an odd combination!

Josh, according to Joshian principles, is the Second Coming. We’re going to make him come more than twice, though. According to this, Emily would be a nun: the bride of the Savior…or—the wife of Josh! Hmm…that bears some thought.

What an odd combination of music this is! REM, Madonna, and They Might Be Giants! That’s going to be strange, you know? I love this. I love this place, I love Kim…Kim makes me happy, and Shawn…hey, maybe if Shawn and Kim met? I’d love that, if Shawn and Kim and Josh and Emily and I were a quintet. I’d like that, for sure.

This is going to be an interesting tape, no doubt. I love all of these songs, and they…well, it’s really fun making this, and it’s going to be even more fun listening to this after I get done with my work. I like working sometimes. I write essays for Hystery. That’s fun, always.

Kim and I were talking until way, way too late. She called me this time, and she’s so incredibly sweet! I like her lots.

I’m adding some Alanis Morrissette as well. It’s just a great combination, and most of these songs have memories attached to them, for some odd reason. Maybe because I got the CD’s at about the right time for them to have very loaded memories…these songs on Jagged Little Pill have the flavor of cooked-out london broil with Father Sir’s special sauce, eaten cold with equally chilled green olives. It’s a delicious thing to eat, especially with a great huge salad with plenty of salt and vinegar and onions and Greek olives…ah, that would be quite delicious indeed.

As you can see, I appreciate food. The scale tells me that as well. The scale tells me that I’d better take up some form of exercise. I believe that fencing is in order, as that will give me some of the things I’ve been lacking. It also seems like something I’d like…and, of course, that Shawn would appreciate in a woman.

I don’t want to change him, as much as that may not sound like me. I’d like it if he changes, but if he doesn’t, I’m not going to try to change him against his will. I’m not going to make that mistake ever again. If they don’t want to be changed, don’t try to. I’m not going to try again.

As much as I complain about him, I love him as-is. You see, he’s just so loveable! The thing is, I’d also like it if he liked me too, as much as I liked him. That would be very nice, and then…well, I’ve got this Heinlein-esque view of sex. You see, you let the SO do whatever he/she/they want(s) to do, and then you sit back, relax, join in, stand watch to make sure they’re not disturbed, cover their asses…whatever you want to do, except—don’t try and keep the one monogamous. Monogamy=monotony, to some ways of thinking.

I’m happy tonight. Things in the world seem peaceful. Shawn didn’t call—I guess he had more important things to do. I don’t mind, not at the moment. The house is warm, and I’m constructing a tape that will be useful tomorrow to listen to when I’m done with my finals, and then when there’s the time between the time when the finals are done, and the time when that fencing meeting takes place. I’m going to do everything I can to ensure that I go.

Watching the reel of tape to see that it doesn’t run out before the song is over…strange, but kind of fun…and the tape did run out. But it was so close to the end of the song it doesn’t matter. I timed the other side of the tape that way, too. I like having a good ending…I wish it had ended a little more gracefully. But I’m happy with Identity Crisis, I think.