Monthly Archive

Q1 - Special: In addition to standard menu items, many restaurants offer one or more specials of the day. If your waiter or waitress describes an appealing special but neglects to mention its price, would you order it without asking about the cost?

That would depend on the type of special and the restaurant.  Most of the restaurants I frequent have entrees that don’t top 30 dollars.  If I were on the Upper East Side or in the Tribeca/SoHo area are I would definitely ask the price.  A hamburger and fries can easily be twenty dollars plus in those areas.

Q2 - : Earlier this year, pictures showing the Enawene Nawe tribe of Amazon indians aiming weapons at an airplane overhead made headlines across the United States. The photos, according to the producers of ABC’s Nightline television show, inspired them to travel deep into the Amazon to meet the Enawene Nawe, a tribe that reportedly has never before been filmed for television. Do you think there is something inherently wrong with outsiders interacting with or filming never before seen indigenous tribes, or does studying their way of life outweigh any potential negative side effects caused by such actions?

I think we have much more to gain from interaction than they do.  I hate when the media turns these things into a sideshow.

Q3 - Housing: In describing the recent financial crisis here in the U.S., President Bush said: “Easy credit — combined with the faulty assumption that home values would continue to rise — led to excesses and bad decisions. Many mortgage lenders approved loans for borrowers without carefully examining their ability to pay. Many borrowers took out loans larger than they could afford, assuming that they could sell or refinance their homes at a higher price later on. Optimism about housing values also led to a boom in home construction. Eventually the number of new houses exceeded the number of people willing to buy them. And with supply exceeding demand, housing prices fell. And this created a problem: Borrowers with adjustable rate mortgages who had been planning to sell or refinance their homes at a higher price were stuck with homes worth less than expected — along with mortgage payments they could not afford. As a result, many mortgage holders began to default.” Do you believe homeownership is a privilege or a right?

I’m a life-long New Yorker and renter.  We live in a small rent-controlled apartment.  The expense and responsibilty of home ownership has never appealed to me. 

i understand why others would want to own a home.  If you’re paying market value in New York you are throwing thousands of dollars away every year.  The tax benefits and equity of owning a home in town or in the ‘burbs is quite appealing.

I wouldn’t say home ownership is a right, but I would say that the government should work towards making housing affordable for all income levels.

Q4 - Television: What is your current favorite television show — one that you make a point of watching during its regularly scheduled time as often as humanly possible?

I love my Frasier reruns.  Call me the Syndication Queen - I am rarely home during prime time.

More Four for Fridays

I read Janie’s Writing Style Meme Post and decided to give it a go.

The results:

1.  Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both?

Mostly non-fiction. Lately I’ve been very lax in updating my creative writing blog.  Hopefully I will get my butt hand moving soon.

2.  Do you keep a journal or a writing notebook?

There is always a notebook and pens in my bag.  Right now I’m using a very thick bound journal from Barnes & Noble a couple of months back.  It has a flexible shiny black cover, and the pages are graph style.  About half the pages are filled so far.

3.  If you write fiction, do you know your characters’ goals, motivations, and conflicts before you start writing or is that something else you discover only after you start writing? Do you find books on plotting useful or harmful?

During NaBloPoMo last year I created a teen-age character named Bianca Fuenzalida.  Shortly after her birth I created a file that included her physical description,  immediate family members, close friends, clothing preferences and interests.

4.  Are you a procrastinator or does the itch to write keep at you until you sit down and work?

I am a notorious creative writing procrastinator, paper journaling is a different story.  When the need to vent on paper arises I must find some time and a place.

5.  Do you write in short bursts of creative energy, or can you sit down and write for hours at a time?

Both. Creative writing comes in bursts while paper journaling can go on for hours.

6.  Are you a morning or afternoon writer?

Late night actually.

7.  Do you write with music/the noise of children/in a cafe or other public setting, or do you need complete silence to concentrate?

I could write on Fifth Avenue in the rain during the St. Patricks Day Parade.

8.  Computer or longhand? (or typewriter?)

Everything with the exception of blogging starts off with longhand.

9.  Do you know the ending before you type Chapter One? Or do you let the story evolve as you write?

The story evolves as I write.

10.  Does what’s selling in the market influence how and what you write?

I’m sure I’m inspired with what’s out there.

11.  Editing/Revision - love it or hate it?

I love revising my own work, and working with others on their projects.