I'm starting to wonder if some of my readers are telepathic. I've had a few sets of responses where, within hours or minutes of each other, two people have asked me virtually the same thing. So, today's answers:
A respondent asked, "What question did you want to answer that wasn't asked, and what would your answer to it be?"
... and then, shortly thereafter another respondent asked, "What is the one question you really want someone to ask you?"
If I had written this post yesterday, my hoped-for question would have been simple: "When's your next TTU story coming out?" Having people pester me to write more, after all, would be a nice egoboo. But! About 12 hours ago, a respondent read my mind, and asked, "How much TLands writing have you done recently?" So it's no longer unasked and doesn't count.
As for that question, the answer is that I've spent most of the last 24 hours editing and adding to my latest story, "On the Edge," the origin of Kiasu (who you may remember from his cameo in Random Encounter; I haven't released his other stories yet). It's 17,000 words so far, and I like what I've written (even after picking it up again and reading it fresh after four months of hiking), so I have a feeling this may end up being the novel that fulfills 10-year goal #3. When I finish Part I, I expect I'll be putting out a call for a limited audience for editing/feedback. There are also some short stories bouncing around in my head that want to be written, so hopefully I can get a little new content posted. :)
Back to the original questions. At this point, I'd have to say that it would be pretty nice to be asked, "Hey, Bax, can I offer you a job?" now that I'm winding down my hike.
And as for the answer to another question that I'd like to have been asked ... "What's been going on in your life magically lately?" The answer, unfortunately, isn't too exciting: Not a whole lot. However, there may very quickly be something to report on that front.
kadyg and I live on a second-floor flat above a store; many months ago, the glassblowing shop that used to be there packed up and moved across town. The store's been empty all this time. But recently there's been a flurry of activity -- renovations, decorating, and moving in. The sign on the front now reads "The Sacred Bee" and advertises Tarot readings and metaphysical books. Woot! Their grand opening is Saturday, and I hope to track down my owners and new neighbors and find out what tradition they follow and whether they might be active willworkers. Pagan neighbors FTW, as kids these days say. A respondent asks, "Why don't you ask me a question, instead? :>"
... and immediately afterward, another respondent says, "Congratulations! You ... have just won the opportunity to ask me one question … (snip lengthy repetition of my original wording) ... What is your question?"
... thereby proving that my friends are not only telepathic, they also have warped senses of humor. :P
I am extremely tempted to respond to at least one of these by pawning off a certain smartass Ph.D. candidate's question to me.* (Namely, "Prove
I'm not quite that cruel, though, so I will just state in the best mathematical tradition that the proof is too obvious for me to waste time with and leave it as a generic Exercise To The Reader.
For respondent #2, I'm curious to know: Could you give more background to the "identity boundary" you recently mentioned in your journal? (Feel free to answer the question there.)
For respondent #1: What are you most proud of having written? (Again, feel free to answer in your journal if you wish to preserve anonymity.)
In fact, come to think of it, why don't I open that one up to the floor. I'd like to ask you all: What are you most proud of having written?
I'll think it over and offer my answer to that in comments, since I'm sure someone's going to ask me anyway.
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* I did promise to preserve anonymity, but that doesn't mean I can't also be a smartass about it when necessary. I know lots of Ph.D. candidates; I still have plausible deniability.
hungry