Joe's such a whackjob that I wanted him to interview me too, so here goes :-)

1- The Angel of Death has come for you, but is willing to let you live another ten years if you win a game of your choice. What's your game?

Ah, well, my first instinct is to say Chess! as it's my favorite game in the world. However, I built this website because I am mediocre at best. My other two good games are poker and Trivial Pursuit. Poker I'm pretty good, but undertested. Trivial Pursuit I'm a monster. My family won't play with me anymore. My brother once was married to an MIT and Stanford grad. She and I took on a team of ten people (the rest of the family and a couple friends.) We eviscerated them. Assuming that the Angel of Death is too busy collecting folks to really fill up on useless and interesting facts, I guess I'll have to go with Trivial Pursuit.

2- If you could change your career starting tomorrow, would you? What would you choose?

Yeah, I would. I'd become a full time filmmaker. As it is, a friend and I are making our first short film at the end of this month. Baby steps, ya know? That said, if I never have the opportunity to do that, I have a great job, with a great company and make a really good living, so I have nothing to complain about there. It's just that I would love a shot at having a creative/type career.

3- What's the dumbest thing you've actually SEEN someone do first-hand?

Well, I've seen a lot of dumb things, and if I'd had a mirror, I'd have seen a lot more. As it is, probably the dumbest thing was the asst. manager I worked for when a high schooler. Carl's Jr., back in the days of the California Roast Beef Sandwich. Well, this dude was using the tomato slicer, a little 8 blade guillotine. Yeah, you see it coming. He put his finger on the wrong side of the pusher thingie and... well, his real mistake, other than making a nice little row of gashes down to the bone, was doing it while I was the closest help. I went pale and woozy and had to lean on the wall to keep from passing out while he stood their holding his arm up with huge runnels of blood running down to his elbow and dribbling on the floor. Little Jackie swept past me and got him patched up. She was always a toughie.

4- What's the unhealthiest thing you occasionally get a craving for?

Oh, hell, where's the list. I'll give you five:

5. Mint Chip Ice Cream
4. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
3. Wendy's Double w/ Pickles, Onions, and Mustard ONLY, NO cheese!
2. Cheez-Its
1. Coke Zero

Addicted to Coke Zero. Hopelessly addicted. Oops, hear that? Yup, just opened another can...

5- If you could tell the life story of any one person you've known, who would it be?

Ah, what a great question, and a tough one too. There are a few people I could think of. All of them are folks who found their lives going in directions they didn't expect, their dreams not quite coming to fruition, yet found joy and love and real meaning in the journey of life anyway. I guess the fella who comes to mind first and foremost is my dear friend, Jim Repperd, who went to his eternal reward last November. He and I ingested a lot of doughnuts talking about life, the universe, and everything. He was a good mentor, not in the least because he didn't speak in platitudes and din't have a lot of big secrets for giant goals and achievements. Rather he knew a lot about living day to day and making each one count. He had been a missionary with his wife in Bolivia, and they intended to do so for a long time. Yet he soon found himself back in the states, taking a teaching job, and wondering why things weren't working out quite as he expected.

But he never resented, never gave in to dissatisfaction or bitterness. You could sense that he knew he hadn't done all that he wanted. You could also sense that he did all that he could.

I watched how he lived and responded to life. When his older son committed suicide in his early 20's, Jim and his wife, Pat, could have fallen apart. Yet they had faith in God and in each other and journeyed on with more strength than you could ever expect.

When he died, he died not knowing he was dying. He had a drop attack. Basically he collapsed suddenly and was gone before his body hit the ground. I'm glad. If anyone deserved to go without that final bout of pain, it was Jim.

Now I'm all misty, so I'll close this off. Thanks, Joe, and well done.

Here are the rules if you want to keep it going:

Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.

You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions, and let me know that you answered. If you don't have a blog, but would still like to play, I can send you the questions, and you can answer 'em in the comments.

You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Have fun!