No, you are not experiencing déjà vu… I had previously participated in the Mystery Blogger Award about a month ago. However, Luscinnia kindly nominated me again earlier this month and her questions are so interesting that I decided to give them a go. I won’t repeat the technical details of the award here, but please visit my earlier post if you’d like to take a look at its history, the rules, my nominees, or my earlier answers. Now… on to the questions!

1. How comfortable are you with spontaneous ideas or a last minute change in plans?

At work, I often have little control over what I have to deal with each day. Constant changes of plans are the norm. Even if I try to make plans, my staff, my boss, and my colleagues seem to have more urgent needs and I must continuously adapt. And that’s probably why at home, I need to know what the schedule is, who will be where, what we’re having for dinner, when we have to leave for the hockey game, etc. To keep it all straight, I use the “Mom’s Family Calendar” which keeps each person in a column of their own. An added bonus is that we get to enjoy a different Sandra Boynton animal each month!

“The Thinker”, Auguste Rodin, Encyclopaedia Britannica

2. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler?

You know, it’s really funny. When I did the Myers-Briggs questionnaire 17 years ago, my score showed that I preferred “feeling” slightly more than “thinking”, as the basis for my decisions. So, I wondered… do scores change over time? I re-did the test and, as a matter of fact, I now show a clear preference for thinking, or for basing my decisions “on logic and on objective analysis of cause and effect”! (Evidence of this: Re-doing the Myers-Briggs test to have an “objective” answer!) All the same, I did name my blog “I’m Feeling This” because my enjoyment of entertainment is generally based on how I feel about it, not on objective analysis.

3. What’s the closest thing to real magic? Why?

When just the right voice is paired with just the right song, the listener is transported into the emotional landscape of the song. There is magic in generating those feelings of happiness or sadness and in sending chills down the listener’s spine. Arguably one of the saddest country songs ever performed is the award-winning “He Stopped Loving Her Today”. Written by Bobby Braddock and Curly Putman, it was George Jones’ singing that really moved me when I first heard it in the ’80’s. The story of the song’s recording can be found here. One of the most moving versions of the song is this one by Alan Jackson at George Jones’ funeral service. Jackson styled this after Jones’ original interpretation and brought his widow and many others (including me) to tears. (Original can be found on the Grand Ole Opry YouTube channel.)

From IMDb

4. Which fictional character would be the most boring to meet in real life? (any fandom)

For a while there, I was really into the Twilight movies, which I went to see in the cinema with my older son. I got wrapped up in the story of the tortured vampire, Edward, who had waited so long to find his soul mate. But really, when you think about it, Bella was a pretty boring girl. Normalcy was what he was looking for it seems. So, I think Bella would be the most boring fictional character to meet in real life.

“The Scream”, Edvard Munch, Wikipedia

5. What’s something your brain tries to make you do and you have to will yourself not to do it?

Hmm. So many things… How about catastrophizing? For example, if I can’t find one of my family members and they were supposed to be home, my very active imagination will quickly imagine all the worst possible things that could have happened, in great detail. Not very good for my anxiety levels, so I really have to work hard not to let this go too far and not to spread my (irrational) fears to others.

Thanks, Luscinnia, for putting my brain to work! I’m always up for some interesting questions.