Gypsy's survey in These titles mean nothing.

  • Aug. 4, 2019, 10:50 a.m.
  • |
  • Public

What are the first 3 item on your bucket list?
I’m not sure I have a bucket list. If I did, I’d put taking care of Joana at the top. And then I’m not sure what would come next. Uncertainty is my middle name.

Describe the home of your dreams.
Gypsy’s answer was lovely. ‘Small eco-cottage with solar power & cozy fireplace, a full garden with pond or stream, orchard, hens, many plants and room for a donkey. Must be near the ocean.’ My answer would be a small nice apartment in NYC, or more likely, my own home with a few judicious improvements.

Favorite dessert?
I like all sweet stuff. T-Bock’s homemade cheesecake with a dollop of what seems to be real whipped cream is nice. T-Bock’s is a sports bar in the college town that has a nice atmosphere and good food.

Favorite animal?
Gracie, the samoyador, who has shared my life for the last almost 11 years.

Favorite tree? Why?
My trees. The ones on my land. Also, embarrassingly, the ones that grow in the road rightofway, that I illegally claim and mourn when the road crew cuts them down.
My two personally favorite trees are the two walnuts that divide the house and barn. I love them for their height and fullness and their squirrels. They are last to leaf out in spring and first to lose their leaves in fall, so a lot of the time they are skeletons against the sky. I love them for that too.

Burial or cremation? Why?
Cremation. Cheaper, more final.

Do you feel fulfilled?
That’s not a word in my vocabulary.

Name three hobbies
Reading, writing, collecting and preserving books.

What is your greatest passion?
Gypsy has the best answer: ‘Making a difference, leaving this world a little better because I have lived or die trying.’ My answer is a lot more vague. My answer is that I don’t have an answer.

Favorite color?
I’m not sure I have a favorite color (or a passion or a bucket list - poor me).

Coffee or tea?
Either, if I don’t have to make it.

Bike, car, bus, train, plane or boat?
A car, in my own life, is the way to get around.

E-books or hard copy books?
I have no experience with E-books, I like physical books though.

How many hours on average do you sleep?
It varies and I don’t keep track. Sorry. I nap too.

Best season?
I don’t have a favorite. All have good and bad days.

Preferred genre for TV viewing?
I haven’t had TV since my husband died (2002). It’s been interesting watching Joana with her new tv. Mattlock is a favorite of hers. Along with Nash Bridges and Walker Texas Ranger.

if your power went off, phone was dead and no wifi…..how would you spend an evening at home?
I’d go to bed.

What do you talk about when with good friends?
I like this question. Politics, books, computer stuff, shared memories and gossip.

Box games or electronic ones?
I have a fairly serious computer solitaire addiction - spider solitaire with 8 decks of clubs - but it’s waning now. Authors (card game) and Scrabble were popular with my kids/grandkids.

How many houseplants do you have inside?
I am not the plant person I used to be. Right now the only indoor plant I have is half a sweet potato sprouting in a jar lid on my kitchen sink window sill.

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I learned a new word today. It was in a tweet about where mass murderers come from.
I think it’s a statistical term.

stochastic
[stəˈkastik]

ADJECTIVE
technical
randomly determined; having a random probability distribution or pattern that may be analyzed statistically but may not be predicted precisely.
synonyms:
unsystematic · arbitrary · unmethodical · haphazard · unarranged · unplanned · undirected · casual · indiscriminate · nonspecific · stray · erratic · chance · accidental · hit-and-miss · serendipitous · fortuitous · contingent · adventitious · nonlinear · entropic · fractal · aleatory
antonyms:
systematic · planned

ORIGIN
mid 17th century: from Greekstokhastikos, from stokhazesthai‘aim at, guess’, from stokhos‘aim’.

Your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to use ‘stochastic’ in a sentence.

e.g. A bolt from the blue, stochastic, never strikes in the same place twice.... unless of course it does.


NorthernSeeker August 04, 2019

Stochastic...interesting word. We will probably hear it more with all the analyzing people are doing over mass murderers and serial killers. Nice thought NS. btw, I noticed a big poster of a glass of iced coffee kind of looking like iced tea. It is gaining popularity and I think you could rightly claim to be one of the first fans of it.

noko August 04, 2019

In a stochastic sampling of Iowa natives (over 12 years old) the favorability of a dollop of real whipped cream over Cool Whip on homemade cheese cake was slightly higher later in the day.

We were looking at some trees that were over 100 years older than the house on the property they share yesterday and one was a walnut. We had to look it up in a book to make sure because neither one of us were sure what a walnut looked like. I can understand the attraction to yours.

Marg August 04, 2019

That's a new one on me as well!

ConnieK August 04, 2019

Another survey? Still haven't done the first one!

My best try: "Although some see a stochastic pattern in mass shootings, I do not see it as the catalyst for mass murder. I think most of the shooters also took opioids which is widespread, especially among young white males in their 20s and 30s. The drug leaves the system but deadens emotion long afterward."

ODSago August 04, 2019

As a person who cannot digest lactose ... from birth to now...just the idea of all I am missing is overwhelming. As a child and teen I sometimes endured the pain just to taste rich foods with cream and such...but no more. Even the pills for lactose intolerant people that we have now can only help me a bit. On the other hand, if constipated (never happens) I could just eat a half pint of ice cream and that would be that!!! Liked the survey.

MageB August 08, 2019

I will stochastically take myself off to my GP this morning

Serin September 22, 2019

Stochastic is always followed by "chemistry" in my head. :) The scars that school can leave, I guess.

I love physical books, doubly so for texts and learning, but I've gone almost completely to Ebooks. Just can't beat having hundreds of books on my phone.

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