Month: January 2009

This fiver is inspired by a bowl of my beloved wife’s Chinese Chicken Noodle soup. Your answers need not be related to food.

1) Chicken. We Americans eat lots of chicken, yet we’ve bred them to have little flavor. What’s something you do in your life that you do even though it has little flavor? That is, what is something you continue to do, though you receive little fulfillment for it? Take out the trash. Floss my teeth. Work on websites.

2) Noodles. Who invented them, the Chinese or the Italians? Tell us about your cultural heritage. Of what decent are you? I’m mostly an amalgam of UK, with mostly English/Scottish. There’s some French in there, and supposedly some American Indian somewhere along the line. The name Batty is supposed to be Welsh, but a genealogist once told me that many Scots, especially in the lowlands, took on Welsh names. Elwell and Maker are English names, and Cavenor is Scotch. Yattaw is on the French side of things.

3) Green onions. When I was a kid, I didn’t like onions. Now, I can’t get enough of them. What’s something you used to dislike, but now really like? Other than onions, I can’t really think of much.

4) Carrots. When I was a kid, I couldn’t eat carrots. Now, I can eat them, but I don’t really care for them too much. What’s something you never cared for as a child that you still don’t care for today? Opera.

5) Broth. Without broth, you don’t have soup. What’s the thing that, if you didn’t have it, would make you not be you? I wouldn’t be me without the drums. If someone were to ask me “Who is Bill Batty,” I’d be most likely to respond “I’m a drummer.” And, I’d probably say that before I’d say “I’m a father,” or “I’m a husband.” Now, being a father and a husband is more important to me than being a drummer, but I’ve been a drummer longer.

This MI-5 is inspired by the five meetings I had yesterday.

Meeting 1, the pastor: Tell us an interesting story about you and a playground.
We used to play this game on the playground called “Red Butt.” It was a game we invented. You take a tennis ball, and bounce it off a wall. The other kids try and catch the ball. If they catch it, they throw it back against the wall, and continue. The game really gets fun when someone drops the ball. When they drop the ball, they start running to tag the wall. The other players run to grab the ball, and try to throw it against the wall before the drop-er touches the wall. If the person who dropped the ball get to the wall first, they’re safe. If another person snags the ball, and throws it against the wall before the drop-er gets there, well, here’s what happens. The person who dropped the ball bends over, butt out, head touching the wall. The person who grabbed the ball and hit the wall with it gets a free throw at the persons bum! And since the drop-er is bent over, they can’t see when the ball is going to arrive! It’s really quite fun, and I think I need to put a game together!

Meeting 2, the insurance lady: What typical workplace benefit do you not have currently that you wish you did have?
I currently have life insurance personally, but I’d like to have more. A voluntary group life plan would be nice. (The benefits we do get are very generous.)

Meeting 3, the real estate agent: Relate to us something about an experience buying/selling/renting a home.
Susan and I are in the very beginning stages of selling our current home, and buying something “new.” I’ve only purchased one home before, and never sold one. It’s quite a new experience for me.

Meeting 4, the radio sales rep: What’s your favorite radio station? What’s the genre? Why do you like it?
Since purchasing my XM radio, I really only listen to NPR on FM. There are many stations I like on XM: ’80s on 8, alternative country on 12, bluegrass on 14, clean comedy on 151, and the talk stations 158 and 165. And I like “America Right” on 166. Oh, and I’ve also been listening to “The Catholic Channel” on 117. I like their question and answer shows. I think Protestant talk radio could really use more Q/A shows.

Meeting 5, the dessert loving banker: What’s your favorite dessert? Why?
Oh, that’s tough. Susan’s cheesecake is good, as are her cookies. Mom’s chocolate pie with cooked pudding (not instant) is high on the list. And I really like Pepperidge Farm’s chocolate cake too. Prism Glass’s Italian lemon creme cake has been in my thoughts recently, too.