Answer 5: I found out when I was 18. I landed in the ER, and later, ICU. It wasn’t awesome. There are a lot of misconceptions about diabetics and a lot of people misunderstand the problems, complications, and stress it can have on a person. It’s too much to get into here, so I’ll reserve my feelings on this one.
One of my roomates in the college time had the diabetes as well. He broke his hand playing the hockeys in college, and broke it badly enough that he had pins in it and sticking out. He broke it so bad that I had to occasionally inject some insulin in him into his shoulder opposite of his broken hand, and all the time I would need to draw up his insulin. He rotated his shots, thigh, thigh, belly, belly, shoulder, and shoulder. So once out of every six injections I had to poke him. My knowledge of diabetes is limited, to making my roommate wince.
Question 6: Is there something you want people to know about concerning diabetes?
Answer 6: Nah, I’ll keep my opinions to myself on this one. Glad you could stab a friend in need though. IMHO, the syringes rarely hurt. It’s the blood sugar test that hurts. It all has to do with nerve endings. Lots more in your fingertips than in the rest of the injection sites.
John was a bit of a wuss, so that might explain some of the wincing. I also made sure to tell him, “This will hurt you waaay more than it hurts me” and smile broadly right before jabbing him. Who knows why he winced, really.
Question 7: What is something that invariably makes you wince? For me it is spiders. The mere thought can make me hunch my shoulders.
Answer 7: I can’t really think of any which is not to say I don’t have any. Perhaps I just can’t think of mine at this moment. If we’re getting introspective, I’d say fear of failure (or maybe lack of success). It’s a major cause of stress, which attributes to and compounds other stresses. It’s not as simple as seeing a thing that might cause me slightly annoying pain, but it’s there. Not to say that you are simple, Scott. ;)
Oh… I am simple. Let no one try to fool you. I am the simplest of the simples. I wish there was something complex going on inside of me, but nope. Nada.
Question 8: You can tell from your name, Basiewicz, that you are of Mexican heritage. Are you bilingual?
Answer 8: No hablo otros idiomas, pero me gustaría haberlos aprendido de niño. Basiewicz obviamente no es Mexicano, pero proviene del lado polaco de mi familia. Hasta que aprenda a hablar español, continuaré recibiendo ayuda de Google Translate. Tomé cuatro años de alemán en la escuela secundaria, pero solo recuerdo palabras al azar como la ardilla y la recta.
(I do not speak any other languages but I wish I had learned them as a child. Basiewicz is obviously not Mexican, but it comes from the Polish side of my family. Until I actually learn how to speak Spanish, I will continue to have help from Google Translate. I took four years of German in high school, but I only remember random words like squirrel and straight.)*
*From the Google Translate
Google translate is an amazing thing. I don’t use it nearly enough, mainly because I do not interact with other languages nearly enough.
I knew from previous conversations that we had in the actual world, or meatspace (as the cyber folk like to call it), that you are of a Mexican heritage with a Polish surname. I am surprised by the four years of German. Who takes four years of German and cannot say “It lies in the ditch.” (Es liegt im Straßengraben) Oddly that was a phrase in a German phrase book that I used in when traveling through Germany in 1992.
Question 9: Where is the farthest you have traveled from Home?
Answer 9: Well, I’m not a hobbit leaving the Shire for the first time but I’m pretty well traveled, I think. I was fortunate as a child that my parents took me on two 2 week trips out west for vacation. I’ve been to 42 states and eleven countries in the Americas and Europe. The furthest place I’ve been to has to be Berlin, Germany. I’ve been as far north as Muskoka, Canada and as far south as Mexico City, Mexico. I’ve only been as far west as Los Angeles. My coverage of the world is pretty vast, however, I’m not sure this is a relevant measure of how far away I’ve been mentally.
It is almost a prerequisite for people I am interested in asking 20 Questions to have traveled fairly extensively. Mainly because the people I find interesting have been places and done things beyond just growing up in their hometown. Some of them might still live in their hometown, but that is clearly a conscious decision because they have been elsewhere.
Question 10: Fill in the blanks: I find that I am mostly __________. Others find that I am mostly __________.
Answer 10: Wow, so it’s at question 10 that we get into the deep stuff! Hmmmm... I find that I am mostly really happy! I don’t have a lot to complain about, but do feel the typical range of small and large emotions throughout time. (I don’t feel anger/sadness/grief/bewilderment/elation/etc. daily, but maybe I do throughout a given year, if that makes sense.
Others find that I am mostly angry. This angers me. (Kidding.) I’m not really angry, I am just really cynical and opinionated. I think I’m also very stubborn which is not to say I’m not willing to compromise or listen to others feelings. I’m a “fixer” and hate seeing people hurting or upset. Seeing people hurting emotionally makes me upset and I think I’m being read incorrectly. I’m not angry, but more frustrated that they are not happy. This is where I struggle. My cynicism stems, I think, from my family (genetics) and upbringing (social development).
There are a lot of hotheads in my family who I think have unintentionally instilled a specific mindset within me through my upbringing. Perhaps I have been jaded and learned to judge others with a severe questioning of their motives. Being so closely tied to, and hyper aware of, my emotions is awesome because I can really know myself and discover things about myself. I feel in-tune a lot. However, it’s also a detriment to know too much or place judgement on others and overthink their intentions.
I think socially I have related to people who share this thought process or logic. For example, one of my best friends in Chicago was a major influence on who I am, who I aspired to be like, and challenged me to be a better person. He’s funny but dry, has great values, and is a mentor to me. He’s a great dad and husband and I really look up to him. He’s also the single biggest cynic on this planet. He’s a walking opinion firmly based in logic and he’s mostly right. He’s a calm dude with a long fuse but short temper. Whether I like it or not, by being inspired by him, I’ve become like him. I never aspired to be cynical and opinionated, but perhaps we become those we surround ourselves with.
tl;dr, I guess I could’ve summed this up with “Happy” and “Angry.”
Right-o, Happy and Angry it is. Cynicism can be a double edged sword. I am well aware that due to my own cynical nature, so I can definitely dig the self reflection of happy while outwardly seeming angry.
Sweet mother of mercy. I just used the verb “dig” to mean understand. I think this might be the lowest I have ever sunk on this blog. I would at least have gotten nerd cred if I used “grok.” Alas, no, I used “dig” like I was an extra in a 70’s movie set in southern California. Ugh…
You have your finger on the pulse of popular culture...
Question 11: Is there an out-of-favor pop-term, colloquialism, slang that you wished could make a come-back?
Answer 11: I don’t think anything I used to say as a kid was cool then or would be cool now. Plus, I’d sound like the old parent trying to say the cool thing that all the kids are saying. I’m not fire. I keep it 100.
However, there is one I’d like to kill off. Can we please do away with the “up hill both ways to school” lame-ass joke. It’s never been funny or true and it just sounds like a desperate attempt by an elder to tell youth how rough life was for them back in the day. I just wanna be like, “Yeah, that must have sucked… but not as much as BEING FUCKING SHOT AT IN CLASS!!! Our kids have a new set of problems so sorry about your shitty hill experience. Now that you have adequately toned calves, maybe you can help the next gen not die.” (This might be why people say I’m angry all the time.)
Rant over. >sheepishly steps off soapbox<
I try not to think of the active shooter drills that my kids have at their schools. It is truly frightening. Terrifying. So if it is culturally terrifying, does that make the threat of high capacity semi-automatic fire terrorism? That’s a rhetorical question and not Question 12. You will know when Question 12 comes around because it will be labeled clearly as Question 12. Question 12 tends to be deceptively simple, so hang on to your hat when it is asked.
Question 12: Are you happy? (in general)
Answer 12: Absolutely. I try not to take for granted any of the rewards or benefits I have in life. I also am not quick to forget them. I don’t really gamble. I think because I take pride in earning what I have and see value in the things I have worked hard for. Losing something I’ve worked so hard for severely negatively impacts my disposition. So yeah, I’m definitely happy. I have a lot of great family and friends.
I have asked this question a bunch and only rarely do I get a no as an answer. I think that when people slow down and really look at it, they are mostly happy.
Question 13: Do you have any superstitions or rituals in your day-to-day life (ritual can be as simple as "nobody talk Bob prior to Bob have coffee")?
Answer 13: I don’t really have any hard-and-fast rituals that I must do. I believe, as people, we do have routines we fall into, either by choice or habit, because our brains are wired that way. According to David Brooks, in a book entitled The Social Animal, he refers to two characters (Harold and Erica) to define our behaviors and relationships. He describes how morning rituals like showering, teeth brushing and the like become automatic in order to make room for us to focus our brains on other more taxing mental tasks. Have you ever forgotten your entire drive to work? So, yeah, I guess I do have routines throughout the day, but nothing out of the ordinary.
In terms of superstitions, I’m not exactly a baseball player with their weird walk-up routine, glove adjustments, swing cadence, bat taps, shoe-scuffs, and helmet fixes. I mean, I don’t not have any either. I don’t go around walking under ladders, not because I’m superstitious, but because nothing good can really happen if you do. I’m not really a big believer of broken mirrors/bad luck, crossing a black cat’s path, and stepping on a crack will break your mom’s back. I mean, my mom is just fine, thank you.
Are you certain she is not, in fact, currently suffering from a broken back? An indiscernible, yet slight break? It manifests as a dull ache, but in truth it is a 14% hairline fracture of the L3. I have seen you and your cement crack stepping ways. Crack Stepper.
“Crack Stepper” sounds like a much worse epithet than it would be intended in this case.
Question 14: If you could eat dinner with anyone who ever lived in the world… Anyone ever. Historical figure, departed family member, scientist, artist, whatever, what would you eat? I mean, THAT is some anxiety inducing menu prep.
Answer 14: Usually, when someone phrases the question with being able to eat with anyone ever, but finishes with, “what would you eat?” and not “who would they be?” that may throw one through a proverbial loop. But nay, not I! Instinctually I go immediately to a nice pasta, perhaps a cream sauce or jumbo shrimp scampi (heavy on lemon, butter, garlic and capers) paired with a delicious white wine. But, I quickly think twice about it. Maybe it’s too carb heavy and we’d be ready for a nap post-haste.
Ahh, chicken. Prepared light, a well-seasoned half chicken grilled in a cast iron skillet along with carrots, zucchini, and onion. Crispy skin with a generous sprinkle of thyme and oregano, maybe paired with roasted skin-on baby redskin potatoes and a light sauce made from the stock and chicken oils from the skillet. Again, a white wine to match; Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc.
After more thought and taking special consideration into who I will be dining with, I decide against the chicken. I’m drawn to Wings, fish (like salmon filets, roughy, snapper) but I’m finally decided. I’m going with a Smoked Pork Butt. “Butt!?!?” you say! Yeah, butt. And, not just some meat with bbq sauce squirted on sheepishly like some cheap, generic, gray, State Fair meat.
Despite it not actually being a butt, I’m a big fan of smoked foods and bbq. I’d have it slow cooked in a smoker, depending on the size for 10-16 hours, fat side up until it has that nice caramel-glazed glistening crust to it. Brined first in a cider vinegar bath, a mix of brown sugar, ground mustard, cayenne and smoked Spanish paprika (among others) are forked into a combination of olive oil, honey and ketchup (and more secret ingredients) until deliciously combined into a thick paste. Spread thin over the shoulder roast, the meat would rest in a smoker until almost falling off the bone. The fat and meat slightly splitting to reveal a sensual pink smoke ring inside. I like a hefty chop rather than a straight pull. A robust and rich, sweet with subtle fiery-noted barbecue sauce folded into the chop. Good enough to eat singularly, I’d have it served with a creamy sweet slaw on an onion bun, maybe topped with cheese if you like. Best served outside, with laughs, and a ice-cold lager or IPA, depending on preference.
Are you sure you are from Michigan? Because that final answer was from the Deep South of the US. I mean it is some Texas, Alabama, North Carolina shit right there. Less Texas because of the pork, and not so Carolina because of the sauce. Seriously in the Alabama, St Louis, and Tennessee area of BBQ… a sweet slightly spicy sauce with strong smoky undertones added after the fact to smoked pulled-pork. I think you may want to add some sides to accompany the cole slaw though.
Interestingly, one of my previous 20 Questions interviewees loves bar-b-que places because of the sides. He has been a vegetarian for years but cannot get enough deep fried onion rings or rice and creamy mac-n-cheese. He loves going to BBQ joints and trying all the sides that don’t have bacon in them.
I think one can tell a bunch about a person by their choice in food for a meal that they can have with anyone ever. For example, you start out much more formal and end up with more of a communal food that requires casual interaction. There is no sophistication when you have to lick bar-b-que sauce off your fingers to keep it from dripping on your pants as you eat a sandwich. Your fantasy dinner guest meal requires pointing and laughing over shared jokes and lack of adequate paper towels.
I think I need to find a way to eat with you more. That sounds absolutely delectable.
Dammit! I forgot the sides! I’ll settle for being ridiculed by my guest(s) for my lack of foresight into menu prep!
This one is coming out of left field… Question 15: If you were independently wealthy and did not have to work to make the monies, what would you do as your “work?”
Answer 15: If I had just a ridiculous amount of f-you money, I’d just travel to warm places and golf. I’d also take my wife to a lot of beaches, bc ya know, she’s into those. If I couldn’t find a beach, I’d put her in a sand trap and play her sounds of ocean waves, or something. Not exactly calming, especially when there is that whole potential of getting struck by a hard white rock-like thing every 8-10 minutes… Well, I’d probably do something much more romantic than beaching her on a man-made tiny desert with hazardous flying objects, but you get what I’m saying.
You are nothing if not a hopeless romantic.
I would love copious amounts of f-you money. I think I would create my own comic book imprint and get some of my comic peeps published. Every time that I think about how I would spend the 500 million dollars that I would win in the lottery (That I do not currently play) I open a comedy club and start a comic book imprint.
Question 16: Are there any questions you expected me to ask that I have not?
Answer 16: I’ve never been interviewed before and I’m not sure how they typically go, but I’ve never heard Anderson Cooper ask an interviewee, “what are you expecting me to ask you?” Maybe if he was asking a mob boss and feared for his life, he would ask that off camera and then proceed to ask those questions he was told to ask on camera. (That’s also not to criticize your interviewing skills. AC has been around a while…)
I don’t know where this is going. I guess my answer is “no.” TBH, I’m not sure what I was expecting with this whole thing, but it’s pretty fun.
Anderson Fucking Cooper. Always soooo prepared, like this was his job or something. Ugh, "look at my awesome white hair and despair." Anderson Fucking Cooper….
