What is your first memory of swimming?
I almost can't swim at all. Playing in my parents' pool with plastic toy spaceships.


What is your first memory of being lost?
One day after kindergarten my mother's car broke down and she was late to pick me up, but I didn't know what had happened. The teacher and the other kids had left, so I was all alone in front of the classroom, and I started crying. An older kid named Dor saw me and went to get a story book, which he read to me to calm me down until she showed up. I'd never met him before.

What is your first memory of being in a forest?
We went camping all the time from the time I was a baby, so there are a lot of vague images from about age three on. The first memory that I can pinpoint accurately was in the desert (Death Valley) when I was about 10. I remember setting up toys outside the motorhome in little scenes and taking Polaroids of them.

Do fish have feelings?
Don't know.

Do plants have feelings?
Probably.

Do bugs have feelings?
Don't know.

What was the last lie you told?
"Tsong wasn't in yesterday, so I couldn't get it signed." I have no idea if he was in, but he probably was.

Are there lies you believe in even though you know they're lies?
I can't decide if this is a yes or a no, but there certainly are lies I'd love to believe if I could.

Were you lied to as a child?
Yes, on at least two non-consecutive occasions that I can remember.

If yes, do you forgive the person who lied to you?
Probably not.

Have you ever punched someone?
No, though I came close once with a good friend when I was a kid. He punched me instead. I was staying at his house for a few weeks, far from my home town. After I went home, I never spoke to him again. I also came frighteningly close to stabbing my brother once with a kitchen knife. It's probably a good thing I didn't.

Have you ever wanted to be punched?
No.

Do you have an imaginary friend?
Not any more. Not very often that I'd like to. Sometimes I have an imaginary audience.

Have you ever felt that there is an exact replica of you, somewhere on earth?
No, but several times over the years people have mistaken me for someone they knew, always named Mike. This happened in several different places around the country. So yes, if you look at it from their perspective.

Do you still play "pretend"?
Often.

Have you ever had a profound spiritual experience?
At least twice, arguably a few more times.

Have you ever experienced incredible, transcendent beauty?
Yes, but what I'm asking you is: so what?

Have you ever had either experience as a result of viewing a work of art?
Yes.

How do you feel when you stand in front of a famous painting?
If that's its only salient quality? "There it is."

How do you feel when you stand in front of a work of art that you love?
"....."

Which is more beautiful - the most beautiful painting in the world or the most beautiful garden in the world?
The former during daylight hours; the latter in the evening and at night. I'd trade both for a good view of the night sky any time.

Do you have a deep, spiritual connection to very specific works of art?
I think so, but the specific works involved change over time.

Is there an object in your home you believe is endowed with special powers?
I'm not sure any more about certain items. There are others I've discarded. Alternately, if occasional mind-stopping sentimental value is a special power, then yes.

Do you know that this isn't true and yet you believe it anyway?
No, and no.

Do you believe there are ideas that are worth physically fighting for to protect?
Ultimately, no. Provisionally, yes.

Do you think you will ever be called upon to fight for your beliefs?
I could see it happening. If so, I guess I hope I'll fight.

Have you ever stood up for someone or something because you felt utterly compelled to?
Yes. Sometimes very stupid things. Never anything that counted, as far as I remember.

Have you ever made sacrifices because it was the morally right thing to do?
I'd like to think so once or twice, but I might just be flattering myself.

Do you believe in the existence of any moral absolutes?
No. All absolutes, moral or otherwise, are relative by virtue of their existence.

Have you ever wanted to take on the suffering of another person to spare them the pain?
Yes, more than once. Relatively few people qualify, though.

What was the last news story to deeply affect you?
Earlier this morning: "One of the largest giant squid ever found has washed up on a remote Australian beach."

How did you react?
"Yay!", but only for a split second. It was a very transient deep effect. I'm also partial to stories about deep-space discoveries and nightmarish proto-dystopian medical science. Human cloning? Bring it on, you bastards!

When you hear about the war in Iraq, how do you feel?
Let's lump the various shades of reaction under "pretty damn angry." Disgusted with everyone involved (including me) also applies to some degree.

Have you ever turned away from news coverage of a story you found too unpleasant to deal with?
Yes. Often small, local crime stories affect me that way more than large-scale catastrophes.

Do you trust the American political system?
Not for a second.

Have you ever wanted to travel to a war-torn country?
Peru.

Do you know anyone who has ever fought in a war?
Probably, but I can't think of anyone. The one person I used to know who has definitely been in combat belonged there like a fish in water. Highly likely that he loved it. He was basically at war long before he ever joined the military.

Have you ever seen extreme poverty?
Not the kind that I hear about sometimes at work. I have seen the U.S. version before, but don't know how it compares. How can I judge that sort of thing without sounding like an ass? What do I even know about it? I would be middle class even if I somehow became homeless.

Have you ever seen someone gravely ill?
Yes.

Do you know someone who is sick now, but can't afford treatment?
Probably, but no one sick enough that I'd know for sure. If we include psychological disorders, then I know someone who needs and can't currently afford treatment, but wouldn't go in for it anyway.

Have you ever been on welfare, food stamps or lived in public housing?
No. I almost owned public housing once, but dealing with the local bureaucracy scared me away.

If abortion becomes illegal, what will you do?
First, probably get really mad. Second, try to figure out what, if anything, I could do about it. Third, wonder why I didn't do something about it sooner.

Do you ever wonder what's going on in Afghanistan? Or New Orleans?
Sometimes. Also other places that have been hit by disaster, such as post-tsunami Indonesia and various places hit by earthquakes. Also, a few places not hit by disaster, such as certain random spots I've visited. I sometimes wonder what's happening on the surface of Mars right now, but don't bother much about the other planets.