My Twist on the "Ask Me Anything" Meme

[hrj]

As I think I've mentioned before, I tend to be hyper-cautious about memes that seem to have as their hidden purpose: 1) demonstrating how much feedback you can induce people to give you; or 2) going into TMI-overload with a sort of truth-or-darish "I promise to answer any question!" And as for the whole "working outside my comfort zone" thing, these days that's a life program, not an occasional LJ amusement. But here's an offer inspired by the current "ask me to blog outside my comfort zone" meme that's going around.

Is there any question -- whether idle or deeply profound -- that you've ever wanted to ask me but never felt you had a good opening for? I'm inviting you to ask it here ... with the following conditions.

* I will not be screening comments (either questions or answers). If there's something you want to ask that you don't want the rest of the world to know about, you'll have to do it face to face some time.

* If I think a question is too personal, I'll decline to answer it. (This isn't "hrj bares her soul", just "hrj answers questions".) I probably won't be offended (and I might even answer the same question face-to-face), I just won't post any answers that I'm not willing to have on permanent public record.

* This offer isn't confined to, or necessarily specifically aimed at, my f-list. Casual readers are explicitly included.

And I promise that if nobody has any questions, I won't conclude you-all don't love me! (Or even conclude that my life is an open book with no mysteries.)

Comments

Answer Part 1

[hrj.livejournal.com]

A truly unlimited budget? Quite frankly, I'd sell this house and buy one that retained more of the original Victorian structure and decoration. But if we specify that it has to be this house and only this unit of this house, and we're talking about a budget for projects but not for upkeep (i.e., no gardeners or housekeepers), it might go something like this.

Bathroom: Completely rearrange the fixtures. The tub goes across the outer wall, a longer tub so I can stretch out full length if I want, and expand the window down and sideways. Maybe jacuzzi jets, but more on that later. Location of the other fixtures is less important but it would be rather fun to do (Victorian) period-style fixtures.

Master bedroom: Install a pocket universe for the walk-in closet ... no, scratch that. The problem is I have two people's stuff (mine and my persona's) in one person's space. (This does, of course, bother me in concept when I contemplate ever getting in a relationship that goes as far as moving in together.) I'd love to do something that really takes advantage of the 12 foot ceiling. I've fantasized about redoing the bookshelves entirely in the top 6 feet of wall and then installing rolling library ladders to access them. On the other hand, there's something to be said for painting William Morris-style medieval friezes all around the room (and on the ceiling).

Oh, and in general, I'd get rid of all the wall-to-wall carpet and install real hardwood floors rather than just wood laminate.

Dining room: More Victorian medieval paint jobs on the walls. Get rid of the filing cabinets. Something more interesting with the lighting, but I'm not quite sure what.

Kitchen: This is something I've actually been thinking about because I figure in about 5 years I'll start on the kitchen remodel. I'm thinking in terms of turning the wall between the kitchen and the dining room into a counter/pass-through arrangement. More on the fantasy side, I'd move the appliances into a central island, but I'd have to play with layouts to figure out where to put the fridge and any additional cabinetry. If I could move the tool cabinets out into a garage (more later), then that area would be the pantry-like-object. The floor should be finished with something easier to clean than parquet tiles, but less prone to causing breakage than marble. The counter-tops, however, should be marble or granite.

Deck: Could only be improved by the addition of a deluxe barbecue outfit, but that would really call for having people over for barbecue more often.

Stairs/entryway: Either a continuation of the William Morris style paint job, or a large ornate mirror. There isn't really room for real entry-hall furniture ... unless I expanded that area out into the present-day driveway a little. Nah, stick to just the mirror. Install the planned half-bath under the stairs, with necessary wall construction to go with.

Re: Answer Part 1

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Master bedroom: Install a pocket universe for the walk-in closet ... no, scratch that.

That would be part of the plans for just about everyone in the SCA, and over half of fandom (*any* fandom).

Unfortunately, successful installation evidently requires parts from the same warehouse as the parts for my multilocative teleporter, which have been on backorder for THREE YEARS now... and stefsoap pointed out to me a while back that the warehouse's address did not appear to be in this or any nearby galaxy.