Originally an email quiz, now gone to ground somewhere in the vast, vast Internet:

What do you think about Ouija boards? Good for giving yourself a case of the creeps, but not remotely “real,” supernaturally speaking.

Your favorite TV shows? Currently, 24 (wearing out its welcome, though), Lost (picking up again after a lackluster season), and Boston Legal (Shatner!).

What’s on your mouse pad? A B-24 Liberator.

Favorite board game? I do not like board games.

Favorite magazine? I’ve been reading back issues of Vanity Fair lately.

Favorite smells? Sagebrush after a good rainstorm, cooking spare-ribs, woodsmoke in autumn.

Worst feeling in the world? The realization that the car coming up in your rear-view mirror is not slowing down, even though you have plainly been motionless at a red light for several moment now, and that an impact is only milliseconds away.

Best feeling in the world? The relief you feel after the outcome you’ve most been fearing fails to materialize.

Favorite soundtrack? The Empire Strikes Back, The Rocketeer.

What is the first thing you think when you wake in the morning? Usually some variant of, “Blarrrrrgrgg…”

Roller coaster – scary or exciting? Both. That’s kind of the point of them.

How many rings before you answer the phone? Depends on how far away I am. Duh.

Future daughter’s name? Haven’t given it much thought, actually, although if I ever father twins I’d be strongly tempted to dub them Luke and Leia.

Future son’s name? See above.

Favorite foods? Steak with mushrooms, french fries and country gravy, my mom’s potato salad.

Chocolate or vanilla? In spite of loving the smell of vanilla, I’m going to have to say chocolate.

Do you like to drive? Yes.

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? No.

Storms – cool or scary? Very, very cool. My dad used to wake me up in the middle of the night sometimes to go out on the front porch and watch summer thunderstorms as they ripped across the sky and filled the gutter with fast-moving run-off…

What type was your first car? Hm. Does this mean the first car I drove, or the first I actually owned? (One advantage to having a car-collector father when you’re a teenager is that there’s a ready-made fleet just waiting for you.) The former was a 1970 Ford Thunderbird. The latter, an ’89 Ford Bronco II.

If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would it be? Sean Connery.

Favorite alcoholic drink? Jameson Irish whiskey.

What is your zodiac sign? Virgo.

Who is your favorite poet? Robert Frost — although it’s really not fair to say that I have a favorite, since I know so little about poetry in general.

Do you eat the stems of broccoli? Why wouldn’t you? It’s all the same stuff…

If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be? A Corellian smuggler pilot.

If you could dye your hair any color, what would it be? I’d just be happy to have enough to dye.

Have you ever been in love? Oh, yes.

What is on your walls in your room? Well, there’s not much on the walls of my cubicle at work, and the only room in my house that has anything hanging up is my bedroom. So, hanging on the walls of my bedroom are: two framed one-sheet movie posters (The Hunt for Red October and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, both souvenirs of my years as a theater usher and projectionist); a framed poster of Ralph McQuarrie’s production art for Star Wars; a photo of The Girlfriend; a Goldberg reel; a souvenir pub sign from England; a Star Wars clock; and a black-and-white poster of 1950s teens dancing alongside the Seine River in Paris.

Is the glass half empty or half full? I drink straight from the bottle.

What is your favorite Snapple? I have never had a Snapple.

Favorite movie(s)? See here for my Top 50.

Are you a lefty, righty, or ambidextrous? Lefty. Although — true story — when I was very young, I used both hands for everything. My elementary school teachers, having apparently never heard of the concept of ambidexterity, called my mother in for an important conference. They thought I had a problem (to use the old-fashioned, impolite, and very non-p.c. term, they thought I might be retarded). They put me in special classes and, long story short, forced me to pick a hand. Another example of The Man imposing conformity on some free-spirited little kid. Although, I did choose the minority hand preference, so I guess I still delivered some kind of some anti-authoritarian message…

Do you type with your fingers on the proper keys? Just a sec… um, no, doesn’t look like it.

What’s under your bed? Rubbermaid boxes full of seasonal-wear shirts.

What is your favorite number? Um… who the heck has a favorite number, anyhow?

Favorite sport to watch? I do not like sports. Although women’s volleyball has its obvious charms.

Favorite quote? Hm. Tough one. There is, of course, Benjamin Franklin’s famous line about liberty and security, but I’ve heard he didn’t really say it, so perhaps this little ditty from George Bernard Shaw: “The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”