Once upon a time, I did. But my body doesn't obey my commands the way it used to, these days. Learning to dance was a valuable and pleasurable exercise, and I made a lot of dear friends in the process. But there are enough bittersweet memories from that time in my life to make it too painful for me to revisit for the time being; I prefer to look forward.

I love them. I can lose myself in intricate puzzles for days, even weeks. Sometimes I have to sort of make up my own in order to fully stimulate that part of my brain. But there are few things more satisfying than finding the solution to an intricate puzzle.

The best gift I ever got (don't remember whether it was for a birthday or Christmas) was when my father and stepmother got me a compendium of logic puzzle computer games by Everett Kaser Software. I've spent a good deal of the past few years of my "convalescence" immersed in those puzzles.

It's inherently dramatic, but the best way to live it is to find ways to enjoy it and laugh about it.

No person, living or dead, is ultimately more or less "important" than any other. Everyone contributes, and none of it would be possible without each bit of it. We're all part of the tapestry.

I definitely stand out. There are times in my life when I do my best to fade into the background, because I don't feel strong enough to handle the attention, but even then I often draw attention to myself in ways I don't fully understand. When I stop hiding and allow myself to visibly stand out in the way that feels natural to me, I feel more like myself, more competent and capable. I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to, and satisfying my purpose.

No. It started getting easier than it used to be, after a dosage change in my meds, but then an additional dosage change disrupted that again. Although the disruption might have been due to factors other than that second dosage change. But it often takes well over an hour of just lying there in bed in the dark before I can fall asleep, and sometimes it takes multiple hours, and sometimes I just give up.

Who doesn't? I take inspiration anywhere I can get it, and I look for it in stories and the world around me all the time. I'm constantly looking out for ideas for new ways of looking at things that might be of benefit to myself, my loved ones, or the world at large.

As much of it as feel I can. There's generally more going on in my mind than I have time or words to express, and often I don't feel like I'll be able to accurately express what I'm thinking in a way that will be considered appropriate to the listener(s), which will sometimes make me hesitant to say anything. When I do speak up, though, I tend to go on at length and in detail.

Something very much like it, kinda, yeah. My life experience and spiritual practices have led me to conclude that many supposedly "chance" events are likely to be causally linked in ways not accounted for by the laws of physics. On the other hand, I have also come to believe, through lessons of harsh experience, that it is the height of fallacy to presume we fully understand the reasons or deeper meanings between any two events which seem somehow connected by fate or karma.

I've been re-evaluating my beliefs about this kind of thing lately, and this was a good opportunity to gather my thoughts and conclusions on the topic. I think I still have work to do before the above conclusion is fully integrated in my mindset.

I can't really prepare my own food, so I enjoy chances to go out when I can, and eat an actual meal, as opposed to just eating pre-packaged, non-perishable food that most people would consider "snacks". That's my main form of sustenance. Another daily living skill that I would like to get a chance to work on through targeted assistive services. Sadly, with my particular disability, I seem to consistently fall in the range of "too disabled to adequately take care of myself, but not disabled enough to qualify for the services necessary to be adequately taken care of." It's fricking obnoxious.

I'm pretty sure that something akin to "life" as we know it on earth has evolved elsewhere in the Universe, and even in our galaxy (though of course not in our solar system, in all probability). I would not be at all surprised to learn that something we could call "sentience" or "intelligence" had developed at some point, too. Seems quite plausible. The likelihood of an intelligence, at a level roughly our own and not significantly higher or lower, being around somewhere fairly close to us in the galaxy, at this current point in time, seems more remote, but I suppose it's certainly possible. It would surprise me to learn that we have been or will soon be in contact with an alien race, but I don't find the notion entirely inconceivable. I like to think I have an open mind on the matter.

Oh heck yes. I allow myself to love people pretty freely. As far as consumated relationships of reciprocal love, however, there was one major relationship that lasted a few years. It ended badly, and the trauma I experienced in the process led to my anxiety disorder and to my underlying Asperger's being called to my attention and diagnosed. But that story has been told, and doesn't need to be rehashed further.

Currently I'm in a semi-relationship with a sweetie who I just don't get to see very often, because we both have too much of our own stuff to work on. We love each other, definitely, but in a more casual, relaxed, low-key, no-pressure way. She's got her primary partner that she lives with, and her own life and career and health stuff, and I've got all my mental health stuff to deal with. Plus I've gotten myself a phobia about having guests over and making noise that the neighbors can hear. Puts a damper on my love life. But that's not really a high priority for me at the moment. I'm focusing on my health.

On the other hand, I'm about to the point in my healing process where more frequent and regular social interactions in person would be helpful for me, especially in terms of getting out of the house more often and giving me a suitable motivation to take more care of my personal appearance and hygiene. So I'll just stay open and see what the future brings. No real rush to any of this, other than the annoying aging process which might affect my prospects. But I've always physically appeared much younger than my chronological age, and I'm finally to a point in my life where that's more of a blessing than a curse. So that's nice.

It varies considerably. At one extreme, there were a few nights, a week or so ago, when I only got an hour a night. There was another day, a few days later, when I probably slept for over 14 out of 24 hours. Six is probably typical, though, although it's often likely to be broken up into two 3-hour sleep intervals.

For random meetings, Harry Anderson, who played the judge in Night Court. I was working in a comic book store when he came in with his son to check it out, while they were waiting to see the film version of Spawn, which had just been released, at a nearby theater. We chatted for a bit. He's very tall.

For non-random meetings, well, I've met a few Star Trek actors at conventions. Majel Barret Roddenberry was the most memorable. I gave her a McDonald's hamburger; I'd had to skip her presentation due to ravenous hunger (this was in my pre-vegetarianism days), so I got an extra burger for her, to make up for it, and I was able to snag an early spot in the autograph line while she was talking. She seemed to appreciate the gesture, being hungry herself, and paused in her autographing to take a few bites. That's a fond memory for me.

Hot dogs, with ham a close second. I could never get either of them down, and whatever taste element I'm reacting to that gives me violent sensory overload is something they both have in common, though it's worse with hot dogs. But I haven't eaten meat in well over a decade, now, so that's a thankfully moot point in my life. Vegetarianism: a more socially acceptable way to be a picky eater.

Now that Lost is off the air, that's a tough call. Person of Interest was taking my top slot once the fall premieres started, but now that I can't watch it on CBS.com, I have to go visit my buddy Kev when I want to watch it. (We saw the most recent ep yesterday.) So now, I'm thinking Awake is the one I'm enjoying the most at the moment. Honorable mentions go to Touch and Once Upon a Time.

Nothing, yet. Not that my eating events usually divide conveniently into standard mealtimes. But yeah, I had a large "lunch" yesterday; went for Mexican with my buddy Kev.

A little more than I used to, these days. Mostly with family. I would say I don't necessarily talk on the phone with people *often*, but when I do, I have long conversations. At least if the other party is up for that kind of thing. Which most of the people I'm close to tend to be, a fair amount of the time; they do their best to understand that that's part of who I am, and comes with the package of being an important part of my life, while I do my best to understand that others may not always be up for the intensely introspective, technical and analytical process of having a conversation with me.

Very. My brain just seems to work that way. I often have to go to conscious effort to express myself in less technical terms.

Opportunities for personal growth, and understanding myself better. Opportunities to put my questionable talents to good use for the benefit of people, things, and causes that I care about, to make up for the times when my quirks may have caused more harm to others than I intended. Engrossing stories. Intriguing puzzles. Feeling competent and capable.