4 posts tagged “qotd”
When do you file your taxes? Do you do it yourself or get outside help?
Being the wannabe journalist I am, of course I used to wait until the very last minute. Those cars lined up at the post office before midnight? That was me a couple of times. But after becoming the parent of three beautiful tax deductions, I'm more often than not in a hurry to get my taxes done... and to get a nice check back from the feds. (The state, infuriatingly, always wants to take more out of my pocket.) This year I filed as soon as I got my W-2s.
As for how? All on my own, only until recently on paper, even. But the last few years, we've used tax software, and this year and last? Entirely online. All on the web, not even a software purchase. We had our refund in five days.
It was gone a few days later, of course. Easy come...
What are your three favorite snacks?
Submitted by Sunscreem.
With some time to think, I'm sure I could come up with some pretty kick-ass, cool, unusual answers. But off the top of my head, I'm going to go with the last three things I picked up while waiting in the checkout line... those spontaneous purchases the stores know you don't think about:
- Gummy bears (Haribo or Black Forest, no Trolli or store brands), even better with li hing powder.
- Pocky. And I don't care what you say, I'm going to pronounce it wrong.
- Pretzels. Hard, not soft, and Bavarian style if possible.
Pretzels are closest to my most typical snack choices, which skew salty over sweet. Kettle-style or Maui-style potato chips were a close fourth.
If you could write like one fiction author, who would it be?
Submitted by Marilyn.
My rare stabs at fiction are most commonly compared to Douglas Adams, which I consider a huge compliment... though it belies a tendency toward randomness and humor, when I'd like to get better at character and drama. So if I could pick an author whose style I'd emulate well, it'd probably be William Gibson.
What are your favorite weird food combinations?
Submitted by Dulce.
A lot of the things that would make this list are "weird" only outside Hawaii. Hurricane popcorn (seasoned seaweed and soy-flavored rice crackers with popcorn), or spam musubi (marinated and fried spam on rice, wrapped with more seaweed!), natto (fermented, stinky, gooey beans) on rice... stuff newcomers may need to adjust to, but commonplace in local households.
The one thing that was the norm in my house as a kid that apparently is a little strange is french toast... with American cheese singles melted on top of them. I grew up thinking this was how all french toast was made, and wondered why so many people forgot the cheese.
And this is my first QotD. Vox-only rambling. Because Chamuru inspired me.
