Ten Pointless Facts About Me 2025-10-25

Table of Contents

Description: Everyone else is doing it, so why not?

Reading Time: 3

I heard about this set of self interrogation questions on Manuel Morale's blog, which started on David's, and figured that it looked fun, so why not?

Do you floss your teeth?

Yes, with some regularity (usually every other day).

Teeth have a large level of variability – mine are very closely packed (possibly due to childhood orthodontic apparatus) so when I use conventional floss it frequently breaks. The only floss I've found that works well is Grin Fine Dental Floss, which is made for "tight teeth", and is thankfully inexpensive for a niche product.

If you have the opposite problem of big gaps in your teeth, you might try expanding or braided floss.

Tea, coffee, or water?

1 cup of coffee in the morning with breakfast. Black, made with an Aeropress when I'm at home.

The rest of the day is mostly water, mostly still but sometimes fizzy/flavored seltzer.

Living in Arizona, I drink a fair amount of unsweetened iced tea (black usually), which is a staple in restaurants. I'll have other kinds of tea in the winter as a hot drink, and if early in the day it's usually South American Mate.

Footwear preference?

Barefoot around the house. Sandals if I need to go outside for a short bit. Sneakers if I'm actually leaving the house and going somewhere that isn't the local pool. I have large and wide feet, so finding good shoes is sometimes a challenge.

Favourite dessert?

On a trip to Canada, in Quebec I had a sublime apple cheesecake at Aux Anciens Canadiens. It was rich but not overwhelming, and had just the right combination of fruit, cheese, and pastry.

The first thing you do when you wake up?

Drink water. After that, breakfast some days, or exercise, especially in the summer when then is the only time cool enough to go outside.

Age you'd like to stick at?

I can't even this question - do I go back to younger self with current knowledge? Skip all my working years and go straight to retirement?

If anything I'd want to go back a while (maybe early adolescence?) and try to live in a way that is kinder to others and to myself.

How many hats do you own?

3 that I can think of:

Brown hiking hat with a hard brim.
Gray soft sunshade hat for walking/exercise
Red fez for thinking

I probably have other hats, but those are the only ones in regular use.

Describe the last photo you took?

Hot air balloons flying low across the horizon early in the morning while waiting to go to yard sales with my in-laws.

Worst TV show?

I don't really have a specific show, but I don't like shows where people scream at each other, or that have really awkward social situations that are played for cringe instead of laughs.

As a child, what was your aspiration for adulthood?

I wanted to be an engineer, specifically a railroad train engineer. I had model train kits, loved going to see steam locomotives, and so on.

As an adult, I always look forward to on-rails forms of transportation when traveling. Most recently I took a trip to Japan with my dad and we rode all kinds of trains, from the shinkansen bullet train, subways, local streetcars, and hanging monorails. If you're also into trains and have he opportunity, the Kyoto Railway Museum is an excellent place to spend an afternoon.