Sometimes, even perhaps the simplest of questions can let you know more about a person than you鈥檝e ever known before.
I used to watch a TV show called 鈥業nside the Actor鈥檚 Studio鈥�.聽 Hosted by James Lipton, it鈥檚 a long-standing interview program that features the best and brightest of Hollywood, taking place at a performing arts school on a university campus in New York, and the show鈥檚 audience mostly comprised of students in acting and motion picture production programs.
Lipton is very unlike most television interviewers in the sense that he digs deeper with his guests, and the result is an engaging, informative hour-long interview that gives us a clearer, more well-rounded picture of that person.
At the end of each episode, Lipton presents his guest with a questionnaire consisting of ten questions; always the same questions, no matter who his guest is.聽 I guess the questionnaire is very neutral in that sense.
They鈥檙e ten simple questions, at least at face value, but they鈥檙e also quite capable of opening up a sizable door as it relates to a person鈥檚 thoughts, feelings and beliefs.
I don鈥檛 know if I鈥檒l ever have any other platform to answer the questions myself, so I may as well do so right here.
- What is your favorite word?聽 鈥楥ool鈥�.聽 I use it every day, and 98% of the time, it鈥檚 an indication that everything is as it should be, or in other words, that everything is鈥�..well鈥︹��..cool.
- What is your least favorite word?聽 鈥楴o.鈥櫬� It鈥檚 negative, sometimes it鈥檚 demoralizing, and it can represent a roadblock to accomplishing something you鈥檝e set your mind to.聽 I know that 鈥榥o鈥� is a part of everyday life, but that doesn鈥檛 mean I have to like it!
- What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?聽 Deep-spirited conversation.聽 The kind of talks that are had around a bonfire, around one more round of drinks at the bar, or that kind you have with your best friend on a long drive.聽 They can be about anything and everything; life, love, where the years have gone, where the future is headed, someone鈥檚 hopes and dreams, and often I鈥檒l leave these kinds of conversations with a desire to write them down, or they鈥檒l serve as the catalyst to a short story, or perhaps even another edition of this fine column.聽 On top of all that, they simply make me reflect on life.聽 If I can leave a conversation and it makes me think, then I鈥檓 turned on.
- What turns you off?聽 Biased and judgmental attitudes.聽 Unfortunately, we see far, far too much of this in the world, whether it鈥檚 on social media or in the news media.聽 We react before we think, and we鈥檝e become a race that is too dug in to see things from another view.
- What is your favorite curse word?聽 Without having to curse in the pages of our newspaper or on our website, let鈥檚 just say it rhymes with 鈥榮on of a witch.鈥�
- What sound or noise do you love?聽 Waves lapping on the waters of a lake.聽 To me, it鈥檚 the sound of summer, which means fun times and a head and heart full of childhood memories.聽 It鈥檚 incredibly soothing; I even doze off to the sound sometimes with the help of my sleep machine.
- What sound or noise do you hate?聽 Any kind of abrupt grinding, like when a fork scratches the surface of a plate, or when a rock would get caught in the lawnmower when I would cut grass as a kid.
- What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?聽 Conservation Officer.聽 I love wildlife and the wide open outdoors.聽 To be able to be directly involved in the protection of both of those has always sounded very appealing to me, even with the mountain of paperwork that can be involved.
- What profession would you not like to do?聽 Paramedic.聽 I gained a whole new respect for what the men and women in this field do after watching the show 鈥楶aramedics: Emergency Response鈥�, which follows the work of Saskatoon emergency personnel.聽 I have a pretty iron will and I can put up with a lot, but I think that job would really test those limits.
- If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?聽 鈥淵our old man鈥檚 been waiting for you.聽 Ice is in the bucket, the good stuff鈥檚 on the middle shelf, and the horses line up at the gate in ten minutes.鈥�
Those are my ten responses.聽 They鈥檙e unique to me, my life, my thoughts and my feelings, so odds are that mine and yours won鈥檛 be very similar.
But hey, if they are, that鈥檚 cool too.
Man, that really is my favorite word鈥�
For this week, that鈥檚 been the Ruttle Report.
