Wednesday Hodgepodge: Things That Matter, Or Not

 

1. What kind of thinker are you-doer concrete thinking) analyst (analytical and abstract thinking), orator (logical thinking) inventor (imaginative thinking) or original thinker (creative)? What makes you say so? You can try this little quiz (link here) to help with your answer. 

I tried the quiz but I kept overthinking the answers, so not sure what that says about the way my mind works. The categories seemed to be putting people into groups such as verbal, visual, etc., and I wouldn't have gotten that necessarily from the way the questions were phrased ("Do you like puzzles?" is kind of vague). So, I don't like those categories too much, but I'm a word person who likes to make creative connections.

2. Do you own a crock pot, air fryer, and/or instapot? Do you leave said small appliance sitting out? How often do you use it/them? Favorite thing to make in one of these? 

CrockPot / slow cookers: got our first one as a wedding present 30+ years ago, have used them ever since, replace them at yard sales and thrift stores as they wear out. Right now we have three in-service ones, different sizes and shapes. We don't tend to do recipes with long lists of ingredients in them--more likely to put meat or chicken in them with some kind of sauce. We used them for both the turkey and the sweet potato/carrot side dish on Christmas. Today we're making navy bean soup in our medium-sized '80's slow cooker. They all live in the cupboards when they're not being used.

Air fryer--we were given one for Christmas, and it lives on the floor underneath the toaster oven (makes more sense than it sounds). All we've really used it for so far is a bit of frozen food and a batch of sweet potato fries.

Instapot--no, haven't gone there yet.

3. What's something you hold a strong opinion on that matters not at all in the grand scheme of things? 

As in something like crunchy vs. smooth? Or in which order the Narnia books should be read?

I can't think of anything else that works, because I can say something doesn't matter but maybe it really does, to somebody.

OK, here's one: I'd rather drink Tim Horton's coffee than Starbucks.

4. Describe the view from your window. 

Depends which window. Out front, more townhouse units, trees, hydro corridor. But behind that is an amazing nature trail. We used a photo of it for a book cover a couple of years ago.

Out back, a busy road, but across from that we get a good view of evergreen trees. If you sit on the deck and ignore the cars below, you can pretend you're at the cottage.

5. Do you have a favorite brand? Explain.

Brand of...clothes? Nail polish? Vitamins? Cookies? I'm not sure where to go with this one.

If we're talking about things that don't matter, I like OPI nail polish and Chips Ahoy cookies. NAOT shoes are gorgeous, but my budget is more like Skechers (and my last Skechers came from the thrift store, so there's that).

I hate getting stuck on brands, though (of anything), because they disappear so often. Case in point: Plain old Idahoan instant mashed potatoes have disappeared from the shelves again, all you can get are flavoured packets, and I'm thoroughly but quite inconsequentially mad about that.

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

In what's already quite a bit of randomness, in a time that feels more random than usual, I'll show you my favourite recent thrift find: a made-in-Japan creamer from the early twentieth century, part of a tea set, with what some people call a sharkskin or orange-rind finish. I have often seen pieces like this at antique stores, but hadn't wanted to pay the money they were asking. But a local thrift store had this one sitting with some knick-knacks, priced at two dollars, and that made me very happy. I also found this vintage ad for the tea sets, on a website about Japanese imports.

So now maybe I'll keep my eyes open for the sugar bowl.

Linked from The Wednesday Hodgepodge at From This Side of the Pond.