The Chocolate Box – 18 Questions – This is from A Guy Called Bloke, better known as the guy who loves to ask questions.

The Once Every 6 Weeks Saucy and Spicy, Sugary Sweet and Sour Game
Game 2 – Season 1 (Does this sound like it’s all about either food or sex? That’s what attracted me to play this game!)
February 2021

What is your reaction and interpretation to ……….. “Oooh l say that’s a big one!”
Usually a fish – like a record-breaking muskie. (I spent all the summers of my youth in northern Wisconsin. That’s what people do up there – they fish and hope to break the latest record.)

Are you more introverted, extroverted or ambiverted or if you prefer ‘lean more towards’ ambiversion?
I like that word – ambiverted. That does describe me.

Do you think you honestly know ‘hand upon heart’ what members of the opposite sex actually think?
I don’t think men are so different than women in what they think, in terms of love or relationships.. However, they do tend to think about different things than women if my husband is typical of the average male, which I think he is. Part of it is cultural conditioning too, so that men tend to prefer sports or tinkering with their cars, etc. Also when they are together, they don’t go into their personal lives as much as women. And they don’t always think about the way women think about casual sexual overtures. (I’m thinking of Andrew Cuomo, who is now facing sexual harassment charges, which he denies. He didn’t think of it as harassment, apparently.)

Which is more appealing of these two attributes only – brawn or brains?
Definitely brains, although physical appearance is undeniably important especially for initial attraction. I mean, people who are not physically attractive have to work harder to get the opposite sex to get interested in them.

What are some of your strangest quirks?
I make weird noises just for the hell of it, or to drive my cat crazy. She’s on to me already, however, so I don’t faze her anymore. But my husband shakes his head and mumbles something about the eccentric woman he married. Anyway, I’m pretty good at making strange noises – I’ve got quite a repertoire! I can also imitate animal noises so well that I really do freak out any domestic animal (cats or dogs mostly) that happens to be around.

What or when is the dirtiest you have ever been [your interpretation]?
I was trying to write a novel for NaNoWriMo, expanding on a short story I’d written years ago. My daughter and I took a “writing weekend” by ourselves at a hotel, and stayed in separate rooms to work on our novels. I wrote for HOURS. I got to the point of writing a sex scene, which turned out to be quite, um, graphic. Actually, there were several sex scenes that happened one after another, but one of them in particular was really detailed. After I wrote it, I was sort of embarrassed but I know there are authors who write this kind of stuff a lot – but I don’t read it. And to this day, I can’t read that scene I wrote without feeling kind of shocked.

By the way, I never finished the novel. (There didn’t seem to be a good way to proceed after that to continue to hold readers’ attention…)

Do you prefer to give, receive or take away?
I like them all, but lately giving stuff away is much more a part of my life. I am at that stage of life where I’m downsizing and letting go of lots of things I’ve accumulated that I considered so important at some point in my life. The easiest thing to do is to give them to others who will appreciate and make use of them.

Have you ever eating edible clothing?
No, what do you have in mind?? If it’s chocolate, I’ll be right over!!

Do you like it saucy or just enjoy a good sauce?
Depending on what “it” is. If it’s food, I prefer sauce.

Have you ever performed the naughty or nauighties in the car, your car, a car, any car?
Sort of, yes – I was 18 working at my first summer job, and my boyfriend was visiting. I was staying at our family’s summer home in northern Wisconsin and I had been driving my grandmother’s car for the summer. We drove down some back roads that wind around the lakes and countryside and stopped in a small clearing, and after the, well, what we did in the car, we couldn’t find the key! Worse is that it had gotten dark by then! We were groping around for it on the ground and since it was just a single key with no key ring or anything attached, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. We were saved by a quirk that some cars had at that time: there were cars you could start without a key – the ignition stuck out a little, and if you could turn it, the engine would start. That’s what I did, so we got back home. (There were no cellphones in those days to call for help, of course.) But I did have to tell my mother about the lost key and my boyfriend’s face turned so red when I made up a lame excuse about what happened. I’m pretty sure my mom figured out what we had been up to!

Have you ever skinny dipped or taken part in naked mud wrestling?
Skinny-dipped, yes. It was in the lake at the abovementioned summer home. My mother skinny dipped every morning, so once I went with her. We went down to the lake with our bathing suits on, and took them off in the water. Before we got out, we squirmed into our wet suits.

Are your more of a sweet or a sour person?
I prefer sweet and sour! (Ether the combination is great, or you never know what you’re getting when you come into contact with me.)

Where would you find the Sea of Tranquility?
On the moon – but it’s not much of a sea, since there’s no water on the moon. Perhaps it’s how the Dead Sea will be a few years from now when it dries up completely. (The Dead Sea’s ratio of salt to water increases every year and it is expected to dry up sooner than previously thought, due to climate change.)

What five items could you buy at a supermarket which would make the cashier give you an uncertain if not just weird look?
Contraceptives – i.e. condoms (which is the only kind of contraceptive you can buy in a supermarket), which would probably cause a stir considering I’m not young anymore. Then stocking up on only the most caloric comfort foods they have – big chocolate donuts, a cake with the inscription “Happy Divorce” (especially coupled with the condoms), lots of chocolate sauce (which has multiple uses), and a case of cheap wine. Those young cashiers have no idea how much fun old people are capable of!

Ok, you have been arrested and no one one knows why – what would your friends think you had done?
They wouldn’t be able to figure it out. I’m not sure even I would know what I had done – I’m such a law-abiding citizen!

Oh dear, for some bizarre reason you find yourself in an insane asylum how can you convince those in charge you don’t belong there?
I’m thinking “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” type of place, right? I’m not sure, but I definitely wouldn’t display my weird quirks like making the strange noises I mentioned in a previous question! Maybe I would sing religious hymns to them, and act very pious.

You have two outfits but only one choice – which do you choose to wear for the day of the following …. skin tight flesh coloured body suit OR a very holey oversized long tee shirt?
Probably the skin tight flesh-colored body suit. At least I could exercise in it. But the holey T-shirt? People in my community might not approve.

What is a whack when used in relationship to the term ‘out of whack?’
Whack would be what is normal, whatever the expected function or action or thought might be.