Yes, Tucson will have to wait for yet another day. (I'm such a tease, I know.) I'm feeling much better today (reading some journals and writing back to friends last night helped a lot), but I'm at work and I won't have time after paging tonight to really write. So I thought I'd follow the path hewn by so many rushed journalers before me: answer a survey.

Shmuel's Soapbox has a new survey that looks to be one I can answer pretty quickly (link courtesy of Al). So here goes!

• The Simpsons or South Park?
  Tough one. I loved both once upon a time, and can still find gems in each, but Homer's ever-growing stupidity and the South Park boys growing reliance on bathroom humor means I don't watch either regularly. (Yes, I know there's always been gross humor in South Park, but it just seems to be getting out of control to me.) The Simpsons, by a hair.

• Root beer or cream soda?
  Root beer all the way, baby! It's the only soft drink I can drink with any regularity (I have to be in the mood for any of the others). IBC is probably my favorite, with Barq's a close second.

• Arcade games: '80s or '90s?
  Well, I haven't played any in ages, so I'm not sure. My favorite used to be "Return of the Jedi" (I kicked serious Empire ass in that one). The games look incredible now, but I'm more reluctant to spend a minimum of fifty cents (sometimes as much as $1 - $2) for a game. Plus I don't like all the blood. Eighties games.

  Give me a good pinball machine, though...

• To be, or not to be?
  To be, always to be. Life may suck big pointy rocks sometimes, be a collection of pains and miseries that seem almost impossible to work through (and yes, I've had times where I thought "not to be" seemed a viable alternative), but I'll fight to the death my right to be alive.

• How do you like your toast?
  Nicely browned. I rarely eat bread unless it's toasted. Sometimes with a little margarine and garlic salt, sometimes a nice PB&J. There are even times I like it with nothing at all. Naked toast, mmmmmmm.

• How has your name been misspelled?
  How hasn't it been mispelled? For only three little letters, it sure has gone through abuse. Syr is the most common one, with Cry and Cyrs following close behind. It's gotten to the point where I spell it before I say it, and I still get looks from people who are sure I've mis-spelled it. Trust me, it's C-Y-R. Has been since before my grandpa was born.

• What's your favorite Monopoly property?
  Illinois Ave. I was born north of Chicago and, though I remember not a thing about my birth state, I've always felt a connection to it, which manifests itself by becoming irrationally attached to almost anything about Illinois. I really should go there someday.

• What's your favorite Internet mailing list?
  There really aren't any that I frequent. Michael of Baker Street 2000 has a nice notification list that's interactive, and Catherine of Naked Eye Journal has an excellent mailing list that several of her readers post to, but that's about it. I used to read a lot of newsgroups on Usenet, but even those I don't keep up with any more.

• If you could have any one superpower, what would it be? Why?
  Yikes. Don't really know. Teleportation is one I'd love to have, just 'cause I hate driving in L.A. But I'd really like to be exceptionally strong or fast. Better yet, clairvoyance, so I could warn people about bad things before they happen. Whether or not they'd listen to me is another matter all together.

• When you write, do you prefer to work in silence, or with something (music, television, etc.) on in the background?
  Must have something on in the background, preferably music. I guess that comes from growing up in a big family where silence was rare.

• You're a guest on Sesame Street, and they want you to sing a song with the Muppet(s) of your choice. Which song would you sing, and with whom?
  My favorite Muppet is the sax player (I think his name is Floyd), but I don't think he's on Sesame Street and scatting is the only way to really sing with a sax player, but I can't scat to save my life. So I'll stick with a classic: Kermit, singing "Being Green". I love that song.

• Choose two of the following, and suppose that they have joined forces in a corporate merger. Describe the resultant commercial:
  
  • Old Navy
  • Taco Bell
  • Tampax
  • Any car dealership
  • America Online
  • Pfizer
  • Any phone service
    
  Um, let's see. I'm sorry, I'm coming up blank right now. I'll have to come back to this with something indescribably witty. (You see why I don't write for sitcoms. I can't be witty on command.)

• Finally, this one's almost cliché by now, but what the heck... You have the opportunity to kill Hitler while he's still in the cradle. Do you do so, or not? Why or why not?
  I don't know if I could personally. Just because I can't conceive of killing unless someone I care about is threatened or in self-defense. Then there's that whole "changing the course of history isn't necessarily a good thing" deal (can you tell I've watched too much Star Trek?).

  Maybe I could take a contract out on the little fuckling.

Tune into...

The Rummel-Hudsons make it to New Haven in one piece. More or less.