Big Blue Holiday Cheer

Tickisms from The Tick Vs. Santa.

Piney....

State of the Website

Have you been to my front page recently? Picture of my happy face on display. Also, are you even aware that I keep up like 4 other blogs? Do you want to know my wishes? (Or do you just think I am some nutty nutty nut girl who's nuts?)

Yay! Superwriter Jill! Mazeltov, kitten!

Best Dog Ever



Now, could I have that slipper back?

I Am Truly Thankful...

...for music, and ears to hear, both mine and others'.

...for PALs, old friends and newish, and the clarity to be down with the genuine.

Jamaican Beef Patties. Breakfast cooked by others.

...Catherine Jamieson's journal is back. Can Terry Baker be far behind?

ThreeWayAction.

...much more for which I am slow to find words.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The News Has Been So Depressing...

and Hopkin Green Frog is missing! (Keep clicking each picture!)

Paging Jill: frog meme!

not enough of erotic melodic hippie happy psychobillies just gimme some fun

Fun I've encountered recently:

The acme heart maker.

Nancy Parisi's weblog.

Readying a manuscript for Nightboat.

Scuffing through the leaves under perfect blue sky. Friendship, grace, laughter, tenderness, and pure fun. 50% off Veteran's Day Sales at local thrift shops. Romeo & Juliet sandwiches.

Tara Fuki.

Writitng a medley-poem of Lennon lines for the 17th Annual Cold Turkey Tribute to John Lennon.

Traces of Optimism


Saw Andrew Bird perform last night at Soundlab. It was a very healing thing to hear that beautiful, intelligent music in a dark room of smart-looking people.

***

Hey Canadians, Marry an American! The signed pledges are funnier still: http://www.marryanamerican.ca/pledge/signed.php

And, closer to my virtual home: This is so sweet.

Trawling for another victim...could it be you?

I've had my midnight snack.

Now, off to party!

Pat. Patter. Pat. Pat.

That's the sound leaves make, falling, if there are no other sounds.

I lay on my back in the grass today and let the leaves fall down on me. I laughed out loud; pure delight!

I love Fall.




And tonight...the perfect moon.

Which File Extension are You?

And it's not even Mercury Retrograde....


Damn, I've been having a hard time. My Toshiba laptop died after a henious week of battling spyware and losing everything that was on that machine anyway (novels, poems, pictures, songs...ugh). My new laptop (a Dell Inspiron) came quickly but now I am in wireless hell, spending hours on the phone with SMC Tech Support.

Also, Buffalo is losing two of its finest poets. Brian Lampkin and family have departed for muggier climes to provide healthcare, and Sandra Guerriero is returning to Prtugal after finishing her degree at UB. The farewell parties have been fantasticlly good times (lots of dancing!), but it's bittersweet anyway.

I'm also broke, due to delayed checks, and generally stuck at home except for the occasional hangout session. At least the leaves are turning pretty colors.

The Propaganda Remix Project.

Bookshelf Project at flickr...

I love to see what's on other people's shelves.

By the People, For the People...

I saw The Corporation tonight. See it if you possibly can. It both depresses and inspires, frightens and empowers.

You've got to vote, even if it seems ironic or useless to you. They don't listen to individuals, or even large groups of people, if those blocks don't vote. But...don't believe too much of what they say, either. (Did you know just how staged these debates are?) (Do you know how few people aged 18-36 vote, and 22 million women didn't vote in the last election? WTF? No wonder our reproductive rights are in danger.)

From the Front Porch

City Stories

This is one of those sites probably everybody knows about but me. I just discovered The City Stories Project, which lists stories, duh, by city: San Francisco, Seattle, Amsterdam. The creator says, "It's somewhere in between a personal journal and a city guide. It's a series of personal stories where the city itself becomes a character in your story....This project is about telling your own personal true stories of life in your city."

You can still start your own, if your city, like mine, isn't yet listed.

Back in the B-lo

Here's some pics and tales from my trip.

Got To have Kaya Now

I am in A'dam at an internet cafe, arrived this afternoon after a peaceful crossing. It's to be cooler & windier later, but hopefully will have blown over by the time I go back to London. Work went well, and I've seen a good deal of my friend Hasok and his wife Gretchen.

Overhead is playing REM's "Losing My Religion", loud, and it sounds great. Already tonight, all over the neghborhood I've heard "Walkin On Sunshine", "rosanna", "Kaya", and Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon."

This is the dirtiest mouse and keyboard I've ever used. It just gross. But, I have to say the internet cafes seem to know what a traveller needs. There's the sense that the Netherlands is freshly using the internet culture. I'm not sure how rapid uptake was here; I'll have to find out.

I'm staying right off Leidesplaan and there's plenty going on; feels like Bourbon Street in New Orlans. In fact, there's a club across the street from my hotel by that name, and I may stop in to the open jam tonight before I crash.

I'm deeply tired from travelling, and am trying to relax more. My ankles are killing me, yo.

Off more more sightings of the lights over the canals....

Pounds and Pence

I am in London. Arrived a day late due to the flight out of DC having no pilot, but was warmly met by Hasok and Gretchen, who tucked me in very late on a weeknight. I am still jetlagged, two days later, but it is getting better as my shin splints worsen.

I'm staying in Camden Town, and like it very much. There's even wireless connectivity at my hotel, though I must sit on the floor against the door of my room to keep it steady. WNY/10KM references are everywhere, as I wander Jamestown Road into Buck Street....In the Egyptian Hall of the British Museum, which I loved, I met a German guy wearing a Manowar t-shirt. Turned out he was a session plater with them, as is/was my drinking/brunch buddy/neighbor Joe Rozler. I tried to ask if he knew Joe, but he wasn't too friendly, so I let it go by..."Tell them Joe says 'hi'...."

Besides the work I came to do, I've had some lovely food, cooled out in the British Museum, and climbed Primrose Hill to catch a bit of the sunset in the wind. It reminded me of Fort Mason in San Francisco.

London's hardly my father's hometown anymore, and seems a very different place from when I visited in 1986--faster, more American, more international. I'm more worldly as well, but I think it's more a reflection of how worldly all the world has become.

Tonight it is the same temperature in Buffalo as it is in Amsterdam. Pictures are coming as soon as I can locate my USB cord.

Sister Europe

On Monday, I fly to London, England for a ten-day stay. Some business, some pleasure, old friends and new friends. I'm also planning to catch glimpses of Stonehenge and Glastonbury. I'd been planning a jaunt to Amsterdam, too, but suddenly found most hotel rooms were booked for those days. Bummer.

It's been 17 years since I visited England, for the first and last time. I was 17. I went on a six-week trip with my father and my first boyfriend (Bob, get in touch, wouldja?). Never, never do this. But I still had an amazing trip, and loved London particularly, my Dad's hometown (Balham, actually). Look for me to be kicking around Camden Town, checking out live music. Out of my brain on the 5:15....

Catch you on the flip side.

Welcome, Daze Reader readers!

Honor and Fishnets

I read the other night with Michael C. Ford. On my way up to the mic, I found out I'd been named one of the top three poets in Buffalo. (I'd link to the Artvoice, but the new PDF format is just too silly.) I'm in extraordinary company, with Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Dennis and my mentor, Sherry Robbins.

My reading of "Kali Yuga" brought the house down.

I was glad I'd dressed up.

"You're the Man, Ms. White!" : Substitute Teaching Memories

All of my memories about subs from my own school days include two types of subs. There were the mean ones who never managed to keep anything under control. They’d spend the whole class period sending kids to the principal’s office and screaming “I am going to leave a very bad note for your teacher!” while we threw paper airplanes and said rude things and generally acted like assholes. Then there were the crazy hippyish subs. We sort of made fun of them too, but more quietly and we’d often end up doing some actual class work in-between listening to them tell weird stories that no real teacher would ever tell. I liked those subs. They collectively had a long-term impact on my way of viewing the world -- a good one."--Desert Agave

True for me, and then I got to be one of those good subs for a while at my alma mater. I miss it sometimes. It was one of the first jobs I'd had where people seemed happy to be there in the morning, where I saw that what I did on a moment-to-moment basis, even if I were just around for a day. As it happened, I subbed almost every day for about two years, because the teachers and kids both liked and respected me--no mean feat in any situation.

I liked subbing more than I figured I'd like most classroom teaching situations. I also saw, first hand, that even the smartest kids weren't always well-served in the average educational setup. I remembered how both bored and unhelped I often was in school, and how good it always was to be given the time, reign and guidance to do my own work--research, writing, thinking. (Appropriately, I went on to Hampshire, where I did indeed enjoy such.) So many things get in the way of learning.

And yet, I still miss teaching.

"Bare Feet on the Hardwood Floor, Up late, High"

...god, how I miss Terrapin Dream.

Your Rights and You

I found this in Ro's journal and it seemed to be relevant to so many lives, I thought I'd post it here.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE ASSERTIVE

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO JUDGE YOUR OWN BEHAVIOR, THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS. You are the ultimate judge of yourself. Without being the ultimate judge of our own behavior, we're powerless to control our own lives. Others control us with all the rules and "shoulds" -- the proscriptions and prescriptions. Morals are arbitrary rules people adopt to use in judging behavior. There is no absolute "right" and "wrong" moral way to behave. There are only "norms" and the personal ways each of us chooses to behave, which enrich or befoul our lives.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO OFFER NO REASONS OR EXCUSES TO JUSTIFY YOUR BEHAVIOR.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO JUDGE WHETHER YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR FINDING SOLUTIONS TO OTHER PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS. We really do not have the ability to create mental stability, well being, or happiness for someone else. Each of us must come to terms with the problems of living by learning to cope on our own. We can give advice, counsel, or just listen non-judgmentally, but people with problems have the responsibility to solve them for themselves; we cannot do it for them. Happiness comes from within each of us.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE YOUR MIND. Our interests change with conditions and the passage of time. We have choices; we grow. To be in touch with reality, to promote our own well being and happiness, we have to accept change. Changing our minds is healthy and normal.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE MISTAKES (AND BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM). None of us is perfect. Making errors and being responsible for them is the reality of being human. Errors are simply that- errors. We are being manipulated if we allow someone to make us feel in the wrong when we goof. Once a mistake is made, we can learn from it--but it's done. It's over. It's in the past. There's nothing we can do to "undo" it. Admit it, learn from it, and then forget it.

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO SAY "I DON'T KNOW."

YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE INDEPENDENT OF THE GOODWILL OF OTHERS BEFORE COPING WITH THEM. No matter what you do or I do, someone is not going to like it. If you assume that you have to have everyone's good will before acting, you leave yourself open to be manipulated. Spouses often remove their goodwill when there is conflict. This temporary lack of goodwill is manipulative and does not mean necessarily that the marriage is on the rocks. You do not need the goodwill of others to deal with them effectively.

YOU WILL NEVER BE LOVED IF YOU CAN'T RISK BEING DISLIKED. People only remove goodwill toward you when there's a payoff to them for doing so: when you don't respond, they have lost their power over you.

Spencer Tunick in Buffalo



This past weekend, along with about 1,800 others, I participated in a large installation, a nude group photograph by the artist Spencer Tunick.

The event was held at Buffalo's old Central Terminal, a train station which closed in the 60's and is yet another example of my city's broken but beautiful qualities.

Spencer worked with us (women, then men, then just the folks under age 30 and over 50) for over an hour--a nice change for him, since he often just has a few minutes to fill the street with bodies before it opens again to traffic or somesuch.

I'm not overly shy about being nude, especially when everyone else is. It was funny to me to try to keep track of the pals I came with, since I could only find them by skin tone, hair, not clothes, etc.

It was a great thing to be a part of, and I look forward to my 8x10 when it comes in December--just in time for Christmas cards!

Buffalo News story.

Is it me, for a moment? The stars are falling....

The Perseid Meteor Shower is tonight! It's a truly lovely experience, so do look up.

Another lovely experience I had recently was the viewing of The Adventures of Prince Achmed, a silent, "animated" (moving paper silhouettes) film, in nearby Arlington Park, sponsored by Squeaky Wheel.

Happiness Economics and Sex

The New York Times relays that a lasting marriage offers about $100,000 worth of happiness a year - that is, on average, a single person would need to receive $100,000 annually to be as happy as a married person with the same education, job status and other characteristics.

"It would be great to assign Mr. and Mrs. X a certain amount of sexual activity and a certain amount of income, and see how it impacts their happiness," he said. "But I think it would be hard to get government funding."

Re: Fahrenheit 9/11

From Michael Moore's newsletter this week:

"Bush spokesman Dan Bartlett had told the White House press corps that the movie was "outrageously false" -- even though he said he hadn't seen the movie. He later told CNN that "This is a film that doesn't require us to actually view it to know that it's filled with factual inaccuracies."

At least they're consistent. They never needed to see a single weapon of mass destruction before sending our kids off to die."

Boom! Pow! Hiss! Aaaahhhh...

Nova's Guide to Fireworks is awesome.

More Things I Didn't Know:

Breast Milk Cures Cancer...and Warts.

The similarities between dog toys and marital aids....

Road Lust

I've been thinking a lot lately about travel. I've had my share of both road trips and business trips in the last few years--it's not like I don't get around, yo--but almost every one of those trips, I took alone. I am thinking more now about London (in fact, 70% sure I'm going in the fall), Rome, Venice, Tangier, Mexico. Who wants to go?

Where would you like to go? hunnli*at*yahoo*com

Eat your heart out, San Francisco!

"AmericanStyle's 2004 Arts Destinations rankings mark the third time in three years that Buffalo has been in the Top 10. Since its debut ranking on the magazine's Top 25 list, Buffalo has climbed from the No. 9 to the No. 4 slot."

To celebrate, I and half the city packed into the Tralf to see Richard Thompson play as part of the Buffalo-Niagara Guitar Festival. Dayna Kurtz opened. A great night, much fun, much company, much wine.

June is perfect in this town. Everything is green. Beautiful winds. I have cilantro, basil, chives, spanish walking onion, and basil going in the garden. Organic lemonade from the coop. Some mornings I am just going to sleep as the birds begin to sing.

I have been dreaming of snakes.

Interpretation: In some cultures snakes are highly regarded and symbolize the ability to transcend into higher levels of consciousness or into areas of knowledge that exist outside perceived time and space. In the pre-Christian days, snakes were considered symbols of fertility, healing, and nurturing (the healing serpent representing a god). Post Adam and Eve, snakes are often considered symbols of temptation and evil, anger, and envy. Snakes emerging out of the ground may represent your unconscious or repressed materials coming to your conscious mind. Freud thought that the snake was a phallic symbol. It is amazing how many people have snake dreams! Most snake dreams seem to be disturbing and they leave the dreamer feeling anxious and afraid. There are no simple interpretations to the snake dreams. Each dreamer must consider their own situation and all of the details of the dream. Sometimes snakes may be phallic symbols and other times they represent negativity in our lives that hampers our progress and constantly threatens us. In the long run the snake may be a positive symbol; it may represent difficulties that lead us to the center of personality and result in feelings of completeness.

I'm not afraid.

Phone Spell

How did I never know about this cool utility before now? Find out what your phone number spells.

A is for Allentown...

Allentown is a neighborhood in Buffalo. When I was growing up, it seemed to be both the artists' section of town, and where the gay people lived. For a time, it boasted both a huge arts and crafts festival (the 47th ever is coming up this weekend!) and a large porn theatre (the Allendale, since transformed into the Theatre of Youth).

Mostly, as a kid, I went to Allentown, usually with my dad, to go to the first poetry readings I ever attended, and I took my first writing class at the Allentown Community Center (sadly, gone) with Jimmie Canfield Gilliam, who I studied with this winter, a full 20 years since that class.

When I returned as an adult to Buffalo, Allentown was a natural mecca for me. The first real cafes and coffeehouses of the 90s were there (The Topic, Cybele's), and the most interesting bars (Nietzsche's, of course, and The Old Pink, once known as the Pink Flamingo, now pretending to be called the Allen Street Bar and Grill). Since then, much of my life & the life of my community has taken place in Allentown.

Allentown is still sketchy--people sometimes get hurt there, or robbed. It's a bit far from a grocery store, a library, but is full of galleries (home to Buffalo's only Gallery Walk), a fantastic bookstore which bosts a tiny theatre/art/performance space, and a big Greek diner. Many of my friends also live there (and more seem to be moving there every day...). I frequently think about doing the same; I know its how neighborhoods stabilize, and thrive--the people who live there want to be there. It hurts to think about the neighborhood becoming a place I wouldn't want to be.

The Arts Fest is still one of the summer's biggest events, though my pals and I rarely cross Elmwood Avenue to enter the official terrain. Our territory is the one block of Allen where the real and best stuff seems to be going on. I'll be there in the streets this weekend, waving to friends, buying some local art, enjoying Allentown.

This has been an AlphaBytes collab entry.

Neat, Sweet, Petite

I've been taking in much of the Addams Family marathon. I think Morticia and Gomez have the perfect marriage. (That link is fun, but is nestled in weirdness, and is probably NWS.)

Gomez: "Tish, how long has it been since we waltzed?"
Morticia: "Oh, Gomez. Hours."

Don't you love haiku
?

I guess I have not been here. I have been out in the rain. I have been smelling the lilacs. I have been writing a story about Beltane. I have been writing songs--the first ever. I have been setting up wireless access at my house. I have been watching Judging Amy reruns. I have been sitting still.

They say it's your wishlist....

I finally discovered a piece of technology I have longed for: Wishlist.Com. I usually use my Amazon wishlist just to keep track of things, but don't prefer to buy through them if there's a more independent source.

April, ah, when the details come back....--Stan Rice

I love April. There are already tiny flowers, and my tulip & daffodill bulbs have burst under the mud & are pushing up.

I went to NYC for a few wonderful, energetic days, where I saw several beloved friends and bought silly trinkets. I also attended the 3WA party, where I met 50 of the people I've been reading and communicating with for about 4 years now. Delightful.

On Wednesday night, I participated in the Bob Dylan Imitator's Contest and was thrilled to win the Tarantula Prize for my rendition of liner notes from Desire and The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Last nighht, I got to hear Sharon Olds and Ookla the Mok in the same evening.

Today is the Boom Days festival. And soon, my pet project, Urban Epiphany, this year at a new location!

A sentence I never thought I'd say....

"Boy, your breath is stinky. I love you so much."

Wearing of the.....

Like Jessamyn, I had a nasty run-in on St. Patrick's Day, but mine was when I was 5 YEARS OLD. Indeed, in kindergarten, I had a teacher aide, Mrs. O'Sullivan, who always called me her Irish Colleen. (Actually, I'm British--and Alsatian--but the red hair always throws them.) I turned up on this auspicious day in head to toe orange (a favorite outfit) and was not only soundly scolded and told off by this woman; she never spoke to me again.

Mamas, don't let your children grown up to wear orange on St. Patrick's Day?

Cybele's Cafe

When I moved back home to Buffalo the first time (1993; post-Seattle), everyone I knew was talking about Cybele's. (At first I thought they meant Sibley's, a downtown department store which closed soon after, ending the confusion.) I was 23, an age where I might easily spend a weekend pinging between the three Allentown hotspots--The Topic (long gone), The Old Pink (now older yet), and this funky restaurant named in honor of a goddess with no more than 6 tables and very, very strong coffee. I found their homefries to be the best in town.

Lo, these 11 years later, across two locations kitty-corner apart, I can easily say Cybele's has consistently been one of the organizing points in my life and my community. I can think of a no single occasion where I went there--for a little quiche & salad, a PMS-curing brownie, a large coffee before a drive to NYC, late night bread and wine and herb butter, a lush meal in celebration of darn near anytihng--and didn't met a friend. Indeed, I made many friends there, the staff the closest of all.

Cybele's closes tonight, an enormous loss for me and my community, which truly became a community through its being.

A few memories....

* Jazz at Cybele's Lounge on Thursday Nights....John Allen, Edgar Henderson and Emile Latimer.
* New Year's Eve 1998, when I dj'd
* My 30th birthday party was held there, an amazing night
* The afternoon Joseph and I broke up, after the tears & watercolors, we called several friends and spent the rest of the day drinking wine in the courtyard
* When I was working full time, I always went to breakfast there the Monday of any three-day weekend. I remember writing there, dreaming, and hearing Doug's sax solos emitting from the apartment above
* Doug's chile rellenos
* Mary's potato pancakes
* creamy parmesan dressing
* crepes with Cliff
* hungover lunch with Sean when he visited
* My 34th birthday dinner, 10 around the table....

***

In slightly more upbeat happenings, I checked out the Celtic Seishuns at Nietzsche's yesterday afternoon and found it wonderful. My dark, arty bar felt like a pub ("O'Nietzsche's!" Bill Fenzel dubbed it, in his green tie and Irish eyes, pouring Guinness after slow Guinness, each with a flawless shamrock on the foam), filled with musicians playing the prettiest, quiet Irish music ever. Instruments I don't even know the names of. This loveliness occurs each Saturday at 4 and I will surely go again.

Wednesday's Child is Full Of....

Tonight I went to the opening of Allen Street Hardware, a new wine - bar- cafe place on Allen Street. I was of the first wave of bohemians pressing into the crush of yuppies. Who knows how it will fare. (I doubt the yuppies will last through parking problems and the occasional stabbing.) I had an $8 glass of cabernet which I didn't like much. By the time I left, most of my bar cronies were there checking it out.

I am home for hot bath, incense, and the last of the Girl Scout cookies.

Dogster!

It was only a matter of time. Catser must be next.

Of course, I've already made Ms. Tail-Go a page.

Real Dream

I (and many of my multiply-talented friends) will be performing in the Real Dream Cabaret at Rust Belt Books, tonight, tomorrow and next Friday. The cabaret runs every weekend in February.

How often do you get to shout, "Parrots!"?

Remember that flock of green parrots I saw a few years ago in San Francisco? Now a book, and a film.

I am a geek, because... (Reason #1252)

...the best thing that happened today was that Three Way Action's Princess Pornstar Sara Astruc loved the 3WA favicon I made.

Go see! Go join! Membership drive is on. 3WA is one of the best sites on the web; I've been reading/posting just about everyday since I discovered it about 3 years ago.




***

In others news, it's 2 degrees in Buffalo.

Fare thee well Whiskey Wallace, rest in peace.

Good on yer, guv!

I am 82.5% British, just like
Mr Bean
Shy to the point of ridicule, you've probably never been out of the UK.

Take the Brit Quiz at
darrenlondon.tripod.com/britquiz1.htm
Quiz written by Daz

Sweet Memories...

Inspired by a thread at 3WA, I found this delightful site, Sweet Nostalgia, which features the candy of all of our youth. They still have Pop Rocks, candy cigarettes, Fun Dip, and a section for old games, too.

Since I grew up by the Canandian border, Coffee Crisp was a special treat for me, brought by my father, who also sometimes supplied Butter Rum Lifesavers and $100,000 bars.

When I was older, I loved Whatchamacallits (yes, what the hell were they thinking with that caramel? Bleah!), Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (though I think Reese's Pieces are vomitrocious) and Hershey's with Almonds. All of these still make me happy.

I miss Nanaimo bars, which are hard to find outside the norhernmost Pacific Northwest, though I did find one in Southern Ontario at a Tim Horton's last summer.

I vaguely remember a candy I thought of as "perfume balls", an almost glassy shell with fragrant liquid inside when it melted and cracked open. Anyone have a clue about these?

***

I went out today and bought beautiful blue batik fabric to cover the seats in my car. I made a Southwestern Corn Soup, too. Then I made a little collage. And now I'm on the couch in my robe making notes on the second draft of my novel (just getting back to it after a long pause) and just...feeling the happy, and the joy.

Happy New Year, everyone.

I just found the text of a speech given at the Hampshire College memorial for my old college hallmate and friend, Sander Thoenes. Its a good thing to read at the start of the year, despite the sadness of his passing, because he was so full of life, ambition, high ideals and journalistic fervor.

I had a mellow New Year's Eve with a few friends, playing Smoke* and eating "creamy foods": broiled salmon, tomato pie, cheesecake. We also watched some of Free To Be...You and Me.

CTP is back up.

---
* To play Smoke, one player thinks of a person likely to be known by the other players. The person can be real or fictional, living or dead. The game begins when the player says, "I'm thinking of a person, real and living" or whatever the particulars are. The other plays then commence to ask comparative questions, such as "If this person were a kind of weather, what kind of weather would s/he be?" (What kind of car, what kind of intoxicant, what genre of music, what time of year, etc.) (The name of the game comes from the question, "If this person were a kind of smoke, what kind would s/he be?")