Poems: Reflections from a Japanese Incense Ritual

1. Would you rather have to sit or stand all day?
I sit most of the time anyway. Standing would probably be healthier if it was just for one day, but if it means all day everyday, sitting seems like the only good option. 

2. Would you rather have super sensitive taste or super sensitive hearing?

I already have sensory processing disorder and misophonia. I think if my hearing became any more sensitive I'd cease to function. Taste sounds cool though. Could have a job as a taste tester or a critic. Or I could go back in time to be one of those people who tasted the king's food see if it was poisoned.

3. Would you rather be too hot or too cold?

Cold. If you're cold you can get more blankets or drink something warm. If you're too hot... you just have to strip off your skin I guess. How do people deal with hot climates?

4. Would you rather live in a cave or in a tree house?

Depends on how nice they are. If one of them is legit just a cave versus something you could actually define as a house, but just in a tree, I would pick the tree. If I could make the cave like some sort of cool little hobbit hole, I'd pick the cave. I wonder if the wi-fi would travel well though if it were underground.

5. Would you rather be a deep-sea diver or an astronaut?

Not really tempted to do either, but I'd go with deep-sea. You'd get to go home easily afterwards. Wouldn't have to live with a bunch of people in a shuttle either.

6. Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible?

Invisible. I feel like the human body isn't really built to fly well, but being invisible would be great for moments when I feel awkward. I could just leave and no one would have to know.

7. Would you rather go bald or forever be cursed to have bad haircuts?

I think having bad haircuts could be an interesting staple. It could be something recognizable about me. Or I could just wear wigs over it. The only thing with being bald would be the worry of sunburns, but I hate minor bodily inconveniences, so I don't think I could do it. 

8. Would you rather live in a giant desert or a giant dessert?

Depends on the dessert. I feel living in something made of food might rot pretty quickly, but if it stayed pristine, I would love to live in a giant dessert.

(I only got to eight and now it's like a few months later, oops)

9. Would you rather have no eyebrows or one eyebrow?

None. Could draw them on or do something fun with them rather than them being uneven.

10.Would you rather be born with an elephant trunk or a giraffe neck?

Trunk for sure. You ever wish you had more arms to carry something? Elephant trunk. Oh, you dropped your pencil? Pick it up. Elephant trunk. Need to impersonate an elephant and terrify park-goers? You guessed it! Elephant trunk.

 

11. Would you rather have a 6-pack (abs) or a free 6-pack of beer every night?

Do I have to drink the beer? 'Cause if not, beer. Sell that. Although, if I do keep selling my magic nightly 6-pack of beer from the ether, would that eventually destabilize the economy? Where does this beer truly come from? Is it summoned or do I have to go out and buy beer, but it's free if I do? Does it have to follow the law of equivalent exchange? Does this bewitched brew preexist and it's supernaturally stolen from some warehouse? Or does it just form from material never before seen on Earth?

I'm thinking about this too much.

 

12. Would you rather have a tarantula or a lobster as a bed mate?

Should I consider the lobster's safety? Can I put it in a tank, or does it have to be in the bed? Assuming the lobster is fine with it, I'd choose lobster. I pick out one of those sad looking tank-lobsters from Red Lobster and they'd be my little buddy.

Actually, did you know that lobsters weren't always considered a "high-class" food? They were served to the lower class on the Titanic because, at the time, they were considered "The Rats of the Sea". Fun fact for 'ya. "What's the best lobster?" "Rats of the sea!" doesn't have quite the same ring to it, though.

 

13.Would you rather have wet socks on your feet for a year or dry socks on your hands for a year?

I feel like constant wet socks would start to effect your health, or at least your feet, and I kinda need those, so... I'll go with dry. Can I cut the socks at all? Could I turn them into some trendy finger-less gloves? Are those trendy? Can I change the socks or do I have to pick one set and stick with them?

 

14. Would you rather be rich or be poor and find true love?

Money.

 

15. Would you rather have 1 wish granted today or 3 granted 5 years from now?

I'd completely halt the effects of global warming with one wish now. I'd go for the three wishes, but I'm not sure if I'll have the air to breathe or the mental state to care anymore 5 years from now

 

16.Would you rather have no fingers or no eyes?

I think I could get by without fingers. I feel like I would get too bored as a blind person. Music and physical feeling would not be enough to sustain me, I need something to do and see at all times.

Not that being blind is some sort of tragedy. Both would take a while to adjust to, but like *shrug*, every abled person is just an accident (or a few decades of age) away from being disabled anyway, so I'd live with it either way.

 

17. Would you rather live forever or die in the next five minutes?

Live forever. I'd just see what happens. Probably won't end up as a coherent or recognizable version of myself, but I'd have died sometime anyway, so it might be kinda neat to see how many different states of being or matter I might cycle through *shrug*

 

18.Would you rather play video games or go on an outdoor adventure?

I love video games, but just to shake things up, I'd go on an adventure. 

Like a hobbit getting interrupted from tea-time and second breakfast to go hang out with a wizard and fight evil and meet tree-people. Preferably not any of the spider attacks tho, if that's possible

 

19.Would you rather live in perpetual summer heat or perpetual winter?

Winter. I have the constitution of a popsicle.

 

20. Would you rather hang with a few friends or go to a big party?

Few friends. Not a fan of being in a box with intoxicated strangers. Or any strangers really.

 

21.Would you rather have an adventure or relaxation?

I'm not a high energy person, but I'd sign up for a real adventure over sitting at home anytime

 

22.Would you rather have fame and fortune or love and wisdom?

Depends. Does choosing fame and fortune erase any love or wisdom that you already have? What stops me from continuously gathering information and knowledge on my own whilst having been granted fame and fortune? 'Cause one of those are skills, and three of them can only be given, so picking the one with the higher amount of instantaneous reward seems like the better option by far. And how would love be acquired? Would you ever be able to trust that the people in your life really love you, or would you have to live with the constant fear and doubt that it was never something you earned or deserved and is, in fact, forced through magic or against their free-will?

Got kinda dark with that. Moving on.

 

23. Would you rather have a child who is smart or a child who is kind?

I think a requirement of being smart is being kind. Or at least learning how to be compassionate. You have to be able to see patterns and the general will of other people in order to function most efficiently (or "above average") in our current world, so I would assume that "compassion/kindness" necessitates intelligence.

 

24.Would you rather never have to work again or never have to sleep again?

Never have to work. Sleep doesn't seem like the enemy anymore once you don't have to work to survive.

 

25.Would you rather never play or play but always lose?

You can lose and still have fun. Play.