Getting to Know You

My friend (/coworker/mentor/secret twin) Erin commented recently with her own version of the Relatively Short Questionnaire. We discussed it in more depth, as I actually was unfamiliar with the Traveling Wilburys. I had to google it, and then I was like “why didn’t I know this??” (story of my life).

And this brought up a discussion about other get-to-know-you type questions. Erin’s questions involve a lot of music. I can totally see this. Erin is very music-chic. One of her superpowers is being able to make you the perfect mixed tape/CD. She demonstrated this by making me country mixes when I decided to move to Texas. I HATED country music. It was the only type of music I was passionately against. That is, until I listened to Erin’s CDs!

I, however, go to great lengths to avoid music questions. Both asking them, and answering.

It’s not that I don’t like music. I do! In fact one of the reasons I don’t mind long drives is that I can plug in my iPod and jam out for hours.

But as I've said before, I’m weird about music. First of all, in general I cannot correctly identify artists or songs to save my life. I recognize the music. In fact, I’m good at recognizing even things played really low that other people can’t hear. But ask me to name a song or artist and I’ll just stare at you blankly before spouting random answers. This doesn’t just apply to things playing on the radio. I do the same with stuff on my iPod.

Additionally, my taste in music is just weird, as is the way I prefer to listen to it. I couldn’t deal with the radio for years, so I would make CDs for myself. As my brother often says, if the artists on my CDs heard the whole thing and specifically the songs before/after their song, they might kill me. I like variety. So a CD might start with a pop song, then go rock, rap, random Japanese song… you get the picture.

This is why I can’t function listening to just one radio station. Even the ones that pride themselves on “variety” aren’t varied enough for my tastes. It took me awhile to get into Pandora for the same reason. The only way I could get Pandora to work for me was to create 6 different stations (Blackest Eyes, Stitches, Untouched, Undisclosed Desires, Volbeat, E.T.) which I play on shuffle. Oh and did I mention that I also added random songs to those stations? So for example my “Undisclosed Desires” station (great track by Muse!) also has seed songs like “Dirty Dancer” and “Still Alive.” This is the only way I can get a proper mix, and I still find myself frequently disliking songs (no matter how many times you try Pandora, I will still HATE “Wonderwall”).

For years I couldn’t even answer the most common music questions, like “what’s your favorite band?” I didn’t have one! There are very few bands/artists where I enjoy the majority of their work. Typically I pick and choose which songs I like. This is one reason why I love the advent of the Apple music store. Thank goodness I no longer have to buy a whole CD, I can just buy a song or two.  And let’s not even talk about how now that I finally have a favorite band, they disbanded and there have been all sorts of legal battles over who will continue, who can use the name… ugh.

You have no idea how many times I've watched this

So what kind of get-to-know-you questions do I like to ask? Well about my other favorite neek interests – movies and tv. Who’s your favorite Mighty Morphin Power Ranger? What was your favorite cartoon growing up?  Star Trek or Star Wars? Ya know, the common ones.

The problem I’ve found is what to do with those answers. Shared interests do not mean compatibility. I have found this over and over again. I’m not just talking about dating either. It’s the same for friends.

I’ve tried opposites, I’ve tried same-to-the-point-of-being-clones. I think there needs to be a balance, but I’m not sure what the perfect formula is, if there is one. Something like

28% same favorite movies

15 % different music tastes

7 % food arguments

34 % same sense of humor

11 % dissimilar upbringings

= <3?

Sure doesn’t equal 100%

But regardless I think I like get-to-know-you questions because I can judge people based on their answers. Not that the answers are right or wrong, but I can still judge. You like the original BLUE RANGER?? Really?! Your favorite cartoon was Ren & Stimpy?? Over wonderful 90s classics like Doug and Hey Arnold! Yes, I’m judging you now.

For the record, the green/white ranger was my favorite, and while it’s a tough pick, overall I think The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest was my favorite cartoon. After all, it’s the only one I woke up at freaking 7 AM to watch before school.