Fill in your answers to each icebreaker question, then add a question and answer it!
- Shane: Tacos Gomez for carne asada, Cafe Andrade for al pastor.
- Brandon: I will defer to Shane's clear authority in this matter.
- Aaron: La Michoacana Tacqueria is the bessst!
- Crystal: When I ate meat I loved El Tako Nako's lengua tacos. Currently big fan of Michoacana Taqueria's veg tacos.
- Elise: I don't believe in tacos outside of Texas
- Emma: Brazos? Although I don't live in Charlottesville! This was the place some older art history PhD students took me when I visited campus for the first time, so there's some nostalgia involved.
- Grace: Me! That sounds really cocky, but I love to cook and tacos are a staple in my house. I like mine loaded with mushrooms, spinach, black beans, corn, and Calabrian chili pepper. Plus a ton of cheddar cheese!
- Savanna: The tacos I make. Not because they're good or culinary masterpieces but because I don't have to see other people in the process of obtaining them. :) Also I don't know where to get good tacos in Charlottesville... I live near Barracks and the options over yonder are limiting in that regard. These suggestions are awesome!
- Shane: Best are obviously Texas and New Mexico. Iowa is also pretty good! Worst is Idaho, which incredibly contains the phrase "State of Idaho" twice.
- Crystal: I like Alaska's, which is nice and simple, and Oregon's, because the beaver is cute. I feel like saying Maryland's is my least favorite,mostly because Marylanders are so obsessed with it.
- Savanna: I'm kind of into Alaska's, not gonna lie, though New Mexico's is stellar. Rhode Island's is the worst, or maybe the best. Instead of seeing "hope" I read "nope" which is simultaneously iconic and just sad.
- Emma: I'm from Georgia originally, and our flag is boring but not terrible or offensive (like Mississippi's, which is the worst, though I hear folks are actively trying to change it). I LOVE Alaska's flag. After TAing a class called "Art and Astronomy" last year, I'm mildly obsessed with stars.
- Elise: The only right answer is Texas
- Aaron: Okay this is a difficult question because I love flags. AZ, CA, OH, & NM get special mention. MD has to be the best though. Though that may only be until MS adopts the magnolia flag (still pending).
- Brandon: I like the magnolia flag that Mississippi is considering.
- Grace: Best is the new Mississippi flag they've just come up with to replace the old, horrifically racist one. Worst is Maryland.I went to college there and love the state, but the design of the flag is just overkill!
- Shane: The Net (1995)
- Crystal: Dinotopia (2002)
- Savanna: Doppelganger (1993) (also, Emma, remind me to tell you about the time I once spent 15 minutes during a seminar desperately trying to explain the artistic merits of the movie Clue much to my classmates' dismay)
- Emma: My favorite movie is a bad movie: Clue (1985).
- Elise: Yongary: Monster from the Deep (1967), an Awful Movie Night classic
- Aaron: Not a huge fan of movies so bad they're good. If I think of one I'll come back to this.
- Brandon: Anything with Nicolas Cage in it. I learned last night that he was the top choice for the lead role in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
- Savanna: What a great question! I'm 1000% OBSESSED with Bali, as you'll soon find out, but I have in fact been there already, so that's not helpful. Maybe Egypt (which has AMAZING traditional music)? Or Rome or Austria (my fam is from there so that would be cool)? I would also love to see the Bagan temples in Myanmar. And Capetown. IDK I want to go everywhere I love traveling (though I've only been to Bali).
- Crystal: Corny answer, I know, but I'd love to go to Paris. I'd also really like to see an active volcano someday--so, Hawai'i or Iceland?
- Emma: Two on my longtime bucket list are Iceland (though I despair of ever learning Icelandic) and New Zealand. I was once a few weeks away from going to Egypt (to St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai) when it suddenly became unsafe to go, so I'd love to join you there too Savanna!
- Elise: In short, everywhere! But if I had to pick a couple, I'd say Santorini, Greece and Mexico City...I'm dying to see Frida Kahlo's house. Oh, but I might have to meet up with Emma in New Zealand. Or make a trip to the Faroe Islands or somewhere equally remote and dreary.
- Aaron: Oh yes great question! Right now Georgia and Armenia are probably top of my list. Also eventually Morocco, Ireland, Polynesia.
- Brandon: Hmm…I think I'd like to go to Portugal. Eliza and I were planning to go for a second honeymoon before the pandemic happened.
- Grace: Vienna! I was going to try to plan a trip there in the next few years, but then the pandemic happened and….lol, who knows anymore. I’ve already been to Rome, but I would love to go back.
- Shane: Lofoten Islands, Patagonia, that Shiba Inu Sweet Potato stand in Hokkaido.
If I told you I would give you a million dollars if you karaoke-sang one song perfectly, with no mistakes, and with 110% gusto, what song would you pick and why?
- Crystal: I love this question so much wow. If we're early in the evening: Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run, because I need all my faculties to get his "mumbly but energized" singing style. If we're later in the evening: Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen, because being middle school burned it into my brain (and also it's a Bop).
- Emma: I've been listening to this podcast lately called "Dolly Parton's America," so I'm going to have to go "Jolene" on this one.
- Savanna: I would have to go with Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler (extended version, of course), or almost anything by Cher
- Elise: I have a recurring daydream in which I absolutely crush T-Pain's "Buy You a Drank" (if only lol), but I would also love to give "Alone" by Heart a go...or, depending on what hour of the night, I would definitely go for some Shania Twain
- Aaron: Probably something by Celine Dion tbh. I grew up on that.
- Brandon: "The Shane Song" [Ed.-I don't know what this is.]
- Grace: I once sang "What's Up" by Four Non Blondes at a karaoke bar in Little Rock, Arkansas that turned out to be filled with semi-professional karaoke singers preparing for an upcoming competition. Because it's such a weird, cherished memory, I would love to do it again! Another thing the pandemic ruined was always trying to get people to go do karaoke with me in Charlottesville, but alas.
- Shane: "The People are the Heroes Now" from Adams's Nixon in China
- Emma: Like Elise, I love scented candles, and also just scents in general. I came home from the grocery store with a cinnamon broom yesterday, so that scent is currently winning. I associate it with autumn and coziness.
- Crystal: I love the smell of clean laundry the day after you've washed it, when it's faded a little bit. It's very comforting and home-y and makes me feel refreshed!
- Savanna: I also love scents in general lol. I'm definitely a candle person! In terms of my day-to-day, I am really into warm-musky-vanilla-caramel-sugary-pistachio type scents right now. In terms of nostalgia, I'm very partial at the moment to incense-- it reminds me of being in Bali with my friends/host family.
- Elise: Pretty sure scents are somehow my love langauge, so I'm all about this, especially since y'all are on board, too. As far as a favorite, it definitely depends on my mood/the season. A good bet is usually some kind of lavender/basil/herbs in general combination.
- Aaron: Freshly cut grass and gasoline. Essentially lawnmowing. Added benefit if I'm not doing the mowing.
- Grace: I’m very basic, scent-wise—give me a good autumn-themed Yankee candle and I’m set! What’s weird is that there are some scents everyone seems to love but I absolutely can’t stand—that Mrs. Meyers soap everybody goes gaga for makes me want to throw up. I want to like it because so many people I know use it, but I can’t!
- Shane: I think probably some kind of food aroma, for the standard reasons. Maybe Tunisian harrisa? Or that evergreen Beijing street food favorite, spicy cumin lamb skewers.
- Elise: I'm thinking a slow cooker. I'm all about slow, steady effort to produce something great
- Aaron: This question is great. Maybe a steamer basket of sorts.
- Grace: Whoever wrote this question—we are soulmates! I used to do college interviews for prospective applicants, and this was the “wacky fun question” I would ask at the end of the interview. I would say that I’m a frying pan—I’m useful for a lot of stuff, and if you mess up doing things with another fancier method, I can always find a way to pull together the wreckage and make things work. Sometimes I get lost in the kitchen cabinets, though, and it takes a little effort to find me!
- Brandon: Instant pot
- Crystal: Microwave, because I'm there for you in a gentle, nonjudgmental way when it's 2am and you're microwaving Cup O' Noodles
- Emma: A thermometer. They're precise and versatile, and also metaphorically they can read the room pretty well. I like to think I can tell how those around me are feeling, though that's harder over Zoom!
- Shane: Coffee grinder is the obvious answer because I love coffee and precision machinery, but maybe also a propane torch because fire is pretty cool.
- Savanna: Spork. Weird, totally random, works harder than it has to, seemingly frivolous but surprisingly useful, likely the result of compromise rather than necessity or first choice, loves nasi goreng, ramen, and soup in general.
- Aaron: Right now I'd have to say compressed CO2 because I love making bubbly water but it can be really hard to find (especially now).
- Brandon: warm chocolate chip cookies
- Grace: Diet peach snapple!!
- Crystal: Chewing gum
- Shane: Unlimited time would be a neat trick, but if we're talking about material things then maybe geothermal energy?
- Elise: Edible cookie dough!
- Savanna: Albanese gummi bears. Or, under the current global circumstances, maybe toilet paper.
- Emma: Rufus snuggles
- Aaron: Most days Munkustrap but some days I feel like Old Deuteronomy.
- Grace: I've never seen Cats, but I need to so badly!
- Crystal: Heart says Jellylorum, brain says Jennyanydots
- Shane: Based only on my favorite bad movie podcast's episode on the movie, Jennyanydots.
- Elise: I'm going to go with Grizabella because I love the fallen diva energy, regardless of whether or not she accurately represents me.
- Savanna: According to a Buzzfeed-style quiz found on the interwebs, I am Skimbleshanks, though after glossing over the wikipedia page on the musical I'm also digging Gus's existential crisis vibe. Take this as you will.
- Emma: Answer change: I also took a BuzzFeed quiz and got Macavity Cat. Apparently this is because I live a secret double life and put walls up. I don't know how choosing "whole milk" as my milk option got me here, but oh well.
I think Grace's question about a (harmless) embarassing moment got deleted. How, I don't know. Reinserting that here!
- Grace: Fell down an entire set of bleachers as a freshman in high school.
- Emma: I faint a lot because genetics are great. This has led to many embarassing moments. I fainted off a horse when I was 4. I fainted in front of a library in divinity school. And when I broke my wrist last December, I fainted because it hurt, which is NOT a helpful reaction to pain.
- Savanna: As a musician, I feel like embarrassing moments are my life... lol. So I was playing this gig in Manhattan with a bunch of renowned professional musicians who were invited to perform because they're considered important contemporary composers in the modern day. No pressure. But when we were moving the instruments out of the building at the end of the night, I was carrying this large instrument and didn't notice that my bag had hit all of the buttons in the elevator while I was trying to make room for everyone else. Cue me cowering in the corner apologizing profusely to all these fancy musicians and composers as we stopped at each floor of this huge skyscraper on our way down. Everyone was good humored and laughed but I was mortified.
- Crystal: I, too, have many embarrassing musician moments. Maybe the worst was when I sat down for my senior recital and realized I'd forgotten every single note and my professor had to walk the score up to me from the audience. I could've dug my own grave then and there.
- Shane: Another music-related one. I was a pretty early smartphone adopter and bought a brand new Windows Mobile 5 device right out of college (yes, I am an old man). I thought I was super clever in how I set up my do-not-disturb setting to sync with my calendar. I never actually tested it. So, in the middle of a chamber music concert, when they were debuting a new work by an up-and-coming composer and also recording for posterity, my phone started ringing. And the UI for WM5 was so bad that it took me maybe 20 seconds to figure out how to turn the ringer off. And the UX was so bad that I somehow didn't manage to actually set it to silent and it started ringing again 30 seconds later. So I tried to turn the phone off entirely, but it actually just rebooted and started ringing again a minute after that. I had to physically remove the battery. When the performance was over, I ran out of the theater while everyone was clapping and continued running down the block.
- Aaron: