For today’s Share Your World challenge, Melanie is asking us to dig into the deepest and darkest regions of our lives. So let’s go digging.
What do you think of best friends of the opposite sex? Or to put it another way “Can men and women ever be platonic friends? Doesn’t sex always get in the way?”
I consider my wife to be my best friend, and she and I are of the opposite sex, so I think it’s great.
But that’s not what you’re getting at, is it Melanie? To be honest, I think there are often, if not always, sexual undertones in any close relationship between a man and a woman — and even, depending upon sexual orientation, between a man and a man or a woman and a woman. Sometimes the parties to the relationship can control those sexual urges in order to not jeopardize the friendship or to put a strain on the relationship. But occasionally the sexual tension becomes overwhelming and, well, sex happens. When it does, does it get in the way of the friendship? That depends upon the couple, but it definitely changes the dynamics of the relationship.
What is the greatest struggle you’ve overcome?
I think it’s been my lifelong battle with “benign paroxysmal positional vertigo” (BPPV). If I put my head in certain positions, like looking up toward the ceiling, laying flat on my back in the supine position, and lying down or sleeping on my left side, it triggers what, at times, can be severe dizziness. So the way I manage this malady is to do my best to avoid putting my head in any position that triggers my vertigo.
What is the darkest thought you’ve ever had? What about the darkest thing you’ve done that you’ve never told anybody about?
Darkest thought: I want, in the interest of preserving the American democracy, to assassinate the current president, the current senate majority leader, and the current attorney general. I sure hope the NSA doesn’t read your blog, Melanie, or my next post may be from a federal prison.
And to the good folks at the NSA, who I respect very much for the fine job you’re doing to protect our country and our citizens, let me point out that the question is about dark thoughts, not dark actions or deeds. Do you feel me?
And one ‘fun’ one because I realize those others were pretty deep.
What is your least favorite food?
Brussels sprouts. And fruit cake.
This, That, and the Other 
Great answers Fandango. I do hope nobody is monitoring your blog.
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I hope not, too! 😱
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🕵️
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WOW! You really said it! Wow!
I can’t believe you said it.
I’m sure you are among thousands who’ve THOUGHT the same thing.
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Shh! You never know who might be listening. 🤷🏻♂️
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As you said, thinking and doing are two very different things.
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And, as far as I know, there are no thought police. At least not that I know of.
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Not yet anyway.
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Aren’t you glad we aren’t even MORE famous?
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I’m just going to go with the last, the fun, question. There were three least favorite meals my parents made sometimes when I was a kid. One was almost intolerable — liver and onions. I actually like that now. The other two were Swiss steak and a particular style of sloppy joes. [I didn’t know people eat worse, but still acceptable, things than that on kind of a regular basis… an example (which neither of my parents ever made) is bologna, fried, with catsup or barbecue sauce. I would bet someone could come up with a recipe for Swiss steak I would like. It hasn’t been a subject anywhere, though (I’d guess most people don’t know what it is). But I still don’t think I’d like any sort of sloppy joe made with ground beef (as opposed to shredded beef). My dad made a type with a fresh tomato-based sauce cooked with green pepper and other details. When I got married, I found out other people have a very different notion of sloppy joe; barbecue sauce straight from a jar heated on the ground beef. Ew. If shredded beef or sliced brisket is used for a barbecue sandwich, I don’t think of it as a sloppy joe, and it can be quite good.
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I remember they used to serve “Swiss steak” in the school cafeteria 2-3 times a month. Or was it “Salisbury steak”? I can’t remember. They also served sloppy Joes, but I think it was mostly the ground beef with barbecue sauce kind. I liked liver and onions, even as a kid.
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I only ever had Salisbury steak, as a kid, in t.v. dinners (which was rare*). It was decent to good. It’s made of ground beef (sort of like meatloaf, with breadcrumbs and Worcestershire sauce mixed in, but formed into a chicken-fried-steak shape). It’s served with traditional brown gravy — and mashed potatoes, usually. Swiss steak was thin actual steak, pressure-cooked or steamed or something like that. Plus a weird red sauce.
I’ve done some looking around online, and it seems an identifying aspect of Swiss steak is supposed to involve paprika in the sauce. I like paprika in some other things, such as a Hungarian chicken with noodles I’ve often made, but I don’t remember that flavor being in the Swiss steak I had as a child. It was a somewhat sweet sauce, which was also disappointing with whatever was served on the side (such as mashed potatoes or rice).
* The cook of the meat wasn’t rare; it was rare that I had t.v. dinners.
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Ah yes. Good old Swanson TV dinners!
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Ooo, and peas. Do you like peas?
I just had some “365” organic cheese ravioli (with my added shredded organic cheddar cheese) while watching the debate. What are you thinking of the debate?
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I didn’t enjoy the debate at all. In fact, it was less like a debate and more like a chance for the contenders to debase one another. Donald Trump must be laughing his ass off.
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Yeah, I think the moderators were better than last time. But we’ve pretty much had enough of this.
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The “Town Hall” events, tonight [on CNN], were so much better and more enjoyable.
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No, I missed them. I’m trying to cut back on things that are bad for me…like cable news.
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I listened to three of them, and they were pleasant. I felt like the other one might not be so pleasant. I might check on it another day. Or not.
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Good responses. I laughed out loud at the reference to your next post may be from prison. I’m betting you’re safe, though 🙂
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I hope so! But these days, you never know.
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True 😀
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Your food, is that together? Actually I like fruit cake myself, I get it sometimes in half-pound slabs, as a treat. Generally takes me three or four days to work my way through it.
Actually, I’ve read a couple of people’s answers to the top question, I must be pretty unique in that *most* of my friends are women. I mean, I’m only really in daily contact with my wife, but these are usually people I met years ago and we stayed in touch. But gender never really came into it.
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Yes nothing like Brussels sprouts with a fruit cake backer! 🤪 Back in the day, I used to have a lot of women friends, most of the relationships were platonic, but some turned physical.
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You can get sprout-flavoured chips here, believe it or not. God knows whether they taste like sprouts or not, I never tried ’em 🙂. I can’t remember what a sprout tastes like, anyway.
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I like bean sprouts in salads and sandwiches. Just not Brussels sprouts.
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Good answers – fun read 🙂
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Thanks.
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I like your answers Fandango!
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Thanks, Leigha.
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You’re welcome.
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Brother. How those Swanson dinners have changed over the years. There’s not even a “Swanson” option at the grocer I visit – only Banquet or another brand which isn’t springing to my mind as I type this. Those consist of weensy portions and then only meat and vegetables and sometimes potatoes. Only the “Mega Meal (used to be called Man Meals I think) offers a dessert. And then only if you buy the turkey dinner. Yeah. It’s sad that I know so much about those things. They have too much sodium in ’em, and are not good value for money as they used to be. Anyway! Thanks Fandango for Sharing Your World! I doubt the NSA is interested in my scribblings or I’d be right there with ya in that Federal prison, because I’ve expressed the same ‘dark’ thought several times.
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I haven’t had a TV dinner of any sort in, well, decades!
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