Jo’s Daily Questions 2023 – https://jo.dreamwidth.org/2802730.html

1 – Cookie Cutter Day: Do you own any cookie cutters? Any unusual ones? Tell us about them.

I own Christmas ones… Star, moon, heart, man, woman and flower cutters I think. One of each. I haven’t baked Christmas cookies in like 20 years, so it’s been a while since the last time I even looked at them.

2 – Play Basketball Day: Have you ever played basketball?

In school when forced to.

3 – Make a Gift Day: Do make gifts for anybody? How about cards?

Not as an adult. The last couple of years I’ve thought about making birthday and/or Christmas cards with watercolors but haven’t gotten around to it.

4 – Wear Brown Shoes Day: Do you own any brown shoes?

One pair that I never use. All my shoes are black at the moment except for the crocs which are hot pink.

5 – National Repeal Day: December 5th marks the end of prohibition in the United States (back in 1933). If you’re not American, did your country ever prohibit the sale of alcohol (or maybe it still does)? Does it make sense that alcohol is legal, but other substances aren’t?

Here in Finland kieltolaki (prohibition) was in effect 1919-1932.

I’m not sure. I’m kind of of the opinion that alcohol should be illegal too because us Finns certainly don’t know how to drink sensibly at all. But on the other hand, drugs being illegal hasn’t stopped their use so…

But I’m not the person to ask – I don’t like the taste of alcohol so I don’t drink it, and I’ve never tried drugs because I couldn’t be less interested. So I personally don’t care either way and it makes no difference to me whether it’s legal or not.

6 – Put on Your Own Shoes Day: How old were you when you learned to put on your own shoes? How about when you learned to tie your own shoelaces?

How should I know? Whenever it was, I was too young to remember. I’ve done both myself as far back as I can remember.

7 – Cotton Candy Day: Do you like cotton candy? (Also known as Fairy Floss.)

Not really. I had it a few times in amusement parks when I was a kid/teenager/early 20s but I never developed a taste for it. What I remember is it being horribly sweet and sticking to my fingers/face.

8 – Lost and Found Day: Have you ever lost something important to you and thought you would never get it back, but then you found it or someone returned it to you?

I once lost my wallet (with my driver’s license, government issued ID, debit card and a small amount of cash ) but the shop I had forgotten it in called me about it before I could miss it.

9 – Christmas Card Day: Do you send Christmas/holiday cards? How many do you send? Do you receive many cards?

I send only two – one for my Mom & her SO and one for a friend of mine. Well, technically. I bring it Mom’s with me when I go over there on the 24th or the 25th. And my friend gets an online Christmas card. I haven’t send via snail mail for more than two decades. I don’t send other Christmas cards because with some of my friends we have never sent them to each other, and I don’t believe in sending them to people I have practically zero contact with during the year and only see them like once or twice a year more or less accidentally.

I don’t get many cards and it varies by year – Mom & her SO snail mail me one, my Mom’s brother and his wife sometimes snail mail me one, and that friend of mine usually sends an online one.

10 – World Choral Day: Have you ever sung in a choir?

Nope. We sang as a class sometimes back in school in the 80s but I don’t count that. It wasn’t a real choir anyway.

11 – Stretching Day: How flexible are you? Do you do any stretching or flexibility exercises regularly?

I’m not at all flexible, never have been and I would benefit from such exercises. But it’s exercise…

According to my Mom, even as a tiny baby I was stiff as a board compared to her friend’s baby who was the same age as I.

12 – Gingerbread House Day: Have you ever made a gingerbread house? How did it turn out?

I think we did, once, when I was a kid. It was too much work (and math!) for the result. We stuck to making gingerbread men and hearts, elks and half-moons and stars instead until my early 20s when we stopped making them completely and starting just buying them. The houses were never really a thing for us. We also got a gingerbread house as a gift once or twice, and Mom and Dad always waited so long to start eating it, that it didn’t taste good to me anymore. I’m not sure whether it was because I was done with gingerbreads by that time (they’re not my favorite so I get enough of them sooner rather than later), or because the it had actually gone stale by then. Either way, gingerbread house are always something of a disappointment – hard to make, have to wait to start eating them, look pretty but don’t taste not as delicious as they look.

13 – Day of the Horse: Have you ever been horseback riding? Have you read any of the classic horse books, e.g. Black Beauty, the Misty of Chincoteague books, the Black Stallion books, the Silver Brumby books? Are you a fan of any horse-related sports, e.g. racing or show jumping?

Never ridden.

When I was a kid/teenager, I read a lot of horse books – I’ve probably read Black Beauty and the Black Stallion books and others too, but what I remember the best are the horse girl book series by sisters Merja Jalo and Marvi Jalo. I especially loved the Merja Jalo books, because they had both horses and mysteries that the girls had to solve. I preferred her writing style over Mervi’s.

14 – Roast Chestnuts Day: Have you ever made or eaten roast chestnuts?

Nope. Not a thing here.

15 – Cat Herders’ Day: Have you ever had to do anything where it felt like you were trying to herd cats?

I’m trying very hard to remember… I feel like I have, but I can’t think what it could be! I’ve never had to control kids or cats or many dogs or anything like that so what on earth could it be… Maybe just being in customer service in libraries when it’s closing time although I don’t remember any outstanding instances… or maybe feeling in school like the other kids are uncotrollable like cats…

16 – Chocolate-Covered Anything Day: Is there anything that would not be improved by being covered in chocolate? What is your favourite chocolate-covered food?

I really love “suklaapelti” which has a thickish cocoa powder/icing sugar/butter icing. Suklaapelti is kind of a version of brownie I think. But I don’t know if that kind is meant here?

I’m not really into things like chocolate covered strawberries… it’s maybe good, but I tend to prefer the flavors separately.

17 – Wright Brothers Day: How do you feel about plane travel?

More and more I feel like when it’s for fun, it’s frivolous and unnecessary. If it’s for work or for family, then it should be minimized. If for fun, should be fucking expensive so that 95% of people aren’t able or willing to spend money on unnecessary flying.

18 – International Migrants Day: International Migrants Day emphasizes the protection of migrants’ human rights. The day also recognizes the contributions and efforts of migrants around the world. Has anyone in your family ever migrated from one country to another? What would your country be like without migrants?

I don’t know, actually. My Mom’s dad was born here in Finland but when Finland was still under Russia’s rule. And several of my my Dad’s siblings were sent to Sweden to be safe when they were kids and the Winter War started; they never came back and made their lives in Sweden. This happened to many kids at the time, but somehow that’s not thought as immigration here.

19 – Look for an Evergreen Day: Are there many species of evergreens where you live?

I’m not sure. It’s embarrasing really how little I remember about plants and trees because it’s not something I’ve ever been interested in.

20 – Go Caroling Day: Have you ever been caroling? Are there any groups in your neighbourhood who go caroling at this time of year?

Nope and nope. Door to door/neighborhood caroling is not a thing here. There are a number of events arranged but they either feature professional singers or professional choirs. There’s also hobby choirs but I’m not sure whether they perform to audiences. But there’s no neighbourhood caroling.

21 – Don’t Make Your Bed Day: Were you brought up to make your bed every day? Do you make your bed every day?

Yes, and no.

22 – Mathematics Day: Were you good at mathematics in school? How much of the math/s you learned in school do you use in your everyday life now?

No, I wasn’t. Mathematics was my nemesis the last 2-3 years in school. I couldn’t comprehend the teacher, and my Dad actually taught me so that I understood the material. It was funny, because those maths were new to him but he taught them to himself while I was doing other homework, and then he taught it to me! If it weren’t for him, I would’ve probably failed math tests more than once. Once Dad had died of cancer, my math grade plummeted because I just couldn’t understand.

The only math I use now regularly are the very basics: addition, substraction, percent and division.

23 – Roots Day: How much do you know about your own family history? Do you know the names of your great grandparents? Have any of your ancestors been a part of any significant historical events?

Nothing about my birth family.

Some about my adopted family. My Mom’s dad was a salesman who traveled all over world, particularly to China. He also became a politician and had a measure of influence in local politics before his death in the early 1960s. I never met him because he died 10 years before I was born. His family hailed from Russia but had lived in Finland for a good time before his birth. And he was born when Finland was still under Russia’s rule. My Mom’s mom was from the country. We don’t talk about the family history at all really. Other than what Mom told me about her father, the salesman/politician, and about her own childhood. We’ve talked a lot more about what our town was like and what life was like (such as shops) (very different from now) when Mom was growing up than about our family history.

I don’t know the names of my great grandparents – nothing about them, actually. Other than that my Mom’s mom’s parents were farmers. But majority lived in the country side and from the earth at the time. My Mom’s mom was born in 1911 – so she also was born under Russia’s rule.

24 – Christmas Eve: Christmas Eve is filled with both religious and nonreligious traditions and a variety of foods. What are some of your holiday traditions? How did they begin?

Christmas Eve is the Big Day here. The Christmas meal and gift giving is on Christmas Eve. My Mom and half the nation always listens to the Christmas Peace Declaration on Christmas Eve at 12pm which is considered the official start of Christmas. I know I have heard the history of declaring Christmas peace but can’t be bothered to relearn it. I never listen to it on purpose, only if I can’t avoid it.

I don’t know how they began, just that I grew up with them. In my family, we have a delicious Christmas meal with Christmas Ham, smoked salmon, traditional Finnish potato casserole and several sides. At some point after the meal, we usually visit our loved ones graves in the cemetary and light candles to remember them. The whole cemetary is a sea of candles, and if you go after dark it looks very beautiful and feels very peaceful. Either before or after is the gift giving. This was the tradition for the first 45 years or so of my life. Christmas Eve has always been kind of busy. While my Grandma was still alive, we’d visit with her.

The last 2-3 years, instead of going over to my Mom’s on Christmas Eve, I go on the 25th now. It just works better this way – it’s less busy, and because I most of the time couldn’t make the cemetary visit anymore because of pain. The 25th has been working for us nicely – everyone can relax a lot better because it isn’t busy like the previous day. We like it.

25 – Pumpkin Pie Day: Pumpkin pie, yes or no?

No. Not a thing here. Although I think they are trying to make it a thing like they are trying with Halloween too.

26 – Whiner’s Day: National Whiner’s Day is here to encourage people to appreciate what they have instead of complaining about what they don’t! What do you have to be thankful for today?

My Mom is doing well for someone who’ll turn 80 next year. I had my routine check-up colonoscopy and biopsies done a month ago, and everything came up clean.

27 – Make Cut-out Snowflake Day: Have you ever made cut-out snowflakes? How about a string of cut-out paper dolls?

As a kid – yes and yes.

28 – Card Playing Day: Do you play card games?

No.

29 – Tick Tock Day: Tick Tock Day reminds you that the year is almost at an end, and there are things still left to be doing, and in fact, only two days left to do them in. What do you need to get done so that you don’t let the year end with regret?

Can’t think of anything…. Hmm, I could always do some more writing or painting or Photoshopping.

30 – Bicarbonate of Soda Day. How many uses do you know of for bicarbonate of soda?

Baking and kitchen cleaning.

31 – Make Up Your Mind Day: How decisive are you? What is likely to make it hard for you to make a decision?

Usually, in my situation, when I have a make a decision that’s difficult or hard to make, it’s because all the options available to me are either scary, bad, or likely to be bad, or could be okay or neutral but require more work than I have energy and strength for. In all cases, it means my chronic migraine gets worse.