One day, while waiting for the bus, she came up and started a song and dance. She sang “I’ve Been Everywhere”, 2 verses and one chorus. She ended with a little hop and her hand out to me. “Cigarette please”. For that moment, I felt guilty for not being a smoker, “Sorry, I don’t smoke.”
She glared at me and yelled “Bitch!” and walked away. She ignored me on the street after that.

2. I actually want to try sweetbreads. It’s the thymus gland and pancreas. I’ve heard a lot of good things about them. I’d also like to try fried brains. Since the brain mainly consists of fat, I, for some reason, think cow brains would be delicious. Authentic bird’s nest soup would be interesting, too. I doubt I’ll ever try any of them. I was a vegetarian for 15 years and now I really only break for good texas bbq and good sushi.

3. I wrote a fan letter to Wil Wheaton when I was about 12 (I’m 31 now). I fell in love with him in Stand By Me when I was 9 and watched Star Trek: TNG obsessively. I never got a reply, but I never really expected one. Hell, I don’t even know if my mom actually mailed the letter or not. I also wrote one to Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block. Definitely never received a response on that one and I *know* it was mailed.

4. When I lived in Austin, I took public transportation everywhere and the downtown bus stops are a great place for your daily dose of crazy. One guy asked me where I was going one day – I told him I was going to work. Then he asked for a drink of my coffee – I told him no. He yelled, “F*ck you, b*tch! I f*cking hate you!” and stormed off. Another day I was wearing a pink shirt and brown slacks and this lady started talking to me about what a beautiful color combination it is and how she painted someone wearing those colors once and that after the painting was finished she and the person had a huge fight and she’d beaten them severely with a fireplace poker. I went ahead and just got on the next bus that came by.

5. I met up with a really nice guy, we had a great dinner and some drinks and got along really well. We kissed at the end of the night and made plans for later in the week. The next morning he starts sending me texts about how he gets an erection every time he thinks of me, but he was not that polite about it. He was horribly crude. At that point I made a point to cease all communication. When he asks for an explanation, I give it to him. His reasoning was that he thought we were “beyond the acquaintance phase of our relationship.” I told him that we most certainly weren’t at the porn talk level of our “relationship.” Thankfully I never heard from him again. Other than that, I’ve met really nice guys but none with whom I’ve really clicked. Quite a few of them are still great friends now.

And thanks for picking my question, Jason! :)

When I got there, I said “Hi, I’m Kevin, I’m here about the bike.” In one motion, he says “It’s down in my basement,” while stepping aside from his door and pointing at an inner door. I’m already thinking this is weird, but cheap bike, you can’t beat that. We walk to the stairs, and he just points down them. He wants me to hit the stairs first. With every step I take I turn my head just to make sure he isn’t about to pull out a machete or something.

Finally I get down, and there is a bike there. Everything is fine, just a little paranoia. And when the brake line broke on the bike right then and there, he knocked off $10!

#3 I wrote joke fan letters to Alan Alda and Chris Penn. Alda replied with a signed picture, but no comments on the bizarre letter I’d written. The Chris Penn letter (RIP) never got responded to, although that one was even more hilarious.

#2 i try to stay away from strange foods except watching bizarre foods on the travel channel.

#3 a fan letter? nope

#4 i work at a “quickie mart” so we usually has to chase the homeless off the property to keep them from begging for change.

#5 I met my partner online 9 yrs ago we chatted for about 2 weeks online and on the phone before wee met in person, been together ever since.

In my late 20’s, I travelled quite a bit and was quite confident no matter what city I was in (including NYC). I flew to NYC for a weekend to go on a date with a guy I had met on New Year’s Eve. The date was ok but kinda weird, and as far as I know the guy isn’t a serial killer, but I realised later no one really knew where I was, who I was out with or where I was staying. The date consisted of dinner, an after-dinner drink at a bar in Chinatown (I only had water), and then hanging out at his brother’s (whom I’d never met before) apartment. What was I thinking?!

4. What is the most interesting interaction you have ever had with a homeless person?

I grew up in a small town, and didn’t have any interactions with homeless people until I moved to Pittsburgh right out of college. I went to get a sandwich for lunch one day, and on the way back to the office, I came across a homeless person begging for money. I told him he could have my sandwich, and he started crying, and told me “I’m so hungry”. The way he said it just broke my heart.

A much more light-hearted interaction happened here in NZ. We have a ‘famous’ homeless guy called “Blanket Man” (he has a wikipedia page). He mainly sits around the CBD mostly naked (and with a blanket) smoking pot out of a beer can and listening to an MP3 player. One day my husband and I walked by him, and he looked at me and said “Permission has been granted! For f***ing!”

5. What horror stories or success have you experienced?

During my travelling years, I decided to check out Match.com. I only met weirdos, so gave up pretty quickly. However, my friend and coworker decided to try her hand at the site – the first man she met was “the one”. They had one fabulous date, took themselves off the site immediately, and were engaged 6 months later. They are still married to this day with two children!

That’s sad. I wrote a letter to Clinton back in 1992 or 1993, when I was 7 or 8, about how a group of elephants was being treated horrendously at this crappy mall parking lot circus that was around town. I’m sure the letter I got back wasn’t actually from him, but it was personalized and actually addressed what he and Gore were doing for animal rights. It was clear SOMEONE read the letter and didn’t just send back a form letter they sent to everyone.

Maybe Bush just got more mail than Clinton.

3. I used to love the children’s author Zilpha Keatley Snyder when I was a kid and found her books still held up well when I was an adult. I wrote her an email, telling her as much and she wrote a very lovely note back.

About 10 years ago, I found out that Alison Arngrim, who played Nellie Olsen on Little House on the Prairie, was an AIDS activist and I wrote her a note to let her know I thought she did great work. She also sent a nice reply.

Celebrities people have actually heard of? I got nothin’.