Today my wife and I are celebrating our five-year anniversary. I’m taking a half day, so half these questions are new and the other half I’ve asked before.

1. Growing up in North Jersey, we had our share of memorable field trips—The Land of Make Believe, Turtle Back Zoo, Waterloo Village, Hershey Park, and various museums in New York—but my clearest memory is about a trip that wasn’t taken. After the bombing of Pan-Am Flight 103, our scheduled field trip to Newark Airport was canceled. When a classmate asked our teacher what one thing had to do with the other, she said, “You might get kidnapped by terrorists.” It’s a wonder any of us ever flew again. What was your best, worst or most memorable field trip?

2. In honor of my anniversary, what were you doing (roughly) five years ago today? Ten years ago? Fifteen?

3. Earlier this year, I posted a round-up of unbelievable high school mascots. We might follow that up with a list of schools named after controversial people (or people you wouldn’t expect to have a school named in their honor). Would any schools in your area qualify?

4. Today’s last question comes from reader Missa Haas. She wanted me to ask readers to list their favorite scary books as we head towards Halloween. Her initial suggestion: Justin Evans’ A Good and Happy Child. What say you?

[Image courtesy of buelow. See transcripts of previous Friday Happy Hours]

1. Two times when I was a kid—once at a restaurant called The Boathouse in Sarasota, Florida—my dad was mistaken for Tom Hanks. Or at least he was mistaken for someone who looked a lot like Tom Hanks during the Big era. (The two have made wildly different hairstyle choices since the late-1980s, so the resemblance has faded.) The only famous person I’ve been told I look like is former St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz, who is 28 years my senior. Though I did play a convincing Skipper one Halloween during my heavier just-after-college days. Who’s your famous doppelgänger?

2. A family friend always makes a huge fuss at restaurants when Pepsi isn’t available. (”You can’t find me a can of Pepsi back there?” he’s asked in my company at least a dozen times.) I understand people have a cola preference, but it’s unlikely the waiter was consulted on the restaurant’s choice of beverage distributor. Do you know someone who has a restaurant quirk that drives you crazy?

3. Looks like the Olympics aren’t coming to Chicago any time soon. Let’s pretend you’ve been appointed International Events Coordinator for the place you’re living now. What event or festival would be perfect for your town or city? (If one doesn’t exist, invent it.)

4. My wife, daughter and I are heading to an apple farm tomorrow, where we’ll load up on apples and cider and homemade cinnamon donuts. We’ve been going to this place for years, and it really doesn’t feel like fall until we do. What’s something you do every autumn?

[See all the previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]

Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. Very casual. On to this week’s topics of discussion…

1. I’ve been having some bizarre dreams of late. Michael Jackson, alive and well and dancing, explaining to me why he’d never want to own an expansion NFL franchise. An elderly woman, small and pushy, trying to cut me in line at the supermarket. My dog, loud and whiny, deciding she needs to go for a walk at 3:44am (wait, that last one was real).

But for years, not being able to find my shoes has been a common theme in my dreams. Sometimes I’m at work, barefoot. Other times, my lack of proper footwear keeps me on the sidelines during an important sporting event—in these dreams, I’m occasionally involved in high-stakes high school football reunion games or pick-up basketball scrimmages with celebrities and historical figures. Those guys are brutal if you don’t bring your shoes.

These dreams aren’t exactly the stuff of blockbusters, and until three seconds ago, I’d never done any research on what they might mean (if you don’t consider Googling “dream interpretation shoes” and clicking on one link research, the streak continues). Here’s what I found: “If your forget your shoes, then it suggests that you are leaving restraints behind you. You are refusing to conform to some idea or attitude.”

I’m not buying it. I think I’m just craving a shoe tree. Do you have any weird recurring dreams?

2. A reader suggested this next question in a comment, but I can’t remember what post she was commenting on, and I’m not entirely sure I have the right reader. (more…)

Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. Very casual. I’m a little out of it this morning; it’s day five of what I hope is a five-day cold. So rather than try any original thinking, I’m re-posting some questions I enjoyed from the last couple years.

1. What was the first movie you saw in a theater? (For me, it was the 1985 classic Follow That Bird.)

2. I love reading our local school district’s course catalog. I always find five classes I’d love to take and a dozen others to make snarky comments about. There’s always something crazy geared at helicopter parents (”Visualizing Success for Your Little Leaguer”) and a way-out-of-date computer class (”Mastering DOS”).

The only class I’ve actually taken was ballroom dancing, in the months leading up to my wedding. Anyone taken any memorable night school courses you’d recommend (or not recommend)? If you happen to have your local school’s catalog, what’s the strangest class being offered this semester?

3. One of the winners of our Admit Vice, Win Book contest was Amanda, who admitted her propensity to snoop:

“When people leave their e-mail up on the computer, I always look through it. I’ve even been regularly checking the e-mail of an ex-boyfriend from years ago who gave me his password. Leave me alone in your house? I will, without a doubt, snoop through your desk drawers, look into your bedroom (including under the bed, where the good stuff is), and see what you’ve tucked away at the back of the pantry.”

Now we all know Amanda is not alone. What’s the most shocking thing you’ve found while snooping? (Snooping stories not limited to closets and medicine cabinets. Think email, Googling, NSA files, etc.)

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Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. Very casual. On to this week’s topics of discussion…

1. A couple years ago, I posted a quick guide to naming schools. I’m still waiting for the freelance school-naming projects to start rolling in. But last week I received an email from the principal of a new school opening in Happy Valley, Oregon, called Verne A. Duncan Elementary. The school needs a nickname. Any suggestions? They want something unique and tied to the region. (Anyone know anything about Happy Valley, Oregon?) I’ll send all your suggestions to the school’s principal. Perhaps you’ll be able to add “School Nickname Provider” to your resume.

2. I like to ask this question at least once a year. We all have colorful stories of terrible customer service. The most satisfying thing I’ve ever written was a running diary of my battles with Sprint Customer Care in 2007, which I posted on YesButNoButYes.com and led to the removal of a bogus $630 charge that had magically appeared on my bill. But I want to hear stories of good customer service. Have you had any restored-your-faith-in-humanity experiences with a company that treated you well?

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Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. It’s casual. On to this week’s topics of discussion…

1. I recently found myself in a “Wow, am I really doing this?” moment at Stop & Shop, and not in a good or exciting way—I was returning grapes.

During my three-year stint as an A&P cashier (and Tuesday Night Front End Manager), I would have ridiculed anyone who returned produce moments after purchasing it. But these grapes were not sufficiently seedless. In fact, they were quite seedful, which ran counter to the packaging, on which the word “seedless” appeared in two languages. I received a full refund and was not asked to pay for the three grapes I’d already eaten. Big win for Team English.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever returned? (Or the weirdest reason you’ve given for returning something?)

2. What’s your last “Wow, am I really doing this?” moment?

3. The quirky neighbor is a sitcom staple. Eddie Haskel, Skippy Handelman, Steve Urkel—it’s practically a requirement of the genre. If you could have one sitcom neighbor move into the house, apartment or dorm room next door, who would you pick (and why)?

4. And for our weekly end-of-the-decade question, what was the best band to form and break up since 2000? (Or if that’s too hard, the best band to break up since 2000.)

[See all the previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]

Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. It’s casual. On to this week’s topics of discussion…

1. As we approach the end of the aughts, a lot of people are asking this question: what was the best movie of the decade? I need some time on this one.

2. Twice this week I found five-dollar bills while walking my dog. (I enlisted your help in deciding how to spend it; I’ll have a follow-up post on that later today Monday.) What’s the best/weirdest/most unbelievable thing you’ve ever found?

3. Last week, we looked back in Time Magazine’s cover archives to see what was in the news the week you were born. If you’re a sports fan, you can do the same thing with Sports Illustrated (click here, then search by year). When I came into the world, SI was celebrating Sebastian Coe’s 3:49 mile. And if you were born this decade, you can play the same game with mental_floss magazine back issues.

4. What’s something you did for the first time this summer?

5. I’m going to throw in a “What’s the best ________ of the decade?” question each week. What are some other things you’d like to hear people weigh in on? Non-fiction book? New stamp? Technological advancement?

Every Friday, I post a series of unrelated questions meant to spark conversation in the comments. Answer one, answer all, respond to someone else’s reply, whatever you want. It’s casual. On to this week’s topics of discussion…

1. I was searching for a story in Time Magazine’s archives when I got sucked in—”Find Your Birthday Cover!” They had me at the exclamation point.

My birthday cover (July 30, 1979) featured an empty conference room. At first I thought it must have been a slow news week. But according to the cover story, I was born on the heels of “the most extraordinary week in the White House since Richard Nixon resigned in 1974.” I didn’t remember this chapter in American history.

What happened was this: With polls showing Americans had lost confidence in their country and their leader, President Jimmy Carter demanded the resignations of his top 34 Cabinet members and staff aides, then purged everyone he deemed disloyal or ineffective. This was meant to rejuvenate the Carter administration 15 months before the 1980 election. Carter would lose that campaign to Ronald Reagan by a wide electoral margin, 489-49. Maybe that’s why the great shakeup isn’t talked about much anymore.

For our purposes, the question is this: what was the big news story the week you were born? You can use Time’s cover search.

2. The remaking of what movie would anger you the most?

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1. Congratulations! You’ve been awarded a scholarship to pursue any advanced degree or training you’d like, plus the necessary housing considerations, a meal allowance, a job for your significant other in your new city, well-credentialed babysitters, etc. Where would you go, and what would you study?

2. Earlier this week, Mangesh and I attended the launch party for Afar magazine (we’re pictured here looking a little confused during the capoeira performance). I’ve heard the story of our actual launch party—a ‘Wine & Cheetos’ affair held in a space that did not allow alcohol, thus making it a ‘& Cheetos’ affair. I think a re-launch party is in order. If we hired you to plan a mental_floss (9th-anniversary-of-the-first) launch party, what would that look like? Where would it be? What would we eat? Which C-list celebrities would you convince to attend?

3. If you were given the power to change just one thing about your current job, what would it be? Don’t say “more money” or “more vacation time.” Everyone wants that.

4. What’s one food you’ve tried to like, but just can’t bring yourself to eat it?

1. I have come to the realization that everyone has one (and usually only one) good story about flying with a strange, abusive or inebriated passenger. Mine involved a woman who kept tapping a young mom on the shoulder, repeatedly begging her to support her daughter’s love of art. (The daughter was about 5 and had a coloring book.) While we were waiting to exit the plane, the now-loaded lady made one last plea: “I wanted to be an artist and my parents never gave me any support and now I’m a stripper and my life sucks.” Color away, kids.

What’s your best worst-airline-passenger story?

2. This morning I heard someone on the radio refer to Cindy Margolis as “The Most Downloaded Woman on the Internet” (or maybe “the Planet”), a curious title she’s inexplicably held for at least a decade. How often are we updating these rankings? (That’s not the question.) What are some nicknames that need to be retired?

3. It’s been the summer of celebrity guest editors in the magazine world, highlighted by Stephen Colbert’s issue of Newsweek and the Mythbusters guys taking over Popular Mechanics. If mental_floss magazine was going to go this route, what celebrity would be the best choice?

4. What TV show’s return are you most looking forward to? My official answer is Big Love, but Flipping Out, the Bravo reality show about the obsessive-compulsive house-flipper, was a close second. And I’m getting pumped for the Seinfeld reunion on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Let’s just call it a three-way tie.

Shoot, I forgot 30 Rock. Four-way it is.

[See all the previous Friday Happy Hour transcripts.]