This is a real question. I don’t know the answer and I’m curious.

I was 36, and had been living in Portland for two years. I saw an amazing house for sale — really amazing — stunning design, ideal location on the edge of the city, and its backyard was the start of a huge state park. I had a visceral reaction.

I’m going for the double meaning of “get me” that also means “understand me”.

According to statistics, I’m in the final third of my life. (I don’t expect to beat the odds, because I inherited a cancer-creating genetic disorder.) So maybe it’s the final quarter.

Because I was raised with no religion, I used to think they were all ridiculous.

My parents never mentioned God or any religion. Not necessarily atheist — nothing against. The subject just never came up.

Dismissing gives me a quick little lift.

Dubai was in my “Top 5 places where I NEVER want to go”. I heard it was commercialized hedonism, glorified overindulgence, pandering to millionaires and influencers — extravagance and opulence. Everything I hate. That’s why I had never gone there.

Tomorrow you have plans to go to an event with a friend. You made the plans a month ago. You ask your friend, “Do you still want to go?”

I used to live in a basement apartment, next to the trash room. Rats were often blocking my door, and I could hear them walking in the ceiling right above me as I slept. I hated them so much that I happily killed as many as I could, with no remorse.