The Daily Asker

I Am An Awesome Asker

2009-12-19T18:19:00.000-08:00

Where I is YouWell! This chapter writing frenzy has led to not one but two delayed postings.Good news: my writing almost done. I have 6 pages left to edit and fix, then give it a once over and I'll hit send. The bad news: I forgot, yesterday, to invite you to post your awesome askings!! Sorry.Without further delay, you are welcome to report: What fantastic asking did you undertake or witness this

It's working -- so I'm working!!

2009-12-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

I asked for one thing alone yesterday ("Excuse me, is your CD skipping?" at the cafe where I parked myself for the day to edit the chapter. The barista checked, and it was indeed. Result: calming music restored.) because--Great Jehosephat!!!It's working!!All your encouragements and admonitions have been AWESOME.What a day. From 9 a.m. until 8 p.m., I've wrote, trimmed and regrouped. Every time I

Help me finish this chapter, o reader?

2009-12-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

I'd like to write "up" this next asking, as opposed to just writing it, but I must confess: my brain is fried. I'm soooo close to finishing this damn chapter. All the pieces are there. The only problem is figuring out the best order to put them in as I build that section's overall argument.You'd think that the friendship between Logic and her buddy Rhetoric would make the order of the ideas

December Asking Challenge

2009-12-15T09:15:00.000-08:00

All day yesterday something was nagging me. Did I forget the back door unlocked? Was my health insurance bill due? Whaaaat?And then, right before bed, it struck me: Our weekly advice extravaganza!! But by that point I was snuggled between my sheets, and falling off the edge of consciousness looked awfully appetizing, so I decided to wait until this morning. I hope you'll forgive me.From Monday,

Asking, seen from the other side

2009-12-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

On Friday I met up with merchant whose business is not doing great.He has tiny jewelry shop with gorgeous estate pieces, and while those are all over my budget, he's my go-to guy if I have something that needs fixing. Great prices, always timely, always personable, free parking, and a resident cat named Shadow. What more could a shopper ask for.I've been a client for about a year, and at one

If the Daily Asker lived in a cheesesteak police state...

2009-12-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

ADDENDUM TO FILE 78s2-c; CASE 338; SUBJECT BFailed to report earlier due to other surveillance commitments. All incidents involving cheesesteak must be documented pursuant to Resolution 38219s-fd45. -RZLOG: On Tuesday, 12-8-09 at 19:08 subject entered a cheesesteak vendor approximately two miles from her domicile, approached counter and placed order for a 10-inch mushroom steak. Subject was asked

I Am An Awesome Asker

2009-12-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

Where I is You!Third edition.I don't know about you, but my week was kind of crazy. Aimed for an elusive job, hung out with Grandma, discovered a new wine bar and totally reorganized the chapter I've been working on, since it dawned on me that starting at the beginning isn't always the best approach.And so. On that note. Let's start at the end: Did you obtain what you wanted, or not? And, what

Want to stop here?

2009-12-09T23:25:00.000-08:00

For a soundtrack to this post, click here or here.Mr. A and I left the house close to 10 tonight, both of us wary after long days of work. He's been buried under a massive to-do list as he prepares for a vacation. (And at his company, like many others I suppose, "vacation" means "do all your work before you're gone and then be reachable on email the whole time you're away." Evil. But I digress.)

Make me an offer I can't refuse, thou wanton childkiller?

2009-12-07T21:25:00.000-08:00

Turns out I am a total sucker for a very specific type of very gendered-specific type of product.Diamonds.Also turns out that I'm in desperate need for some dissertation motivation. Lou aptly picked up on my mood when she chastened me to "write the damn thing!" Along with other great advice. You're right. I must. Thanks for the talking to! I mean it: thank you. =)And so I've decided to bribe

Asking Advice Exchange

2009-12-07T11:28:00.000-08:00

Dear Reader,Happy Monday.This weekend I undertook an asking challenge of my own: I broached a difficult subject with someone close to me. It wasn't exactly fun to ask for what I did, but having a receptive listener, and a sense of the stakes, made it easier than it could have been. I won't be posting those details here, since some stories are not meant for cyberspace, but suffice it to say our

And it came to pass that San Diego was mistaken for an actual city

2009-12-04T22:26:00.000-08:00

How was your day?I think these four askings provide an adequate snapshot of mine.1) "Do you have my bike, or did it get stolen?"This, I asked a security guard of a local university. (Quick refresher -- I'm a grad student, my school is on the east coast and I'm doing my dissertation from a distance since I'm in the final phase, but I sometimes work on a campus here.)My bike was missing from the

Today is Friday. You know what that means.

2009-12-04T08:10:00.000-08:00

Time forI Am An Awesome Asker, Where I is You!Second editionI've been looking forward to this all week.Ready? Set? Fire away![image via Daily Kos]

All I want for Christmas are my two front fully automatic submachine guns

2009-12-02T22:12:00.001-08:00

Long ago, when I still believed in the powers of princesses and ponies, my dad took my sister and me out shooting. My father is not the NRA type. The only official weapon in our house when I was growing up was a tribal bow and arrow given to my parents by a friend from Africa, which hung high on a wall and was unreachable in the case of a home invasion. But just like he signed us up for karate

Obituary for Mr. B?

2009-12-01T15:08:00.000-08:00

I remember the smile smeared mischievously across his lips as he was about to produce one of his celebrated puns. I remember his voice, twangy and smooth as iced tea, instructing us how to use ours: "You may not be able to read music, but at least you can tell if the little black dots are moving up or down!" I remember how it felt to finally sing, to sing for him --I recently found out that

Please go to college?

2009-11-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

Speaking of difficult things to ask for, here's an issue I've been struggling with: When do you butt into someone's life if they're not family? (Because, I don't know about you, but in my family we're up all in one another's business, like it or not. But with strangers and even friends, it's different.)As I've mentioned, a young houseguest has been staying with me for the past few days. I'll

Asking Advice Exchange

2009-11-30T09:56:00.000-08:00

After being at this asking thing for more than a year, I realize it's no fair. Every time I'm presented with a difficult situation, all I have to do is write about it here and people offer suggestions, words of wisdom or encouragement.Why not spread that love?Here, then, is an invitation to participate in The Daily Asker's Advice Exchange, a new weekly feature that will take place every Monday.

Awesomeness!

2009-11-28T20:46:00.001-08:00

A job saved and an ideal schedule in one fell swoop!A romantic stroll!A potential rip off/act of negligence at the auto shop kept in check by requesting accountability! (Even if they didn't break the bolt, at least they know that you're not 'asleep at the wheel' -- and you know they were being honest. Plus, it's completely your prerogative to inquire; what if they had broken it -- if you hadn't

Please don't add me to your creepy database?

2009-11-28T18:23:00.001-08:00

Mr. A and I have a houseguest from Boston staying with us for the Thanksgiving weekend. The short version of how I met her: Craigslist. The medium version: One of us needed something translated in order to contact a long lost grandma in a distant country and turned to cyberspace for help, and the other did the translating. The long version: Well, come over, plop into an armchair, pick your poison

I Am An Awesome Asker

2009-11-27T10:58:00.000-08:00

Where I is YouInaugural EditionPass the turkey? Could I have Friday off work? Please help me unload these groceries? Cut me a deal on this flat screen? Would you like a back rub? Can I bring my special someone home for the holidays? Stop staring you freak?Whether you frantically stuffed yourself at Thanksgiving dinner or had a perfectly serene week in Montreal, Mumbai or Munich, now is the time

Giving thanks, and introducing two new comment days!!

2009-11-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

Today I'm giving thanks for your presence, ideas, answers, insights, questions and curiosity, and for granting my adventures in asking a different sort of meaning by reading about them and, perhaps, taking more asking risks as a result. Thanks, as well, to everybody who selflessly gave, to me and others, during my year of daily asking, and to those who encouraged me throughout the endeavor. Your

Woman orders chili from Fastburger, changes mind

2009-11-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

By Cudgja PlezeAsker Daily News Staff WriterSAN DIEGO -- What's worse than ordering chili from Wendy's and finding a finger in it? Ordering chili from Fastburger and finding no finger in it. What's what Issa Bella, 22, a tourist from Boston, discovered late Tuesday night, when she dug into a cup of the gooey stuff from the popular hamburger chain and felt completely underwhelmed."That shit was

Three changes to the blog

2009-11-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

My car passed the smog test!Didn't have to ask for a thing.What a lark.So now I can use this big blank blog post to let you know about three changes here.First, I've added a new search box to the right column.Second, I'm about to start labeling posts again, with tags like "career asking," "travel" and "bargain hunting." I stopped in July, but I think some readers found them useful, as did I. If

Crash my party?

2009-11-24T09:48:00.000-08:00

About a year ago, I spotted a woman in the grocery store buying ingredients for cucumber martinis and I asked if I could crash her party. That was at the beginning of the asking experiment, and it was more or less an excuse to get over my inhibitions. (By the way: she said yes!)Yesterday I did the opposite -- invited a random woman in the grocery store to crash mine. This time around, I wasn't

Alert: Auto askings looming

2009-11-24T09:16:00.001-08:00

My car registration is due today, which means an opportunity for asking is just around the corner: the smog check.As those following this blog for some time know, my darling 1995 nissan maxima has been on life support for the last year. It comes close so to the brink, and then fights on, thanks to repairs by Mr. A and, for the more complicated stuff, my trusty mechanic, Les.What that means, smog

Quest for my dream ham (Part II)

2009-11-23T12:05:00.001-08:00

Here's the thing. I love it.Meat, that is.I'm a conscious and conscientious consumer, and believe me I'm distressed about the entire food industry and culture of the USA, but given the choice between a plate with a soft, fragrant, grass fed, happily roaming cow-turned-steak seared to rare-medium perfection and one without, I know what I'd go for.Which brings us to Saturday morning, before the