• 31: Talk about what you think death is like.

I was raised Catholic and was told from a very early age that there was this awesome place above the clouds where you hang out with your dead relatives forever. Then bit by bit I sloughed off the beliefs of my religion… but the idea of some form of afterlife was one I couldn’t shake. My understanding of my consciousness was as one continuous narritive with no ending. I couldn’t imagine that just because I die I would stop thinking, stop observing, stop dreaming… so there must be some place for all this to go once my body is gone.

Then I had major surgery that kept me under anesthesia for over eight hours, and I developed retrograde amnesia. My time under wasn’t dream-filled or given any scale of time. It was just an emptiness of coherence, a blacking out of any thought that could have easily gone on forever. I think that’s what death is like. It is a final surrender of thought as the body and mind simultaneously end.

• 34: Talk about the worst physical pain you’ve endured.

Before I had surgery in 2008 I suffered for years with ulcerative colitis. Every day was a slog through severe abdominal pain and anywhere from 20 to 50 trips to the bathroom. The pain was not only terrible but it was nearly constant both day and night. I found that pressing down on my lower abdomen would relieve the pain slightly and for a long time would get work done by standing at my desk and leaning forward so that my weight would press my stomach into the edge of the desk and I would hunch down and type or work with samples that way for hours at a time. 

• 36: Talk about your guilty pleasures.

I love those stupid time-waster games on facebook. I usually play about two or three of them at a time. I’ll keep a window open in my browser while I’m at work and every time I have downtime or a break I’ll go back and check on them. After a few months I’ll get bored and delete a game but then I’ll end up finding a new one to play. I’ve been doing this since mafia wars first came on the scene. I know that they’re vapid, pointless and primarily designed to suck you in and make you pay for in-game items but I play them anyways. 

1: Talk about the first time you watched your favorite movie.
2: Talk about your first kiss.
3: Talk about the person you’ve had the most intense romantic feelings for.
4: Talk about the thing you regret most so far.
5: Talk about the best birthday you’ve had.
6: Talk about the worst birthday you’ve had.
7: Talk about your biggest insecurity.
8: Talk about the thing you are most proud of.
9: Talk about little things on your body that you like the most.
10: Talk about the biggest fight you’ve ever had.
11: Talk about the best dream you’ve ever had.
12: Talk about the worst dream you’ve ever had.
13: Talk about the first time you had sex/how you imagine your first time.
14: Talk about a vacation.
15: Talk about the time you were most content in life.
16: Talk about the best party you’ve ever been to.
17: Talk about someone you want to be friends with.
18: Talk about something that happened in elementary school.
19: Talk about something that happened in middle school.
20: Talk about something that happened in high school.
21: Talk about a time you had to turn someone down.
22: Talk about your worst fear.
23: Talk about a time someone turned you down.
24: Talk about something someone told you that meant a lot.
25: Talk about an ex-best friend.
26: Talk about things you do when you’re sick.
27: Talk about your favorite part of someone else’s body.
28: Talk about your fetishes.
29: Talk about what turns you on.
30: Talk about what turns you off.
31: Talk about what you think death is like.
32: Talk about a place you remember from your childhood.
33: Talk about what you do when you are sad.
34: Talk about the worst physical pain you’ve endured.
35: Talk about things you wish you could stop doing.
36: Talk about your guilty pleasures.
37: Talk about someone you thought you were in love with.
38: Talk about songs that remind you of certain people.
39: Talk about things you wish you’d known earlier.
40: Talk about the end of something in your life.