Indulgence

try this out

Bob Dylan
An artist always has to be in a state of becoming.

In the weekend, I found myself engaged in a rather interesting game with a friend I met on the net. The rules of the game were pretty simple. Each person takes turns asking a question only answerable by yes or no. No explanations. Speed is the key. Just keep throwing questions at each other, taking turns and answering it as honestly as possible. Anyway, since your friend can't ask you to explain; there is some sort of safety in that. At the same time, without talking about it, neither of us asked each other the same question, which I think should be an important rule.

It was an exhilirating game. Without gray areas (and there are always gray areas) and having to answer in an absolute, it was really much more difficult than I thought. The need to quantify or qualify an answer was almost immediate but I stuck to the rules. My friend had to qualify 2 or 3 answers and I reproached him. Stick to the rules, I wrote and then followed stop qualifying! Of course, I was having as much difficulty as he was.

Some of the questions I asked him were: are you happy? Are you afraid of snakes? Do you think Koalas are cute? Do you see ghosts? Are you allergic to anything? Do you think lightning is beautiful? Do you believe in life in other planets? Would you consider getting together with someone 10 years younger than yourself? Are you comfortable with strangers, face-to-face, not in the internet but actually sitting in front of them and just being comfortable? Do your friends really know you? Do you think dessert is important? Would you sleep with someone for 5 million bucks? Do you hold someone's life in higher regard than your own?

Very interesting answers. Here are some of the questions I were asked and my answers to them: do you fear growing old? No. Do you want to be immortal? Yes. Do you believe in Satan? No. Would you lie to your lover about your own infidelity? No. Do you think your delusional sometimes? Yes. Do you have a pet? No. Do you eat balut? Yes. Would you offer your eyesight to speak with God? No. Are you well-liked? Yes. Do you hold grudges? Yes. Are you promiscouos? Yes. Would you sleep with someone to spite your lover? No.

We did this for almost 2 hours, non-stop. At the end of the game, I added a new rule. I said that each person is allowed to qualify one of their answers. And the person is allowed to ask the other to qualify one of their answers.

It was a thrilling game that really broke through the ice and definitely opened up my view over my friend. Very interesting.

I wonder if that game works while drinking.

posted by wanggo @ 5:23 PM