Would you want to be an animal? Sometimes I would like to be a whale. I could dive into the deepest parts of the ocean where no people have been. Down there I would find sunken pirate ships and chests of treasure. I'd find their maps to secret buried treasure too. When I had all I wanted I would turn into a person again so I could spend all my loot.

Sometimes I would like to be a wolf. I'd run with the pack, howl at the moon and scout around the wilderness until I couldn't walk another step. The wolf can smell and hear things better than people too. I would enjoy experiencing that. What things would I hear that I've never heard before.

Sometimes I'd like to be a seagull. Soaring over the ocean waves, the beaches and the cities, watching everything fly by beneath me. I would perch somewhere high up, on the head of a gargoyle or steeple of a church. The wind would be blowing on my feathers. Soon I'd smell some french fries dropped in a parking lot and I'd swoop down to grab them up before all the other gulls could get them.

It would be great to be a dragon. They can do all of those things. But, a big dragon would have trouble sitting on a small branch or church steeple. True dragons like to hoard treasure but I'd like to spend some of it. I don't think a lot of stores would calmly accept a dragon coming in to buy the latest bestseller. Being a person is all right too, its who I am. But now and then I think about all the fun of being an animal and the special things I could do.

Imagine you're an architect. How would you design the ultimate dream house?

My house would have a lot of land around it. I want a whole forest of trees and wildflowers in clearings here and there. The trees would be oaks, walnuts, pine, maple, flowering trees and an assortment of others. Closer to the house itself I would have big patches of garden for my favourite flowers: sunflowers, violets, sweet williams, tulips and many others. One big patch would have a herb garden and another for some vegetables too.

The house would not be huge, just a comfortable size. A grey brick house with trim, I haven't decided if the trim should be black or dark red. Black looks dramatic but its not a colour I especially like. There would be a garage for cars and a workshop for woodworking on the side, not attached to the house. I'd probably have a greenhouse and gardeners shed too. I almost forgot the pond and bubbling brook. I'd like to live in an area where I could see lots of birds, the odd deer and other wild animals.

Inside the house, the most important rooms are the kitchen, bedroom and the den where I would have my computer and all the stuff I need for a home office. Other than those three rooms and bathrooms there would be just one huge room to be the family room, sitting room and dining room. It would be comfortable with a big stone fireplace and high ceilings. The bedrooms would overlook this room with sort of a balcony space. I could have a few plants up there, they would enjoy the natural light from the skylight. Also, there would be one big window looking down into the street. That would be my Christmas tree window. Everyone would be able to see our fancy, magical tree each Christmas.

In this big room I would have a few couches, the kind you can enjoy sitting in but not sink into and have to struggle to get out of. Some throw pillows and blankets for snuggling up if its chilly. Off to the side would be a dining room table. It would be very heavy, made wood with those fancy feet carvings. The chairs would be wood too but not so heavy. This room would have a hardwood floor and scattered throw rugs. It would be very comfortable and colourful.

Away from the danger of being damaged by the fireplace I would have the media centre with a spare computer for friends, a TV, stereo and all that stuff which I would mostly keep around for having friends and family over. I'd be spending most of my time gardening and writing in the den.

Of course, I would have a great computer in my den, lots of RAM and space on the hard drive for all the games and serious stuff I want. I'd have a futon in the den, just in case I wanted to sleep there myself or needed extra space for someone staying over. I would need space to keep my newspaper and magazine clippings so a file cabinet would be close to my desk. The desk itself would be big enough to hold my computer and give me space to work around it. Half of one wall would be full of bookshelves and books. I'd have a walk in closet also, for storing all the Christmas and other holiday things. Stuff I want to keep around but out of the way. This room would have a walk out to the gardens. A set of French doors and a rock garden patio set up outside. A comfortable chair outside and a bird feeder or two hanging in the tree branches.

This would be where I would see my cats. They are all outdoor cats, seldom ever inside the house. I like my house to be cigarette and livestock free. The cats would be well looked after though. I would have a carpenter make them a house of their own. Lots of space for them and lots of interesting nooks and gingerbread trim to make it look cute for me.

While I'm thinking about interesting nooks, that's how I want the layout of my house to be inside. The den doesn't just come off of the big main room, its in a nook. A bit out of the way and hidden. I'd like trompe l'oeil paintings on a couple of walls in the house. A small one on the wooden staircase leading to the bedrooms upstairs and another one on a wall of the kitchen. Probably a third on the wall or ceiling of my own bedroom too.

The kitchen would be big but not huge. One half would have a sunny area, lots of windows and another set of French doors leading outside. By the French doors would be the kitchen table and chairs. This would be decorated in a lot of sunny, bright colours. The whole room would catch the daylight and reflect it back. All the appliances would be steel or that avocado colour that has lost all its popularity since the 70's. But I like it. There would be lots of cupboard space all in easy reaching distance for me. Any taller cupboards would be for things I hardly ever use but can reach with a stepladder. the kitchen also has a skylight and a few plants in pretty pots by the French doors. In a big kitchen window I would have a small window garden for herbs.

Over all the house I would have paintings or more likely prints of nature and wild animals. I especially like the work of Canadian artists like Robert Bateman and Glen Loates. I'd also have my sister make a picture of my house, she draws very well and it would be very special to have something done by her in my house. Although I have plants in the house they won't be overwhelming, I don't want to feel like I'm living in a jungle. I also keep knick-knacks down or stored attractively. I wouldn't like them to look too cluttered or be in the way for kids to have fun.

All that's left are the bedrooms and bathrooms. Those would be mostly functional with the standard features. In my own bedroom and bathroom I would like skylights to let in more light. The bathroom would have a tub with old fashioned feet. In my bedroom I would have a walk in closet for all the clothes, shoes and other stuff I want to stick in there.

I nearly forgot to give myself a sewing room and a grand entryway into the house. Not much to say about the sewing room. It would be a lot like the den, probably connected to the den so I could make use of the French doors to the outside.

The grand entryway however, would be a display of stone, wood and glass. I'd like my front doors to be kind of gothic, like something you would see in a scary movie but not dirty or broken down looking. An iron wrought fence would be around the house, not the whole property, just a few feet around the house. My entryway would all be a bit on the gothic side. Not at all scary, well maybe a bit with the dragon and gargoyle.

So that's my house, unless I've forgotten something else. What would your dream house be like?

A time machine would be like keeping time in a bottle. There is an old song about that. Would you keep time in a bottle? Then uncork it when you have some free time to explore. The past would be interesting. You could see castles when they were new or just being built. Famous people long just dust in the wind would be alive and busy doing what ever made them famous.

You might go back in time to the days of dinosaurs. Just be careful not to get stepped on. How fun it would be to see a real dinosaur. Some would be dinosaur families, Moms and babies, or just new born hatchlings. Would you keep a baby tyrannosaurus rex in your pocket? I'd go to Loch Ness and see what's there before all the rumours about Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster.

What else would you do in the past? Cavemen would be scouting for food, painting on cave walls or maybe learning how to make fire. Knights would be jousting, designing castles and rescuing fair maidens from dragons. The druids would be busy with deep thinking, honouring nature and avoiding the Romans. Alchemists and herbalists would be discovering things we are only just beginning to rediscover now. Kings would be counting their treasure, making laws and fighting wars. Pirates would be sailing the seven seas, taking over other ships and burying their treasure.

Women would be busy too. We've always been there. Some of us were famous but most of us were looking after families, sewing, cooking and keeping things going. There weren't many women pirates or knights but some were.

Once you've explored the past look ahead to the future. If you just go a week ahead you can see your family and friends, see what they are all up to. But, the real adventure would be going far ahead to see what the world is up to. What clothes are people wearing? What cars are they driving? Do kids still go to school? There are so many things coming in the future, so many different ways things can grow and develop. Do kids still play the same games? Are families still going to the zoo, parks and circus together? Are there still roller coasters? Are there still family pets? Do kids still have to go to bed early?

So much to see and find out about in the future, it would take several trips just to see one time period. Keeping time in a bottle would be a real adventure. Where would you go first?

Thank you Wayback Machine. I found one saved link from an old site I had at Tripod. Worked a couple of hours to find old Blogger sites but, no luck so far.

Well, I found one but not the one I was hoping for. Likely written soon after this site, 2001 some time. Blogger makes it pretty easy to find an old account but, you still need to have the email you were using at the time. They send a verification code to you there. But, my old email addresses are as old/ older than the site I hope to find. I tried to recover them but two of them are ISPs not in business for about 10 years. The other was at Excite.com, now Lycos and I could not find anything about recovering old accounts. Likely they are not kept that long. Google/ Blogger seems to be the only social network which does care about history. I won't forget that Google took up the old newsgroups and still has them saved from the very early days of the Internet.

I may repost these old posts in order by date. Nice to see them pop up in the right place and remember how long I've been doing this.

50 Questions Here are my answers to the questions. Pass the list on to your friends with your own answers. Who knows what interesting things you could discover about someone you think you really know.

1. What's one thing you wish you could do but can't? Fly above the clouds and mountains or swim to the oceans depths and see just what sunken ships and odd fish are down there. Swimming almost feels like flying.
2. What is your ideal marriage location? A spring wedding in the forest, a summer wedding in a huge garden with tents for shade, an autumn wedding on the edge of a tall cliff on the ocean with lots of wind, or in winter right downtown with all the Christmas lights, carols and decorations. My wedding was a couple of weeks before Christmas and a few days before my birthday.
3. Which musical instrument do you wish you could play? The harp or the piano. …more