Em and Lil… Ask Each Other!
Dear Readers,
We know each other very well, but we don’t know everything! This week, we pause regular programming to ask each other some important questions.
But first… we want to hear from you! Send us your questions about friendship, dating, surviving 2020, or anything else that’s on your mind. Submit an anonymous question here, and watch for a response over the upcoming weeks!
Q&A (with E&L)
EM: What secret conspiracy would you like people to start?
LIL: Whenever I see those really puffy clouds, part of me thinks, “I could definitely climb around on there!” So, I would like there to be a conspiracy theory that “if you walk on a cloud you will fall through it” is a false narrative promoted by an elite group of cloud people in order to keep us Earth people down on the ground.
Em, if you could go back in time and change something in your life, but it had to be REALLY frivolous, what would you choose?
EM: I would probably eat more flatbread sandwiches from COSI, now passed. COSI had been going downhill for a long time. The first sign of trouble was when they stopped putting out flatbread samplers while you were in line waiting to place an order. But the next one was when they replaced their made-in-house flatbread with a disgusting replacement: puffy, flaccid ‘flat’bread that was shipped in and defrosted.
Your turn. What is the worst thing you have done as a guest at someone’s house?
LIL: One time I was house sitting, and I opened a kitchen cabinet and found a dead mouse lying in a mixing bowl. Instead of doing anything about it, I shut that cabinet, and never opened it, or spoke of the mouse, again.
What song gets stuck in your head the most?
EM: Lately, my anthem has been Potatoes and Molasses. What does that say about me? Maybe that I am a baby-woman just trying to make it in this cruel, cruel world.
The last thing I want to ask you is this: what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
LIL: I’ve thought about this a lot since starting this column with you. I’ve gotten tons of great advice in my life, and have followed… some of it. But here’s what sticks out in my mind. Before I went to study abroad for a semester in college, my mom drove me to the local mall so I could buy some new shoes. I was really nervous about being thrown into a group of strangers. All I knew is that there was one girl in my group named Kristen Krak (she had friended everyone on Facebook) and she was really pretty with perfect hair. All day, I looked for shoes and couldn’t find any that I liked. My mom was getting annoyed, and told me to just buy a pair already. I said, “Kristen Krak would never wear any of these shoes,” and my mom said, “I don’t f%!#*ing care what f%!#*ing shoes Kristen Krak would wear!” I bought some shoes and we went home.
EM: The best advice I received was when someone told me not to pursue my dreams. People’s dreams are usually ridiculous… be the star ballerina, be president, star in a blockbuster film. A dream is rarely something cool and achievable like ‘own my own home’ or ‘get a part in a community theater production.’ When the advice-giver challenged my very basic idea of a ‘dream’ I was able to start thinking about the little ways that I can incorporate dreams into my daily life. I can start each day with a delicious latte at home. I can write an advice column with my best friend. I can go out for dinner once a damn month! This advice has liberated me from the narrow idea of a ‘dream’ and helped me incorporate more dream-like practices into my everyday life.
