So…what is the Monday Poll?
Excellent question! It isn’t, contrary to its name, an actual poll, like with little clicky buttons. It’s just a list of more or less random questions I’ve been posting on this blog every Monday morning for the past quadrillion years (since 2007).
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark?
I’ve got a major soft spot for the semicolon; my heart also loves an em dash.
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026?
Seriously, how did an entire decade pass since I gave birth to Connor? Time is a crazy ride, man.
3. What sounds do you hear right at this very second?
Children screaming (with delight), Marnie Mae barking and chasing the previously mentioned screaming children, and the robot sounds of laser tag toys.
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations?
Ugh, these two fur kids decided this was their year to break sh*t. Rosie gnawed on the tips of some pine branches. Marnie Mae decided that she was in charge of destroying any and all the ornaments on the bottom part of the tree.
5. A book that made an impression on you this year?
There were many, but one that really sticks out is a graphic novel that Connor let me borrow called “Smile” by Raina Telgemeier. I grew up in the Bay Area in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and the story it rings true for that slice in time.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Here are the questions to copy/paste with your answers in a comment. Talk to ya soon.
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark?
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026?
3. What sounds do you hear right at this very second?
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations?
5. A book that made an impression on you this year?
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark? Never really thought about it before, but I guess the exclamation point. !!!!! It comes after very emphatic and joyful or emotional ideas.
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026? Not really. I’m at the age where personal time seems to be going by very fast. The only think slowing time down is how long the waiting is between visits with Dear Daughter.
3. What sounds do you hear right at this very second? The sound of the furnace.
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations? It was weird decorating the tree this year and realizing I could put lights and decorations on the bottom quarter that I usually left bare because Nora or Nibbler would chew on the lights or bat the ornaments. The house feels empty without those furballs.
5. A book that made an impression on you this year? There were a number of them. All Japanese literature translated to English. Two that shook me to the core were Out by Natsuo Kirino and Strangers by Taichi Yamada.
Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2026.
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark?
Like you, I’m a fan of the semicolon.
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026?
Yes. Ever since March 2024 I’ve been in a bit of a fog.
3. What sounds do you hear right at this very second?
The central heat is rattling, the tv is on in the background and the landline phone just rang downstairs. My dad will answer it.
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations?
I don’t have pets and also didn’t decorate one iota this year.
5. A book that made an impression on you this year?
Nothing comes to mind. Young Susan would be shocked to learn that old Susan is no longer a total bookworm.
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark? The hyphen – followed by the semi-colon.
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026?
It seems like it should be January 2025. This year has flown by.
3. What sounds do you hear right at this very second?
Cat TV, MPR with soft classical music.
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations? Nothing within reach this year but cats are no longer amused by decorationsl
5. A book that made an impression on you this year? I’m back into the classics. Just finished MobyDick (mixed feelings about it) and To Kill A Mockingbird – powerful!
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark?
The at would be the question mark. I love mystery books and they always have questions that need to be solved.
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026?
Yes, time seems to be flying faster now that I’m a adult.
3. What sounds do you hear right at this very second?
My dogs soft snores near by as I write this.
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations?
Not on the tree but, she does like to grab the draft stopper in front of the door where the tree is is and play with it.
5. A book that made an impression on you this year?
The one standing out would be The Nazi Officers Wife by Edith Beer
1. What’s your favorite punctuation mark?
Probably the question mark as I have spent my whole life asking questions, seeking truth.
2. Are you just as shocked as I am that it’s going to be 2026?
No, but honestly I wish my life had ended in the late 1990s, like JFK Jr.’s and Princess Diana’s (I’m in their generation). I’d have avoided witnessing a lot of atrocities (9/11, for example) and avoided a lot of misery in my own life (cancer treatment & the surgery I just went through, caring for my elderly parents, seeing my younger brother ruin his life with drug abuse, the rise of fascism, oligarch grifters, idiot voters by the millions ruining our country, etc.). Aging was called a “wanton insult” by Mark Twain.
4. Did any of your pets attack or ruin your holiday decorations?
I don’t have a pet.
5. A book that made an impression on you this year?
I haven’t spent enough time reading books to say. I spend too much time on the internet.