It's Question Time ~ Ask the Blogger

In the spirit of Prime Minister's Question Time, the weekly time-honored tradition in Great Britain in which the Prime Minister is grilled and jeered by the opposition and cheered by his own party on the floor of the House of Commons about policy and current events, I thought I would take this opportunity to answer a few questions about me. You can add your own sound effects of "Hear, hear" and I trust you'll keep the cat calls to a bare minimum.

So, without further ado, here are five questions from the gallery with my five answers:

The book currently on my bedside table is: Far Flung and Well Fed: The Food Writing of R.W. Apple Jr. The late, great Johnny Apple capped a long and distinguished career with the New York Times doing what he loved best ~ writing about food and travel ~ and, in doing so, he became a noted authority on regional cuisine. This new book is a collection of his best food and travel articles. A must-read for foodies.

The artist whose work I would collect if I could is: Claude Monet ~ The beauty of the French impressionist's art can be found in his paintings of water lilies and his garden in Giverny is quite exquisite ~ simply beautiful ... need I say more?

An unforgettable place I've travelled to in the past year is: Except for our annual trip home to Minnesota, all of our recent travel the past year has been on the West Coast. So, my vote goes to Seattle, a city I never grow tired of returning to each Labor Day weekend with my wife for the Bumbershoot Art and Music Festival and, just as importantly, relaxation with our long-time friends there.

In my fridge you'll always find: A half-gallon carton of low-fat milk and a half-gallon carton of orange juice sans pulp, both usually purchased from Trader Joe's. I like to start each day at breakfast with a small glass of orange juice and a bowl of cereal ~ usually a mixture of oat squares with a dash of pecan praline granola with milk. The milk also comes in handy when I have a cup of French Roast coffee spiked with a bit of milk and sugar.

The last music I bought was: Via iTunes on Wednesday. I bought 15 tunes including: "Your Heart is as Black as Night" by Melody Gardot, "Town Cryer" by Elvis Costello & the Attractions, "Chuva" by Luciana Souza, "Where Did My Baby Go" by John Legend and "Variations in G Minor" by the Avishai Cohen Trio. Strung together, it's a lovely and jazzy ~ somewhat eclectic ~ five-song set to enjoy a bit of slack time.