How far in advance do you prefer to plan? Why?

Joanne's FAVORITE answer:
At not more than 5 minutes. None of my long term plans seem to have worked out, so screw it, why bother.

Joanne's answer:
It depends on the event, I suppose. If we are talking plans for the weekend or just regular hanging out, I really don't need to plan in advance at all. I typically don't make any effort to plan my weekend in advance (with the exception of special events, like going to a baseball game or something)...but I'm totally fine to have things planned (i.e., I don't need things to be spontaneous and I'm not a "well let's see if anything better comes along before I commit" type of person). However, if someone is coming to visit me, I do like to plan several days (if not a week) in advance re: things we will do, but that's more because I want to make sure I plan activities that my guests will like and less because I have a huge desire to plan per se. Also, if we are talking about trips of any kind, there are some details that I would like planned at least a week ahead of time, like where I am staying and some general possibilities of what I might do when I get there (mostly so I can know how to pack...not that I don't just end up packing my entire closet anyway...but that's besides the point!). Then again, I do think I'm spontaneous enough to just take off for a weekend trip without more than a couple of hours notice...though to be honest, I don't think I've ever been presented with that opportunity.

And the other answers!

1. I usually don't plan out anything more than a couple of months in advance - unless it's arrangements for a big event. I just tend to get wrapped up in taking care of stuff that needs to get taken care of today or this week and don't seem to be able to project out all that far. Although, my building up of my freelance business so that I can be working primarily from home by the time [my daughter] starts school is a notable exception to that.

2. I am bad about planning in advance. This really is bad because I don't like surprises most of the time. If I had to give it a time frame, I would say I like to plan things a week in advance, but I usually get around to planning maybe hours in advance.

3. I am an ENTJ...the J means [I] don't plan.

4. If its a vacation of some kind, I like to plan it in advance, because there's so much added enjoyment that comes from anticipation!

5. I love last minute plans! They seem far more pleasing although in this day and age you do have to make plans for so much.

6. Oh I am a big fan of planning ahead. I don't know how else you could possibly keep control over your life, you know? So yeah, on a regularday I'd make plans anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes in advance (15 if I'mfeeling frisky). Of course, anything more than that and you're just setting yourself up for failure.

7. About a week. I used to be much more spontaneous...sometimes not having any plan for a particular day until the day came along. But, getting into your 30s and living in San Francisco, you start to learn that you need to make plans ahead of time or be left in the dust as everyone pursues their already-established-a-week-or-more-before plans. It actually sucks, really.

8. I generally like to only plan a few hours in advance. Not always is that possible such as family gatherings.Why? For 2 reasons: 1. no preconceived ideas 2. never know what my mood will be like from hour to hour.

9. Depends on what I am planning for, however, I do like to plan at least a week in advance for nearly everything, I need to mentally prepare for things.

Are you usually late, early, or on time? Why?

Joanne's FAVORITE answer:
I'm usually about 5-10 minutes late. It's definitely a control issue. But i think tonight I'll be about an hour late picking you up from the airport, because I won't kiss your ass for the QOTD or any other time!

Joanne's answer:
I am usually late. Not super late, but habitually 5-10 minutes or so. I'm late to work every day because 1) I don't really like going there, 2) no one seems to notice/care, and 3) I always spend too long in bed and/or on the computer in the morning. I'm a little late to everything else because I invariably underestimate the time it will take me to get ready and/or get to my destination....especially if I'm going somewhere new seeing as I am bound to get lost on my way there!!

And the other answers!

1. Late. It is the only way to go. Fashionably or just plain, doesn't matter.

2. Well, before I moved to LA I used to be chronically early. A therapist told me once that I am a "people pleaser" and that probably explains it. But after 8 months or so in LA, I still have not learned just how long it takes to get anywhere. So, now I tend to be on time or a little late. Must change this!

3. Always 10-15 minutes late... I like to blame it on having a kid, but I'm just always late to leave...

4. I am usually early because I am paranoid about being late to things. I would say that, on average, I usually show up things about 10 minutes early.

5. I seem to always be late these days, and when I get there,the people I meet are even later. What's up with that? I guess it's a sign of the times.

6. Late, late, late. It is my MO.

7. Oh my gawd, I am always late. If you want me to be somewhere on time, tell me its 10 minutes earlier than it actually is. Apparently distance is correlated with lateness in my case, thus, if I was going to San Francisco for something, I could be as much as an hour late, where usually 10 minutes is de riguer for local events. Then there was the time [my husband] and I were late for a Murder Mystery party in which both of us apparently had main parts! ooops....

8. I am always early, not too good, I usually have to wait if it's an appointment. Haven't thought about on time for those. Should let the MD wait for a change.

9. Early if you are talking normal time - I'm early; if you are talking military time I'm on time. Since I spent so long in the military if I'm not at an appointed place 15 minutes early I'm late and I DO STRESS if I think I'm late.

10. I'm almost always early. It's just polite and shows respect for other's time and feelings. It's also very professional.

11. Obsessively early for things like work, classes, planes, etc. I just want to get there, get a good spot, and not feel like I have to rush. I do try to show up later to social things, especially parties. I want to make sure at least some people I know are already there (unless a close friend is hosting, and then I might go early).

How often do you doodle? What do your doodles usually look like?

Joanne's answer:
I'm not a very good artist, so I don't doodle very often....pretty much only in meetings or in class. Doodles usually consist of faces, flowers, sometimes Christmas trees, and sometimes shapes where I will proceed to fill in the shapes with polka dots and lines. Sometimes I make hearts and block letters and stuff like that. Actually funny story, one time I was on a 4 hour conference call and I was mindlessly doodling and I wrote my name out as "Mrs. Joanne [fill in the name of the guy I was into at the time]". Later that night, said guy came to visit me at my office and he saw my doodle (I had forgotten all about it by then) and I just about died of embarrassment!!!

Joanne' FAVORITE answer:
When I doodle, I check my hotmail account and see if I got QOTD from JoJo. It happens during lunchtime and onward, like 3 times a day until I confirm that there isn't one for the day.

And the other answers!

1. My doodles are usually flowers and swiggly lines that intersect. The flowers look like something from kindergarten and the swiggly lines are incomprehensible. Sometimes I also try to do block letters, and I add shading when I want to be really sophisticated.:)

2. Rarely, because they look like a mess most of the time.

3. I don't.

4. well I regularly draw with [my daughter] (the near-2 year oldwho loves to color) so its pretty much daily...sometimes in washable markers and sometimes withcrayons... Usually its something swirly, but we often draw triangles or squares or kites or trees or mickeymouses or ice cream cones or kittys or birds orbaseballs or wedges of cheese or hippos or......

5. So, I doodle every time I'm in a boring meeting. Unfortunately, boring meetings happen way too often. My doodles get more violent the more bored I am. For example, I'm I'm just a little bored, my doodles willbe hearts or moons or lucky stars. If I'm bored, my doodles take the form of symmetrical lines connecting lines on the paper or coloring in every circle in aprinted text. When I'm REALLY bored, they take theform of skulls and crossbones or knives with blood on them. Weird, huh? You should see my notes from Bob's stats classes. Whoa! I could be committed.

6. All the time, and boobs. nothing but boobs. sometime the boobs are smiling, and sometimes they are playing checkers, but mostly just boobs being boobs...

7. Constantly doodling while at work…….martians!

8. Rarely ever. Mosaic looking.

9. My doodles are either usually some sort of mandala thingee where I start with some random shape in the middle then work outward. Either that, or female profiles.

10. I used to doodle in college a lot. In class. They were very swoopy, viney doodles I thought could turn into real art. I even got one tattooed on my back. Something I regretted within about 6 months. Very embarassing...

11. I don't doodle.

12. I rarely doodle, and am more prone to draw facial hair on pictures in magazines than to just free draw. But, when I do, it goes one of two ways: spirals or rudimentary (but somehow creepy-looking) trees.

13. I doodle frequently and poorly. Generally they are geometric oddities which start off as simple shapes or spirals before getting divided and sub-divided until they are more line than space. Or sometimes they start off as letters or Chinese characters that get ossified into strange conglomerations of curves and angles.

14. I don't doodle much any more. I don't have time. But when I did, I would make triangles and connect them together. I have no idea why that is what my doodling would be but there you have it.

14. Hooray! And, you started me off with an easy one - I never doodle at any time. I am not a doodler.

15. I'd say I doodle about once a week, maybe less. I pretty much only doodle during research meetings while biting my lip, trying desperately not to fall asleep.