Four for Friday

Hello, readers! A fun meme from BeliBlog.

Q1 - Movies: As a rule, when you go out to watch a movie, do you try to make it to the theater in time to watch all of the previews? Related: Do you ever stay all the way through the credits? I've always said that the previews ARE the best part, so yes, I like to be very timely to movies. I only stay through the credits if there is something aside from rolling type (IE bloopers, extras, etc.).

Q2 - Pay For Free: Video calls via Skype, NPR, Facebook, Public Television, MySpace, Twitter, the online edition of The New York Times, and millions of other things in this world are available to you for free. What are some things you now use for free that you would gladly pay to use if charged a reasonable fee? I don't use Skype often but I would gladly pay a reasonable fee for it. I feel similarly about Public Television. I'm a huge fan of PBS and always happy to support it. The beauty of Twitter is that it's SO accessible. I pay an annual fee of $10 for this dot com, and I always say it's the best ten bucks I spend all year.

Q3 - Crime: According to the FBI's Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report, the U.S. experienced a 2.5 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 1.6 percent decline in the number of property crimes for 2008 compared with data from 2007. The report is based on information that the FBI gathered from 12,750 law enforcement agencies that submitted six to 12 comparable months of data to the FBI for both 2007 and 2008. In 2008, all four of the violent crime offense categories declined nationwide compared with data from 2007. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter declined 4.4 percent, aggravated assault was down 3.2 percent, and robbery decreased 1.1 percent. Does it feel to you as though crime has dropped over the last year, stayed about the same, or gotten worse? It's hard not to feel jaded about this subject. I live alone in a 450 square foot apartment in New York City and not one night in my past two years of residence have I EVER felt unsafe. I'm also from Miami, where drive-bys were invented. I've had my share of living in "unsafe" cities, but I don't honestly feel as though crime has gotten worse. I think the real issue is that we're hyperaware of what is going on around us because of the over-saturated media. It does sometimes seem as though heinous crimes are all around us though - Laci Peterson, Andrea Yates, etc.

Q4 - Bring It!: If you could will any one thing to fall from the sky and harmlessly land in your lap -- aside from money, jewelry, precious metals, or a winning lottery ticket -- what would it be? That Chanel necklace - the double Cs with the bow - that Anne Hathaway wore in The Devil Wears Prada. I guess that counts as jewelry, doesn't it? Okay, an advance for publishing my book.

Wishes for a wonderful weekend!