Top of the list

What was your biggest goal for this year, and did you accomplish it? If you didn't have a specific goal, what was the biggest thing you accomplished this year?

This week's theme is year's end.

The critics rave

Whether you're in the public eye or not, what are some "good reviews" that you got this year? What did you do this year that received a warm and positive reaction from your "fans"?

This week's theme is year's end.

Helping hands, hindering hands

Who stood in your way this year? And who offered timely assistance?

This week's theme is year's end.

Tallying up

What issues did you explore in depth this year? What risks did you take?

This week's theme is year's end.

Year's end

What did you handle this year better than ever before? What problems did you decisively solve this year?

This week's theme is year's end.

Tell us a story: snowed in

What's the most dramatic time you were waylaid by weather? How long were you stuck? How did you get out, ultimately?

Remembering the good times

What's your favorite memory of a holiday?

This can't be right

What is something that seemed extreme, off-balance, or even scary when you first tried it, but that now seems normal and routine?

This week's theme is extremes.

From one extreme to another

Some people are extremely frugal — until they go out on wild shopping sprees. Some people alternate between eating too much and going on strict diets. Some are extremely wild and rebellious, until they settle down into extremely ordinary, conventional lives.

What is one area of your life where you might find this pattern of shifting from one extreme to the opposite extreme?

This week's theme is extremes.

Extremely extreme

What's one time when you took extreme action that may not exactly have been warranted? Did you book a flight to Europe to avoid a family get-together? Expose yourself to a friend with the flu to get out of the company Christmas party? Break a leg to prove you were right about something?

This week's theme is extremes.

Extreme attitude

Following up your answer to yesterday's question: Is your extreme thing a positive or a negative? Is it something that you usually take for granted, or something you can't help thinking about every day? Is it something you're embarrassed about, or something you're proud of?

This week's theme is extremes. Happy solstice!

Extremes

Do you live near the furthest-east point in your state? Do you work for the biggest company in the world? Does your last name start with "Z" and put you at the end of every list?

What is something about your life, your job, your home, your family, or your accomplishments that is an example of something extreme? In what way are you out at the edges, not in the middle of things?

This week's theme is extremes.

Tell us a story: weird stuff!

What is the most unusual thing that happened to you this year?

Over and over again

What is the one thing that most often turns out to be at the root of your problems?

Too sexy!

Which people, or what kind of people, inspire your sexual desires? Are the objects of your sexual interest usually similar to you, or do they have characteristics and traits that you think you lack?

This week's theme is sex.

Mob mentality

How do your attitudes about sex differ from your parents'? How do your attitudes about sex differ from your peers?

This week's theme is sex.

Blushing (or not)

Were you brought up to think that sex was a normal part of life, or that it was something to be ashamed of?

This week's theme is sex.

Sex education

Where, and from whom, did you actually learn about sex in a practical and useful manner? What do you wish someone had told you earlier?

This week's theme is sex.

Sex

It's the subject that nobody wants to talk about, and that everybody wants to talk about: sex!

What did your parents tell you about sex? What didn't they tell you? Is there anything that you comically misunderstood as a child, but figured out later?

This week's theme is sex.

Tell us a story: budget crisis

Did you ever have to suddenly change plans midstream, because you discovered that you didn't have the money (or credit cards or wallet) that you thought you had brought with you?

Frame

Here's a riddle for you to ponder: In what way are you like a picture frame? And what sort of picture do you enclose?

Good cop, bad cop

Is there anyone in your life who is a model of responsibility? In what ways is he or she particularly good at it? Is there someone else who is so irresponsible that you resent them? What's the most irresponsible thing you know that they've done?

This week's theme is responsibility.

More, more, more...less, less, less

Overall, do you want more responsibility in your life, or less responsibility? Specifically, which responsibilities would you like to be rid of, and which additional responsibilities would you be eager to take on?

This week's theme is responsibility.

Let me handle it

What is one responsibility that you don't mind having — because you know that you can handle it well, and it's an important thing that you wouldn't want to leave to just anyone?

This week's theme is responsibility.

Grow up!

Were you given responsibilities as a child? Did they go beyond the usual scope of keeping your room clean, looking out for a younger sibling or a pet, and a reasonable amount of child-friendly chores? If so, what responsibilities were you given that were, in your opinion, beyond the capabilities of a child of your age?

This week's theme is responsibility.

Responsibility

Responsibility can be a double-edged sword: it can make you feel important, but it can also mean added work. How much responsibility do you have in your everyday life? Are you in charge of many things and people who look to you for guidance and leadership, or even sustenance? Or do you have a very short list of things you must do and places you must be?

This week's theme is responsibility.

Tell us a story: found money

Have you ever found someone's lost money inside of something (say, in a bank envelope or a paper bag or a dropped greeting card)? Obviously, finding a $20 on the street by itself is very clear: you can't know who dropped it, so it's yours. But money inside of something can potentially be connected to the person who lost it. If you have ever been in that situation, what did you do? If you've never been in that situation, what would you do?

I want some of that

Do you envy your friends and family who have something that you don't have? What is is that you envy: their material success or visible luxuries? Amount of leisure time they seem to have? Their harmonious family life?

Your first toothbrush

Can you recall when you were too young to brush your teeth or use deodorant? Do you remember being initiated into those rites? Did it make you feel happy? Grown up? Annoyed to have the responsibility?

Do you still use any of the personal care products you used as a child, or that your parents used when you were a child and living with them?

This week's theme is personal grooming.

Ablutions

How flexible is your morning routine? Do you have a consistent order from which you never deviate? Or do you just wing it based on how you feel?

Is there one thing that you do in the mornings that, if you forgot to do it, you'd feel uncomfortable during the rest of your day?

This week's theme is personal grooming.

The nose knows

What kinds of scents do you favor in your personal care products? Do you like flowery or herbal smells? Spicy scents? Fruity? Unscented?

This week's theme is personal grooming.