Q: Is Santa real?

•  Welp, this puts me in a pickle. Y’all are really starting me off with a tough one. Um…yes! Listen here kiddos, if you don’t believe, you’re going to get a lump o’ coal. And you don’t want that, do you? Well maybe you do if you work in the train industry, but other than that I guarantee you don’t want coal.

 Q: Do you believe in Santa?

• My mom forces me to say I do if I want to get Christmas gifts. 

 Q: What’s the best holiday and why?

• Christmas. The decorations within houses and throughout the town just get me in the holiday spirit, and Christmas music is great for a month. The gifts are great, but there’s nothing better than sharing some steak with my extended family. 

 Q: Best Christmas movie?

• National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation.”

 Q: Thoughts on David Ricardo?

• Well I am a big fan of his stance of anti-government intervention in the economy. Despite how much I hate learning about comparative advantage, it’s a genius concept that he came up with, so props for that. For those who do not know, Ricardo is a famous economist from the 18th century that is highly regarded as one of the most groundbreaking and influential economists in history. 

 Q: Do you have a favorite show on Netflix?

• “Seinfeld” and the “Greatest Events of WWII in Color” are definitely in my top three. They are both amazing and worth a watch. But I have to give the #1 spot to the show that started my obsession with Formula 1 and led me to get up at 8:00 a.m. every Sunday to watch the F1 Grand Prix: “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” Please check it out even if you’re not a sports person, the drama alone is unmatched. Honorable mention goes to Jerry Seinfeld’s “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”

 Q: Who is your favorite fellow Quill editor?

• Sorry Harrison and Jilli, I still love y’all, but it has to be the best CO-Editor in Chief I could have, Caroline. 

Q: Favorite publications editor in chief?

• I gotta go with my fellow redhead and Ads Editor in Chief; the one and only Corey Karpel. Honorable mention to yearbook EIC Lauren Mitchell, because she is standing behind me right now. Another honorable mention goes to Yearbook EIC Caroline Homan because she accosted me in the commons yesterday for not giving it to her.

Q: Red or green Christmas decorations?

• A little bit of both is the best, but if I had to choose, probably red. Though my favorite Christmas decoration vibe is the soft white vibe. There’s just something so classy and elegant about it.

 Q: Thoughts on Thanksgiving?

• I feel bad for Thanksgiving. Everyone always overlooks it in favor of Christmas. Stores start decorating for Christmas before our grandmothers even start planning Thanksgiving dinner. 

 Q: How many yards out would you have to be to start every hole at the Masters to win?

• I think 80 yards. That’s a repeatable shot with my 56 degree wedge that I can consistently land on the green and usually within 15 feet or so. I may lose the par 3s to the pros, but on the long par 4s and par 5s I would at least be a shot or two better every time and I think that would get me the Green Jacket.

 Q: Are you conscious?

• Perhaps. Conceivably. Possibly. Feasibly. Maybe. Perchance. Who’s to say?

 Q: What is the best bubble gum?

• Sour Apple Big League Chew. It’s the best for chewing and bubble blowing. Though the best bubble gum flavor is Hubba Bubba. Also shoutout to bubble gum tape for getting me through Little League. 

 Q: What is your favorite winter Starbucks drink?

• As Mr. Thomas and our F period Micro class are well aware of, I am not a “frequent Starbucks consumer.” The only drink that I have ever gotten from Starbucks is their chai tea latte, both hot and cold. 

 Q: In a snowball fight do headshots count?

• Oh absolutely! If you’re not aiming for the head what are you even doing? I don’t care that your cousin is only six and cries anytime he falls down. Hitting kids in the heads with snowballs is great character building for them. 

Q: How do you feel about the seasonal peppermint milkshake from Chick-fil-A?

• It was really good. I still think the Cookies ’n Cream is much better, but the peppermint is probably the second best milkshake Chick-fil-A offers.

Q: Why are elves always so feisty?

• Well wouldn’t you be a little feisty if you worked tirelessly all year making toys and such for little brats across the globe, only to be rewarded with one day off, then having to do it all over again for the next 364 days? It would grind my gears quite a bit to make toys all day long while my boss is sitting in a comfy chair with a warm cup of hot chocolate mulling over which kids are worthy of getting gifts.

Q: When is an acceptable time to put Christmas lights up?

• I’m ok with putting them up anytime after mid-October. That’s when the best deals are and I’m never going to tell someone not to go for a good deal. But they SHOULD NOT be turned on until the day after Thanksgiving.

Q: Out of the entire science department, who would win in a fight?

• This is really tough. I think I have to go with the doc himself. Dr. Cordell is just too smart. He’d come up with some crazy genius thing that no one would think of. Here’s the full odds for who would win:

Cordell -100

Lichaj +250

Alvear +300

Dickey +300

Perkins +750

Reed +850

Q: What is the best holiday dessert?

• I love the I-40 pie from Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop, but I have to go with my mom’s homemade Pecan Sandies. I have so many by the time Christmas rolls around. They’re bite sized so it’s really easy to just stand there and have like 10 of them. 

Q: Thoughts on the Astros winning the World Series?

• It pisses me off. Manfred should not have put the Astros in a position to win another World Series for 20 years after the 2017 cheating scandal. All of those players should have been banned for at least multiple years, if not life. 

Q: Which is better: Thanksgiving or Christmas break?

• Christmas break. Christmas is a more festive holiday, but I’d be lying if I said it’s not solely because it’s a week longer.

Q: Is “Die Hard” a Christmas movie?

• NO. Just because it happens during Christmas doesn’t mean it is a Christmas movie. The plot is not affected in the slightest by the fact that it’s Christmas. The plot would function the exact same way if it was Thanksgiving, New Year’s Eve or Day, or just a random Tuesday.