Interview questions when no job is on the line

Now, I thought I was the only one who did this:
One of the authors of Marginal Revolution also has a short set of standard questions he asks people when he meets them. His questions are (and remember, he's an economics professor):

1. What do you maximize?
2. Can you offer a simple model of yourself, using one a few equations or a paragraph or less?
3. What is it you hate?
4. What is your most absurd view? (check out the comments section of this post)

I have mentioned before that I like to ask people questions about their movie preferences and dream real estate locations, but I've also thought of a few more recently. My goal in asking these questions is to get people sharing their happiest memories, because these often become discussions you were really glad you had. Some of my new favorites:

• What did you want to have for dinner on your birthday when you were younger? This gets people talking either about the greatest local restaurant in their area, or the meal their mom made that they could talk about for ages. I was always crazy about my mom's meatballs, but also loved the chance to eat at Charley's, in the Chestnut Hill mall.
• How did you meet your significant other? My own answer to this includes a funny story about how I was out on a dance floor with Lisa most of the night, but haven't really danced ever since (except at weddings).
• What was the biggest fare you ever received? This one really only works with cab drivers, but boy do they light up when you ask give them a chance to tell this story.

Just for fun, I'll take a stab at answering the MR questions:

1. I maximize my idle time by playing backgammon on my phone every time I'm waiting in line or walking from point A to point B.
2. Body Weight = absolute value of the sine of age times 250 lbs. (very random over time)
3. I hate New Yorkers, until I really get to know them. Interestingly, I love people from Upstate NY; my beef is with the city.
4. I believe that there aren't nearly as many athletes on steroids as everyone in the media seems to think.

One more thing while we're talking about MR, I usually say that I didn't really learn anything from majoring in economics, but I did understand this post this morning from another econ blog, so either it was really straightforward, or I picked up more than I thought I did.