If you had one extra hour a day to do one activity, what would it be? If you could have prevented any single fashion trend from ever happening, which would you have stopped?

If you could change one thing about your face, what would it be? If you had to name the person who turned out to be the furthest from your first impression of them, who would it be?

If you had to guess what these questions have in common, what would you say? If you said they all start with the big magic word “if,” then you’re right. But what’s important is that these questions and 496 more can be found in the new book, “If2”.

Now, I usually don’t use the Moss Pit as a free publicity ride for anyone (well, except for maybe Local H or Vanilla Ice), but this book is just so darn cool that I couldn’t go without telling you about it.

It all started the day before winter break when I was cleaning out one of my favorite little places here at the Daily office, the coveted drawer-of-freebies.

I’m not a big reader, so usually I’m in there snagging CDs and cool Striptease photos of Demi, rather than books.

But on this particular day, I happened to notice a shiny metallic-silver book with the word “If” written in big letters on the cover. It instantly met my book reading standards in that I understood every word in the title.

I thought I would grab it and, if nothing else, give it as a Christmas gift to someone. But when I started looking at it, I couldn’t set it down. Instantly, I became an If-book junky.

When I truly realized the power of this book, though, was on Christmas Day, when my family made our usual trek back to our homeland (A1A Beachfront Ave.). What is usually a very dull, three-hour car ride spent making fun of our relatives became an exploration deep into the minds and hearts of ourselves and our family.

One thing to take note of is that my family always takes two cars when we travel, so in order to communicate, we use the old-school CB radio system. I imagine this could have been a mistake, had any delusional truckers been on the same channel.

Anyway, I took the role of the host and started asking questions from the book.

It is important to have a good host to weed out some of the questions that are not appropriate for the situation. In this case it was anything sexual (If you had to name the single most erotic part of the human body, what would it be?) or anything that would get myself into trouble (If you had to confess to the most evil thing you have ever done, what would it be?).

The fun thing about an If-book is that you can take it seriously or as a joke. Or, as in this case, both. Playing the If-book game actually reminded me a lot of the old game show Hollywood Squares. After each question is asked, you can give a funny answer and then move on to a serious one.

This can be especially exciting when you play (or read) with a bunch of funny people or when you start picking on someone, such as the people you work with.

My If-book (which is a sequel), and the original If-book, are both equipped with a full 500 if-questions, covering classic topics like money, children, death and sex.

The newer version also explores up-to-date topics such as welfare, taxes, health care and the environment.

But the questions that are the most fun are the ones that you just, plain don’t think about very much (If you could change places with any of your friends, who would you choose?).

In the preface, the If-book creators state that their one goal is to provoke the mind. Just remember that the mind doesn’t have to be provoked in some coffee house in France. It can be done anywhere.

I suggest picking up an If-book (only $10) and bringing it with you to your next date, dentist appointment or family reunion. You will never lack the potential for fascinating discussions again. And if you do, read this quote and everything will be all better.

“I buy all my underwear at Victoria’s Secret. I’ve been buying it there for years. A lot of people think that store only has fancy ladies’ lingerie, but they’ve got great men’s underwear too.”

—Vanilla, on the secret everyone wants to know

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Corey Moss is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Urbandale. His favorite food service meal is french dip (with swiss cheese).