WHAT
IS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
Right
now my greatest fear is that Dad's health will take a downturn that is beyond
my ability to cope with. I've accepted that his heath issues are both chronic
and progressive and that at some point he probably won't be able to live here
anymore, but I'm not ready for that to happen.
WHAT
IS YOUR CURRENT STATE OF MIND?
At
the moment I'm tired and am enjoying some rare alone time at home.
WHAT
IS YOUR FAVORITE OCCUPATION?(WAY OF SPENDING TIME)
There
are three, generally: reading, drawing, writing. Lately it's been reading and
writing. I also have come to look forward to my Skype time with Pat where we
chat and watch a video.
WHAT
HISTORICAL FIGURE DO YOU MOST IDENTIFY WITH?
I'd say
admire rather than identify, but either way it's Frida Kahlo. The amount of
bullshit that woman had to deal with over the course of a lifetime and she
STILL was one of the most prolific and groundbreaking artists to have walked
the earth. She is also one of a very few female artists who is better known
than her husband, and that is very, very rare.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo
WHICH
LIVING PERSON DO YOU MOST ADMIRE?
Oprah!
HAHAHAHA, no. This tends to vary depending on my mood at the time, what's on my
mind, etc., but right now the person that leaped to mind is contemporary artist
Kara Walker: http://learn.walkerart.org/karawalker
I really love her work.
WHO
IS YOUR FAVORITE FICTIONAL HERO?
This
is another thing that tends to vary according to my mood at the time :D Right
now it's Buffy, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's just so wonderfully flawed
and human. I love the way that character was written and how she grew over the
years.
WHO
ARE YOUR REAL-LIFE HEROES?
No
one specific is coming to mind, but I admire the hell out of those people who
work hard, quietly, behind the scenes, getting no credit and minimal reward in
order to make the world a little bit better. I'm talking about people who
volunteer in soup kitchens, schools and senior centers. Teachers, home health
aides and the folks who pick up the trash every day. The world needs people who
are willing to do those jobs.
WHAT
IS YOUR MOST TREASURED POSSESSION?
Probably
my iPad. It's my medium of choice for drawing and I've come to rely on it. The
iPad is also the only thing I've ever bought myself simply because I wanted it.
It has come to be useful beyond my expectations, but I bought it because it was
cool.
WHEN
AND WHERE WERE YOU HAPPIEST?
In
my first apartment when I first left home. It was the first place that was
mine. Not that I've not been happy since, because I have been. But there is
something about your first foray out into the world that can't be equalled.
WHAT
IS YOUR MOST OBVIOUS CHARACTERISTIC?
I
tend to think that it's my hair, which I stopped coloring when I turned 40 so
it's silver-white now. Most people my age are just starting to go grey, but I
started when I was 18. But the thing others tell me they notice about me is my
eyes. I'm also pretty easy going so there's that too. Interesting that the
first characteristics I thought of were physical. Maybe it's because the
physical is what tends to be most noticeable to a first glance?
WHAT
IS THE TRAIT YOU MOST DEPLORE (HATE) IN YOURSELF?
I
can be WAY too analytical and self-critical. The self-criticism is something
I've been working to stop doing because it never leads to anything positive,
but the over-analysis has to stop too. Sometimes you just have to DO something
and take the risk.
WHAT
IS THE TRAIT YOU MOST DEPLORE IN OTHERS?
Manipulation.
Just tell me what it is that you want/need from me and we can go from there. It
really gets on my nerves when I feel that I've been used. Passive-aggressive
behavior falls into this category. Makes me nuts and leaves me with the feeling
that I can't trust someone to be honest with me.
WHAT
IS YOUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE?
The
iPad without a doubt. Again, my sole purpose in buying it was
OMGTHISISSOCOOLANDIWANTITNOWNOWNOW!!!
WHAT
IS YOUR FAVORITE JOURNEY?
For
years my family have been renting cabins in the Adirondack mountains in upstate
NY. (Way up, closer to Lake Placid than Lake George, which is too touristy.)
When I was a kid we'd spend two weeks and I still have friends that I made
there. I haven't been up there in a few years and I miss it. The drive is
lovely and it's such a nice place to unplug and recharge.
WHAT
DO YOU MOST DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR APPEARANCE?
Not
so much my appearance, but I am out of shape and that needs to change.
WHAT
DO YOU CONSIDER THE MOST OVER-RATED VIRTUE?
Niceness.
The notion that everyone needs to agree and get along all the time. Sometimes I
feel that the concept of "being nice" gets confused with politeness,
which to me is a totally different thing. Being polite means showing others
basic consideration and respect. Being nice implies that you have to like everyone,
which is not going to happen. I can be polite to someone without being
especially nice.
ON
WHAT OCCASION DO YOU LIE?
I
try not to as lies have a way of coming back to haunt. But if I do, it's more
likely to be a lie of omission and only then if I think hearing the whole would
do someone harm.
WHICH
WORDS OR PHRASES DO YOU MOST OVER-USE?
The
word "awesome". It does not help that it's Pat's word as well.
IF
YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I'm
not sure I'd change anything, but I do have things about myself that I work on
like the self-criticism and over-thinking as stated above. The reason I'd not
remove those things completely is that sometimes self reflection and critical
analysis are good things. It's when it goes to an extreme where I end up not
being able to move, or I realize that I'd be very badly hurt if I heard some of
the things I'm capable of saying to myself come from a friend that I need to
work on. And I am.
WHAT
DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?
Probably
my Masters Degree (MS). I did a lot of good work that I'm proud of. But that's
to date; I have a lot of years to top that.
WHERE
WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE?
I'm
most comfortable being near large bodies of water, like the ocean or the Great
Lakes. The ocean for preference. So as long as I've got that, I'm good. I'm not
sure why that is, but my Grandfather used to say that it was a matter of where
the breezes are coming from, over water where there are boats and maybe a few
seagulls, or over land where there are things like trees, fields and cows. If
you're allergic to trees and fields, like I am, and cows freak you out, (like
they do me, I'm glad we eat them) then the ocean is the better bet.
WHAT
IS THE QUALITY YOU MOST ADMIRE IN A PERSON?
I
admire the hell out of people who can just go and do things and not over-think
everything.
WHAT
IS IT YOU MOST DISLIKE?
I
dislike when there is no thought at all, when there is zero consideration taken
for people or circumstances.
WHAT
DO YOU VALUE MOST IN YOUR FRIENDS?
My
friends are honest with me, and we can just let each other "be". No
pressure, but acceptance that we're all different and that's ok. Also, physical
distance doesn't really matter. Even before the internet made it so easy to
stay in touch my closest friends and I managed to maintain our relationships
and pick right up when we were able to be together in person.
IF
YOU WERE TO DIE AND COME BACK AS A PERSON OR AN ANIMAL, WHAT DO YOU THINK IT
WOULD BE?
I'm
not so sure that I believe in reincarnation, but I think I'd like to come back
as either a penguin, because I happen to love penguins, or a dolphin.
IF
YOU COULD CHOOSE AN OBJECT TO COME BACK AS, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
I
don't want to come back as an object.
WHAT
IS YOUR MOTTO (WORDS YOU LIVE BY OR THAT MEAN A LOT TO YOU)?
These
are my two favorite quotes, both by Douglas Adams. Make of them what you will:
“I don't go to mythical places with strange men.” Douglas Adams,
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
“It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just
with potatoes.” Douglas Adams, Life, the Universe and Everything
WHO HAS BEEN THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON YOU?
My grandparents. I grew up with all four of them and I learned so
much about my family's past, how to be (or not) an adult, as well as what
unconditional love means. Plus such pearls of wisdom like the one about land
breezes v. ocean breezes, which are absolutely priceless.
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