screaming meme-y

Some other folks are doing this, so I thought I would too:


1. If you could choose one career, regardless of your natural-born talents/station in life, what would it be?

I assume this means that when you chose the career, poof, you'd have the necessary talent bestowed upon you?

I would like to be an opera singer. Yes, really. It would be a chance at a mild form of celebrity - and best of all, a celebrity where your size is less of an issue than it is for the typical famous female. And you get to dress up.

The fact that I can't actually, you know, sing, is only one of the reasons that would keep me from trying it "for reals" - any kind of entertainer type job requires horrible hours that I would, in the real world, hate.

2. Do you have a tattoo? If so, what is it? If not, would you get one? What would you get?

No, and I won't get one, for two reasons:

1. Fear of needles.
2. I'm reaching the point in life where skin begins to sag, and I can see how hideous some tattoos will look once their owners reach 60 or so. (Mind blowing thought - all of those 20-something woman with "tramp stamps" hitting 70.)


3. Movie theater or DVD rental?

Rental. My last few theater experiences have convinced me that my fellow man no longer understands the concept of behaving in public in a way different than when you are sitting on your sofa at home.

4. What's your current pet peeve?

Litterbugs and vandals. Put them on the space ship destined for the Sun, please.

5. Fiction or non-fiction?

Both - I have a book of each going at the same time most times.

6. What's your typical breakfast?

Cereal or toast. This morning it was a glass of orange juice and a bowl of "Cinnamon Puffins."

7. Vegetable you hate?

Brussels sprouts and broccoli top the list. It would actually be quicker to list vegetables I LIKE.

8. If you could magically play a musical instrument as well as a professional, what would it be?

Piano all the way, because of the versatility - I could play Bach prologues for myself when alone, I could play for sing-alongs at parties, I could accompany people who sing or play other instruments. Also, there's a huge repertoire of music for piano, from the 1600s to last week.

9. Do you believe in luck?

Sort of, but sort of not. I tend to think that you get back in life what you put out to it - not in any kind of karmic sense, but in the sense that breaks tend to come if you're expecting them, and you tend to overlook the little opportunities if you're convinced, Eeyore-like, that nothing good ever happens to you.

I also would like to observe here that I have been very blessed in my life. Very blessed. I have gotten good things far beyond my desert of them.

10. Are you overly concerned about your physique?

I am an American female who is larger than a size 6. In other words, yes. Probably unhealthily so.

I also hate with a passion the news stories that come out and worry us about what we eat or drink. Did you know there are actually nutritionists who say you should never, ever drink fruit juice because of the calories?

11. Cat or dog?

I don't have either (never home and also have allergies) but in preference cat edges out dog.

12. Do you like manual labor?

Provided it's not 95 degrees out with a dewpoint in the 70s, yes, I do.

13. If you are female, do you wear makeup?

Yes. I am naturally pale and I also have come to regard it as part of my "psychological body armor."

14. (Male or female) Do you pluck or wax your eyebrows?

I do a little "shaping" but I'm not going for the Claudette Colbert look. They're fairly natural, just not Brooke Shields natural.

15. What's your ultimate vacation?

Going to an interesting city somewhere with lots of good museums, lots of interesting shopping, lots of nice restaurants, staying in a nice fancy hotel. Oh, and the city has to be one where you can walk around without being harassed. Not sure if such a place exists.

16. If you could retire to anyplace, regardless of money, where would you spend your twilight years?

No idea. Probably stay closest to the friends/family I have at that time. I don't quite understand the mentality of uprooting yourself totally when you hit 65 or 70 and moving halfway across the country - what if you don't LIKE the people you wind up living near?

17. Who do you envy?

First off, as Nightfly said, that should be "whom." Second off, I will once again quote Plato: We know not what burdens others carry.

The grass may LOOK greener but usually that means there's a broken sewer line or something under the surface.

I'm honestly pretty happy with my life so I have no need to envy others.

18. Do you wish you were filthy rich?

No, not really. While it would be nice to be able to snap my fingers and have someone do my laundry for me or go to the market to pick up the skim milk and eggs and spinach I need, I also think I'd lose something of myself in the process of not having to do those things.

19. Is your house clean and tidy or dirty and disorganized?

What point of the semester are we talking about? Early on, or a few days after exam week it's very nice and clean. But about midsemester - or when I'm actually writing exams - it gets to be a bit of a sty.

20. What do you miss about your twenties?

What do I miss? I know what I don't miss - a lot of the emotional crap, a lot of the worrying about what's going to happen to me, a lot of obsessing about my body size coupled with spending months writing down EVERY DAMN THING I ATE in a note book, a lot of the worrying about why Mr. Right hadn't shown up yet on his white charger and swept me off my feet and carried me away to a life where everything's perfect....

Okay - one thing. My metabolism was a wee bit faster when I was in my 20s. And I could eat fried chicken without getting an upset stomach afterwards. I kind of miss that.