no matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you

spilth

My apartment is almost entirely free of spilth--a wonderful byproduct of having a guest last weekend.

meliorism

My personal philosophy is not completely at odds with meliorism, but it can sometimes be hard for me to swallow.

wifty

Some of my favorite people would describe themselves as wifty, for sure.

---

1. How would you describe your childhood in general?
   in general, my childhood was quiet, mellow, and bookish--interspersed with moments of lighthearted wildness
2. What is your earliest memory?
   riding in the way-back of the wood-paneled station wagon on the way to my grandparents' house, listening in awe as we'd drive beneath a bridge with the radio tuned to an AM station...
3. How much schooling have you had?
   13+10 years. I know this straight away because I just answered that question on a jury questionnaire. Yes, I've been preliminarily called for jury duty, again.
4. Did you enjoy school?
   more than anything else I've ever done
5. Stop and count: since you were born until today, how many homes have you lived in?
   fifteen
6. While growing up, did you have any role models?
   uh, yeah
7. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?
   while growing up, I got along with my immediately family reasonably well, although there were moments, for sure, with each of them--and quite a bit more than that with both my mom and my sister. The mom thing is just typical mother/daughter growing pains, but the sister thing started as small blemishes that eventually revealed a sinkhole bigger than both of us.
8. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
   a photographer
9. What were your favorite activities 3 years ago?
   reading, writing, sleeping, and photography. Sound familiar?
10. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?
    I'm going to take a wild stab and guess that I was intelligent, searching & complex, just as my Johari Window shows I am (mostly) right now. In all seriousness, I haven't changed much. I've probably become more capable of reining in the mouthiness to put it to best use, and I can definitely keep a lid on the obnoxious know-it-all when I feel like it. But I'm still me.
11. As a child, were you popular?
    in the right crowd, I was Shirley Fuckin' Temple
12. When and with whom was your first kiss?
    it was roughly October 17, 1983, with Earl G.
13. Describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.
    is this a meme, or therapy?!
    
    • I live in this state because of the person to whom I was once married.
    • I have the job because of my unique conglomeration of education, thanks for which can be placed at the feet of Seymour & Rob.
    • If I write with any ease or flair at all--or with economy or skill--it's due to Uncle N., to whom I owe an unpayable debt.
    • "There's a piece of Maria / in every song that I sing"*--which means that I owe my life (what's good and right about it, anyway) to Deb, to Debbie, to The Cat, and to Heidi.
14. What's next?
    oh, y'know. There are mixes to be made, books to be read, connections to maintain and renew, and prehaps corners to turn. We shall see, won't we?

[from The Cat, as you might have guessed, who got it here; the title quotation is by Althea Gibson.
* The lyrics are from Mrs. Potter's Lullaby by Counting Crows.]