from "Questions to get to know someone"
28. What's your favorite genre of book or movie?
it ought to be apparent by now that I have a hard time with commitment, at least in terms of questions like these. I love intense psychological thrillers, and mindless martial arts flicks. Sometimes I gravitate toward schmaltzy romantic comedies, and other times very quirky indie films. Korean war dramas - in Korean, with subtitles - are a fave, as are sports movies (especially baseball and golf). Lately I have watched a lot of gangster and action films.
My reading taste is easier to track, probably? Poetry (more modern than not, but still some of the older stuff). Fiction (more from the small publisher/unconventional type than bestsellers). Some genre stuff - mystery, fantasy, romance, a tiny bit of science fiction. I shy away from epics and historical fiction, but can be hand-sold on pretty much anything by someone I trust.
29. What's the farthest you've ever been from home?
Los Angeles, California
30. What TV or YouTube channel doesn't exist but really should?
feh
31. Where is the most interesting place you've been?
there is a store called The Commercial in the next state over. I am enraptured by it, and have gone there repeatedly. They sell artsy stuff, ceramics and wood and fabric arts. I dunno what-all. Every time I head that way, I go with the intention of buying something extraordinary. Of treating myself to a work of art that I will actually use. There is a "line" of mugs, vases, teapots, etc., right inside the door, for instance. I would love to have one of those mugs. But each time I go and actually pick one up, and see the price...my Midwestern common sense smacks me on the head and says "you have enough fucking mugs; save this $38 for something you need!" and I put it back down. It has turned into an exercise in longing. Someday, I will buy something from there....
32. What fad or trend do you hope comes back?
under the current circumstances, touching another person is a big deal. Sharing affection physically is vulnerable and expressive. I think it would be kind of nice if things like hugs and holding hands and kissing became really meaningful again, rather than something that we take for granted.
33. What city would you most like to live in?
there is no particular spot in mind, but I have come to like the idea of having somewhere to go when it gets really cold and gross up here. Not any of the typical spots, for personal reasons that have less to do with where they are as with what they connote.
34. When was the last time you climbed a tree just for fun?
I would have been really little - and the tree very short
35. What do you consider to be your best find?
a material object? My wrestling shoes. I literally searched for them for years. They are the most comfortable shoes that I own, and though I rarely wear them, they hold a very special place in my heart.
36. What is special about the place you grew up?
it has a big river and a couple of decent-sized lakes (and some smaller bodies of water as well). There are numerous public parks - which I have come to realize is not the case in most small cities. There are hills all along one side, and they are remarkably picturesque throughout the year. The architecture is a mix of old and striking (much featuring locally-designed stained glass) and new (including the headquarters of an almost-Fortune 500 company that trades publicly). There are 3 institutions of higher learning, and a museum featuring works by Cézanne, Turner, Gaugin, Monet, and Van Gogh.
37. What age do you wish you could permanently be?
I have no desire for immortality, or to stagnate at one age while everyone I know moves on. The passage of time, in itself, is valuable experience.
38. What's worth spending more on, to get the best?
salad dressing, pens, shoes, bacon, and hotel rooms
39. What are you most likely to be famous for?
I will not ever be famous, in all likelihood, and I am all right with that
40. What fictional place would you like to go?
The Waystone Inn
41. Where is the most relaxing place you've ever been to?
as much as I felt at home in Miami, and as much as I enjoyed my time in Bethesda - Santa Fe was deeply relaxing. I would go back to New Mexico in a heartbeat.
42. What have you only recently formed an opinion about?
This is hard for me to answer. I am learning all the time, forming and changing opinions, revising and reconciling what I had thought or believed before with what I have discovered since. Almost nothing is set in stone.
43. What is the most heartwarming thing you've ever seen?
the way that airport arrivals used to be. Seeing someone waiting for a plane to come in, standing, watching eagerly, making eye contact, the rush, the hug.... I have been moved to tears by (others') airport reunions.
44. What's the most interesting piece of art you've seen?
an installation called The Dangerous Logic of Wooing by Ernesto Neto that I saw at the Hirschorn Museum (a branch of the Smithsonian) in Washington, D.C. There are a couple of pictures of it in this post from my trip.
45. What's something you like to do the old-fashioned way?
I very rarely use my mixer when cooking or baking. Unless I am making a huge batch of cookies - or boiled frosting - a spoon will do.
46. Would you rather go hang gliding or whitewater rafting?
ugh. I suppose it would be whitewater by default, 'cause there ain't no way I would hang glide.
47. Who has impressed you most with what they've accomplished?
someone I care about very much. For all the grumbling, he adapts to change and 'reinvents' with remarkable aplomb. I admire him a great deal.
48. How do you relax after a hard day of work?
read, exercise, write, talk on the phone or text, cook, watch movies
49. What popular TV show or movie do you refuse to watch?
"refuse" is a strong word. No one can watch everything, so the fact that someone has not seen something may not have any nefarious meaning. It might just not appeal.
50 What job do you think you'd be really good at?
deep, specific research, of the sort that I did as a graduate assistant in History or Law
51. What pets did you have when you were growing up?
we had: one small brown dog of inexplicable parentage when I was very little; one perpetually pissed off, highly fertile cat of questionable morals; some borderline suicidal little fish named after the minor characters from Julius Caesar, and two kittens who rode home with my brother on his motorcycle (buttoned into his jean jacket) from the farm where their mother had been killed. We fed them with a dropper bottle until they were big enough for kitten food. The little boy was hit by a car later that summer (on my birthday of all things). That girl was my dearest friend until she died when I was 20.
52. Where would you spend all your time if you could?
my summer home
53. What would be the most amazing adventure to go on?
trust
[excerpted from here; the title quotation is by William Shakespeare, from Julius Caesar]
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