she had always wanted words, she loved them; grew up on them. Words gave her clarity, brought reason, shape

from 132 Best Questions 

 

• What do you love to do for others?  write notes, share music, and to contribute

• If you could make a documentary about anything, what would you make it about?  what people from my town, and my state, are really like (all stereotypes aside)

• What’s the best gift anyone’s ever given you? Why was it “the best”?  a couple of years ago, someone intensely dear to me gave me a profoundly personal gift that was one thing on the surface and something entirely different - exponentially more - underneath. And though someone stole half of it, the other half is about 30 feet away from me right now, where I can see it every single day and remember that day and the astounded joy and love that it brought.

• If you could open a store, what would you sell or provide?  books, cards, and that

• What are you tired of?  bananas

• What were you born to do?  I was born to love ...

• What do you want more of in your life?  hugs

• What are you devoted to?  telling my truth, if only to myself

• What would give you peace of mind?  someone falling off the side of the planet

• What’s the best compliment you ever received?  the cop once touched my cheek and said, "I have remembered how soft your skin felt"—from 29 years before

• What would your job title be if the words you currently use to describe your job no longer existed?  Panderer to Overfed Brats

• What’s one thing you’re never afraid to do?  step up for a hug when I need one (under appropriate circumstances) 

• If you could start your career over, what would you do differently?  pursue the MLIS

• What does “success” look like for you?  "happiness"

• Are you a hummingbird, flitting from passion to passion, or a woodpecker, who drills down into one passion?  hummingbird

• What do you geek out about?  intellectual puzzles

• Why are you alive right now?  because an emergency room doctor insisted that I should tell every health care worker with whom I come in contact that I really, truly am allergic to narcotics

• If you were a completely superficial, selfish person, what would you really want? Fame, money, respect, a pony?  enough money to stop working and to pay for insurance for myself and someone else until drawing retirement is a possibility. Enough more to travel in style—and to hit seven stars.

[from here; the title quotation is by Michael Ondaatje, from The English Patient]