judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers

This is the Proust questionnaire, 35 questions that are supposed to reveal the real you. I decided to try it after seeing Stephen Colbert's version on YouTube (watch it here). The idea is to answer pretty quickly, so I'm not looking ahead at the next question and typing as fast as I can. Let's see how this goes....

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?  basic needs fulfilled with no fear for their security (like food, housing, insurance), and more theoretical needs - like love, friendship, intellectual challenges and true solitude - also abundant
2. What is your greatest fear?  dying alone, slowly
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?  insecurity
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?  untrustworthiness
5. Which living person do you most admire?  my college mentor
6. What is your greatest extravagance?  shoes
7. What is your current state of mind?  angry, sad, frustrated
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?  fidelity
9. On what occasion do you lie?  when to tell the truth will hurt  - more than the lie - someone I love
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?  how clearly it reflects my emotions
11. Which living person do you most despise?  someone who hurts someone I love, on purpose
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?  relatability, an ease with others no matter how much they make or what they're about
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?  curiosity
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?  "reasonable" and "clearly"
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?  Rupert
16. When and where were you happiest?  last summer, in St. Louis
17. Which talent would you most like to have?  insouciance
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?  insecurity
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?  long-lasting friendships
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?  a house-cat
21. Where would you most like to live?  where it's a little warmer in the winter, in a small quiet house near a river
22. What is your most treasured possession?  a green stuffed mouse that I got when I was 4 or 5
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?  inexplicable rejection 
24. What is your favorite occupation?  research and writing
25. What is your most marked characteristic?  slyness
26. What do you most value in your friends?  patience
27. Who are your favorite writers?  David James Duncan, Rainbow Rowell, Anthony Bourdain, Sherry Thomas, and Alissa Kwitney
28. Who is your hero of fiction?  one of Dickens' heroines. Maybe Becky Wilfer?
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?  Eamon de Valera
30. Who are your heroes in real life?  no heroes. The fall from a pedestal is long and painful.
31. What are your favorite names?  Rupert and Katherine
32. What is it that you most dislike?  mushrooms, unkindness, and blisters on vacation
33. What is your greatest regret?  failing to get the other degrees that I could have, when I had the prime opportunities
34. How would you like to die?  fast, with minimal fanfare, and before the money runs out
35. What is your motto?  "Get it all down, girl. Get it all down and write as fast as you can."

I've done this twice before - it's been an age and a half - but I've not reread the answers. Go on, if you like....

 [from here; the title quotation is by Voltaire]