It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.

My current view

Where do you spend most of your time while you’re awake?

      my living room

What makes someone a hero?

     selflessness, generosity, and bravery

When in your life have you been a victim of stereotyping?

      I've come up against it a few times, usually related to being underestimated. However, I don't consider myself a "victim" of it. It more often serves as inducement to do what I'm doing, and I recognize that relatively speaking I've had it pretty easy.

When was the last time you felt lucky?

      when I won (a little) cash on a scratch-off lottery ticket

When did you first realize that life is short? 

     Chris' death has been the single most traumatic event of my life, with the most wide-reaching effects

What is the most insensitive thing a person can do?

      leave their music cranked when they're not in the car. Do they really have such a mammoth ego that they think others want to hear whatever they like to listen to?    

Have you, or do you, ever cheat while playing games with friends or family? Why?

         I don't cheat, but ...  I probably don't play as cut-throat and relentlessly with someone I like than with someone I'm not close to. Sometimes the point is to enjoy playing the game, not to win at all costs.

What can someone do to grab your attention?

      be good with words, look me in the eye, care more about substance than surface

What do you usually think about on your drive home from work?         happily, I have no drive-home-from-work, so this is not an issue for me. When I was commuting to the bank, I mostly thought about the day that had just passed, my plans for the evening, whether I needed to stop at the ubiquitous convenience store on my way - and sometimes even noting the beauty of the path I took.

What simple fact do you wish more people understood?

      headlights are at least as important in letting others see you, as they are in helping you to see other things. And as long as they're dimmed, there is absolutely no negative effect of using them. So: use them.

What’s one downside of the modern day world?

      lost connection thanks to the irony of increased connection - phones, mostly. How many interactions have I avoided by pretending I had something urgent going on? How many times have I lost myself in text messaging, ignoring the people in the same room? How many opportunities for connection, like actually looking at and talking with someone, playing board games and laughing, working on projects together, have dissolved in favor of mindlessly scrolling? How many connections have been missed entirely, because people are addicted to transitory dopamine?

If you could do it all over again, would you change anything?

      yup. Buy the dress, say the words, kiss the man, take the trip, apply for the job...

How would you describe your future in three words?

      we shall see

 

[from here; the title quotation is from a letter by Edgar Allan Poe]