you never know what could happen. One way to deal with that is to keep your pajamas washed

5. What haven’t you tried before? 

    I have not traveled, end-to-end, by myself. I've taken plenty of solo trips, but there was always a social goal in mind, such as meeting someone in a different place, attending an event with another person, or going to stay with a friend or family. It seemed like an indulgence that I could not financially afford, and seemed inconsistent with what I am often urged to do, to "be more social." There's loads of facts and feelings involved with this general issue. I am, though, thinking more about it, and would like to do it - sometime soon.

12. What's the nicest compliment you've gotten lately? 

     someone I care about told me (not in so many words, but unmistakably) that my skin is soft

19. What do beginners most need to know in your field?

      how to retain their humanity in the face of endless opportunities to destroy it

26. Tell the story of how you got started in your niche, industry, or career. How did you get to where you are? What events, decisions or efforts were the most pivotal? Why?

      My mom graduated from high school in a very small town. Her class was 12 people, and she was at the top of the honor roll. In the yearbook, she announced a dream of being a lawyer. Marriage and family took precedence, though, so that dream was never realized. 

    The summer I turned 26, life was up in the air. I was married, we were both "at a natural end" - he'd completed his Ph.D. and I was through the classroom part of grad school. We didn't want to stay where we were, but didn't have an exact goal for where to live. He applied for a bunch of jobs, and I followed along and applied for schools near those jobs. Alas, he didn't get any offers, but I did; I was accepted at every school of the nine to which I'd applied. As our deadline for moving loomed closer, we needed to make a choice. Essentially flipping a coin for our future, we agreed that we should move to D-town and I should go to law school. 

    As it turned out, it was a fortuitous choice. He was eventually hired to fill the position for which he'd applied at that same university. We had family in the area. We rented a house that suited us well. It was less expensive, and far more comfortable than the place we'd lived for the previous four years. And it was less than half the distance from our parents' (and lots of good friends') 

places, which was the basis for our desire to move in the first place.

    So, in sum, what got me started in law was almost overwhelming homesickness combined with spontaneity and a whole lot of luck.

5. What are a couple of things you really like about the company you work for?

     they switched to weekly payroll, and because of my particular direct deposit arrangement I am paid 3 days after the period ends.

    They are really, really flexible about time off. There are standards for working full-time, of course, but within those expectations the actual hours worked are almost unlimited.

    And one of the people I've worked with thinks I'm really, really good at my job, to the point that he's regularly tried to poach me away from the current gig and onto one of his.

33. What scares you the most, and why? Where does it come from, and how do you handle it? 

     besides the ones I've already written about 400 times... storms. I grew up in a small neighborhood on a "ridge" in local parlance, which is not precisely a ridge but a relatively flat area that descends at various angles. Think of it like a tabletop that's surrounded by some valleys. Our house on that ridge had no basement. That means, during thunderstorms, the sky seems pretty close, and the wind seems extra strong. For as long as I can remember, wind especially has freaked me out.

40. What don’t people know about you? Share a secret! 

    pretty sure my pronunciation of the word "pajamas" is not typical (kind a like "pecan"...). I call them puh-JAM-uhs, not puh-JAH-mus". All this is a quick explanation of why I generally refer to them as PJs. 

on my favorites shelf!

47. Who is your favorite fictional character, and why? How are you alike?    
    Charlotte Holmes, from Sherry Thomas' The Lady Sherlock series. Intense, awkward, brilliant, highly sexual, and fond of cake, Charlotte is an intellectual dervish with few friends, but those she has, she loves fiercely. The stories—there are seven in print, and The Ruse of Shadows to be released June 25, 2024—are fresh and innovative while hearkening back to the Conan Doyle classics.

    How am I like Charlotte Holmes? I'm less logical, but do like a puzzle. Intense, a few close friends, and fond of cake - those all sound like me.

54. What do a lot of people believe that’s actually not true? 

     that other people always want to hear the minute details of one's hobbies.  

10. Do you and your coworkers typically eat lunch together, or does your team tend to eat by themselves or at their desks?

    my last in-office job is divided into three parts. I was hired at entry level in the mortgage department of a bank. My position was a dozen steps removed from front-line, located in a locked-room cube farm a couple blocks away from "headquarters." There were a dozen others in my sub-department. We worked 8:AM til 4:30 PM, with (at least) one half-hour's unpaid lunch. The cube farm, which is a former drugstore, included a little break-room where the medications had been stored. A little cupboard for paper plates and party supplies lined one corner. A very shitty old microwave was on one wall near a perpetually dirty sink, and a couple of cheap refrigerators stood side by side making terrible noises and emitting terrible odors. There were five round tables, with chairs for 8, crammed in with just enough room to stuff oneself between wall, chair, and table. Nearly everyone ate with the table jammed into their body in some way. 

    I was at that job for a little over 3 months. I ate with my closest coworkers, which meant there was constant togetherness for the entire workday. It was overwhelming to never have a break.

    For the next 2 years, I had a different role, this time with commercial loans. There was no change of venue; my new cubicle was one row south of my first one. It was an upgrade, though, and not just in money, since my first job had put me in a shared cube. I was working in a 3-person "pod" (good God do I hate that word) within a group within a section within an area within a part within a department of the organization, with accompanying levels of bureaucracy, indecision, and "management." Each of us was good at a different aspect of the job, so we functioned so smoothly. I became close with the other two, and we took our lunches together - deliberately at a time when the break room was less busy - every day. 

    Finally, I was promoted to a professional position, this time at the main location. I had an office, with a (big, heavy, slammable) door that locks, with an entire wall of (exterior) windows. It was marvelous. Though, on the first floor, having a wall of windows is a commitment to good behavior. There's no getting away with anything in that spot, since anyone can walk or drive by at any time. There was also a floor-to-ceiling window next to that door, so my colleagues could see in, too. It was a bit like being in a museum, or maybe a zoo. 

    We were encouraged to share our meals with coworkers from around the company, in either of two lunch rooms - one very large and light, up on the third floor where the muckity-mucks abound, and the other tucked beneath the stairs in the rabbit warren of a basement, with random stalactites of plumbing or ventilation appearing out of nowhere, at heights (or depths?) so low that even I could bang my head if not being careful. However, I was annoyed at being around people when it could be avoided, and relied on lunch breaks to reset my required extroversion back to functional levels. Therefore, apart from a handful of times when I joined the festivities elsewhere, I ate lunch at my desk, and appreciated every moment of it.

[from What to blog about: 101 Irresistible blog ideas, supplemented with some from 301 Best Questions to ask on your Interview the title quotation is by Haruki Murakami, from 1Q84]