more questions, more answers

If you were a particular style or genre of music, what would you be and why?
Holocaust music—dark, sorrowful, slightly tinged with glinting light.

When I first saw _______, I felt _________.
clouds beneath me while riding for the first time an airplane… confused (I thought the clouds were the ocean, and that it had somehow stopped moving.)

My friends consider me an expert in __________.
Ummm...probably self-injury issues and anosmia issues.

If you were a retail store, which would you be? In other words, which retail store’s atmosphere and stock best describes your personality?
Zap’s in Lancaster, PA. Dark, cluttered with both cool and ugly things, unique, always full of surprises.

What is one wild, spontaneous thing that you would like to do to your appearance, if you were brave enough to do it?
Get my hair cropped. Maybe get another nose ring (it’s wilder this time around because I’m an adult professional, not a college student, like I was before).

Do you remember your first celebrity crush and your first “ordinary” crush? If so, who were they and roughly how old were you?
Celebrity crush: Shaun Cassidy, when I was 4. Ordinary crush: I think Mark Daigle, in first grade. I wrote him a love letter that his parents treasured like it was the Dead Sea Scrolls. I fell for him after he came to our class’s Halloween party dressed as a vampire. (Sexy!)

Any normal celebrity crushes?
John Krasinski, Jake Epstein, Jake Webber, Hal Sparks, Michael Ian Black, Mo Rocca, Hugh Laurie, Colin Firth, Paul Rudd, Phil Keoghan, Julian McMahon, Tori Amos.

Any embarrassing celebrity crushes?
Piers Morgan, Billy Bush, John Simm.

“I may seem ______ but I’m really ______.”
snobby … shy and introverted

Quick! List the first memory that pops into your head!
Almost passing out in the Hermitage. I knew to avoid the tap water in Russia, and I really made an effort to do so. Yet somehow it didn’t occur to me that my morning coffee would be made with tap water, and before I knew it, I had the raging shits. So the raging shits, when coupled with how hot and crowded the museum was, led to me almost passing out. I had to sit down on one of the grand staircases and put my head between my knees for a while.

If you could stick an old enemy in the ass with something sharp, what would the sharp object be?
A filthy, rusty, feces-encrusted scythe.

What do you take for granted?
My health, and my friends’ and family’s health. I also take for granted how lucky I’ve been with averting tragedy and loss. And I take for granted my safety—the fact that, on any given day, I most likely won’t get killed in a terrorist’s suicide bomb, or have to spend my time cowering in an air-raid shelter, or worry that maniacs with axes bent on ethnic cleansing will kick down my door.

What have you squandered the most in your life?
Time. I’ve wasted so much time, always thinking that things can wait until later, and one day I’m going to stop and realize that I’m old and it’s too late.

Which of your skills needs to be worked on the most at this time?
My meeting-new-people skills.

What joy do you miss most?
The joy of summer when school was out and three months of doing nothing but having fun, being lazy, and exploring stretched in front of me.

What do you never leave home without?
My keys. And since leaving home generally entails going somewhere in my car, I also never leave home without either an iPod or a CD in my hand, so I’ll have music during my drive.

Which ideas and structures have you outgrown in the past few years?
The idea that the world is safe and can be trusted. The idea that I need a romantic relationship in order to be validated.

What music would you like to have played at your funeral?
Listen up, people: I already have a funeral folder on my iPod! So you’re set! Well, okay, it’s really a mix that I made for my cat when he died, with a few additions thrown in over the years, but it will carry over to my death as well.

Which month best describes your temperament/personality?
Once upon a time I was February—cold, dark, miserable, and I exhausted people’s patience. But now I’m March/April. Sometimes sunny and warm, sometimes dark and bitterly cold. Ascending towards spring, but still rooted in winter.

What would be in your fantasy house?
A big screened-in porch that is semi-circular, lots of large windows, an outside hot tub (sorry, I can’t help it—I love my sister’s hot tub), window seats, some built-in bookcases, a few fireplaces, hardwood floors, French doors, window boxes full of flowers. Maybe a glassed-in sunroom. I want an old house with character—wainscoting and elegant woodwork, nooks and crannies, a secret passage, maybe an old set of servants’ stairs. A garden full of wildflowers with stone paths and benches. A big attic. A sauna. A tire swing in the yard. A playroom for the cats.

What do you wish someone had told you before you found out for yourself?
That even though you want something and/or someone desperately for years, and you can’t see yourself in any other setting but the setting of that dream, it still ain’t necessarily going to happen.

Have you ever gone skinny-dipping? If not, would you ever go skinny-dipping?
I’ve gone skinny-dipping 2-3 times. I loved it and would definitely do it again. The first time was the most magical. It was the night before I returned to college to start my sophomore year.

Favorite subject in high school and/or college.
Honors English and French in high school; On the Road and Gothic Literature in college.

Least favorite subject in high school and/or college.
Math!!! I hate math with a passion, and I’m not nuts about science, either. So in high school I loathed algebra, geometry, biology, and chemistry. In college I didn’t have to take math, so I’d have to say that religious classes were my least favorite. Oh, and Public Speaking. I didn’t like Mass Communication Law or Logical and Rhetorical Analysis, either.

What do you think is the most pointless holiday?
Columbus Day. We don’t even get the day off work! And the guy wasn’t even the first person to “discover” America! And he kinda-sorta kick-started the Indian genocide!

What is your favorite piece of furniture that you own?
My wrought iron headboard. I had it custom-made by a blacksmith in Mahopac, New York.

“I really should stop ____.”
Eating unhealthy food, worrying so much about things I can’t control, working myself into an early grave.

“Life would be meaningless without _____.”
Music, books, friendship, pets, art, introspection, nature, darkness.

“I wish I would have never ____.”
Taken the sticky-fingered route, gotten thrown out of England, spent years pining for unattainable boys, stopped studying French.

Do you have any rituals/routines that you perform during the course of the day?
My whole morning is a ritual. That’s the only way I can get my lazy, unmotivated ass functioning in the morning and out the door so I’m not late to work. I’m like a pre-programmed robot in the morning.

If you could become a superstar in any realm, which would you prefer?
I’d want to be a literary superstar! I’d want to write a stack of metaphorical, richly symbolic, enigmatic, dark novels and poetry compilations that people adore! I’d have fans stalk me and people stampede at my book-signings! And I’d want to create modern sculptures that would incite fierce bidding frenzies at art galleries!

Favorite hot drink.
Hot chocolate with whipped cream.

What do you love most about your job? What do you hate the most?
I love my coworkers and hate hearing about acts of barbarism against animals on a daily basis.

Do you believe in love at first sight?
My romantic side wants to say yes, but really, I don’t think it’s possible. Lust at first sight, yes. Like at first sight, yes. A spark of chemistry, the feeling of a strong connection at first sight, yes. But love takes work, and to say that two people can fall in love immediately undermines the special work other people have put into their relationships.

Favorite restaurant(s):
All-time favorite: the Dixie, in Lebanon, PA (which has sadly closed). I still have dreams about it sometimes! Pier Restaurant (a chippie in Greenwich, England). Silver Diner. Jaleo. Olde Hansa in Tallinn.

“In the year 2001 I _____.”
Lost my beloved cat Shoah, adopted my cat Freyja, got a brand new car, watched in horror as the events of 9/11 unfolded, took a business trip to San Antonio, got displaced after a tornado slammed into my apartment.

“In the year 2002 I _____.”
Stopped wearing underwear, moved to a new apartment, got a new job, swam in the ocean for the first time in years.

“In the year 2003 I _____.”
Went to Scotland, attended three concerts (Peter Gabriel, American Idol, Simon & Garfunkel), attended two friends’ weddings (and was a bridesmaid in one of them).

“In the year 2004 I _____.”
Turned 30, became an aunt for the first and only time, saw Morrissey in concert, went to my first strip club.

“In the year 2005 I _____.”
Went to Finland, Estonia, Russia, and Iceland; started freelancing up a storm.

I like to sleep _______.
As long as physically possible. In my own bed.

I wish I had _______.
Enough money to buy a house!!! Plane tickets to various destinations around the world. And an adorably geeky boyfriend.

One thing I have that I wish I didn’t have is _____.
Anosmia. Oh, and ridiculously noisy neighbors. And debt. Okay, so much for naming only one thing…

I live for _______.
Vegging, sleeping, reading, hanging out with my cats, being silly with my friends.

Is revenge always a good thing?
Everybody’s going to expect me to say yes! But really, I don’t think revenge is always the best answer. It does help you feel better most of the time, but it can also make you look like a small, pathetic fool, which leaves you feeling worse than you did before you sought revenge. I try to follow the old adage “The best revenge is living well.” I don’t always succeed, but I try.

I can’t believe I _____.
Haven’t been felled by some kind of brain or skull injury/ailment yet. I guess because of all the problems I’ve had with my head, I’ve got this notion that I’m destined to experience some kind of trauma in that arena (cerebral hemorrhage, stroke, brain tumor, brain injury, etc). It doesn’t help that brain tumors run rampant in my dad’s maternal line.



song heard most recently before posting: Lonelily—Damien Rice