questions

I decided to compromise and only attend one FilmFest DC film, thus freeing me to do more freelancing. Yay! Just how I want to spend my Friday night! But I felt like I had little choice, because I’ve got so much work to do and so little time, given that part of Saturday will be spent at Olivia’s baptism (and possibly hanging out with Skevy for a few hours beforehand), and part of Sunday will be spent at that Smithsonian exhibit I’m jonesing to see.

So last night I checked out a Finnish film, Lights in the Dusk. Ever since, like, 2001, when I showed up at a hotly-anticipated Icelandic film at FilmFest and discovered it was sold out, I’ve been careful to buy my tickets in advance each year. This year I just never got around to it, so when I arrived at the cinema I was nervous the show would be sold out. Thankfully that wasn’t the case. I got there nice and early and hunkered down with a big ol’ library book as I waited for the lights to dim. Several other solo nerds were there with books as well, which warmed the cockles of my normally frosty heart.

The film was okay. I must confess that I didn’t enjoy it as much as the director’s last work, The Man without a Past, but I’m still glad I went. One of the the things I love about attending FilmFest and AFI’s EU Film Festival each year is being surrounded by the chatter of foreign languages beforehand. The people behind me were speaking Russian and the people beside me were speaking something I couldn’t quite identify.

Here’s another one of those questionnaire thingies, sent to me recently by my pal Kristen:

1. FIRST NAME? Jennifer

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I don’t think so.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Mmmm…something on TV made me tear up a little bit semi-recently, but I honestly can’t remember what it was.

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Actually, yes! When I’m not being totally sloppy with it.

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? I’m a vegetarian, so I don’t eat lunch meat, but back in the day, I was all about the sweet bologna.

6. KIDS? No. Unless my cats count!

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOURSELF? Yes.

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Yes.

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Sometimes, but not as much as you’d expect.

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes.

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Hells yeah!!! I’ve been aching to do this for years!

12 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Cinnamon Toast Crunch

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yeah, because otherwise I won’t get them off. But in the past I’ve had shoes that didn’t require it—I managed to pull them off without untying anything (because I’m lazy, y’all).

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically? Not really. In a pinch I can lift heavy things, but afterwards my muscles quiver and ache. Emotionally? About average, I’d say.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? A three-way tie between mint chocolate chip, caramel, and chocolate-peanut butter.

16. SHOE SIZE? 10. *cough*beast*cough*

17. RED OR PINK? Red. Especially dark red.

18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? My hips, butt, and thighs. And my gut (although Freyja doesn’t seem to mind—she loves kneading that dough).

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My old self—the self who had lots and lots and lots of free time and wasn’t working herself into an early grave.

20. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW? Khaki pants, brown shoes.

21. LAST THING YOU ATE? Breakfast: a bowl of cereal and a mug of coffee.

22. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing. But the last song I heard was Miriam Stockley and John Williams’s “Kissing in the Rain”

23 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Midnight blue

24. FAVORITE SMELL? None. I’m fucking anosmic.

25. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Uh…(*tries to think*)…I don’t even know. I honestly can’t remember.

26. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Clothing, probably. God, that makes me sound so materialistic! Really, I don’t care what they’re wearing—it’s just that I notice what they’re wearing because clothes can say a lot about a person.

27. FAVORITE DRINK? Hot: hot chocolate. Cold: god help my vegetarian-but-not-vegan-soul, it’s milk.

28. FAVORITE SPORT? None. I hate sports! Well, I guess soccer is okay. If I had to support anybody it’d probably be Millwall F.C., as they used to be based in New Cross, where Goldsmiths is located. Go Lions!

29. HAIR COLOR? Dark brown. That’s turning white.

30. EYE COLOR? Blue.

31. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No, although I did between 1989-1997.

32. FAVORITE FOOD? Probably cereal, since that’s what I eat the most. But I’ve got loads of other favorite foods—everything from vegetarian ham to cheese and onion pasties.

33. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Both! I love scary movies, but sometimes it does my blackened heart good to see a happy ending.

34. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Lights in the Dusk (Laitakaupungin valot)—a Finnish film at FilmFest DC

35. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Light blue.

36. SUMMER OR WINTER? Honestly? Winter. It can be such a pain in the ass, and it’s not like I relish being cold or anything, but I hate when it’s hot and humid. At least in winter I get a break from that. I love the landscape in winter, too.

37. HUGS OR KISSES? Neither. I’m dead inside.

38. FAVORITE DESSERT? I don’t really have a favorite, per se, but I do flip my lid over the old-school McDonald’s apple pies still sold in Europe, as well as other apple/cinnamon/caramel-y deserts.

39. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? We Need to Talk About Kevin, by Lionel Shriver. It’s a school shooting book (and I started it days before the Virginia Tech massacre!)

40. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? At home it’s Rowlf; at work it’s…just black.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, and October Road.

42. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Silence, my favorite music, my cats’ purrs, the wind, the rain.

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles.

44. THE FURTHEST YOU’VE BEEN FROM HOME? Russia.

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? No, sadly! Besides deceiving myself.

46. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? June 4, 1974, in Lebanon, PA


song heard most recently before posting:
Kissing in the Rain—John Williams (music), Miriam Stockley (vocals)