The epitome of me

(found here)

Part 1: The Birth of You
01. Do you know what month you were conceived? Counting backwards, it looks like on or about February 14, 1963. And when I did that math when I was about 14, I nearly shrieked in horror!
02. Were you a planned baby? Quite emphatically NOT.
03. Were you the first? The first that decade....
04. Did your mother have an easy or difficult pregnancy? Probably just fine. She never complained about being pregnant, just the lack of clothes (no money for maternity wear), and my tardy appearance.
05. Were you premature or late? I was due a week before I finally appeared.
06. What hospital were you born in? Porter Memorial in Denver.
07. How long was your mother in labour? My guess is not that long. I was #5; she probably had the whole thing nailed by then. ;-)
08. Who was present at your birth? The doctor and nurse(s). I'm not really sure my mom was fully present: I was born in those long-ago days of full-out anesthesia.
09. Were your parents married when you were born? For 22 years.
010. What was your birthdate? Yeah, I don't do that, but you can probably guess pretty closely based on the first answer above.
011. What day were you born? 'Twas a Tuesday.
012. How much did you weigh? 8 lbs. 15 oz.
013. What were the names your parents considered for you? I dunno. My siblings named me.
014. What name did they finally decide on? See previous: I honestly have no idea what my parents' choice would have been. Miriam? Dear God!
015. Were you baptised? Not until I joined the church with my confirmation class.

Part 2: The Family
016. How would you describe your family? geographically dispersed, annoying, intense
017. Which side of your family are you closest to (your mum or your dad's)? None. I pretty much had no contact with either parent's family after about age 10 when my dad's mom--my last surviving grandparent--died.
018. Are your parents married, separated, divorced or simply just a couple? They are half-deceased.
019. Do you have siblings or are you an only child? There are siblings in my life, including many sibling-in-laws.
020. If you do have them, are you eldest, middle, or youngest? I'm the youngest.
021. What are your siblings names and ages? Marie is 64, Jean is 58, Del is 54, and Ellen would be 61 (GASP!) had she not died the day before would have turned 48.
022. If you are an only child, do you like it that way? Lately, I feel as if I might as well be. Quite literally, it would be well for me to be.
023. Do you ever feel that children with no siblings are more spoiled? They may be spoiled but those of us with siblings, I'm starting to believe, tend to be ruined.
024. Are both sets of grandparents still alive? They all died between 1941 and 1975.
025. Which grandparent are you closest to? n/a (All who were still alive when I was born were well into their 80s by then)
026. What is your mother's first and middle name? Her middle name is Josephine. I've always, always loved that name. She hates it. I'm not fond of her first name, and it's almost never used, seriously, nowadays. [It only now occurs to me that both my mom and my oldest sister have names that have been almost completely co-opted by Hollywood, to the point where they are wholly useless as names...]
027. What is was your father's first and middle name? His middle name was Albert. Gaaaaahhhh. Not the worst name in the family--not even close!!--but not one I'm fond of. I like his first name. So do my siblings: three grandchildren use it as some form of their names.
028. What are were your mother's parent's names? Ad0lphus (oh, just wait--it gets better in the next question!) and Ella. Her given name was different, but she always went by Ella.
029. What are were your father's parent's names? Gr0ver and Ed!th. See? The name thing in my family...just hideous, especially men's names!
030. Which parent do you get along best with? I was a major Daddy's Girl. Mom and I fought all the way through our lives.
031. What do you usually fight about? With my mom it all went back to my lack of competence as a daughter and as a human being. I don't remember EVER fighting with my dad. I'm not sure if he let Mom always be the fall guy, or if I was too afraid of him, or what.
032. Do you eat together as a family? Now? Usually, though not necessarily at the same table. Then, i.e., as a child: always.
033. Do you have stepparents? No.
034. Stepsiblings? No, just a lot of nieces and nephews, two of whom are closer in age to me than any of my sibs.

Part 3: The Friends
035. Do you have more than one best friend? Yes, praise God!
036. What are their names? Beast, Jenny, Amy....
037. How often do you hang out with them? I live with Beast, I see Amy maybe 4-6 times a year (is that really all??), and Jenny once or twice a year.
038. What do you like to do when you are together? Talk, laugh, help each other through life.
039. Do you share the same interests? Some, yes. Some, no.
040. Which friend can you trust with your life? Beast, for sure. I don't know: I wouldn't ask something like this of a friend in advance, but I know Beast: he'd throw himself in front of a train for me and Sparky (and probably lots of other people).
041. Which friend can you tell anything to? Jenny.
042. Have any of your friends betrayed you? Well, "betrayed" is a strong word. I would say that they didn't respond as anticipated.
043. Which friend has remained your friend since a very young age? The friend I've known the longest is Laura: we met when I was 6.

Part 4: Your Personality {oh shit!}
044. Write a short paragraph explaining who you really are: No. Not today, not in my current psychological locale.
045. Do you believe in yourself? Most of the time. Some of the time....
046. Does religion play a big part in your life? Yes. Seriously: without God, especially lately, I'd be...wow, more of a mess than I already am!
047. If you are not religious, what are your beliefs? OK, I'm religious, so I'm excluded from this, but this is one seriously fucked-up question!
048. Were you brought up to believe in any particular religion? I was raised Presbyterian.
049. Are you spiritual? Hmm, yes. I do like the differentiation between this and "religious."
050. How high/low is your self esteem? Right now, lately, it's totally in the dumper.
051. Do you get depressed about things easily? Yes.
052. Are you a sociable type of person or do you prefer to be on your own? I like being alone. Once I'm at a party, I'm ok (as long as it isn't a party with stupid people).
053. Are you happy? Not particularly, lately.
054. Do you live life to the fullest? My life is way too full.

Part 5: Your Appearance
055. Are you comfortable with the way you look? It's more along the lines of "don't care" rather than comfort. I have good days and "don't give a shit" days.
056. What parts of your physical self would you change given the one chance? Aside from the 35 extra pounds I'm carrying...I'd like to clear up the eye situation (infection) once and for all and get rid of the rosacea.
057. What is your least favourite part of the way you look? Everything from ribcage to ankles.
058. And the favourite? My hair is good. My toes are cute. I like my nose, though it's not cute at all.
059. What is your face shape? Oval.
060. Do you have any piercings besides your ears? No.
061. Describe your hair: Brown with professional "attention", about shoulder-length, bangs. It's currently in a falling-apart braid. Thick. Just now it's itchy because I'm thinking about it.
062. How would you describe your figure? Pear-shaped. Like so much of my life.
063. Do you thrive on achieving the so called "perfect" body? I gave that fight up a LONG time ago.
064. What make up do you wear? Don't. Unless you want to count chapstick.
065. How do you dress? Comfortably. Haven't worn a dress in eons. Love jeans and T-shirts.

Part 6: Your Past
066. Were you any different as a child? Different from...now?? Well, yeah: shorter, skinnier, dumber, quieter, more fearful (if that's possible).
066. How have you evolved over the recent years? I think it's that I've adapted to situations that had to be adapted to. ('scuse the grammar...!)
067. What schools did you go to? EPS, CC, and a state school for my Masters.
068. What did you enjoy doing? As a child I enjoyed jumprope, jacks, toy cars, and books!! Also, dancing around the living room and playing let's pretend.
069. What did you used to love but no longer do? Well, I don't dance around the living room anymore or jump rope. I'd love to play jacks, and I still like books. Let's pretend...? Who has time?!
070. Do you have the same friends? Only a few good ones from high school. I'm not sure at all where Laura & I stand.
071. Name some big events/incidents of your childhood? My sister's near-death, my father's heart attacks, the Munich Olympics (on TV--it was the same summer of Jean and Reg's wedding), Watergate (on TV), the house in Ouray, and getting a pet dog.
072. Do you ever miss being a child? Not in a realistic way. I miss the freedom from serious decision-making.
073. When did you first start to realize you were growing up? When I went to a home show and listened to people talk about furnaces with any interest, and also learning to understand what 'escrow' is. When my dad had his last heart surgery--when I was 24--it was substantially different from the previous time--when I was 17.
074. When did puberty hit? The physical changes all occurred when I was about 13, but I now recognize that everything starts around age 11 and continues for-fucking-ever, or at least until 16/17.
075. Did you ever have any boyfriends/girlfriends when you were younger? I dated before I got married, yes. WTF?

Part 7: Your Future
076. What is your ambition? At this point, my ambition is to get through tomorrow without falling apart in public again.
077. Do you have a job? I have too many jobs. Only one is for pay.
078. Do you think you will achieve your ambitions by the time you reach 25? Do-dee-do-dee...we are now entering The Twilight Zone.... ha ha ha ha...25? Gimme a break!
079. Are you scared of growing old? And the alternative to aging is...? Yeah. Right. "Growing old" is doable given the alternative.
080. Do you want to get married? Never again. ;-)
081. How old do you want to be when you start a family? "Time is a one-way street... except in the Twilight Zone" -- I'm done with starting, unless you know something I don't. In which case, don't tell me.
082. Are you going to go to any universities/colleges? Anything is possible. Not particularly likely, I guess, but possible.
083. To study what? Well, it won't be business, medicine, law, or most sciences.
084. Do you have name ideas for your future children? My future children will be in my next life, so I'll have to wait and see just exactly what level reincarnation I achieve.

Part 8: The Media
085. How important is the media (TV, music, movies, etc.) to you in your life? Music is important to my attitude and acuity. I'd love to say everything else is unimportant, but I do enjoy some TV, movies and sports. I just wish we didn't place so freakin' much emphasis on this stuff.
086. Does it influence your inspirations? Only music. Not the people in music so much as the actual sounds.
087. Do you idolize any particular celebrities, or do you think that's stupid? Given those two choices, it's stupid.
088. Have you ever met anyone famous and got their autograph? I have met some famous people, but I don't 'do' autographs. I think it's stupid. See previous question.
089. What is your favourite kind of music? It has to be clever on some level or another. A good beat helps, and ease of dancing. (hee) I don't like wailing (goodbye lots of female emo singers who shall remain nameless...Tori, Fiona, Liz...), and I'm pretty steeped in Western tonalities, don't really 'get' Asian music at all. I love African percussive stuff, some Indian stuff is good, I adore a lot of Native American stuff, Latin is good. Classical is good, though not so much opera. Try me.
090. Movies? Heathers, the Matrix trilogy, Dr. Zhivago, The Piano... can't think of too many right now....
091. TV Shows? CSI, Survivor, TAR, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs.
092. Do you prefer to listen to music or watch movies? Music. Not even close.
093. Are you addicted to any particular song, movie, or TV show right now? There are about four movies I really want to go see soon. Not sure when that's going to happen....or how.
094. Would you ever want your career to go in the direction of media? I'd rather stand on a pillar in the desert and scream gobbledygook at passing people...oh, wait. No. ;-)

Part 9: Literature
095. How often do you read? EVERY day: the internet involves reading, and I like books, and magazines and crosswords. Also, road signs, bank statements, mail...texting.
096. Have you ever become obsessed by a particular book you have read? Outlander, hello!!
097. What are your favourite novels? Outlander, since I mentioned it. And The Book of Ruth, Plainsong and Evensong, the Laura books, Jane Eyre, Glass Soup, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I've read so many good books over the years....
098. Authors? P.D. James, Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, Charlotte Bronte, Robert Parker, Kent Haruf, Dorothy Sayers, Elizabeth George, Lawrence Block....
099. Do you judge a book by its cover? Oh, right, as if. Not even metaphorically.
0100. Would you call yourself a bookworm? I mock mere bookworms! I am a bookroach, a bookrat, a bookRottweiler. ;-)
0101. Have you ever read any classic English literature and enjoyed it? Mmmm, like Beowulf? Uh, yeah. Also Gawain & the Green Knight (which I really didn't understand) and most of Shakespeare. I have a minor in English Lit. huh And for the most part I hatehateHATE American lit except for Twain, Poe and Steinbeck and several modern under-recognized authors.
0102. Have you ever read anything for school and actually enjoyed it? Boy, that English minor and the History major would have sucked rocks if I hadn't liked MOST of what I read!
0103. What are your favourite bookstores? The one downtown nearby (an independent) and Amazon. Borders is ok. I have some problems with B&N, though I can't put my finger on the problem.
0104. Do you like to read poetry? I do. I don't read nearly enough.
0105. Do you write? Does this count??

Part 10: The Outdoors
0106. Do you prefer to stay indoors or go outdoors? I get about 3 good weeks (spread out into 21 discrete days) each year where being outside doesn't suck. We have gone from cold and miserable to warm/humid and allergen-ridden now. I'll be inside again for the foreseeable future. feh...
0107. Do you love nature? I have sort of a lengthy crush on it, yeah.
0108. What is your favourite season? Fall.
0109. Weather? Warm and dry with a hint of brisk.
0110. What are your favourite sports? To play: badminton, bocce, croquet. To watch: football, and Indy racing. NASCAR is growing on me. And skating. Cuz, I'm a girl, after all. ;-)
0112. Do you like to walk in the rain? Warm rain, with someone to guide me. I can't see without my glasses and wearing them in the rain is just frustrating.
0113. Do you prefer hot or cold weather? HOT, and not humid.

Part 11: Animals
0114. Do you have any pets? We own two guinea pigs.
0115. If so, breed, name, and age? Breed? They are short, flat-haired (no long, or freakishly cow-licked ones) boys, aged 4.5 years and 4-5 months, named Buddy and Ruka.
0116. What is your favourite animal? Dogs or any other canine. I love wolves.
0117. Do you like wild animals? I like them from a distance in the wild. I wouldn't want to meet many of them in their own environment.
0118. If you could tame any animal for a pet, what would it be? There would something essential lost if one tamed a wild animal, but what Shreve shows of her life with Charley (a coyote) is pretty awesome.
0119. Does any particular animal scare or creep you out? I'm not fond of hairy insects or spiders, any of them that are bigger than my thumbnail. Also bears (grizzly, black, etc.) scare the CRAP outta me (in the wild, not in zoos).
0120. Have you ever ridden an animal (if so, which one)? I've (finally) ridden a horse!!
0122. Are animals important to you? Yes.

Part 12: Food
0123. Do you eat meat or are you a vegetarian? I am a carnivore, but I could probably live without meat without a lot of angst.
0124. If you eat meat, have you ever considered going veggie? Yes, but I'm inherently lazy.
0125. If you eat meat, what is your favourite? I like a well-chosen, well-cooked steak. Bacon is good too, especially Canadian bacon. And sometimes, there's jsut nothing like a burger.
0126. If you're veggie, when did you first become one? n/a
0127. Was it because you hated the thought of eating animals or simply because you didn't like the taste? n/a
0128. Do you eat fish? I could live on fish, easily.
0129. Do you love dairy? CHEEEEEZZZZE...mmmmmmm.....
0130. What is your favourite dairy product? Yeah, er, cheese.
0131. What is your favourite food? High carbed.
0132. What food makes you want to gag? Uncooked former animals (e.g. sushi).
0133. What is your favourite restaurant? I would KILL for a nearby Olive Garden.
0134. What is your favourite fast food? Taco Bell.
0135. What is your favourite dessert? White wedding cake with LOADS of frosting.
0136. What is your favourite vegetable? Corn on the cob.
0137. What is your favourite fruit? Fresh peaches.
0138. Ever eaten anything really exotic or strange? When in Rome, baby....!
0139. What food do you refuse to go near? I'm not brave about meat that I don't recognize. And the raw meat thing....feh. Also, still alive food: there was a thing on TAR a few seasons ago involving the eating of live octopus. I nearly vomited just watching it.
0140. Are you a fussy eater or will you eat anything? In some ways, I'm picky.

Part 13: Relationships, love and sex
0142. Did you get uncomfortable at the sight of the word sex? Paging Dr. Freud.... NO!
0143. Are you single or taken? Married.
0144. If you are single, are you looking? Not single. Hello?
0145. If you are taken, who is the lucky man? Beast (good thing I don't like girls, eh?)
0146. If you have a boyfriend, describe what he looks like. If you are single, describe how your ideal boyfriend would look: No boyfriends.
0147. Are you in love or have you ever been in love? Yes.
0148. Do you think it is the best feeling in the world? One of the top two or three, yeah.
0149. Are you a virgin? Not so much.
0150. Do you hate that question whenever you see it? It only reminds me that I'm well outside the demographic for whom this survey was designed.
(if you are a virgin skip to the next section)
0151. Who was the last person you had sex with? Beast.
0152. Do you have casual sex? Only with Beast.
0153. Do you believe that you have to be in love with the person before you actually have sex? For me, it has worked out better when I care about the other person a great deal, yes.
0154. Sex is the act of love - true or false? Sex is a biological manifestation of love. So, false.
0155. Do you have a high sex drive? Compared to...?
0156. What is the most amount of times you have had sex in one day? Er....
0157. What are your favourite positions? Er....
0158. When was the last time you had sex? Er....
0159. Is sex very important to you? "Very" no. I wouldn't rank it with food, air, and water.


Part 14: Experiences
0160. What was the greatest experience of your life? Meeting Sparky for the first time.
0162. And the worst? The 36 hours leading up to the answer to 0160.
0163. What about the most memorable? The trip to China, the former Soviet Union, and Italy.
0164. Have you ever been drunk? Yup.
0165. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Only secondhand.
0166. What about a joint? Ditto.
0167. Have you ever done any drugs? Mostly they have all been legally presribed.
0168. Would you? Yes indeed, lest I die.
0169. Have you ever broken a bone? Not officially.
0170. Have you ever had to stay in hospital overnight? I've got 8 nights in.
0171. Have you ever thought you were going to die? Not really. There've been a few times when I sorta wanted to die in the throes of agony.
0172. Have you ever suffered from severe clinical depression? Dunno, we'll see.
0173. Ever seriously contemplated suicide? ...no
0174. When was the happiest you have ever been? The day I started recovering from something to the point of being functional is always a good day.
0175. Do you want to travel the world? Have done, yes. Would like to do a little more. We'll see.