Saturday 9

(Link in meme-roll)
Turn Back the Hands of Time

1. There's a Time Genie. She can put you back in time to relive a day that you loved. If you could turn back the hands of time, what day would you relive if given this opportunity?

Probably a random summer day when I was between 8 and 10. Or, possibly, the day Sparky was born; I'd like to know if I was a tremendous wimp or if it really was that bad. I'm pretty sure I'd punch one of the nurses (a specific nurse) this time around.

2. What did you do yesterday?

Sunday School, church, lunch, work, Sparky back to college.

3. You've been given 3 parachutes, but there are 4 people who need them. Who will you not give one to: Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Kim K@rd@shi@n*, or Simon Cowell? Why?

I'm using one and taking the rest of them with me when I jump outta the plane, presuming the pilot has his/her own. Alternatively, I'll just set all of them up with a backpack full of bricks and push 'em out the door.

4. Where are you going and where have you been?

I'm about halfway, near as I can tell, along the road of my life, finally figuring out the map and laughing at all the stupid detours I've taken. Also wondering how I ended up here; tracing back I can see a couple of major decisions I made when very young without really being aware of the fact that once you get a ways along one of the paths, the others disappear. And looking ahead to lots more of the same. Kinda hoping I see grandchildren up there ahead of me.

5. They say that books read as a child make more of an impact on a person than books read at any other time in life. Are there any books that you particularly loved, that shaped the way you think when you were little?

Laura Ingalls Wilder--still read her books semi-regularly. Loved the Narnia books. Read Tom Sawyer and like it. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. ...you have to know that I probably read 1000 books as a child, so I couldn't detail everything I read. I do think what stretches your imagination as a child shapes you as an adult, but I'm not sure it has to be literary; I think movies and TV have just as much impact, and games and YouTube videos. It's all about exposing the mind to the Possible. For instance, one of the touchstones of my childhood was seeing "Paint Your Wagon" and crying with laughter with my parents at the collapsing mines. I didn't understand most of the subtext of the rest of the movie, but oh how that scene has stuck with me, and the emotional sense of the way it was portrayed. I would say it has a similar place in my imagination with Tom Sawyer being lost in the cave with Becky.

6. What do you look forward to most in the next six weeks?

Well, there's Christmas.... And a week later, I'll be back to working full-time for the first time since June 1994.

7. What was the last text message you received?

LOL. It's from Sparky, yesterday morning at 9:30 saying, "In the shower." It's in response to a text asking if Beast was awake yet.

8. Do you prefer to call or text?

Text, unless it's a complicated conversation. Most of the time I'd rather text or email versus talking.

9. What were you doing at 9PM last night?

I think I was getting ready for bed, possibly in the tub.

*edited 5/15 to block searches on this term --gah