Alright, so I really enjoyed reading responses to Gen's post in May asking readers to answer the same handful of questions and so here please partake in a second round. I promise these answers won't get deleted this time.
1) What is a book you have read more than once and always enjoyed?
2) What music do you listen to that would qualify as embarrassing and/or that others probably wouldn't guess that you enjoy?
3) What is a time that you have been afraid?
4) What issue(s) get you on your soapbox?
5) Share a favorite quote.
l promise to supply my answers tomorrow but gotta run...
1) What is a book you have read more than once and always enjoyed?
ReplyDeleteI actually very rarely read things more than once. I’m not sure why because I have a terrible memory and fully realize I’d probably enjoy revisiting favorite novels and/or get something different out of them the second time around. Anyhow, I literally can’t think of any novel or nonfiction book I’ve re-read in its entirety. The sorta exception to this is that sometimes when I’m reading the latest book in one of my fantasy series (yes the ones that you all tease me mercilessly for), I’ll revisit its precursors to refresh myself on the story and/or get super pumped.
2) What music do you listen to that would qualify as embarrassing and/or that others probably wouldn't guess that you enjoy?
I love cheesy Nashvillecountry pop from women who have been wronged singing sorrowfully about being left (e.g. Leanne Womack – I know Why the river runs). This is particularly funny to me because I can’t say I’ve ever been broken up with and have a terrible voice. I also love when Gen and I play the Les Miserables soundtrack in our apartment while cleaning and enthusiastically sing along. There’s something endlessly entertaining about watching Gen sing “WHO AM I? …. I AM JEAN VAL JEAN!” or pretend to be Gavroche while mopping the floor.
3) What is a time that you have been afraid?
Well, recently we saw a wolf spider in my bathroom…and I was terrified. More seriously though the last time I was truly scared was when I learned a family member was in the hospital.
4) What issue(s) get you on your soapbox?
The more appropriate question for me would be what issue doesn’t get me on my soap box… I’m working on being less immediately opinionated and feeling the need to be contrary and tell everyone exactly how I feel.
5) Share a favorite quote.
I’m going the cheesy route…
Camus - Au milieu de l'hiver, j'ai découvert en moi un invincible été – translates to “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
ahahha It's so funny you ask these questions, because I feel like they speak so directly to me, as they are all things I do more than the average bear.
ReplyDelete1. I reread books A LOT. I've been trying to break myself of the habit the last few years, and it's sort of been working. But I do have a history of rereading--Harry Potter probably takes the cake for most rereads. And then in college I reread a lot of books that were assigned in my English classes that I never finished or didn't understand the first time through (Orlando and Kim come to mind). I've reread a lot of Michael Ondaatje (In the Skin of the Lion, The English Patient, Running in the Family) and Milan Kundera (The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, the Farewell Waltz, Immortality, The Unbearable Lightness of Being) because I love them. And Sylvia Plath of course; Ariel, Colossus, The Bell Jar. Also, I am not (that) embarrassed to admit, Johnny Tremain.
2. All the music I like embarrasses me. But in this instance, I can rock out to Britney Spears (complete with lip syncing) at any time, for any reason. I do this a lot when I am home alone. I also love to belt it out to showtunes from plays I did in high school; that in and of itself is embarrassing.
3. I am afraid ALL THE TIME. Seriously. I am afraid of the dark, so i I have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, my heart starts to race. But I guess being truly fearful last happened when my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. Sitting next to her in the hospital for 5 days while she lay totally helpless was pretty damn terrifying.
4. Reproductive rights. (Don't get me started.) Also cultural insensitivity and the constant perpetuation of stereotypes or normalized beliefs about other people, particularly those who are marginalized. Zach believes this makes it impossible to enjoy movies, but I can't help it.
5. I write quotes down all the time, from everywhere; radio. tv, blogs, books, billboards--I love them. The love poem series the London Underground did while I was there was the best (I discovered Frank O'Hara). I keep a notebook in my bag at all times, for just such occasions, and I have many of them strewn throughout my life.
"One's real life is often the life that one does not lead." -Oscar Wilde
(I agonized over this for like 4 hours, and this is the best I can do?)
1) What is a book you have read more than once and always enjoyed?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I have never read a book (in full) more than once. Sometimes I will go back to a book I have read to find a particular quote or chapter that I find useful for one reason or another. But, in general I find it pointless to reread things. There are WAY too many books that I would like to read before I die for me to waste any time retracing my steps over old grounds.
2) What music do you listen to that would qualify as embarrassing and/or that others probably wouldn't guess that you enjoy?
Three 6 Mafia. I strongly dislike most Southern "crunk" style rap groups, but 3-6 is an exception. I love the silliness of the act, the decadence of the lyrics, the fact that they won an Academy Award and tour with the statue, the fact that they are from Memphis...I don't know why, but I know most of their lyrics by heart and enjoy pumping their stuff when Nadia is not around.
3) What is a time that you have been afraid?
Good question. Hard to say. I don't scare easily. I guess the last time that comes to mind is when I found out my dad had cancer, but even then my feelings were less fear and more being hit upside the head by "father time". I realized my parents were getting older and I am too, and was kind of hit by the idea of the maturity and mindset I needed to hone to deal with a new chapter of my life and the inevitable passage of time.
4) What issue(s) get you on your soapbox?
Lately, the debate on nuclear power. But the state of healthcare in this country has always bothered me, and now that I am working in healthcare I am becoming even more angry on how dysfunctional and disruptive our current system is. I try to be moderate on most political issues, assessing blame to Democrats and Republicans alike, but I can say for the certain that the Republicans have been dropping the ball (or more aptly, stabbing the American people in the back and walking away) on healthcare for the last 110 years. I'm serious.
5) Share a favorite quote.
"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are small matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
-Gen-
(I can't sign into my Google account at work)
1. What is a book you have read more than once and always enjoyed?
ReplyDeleteI don’t often re-read books. It probably has something to do with my failure to read many a single time. I have, however, recently found myself wanting to pick up Official Book Club Selection: A Memoir According to Kathy Griffin again.
2. What music do you listen to that would qualify as embarrassing and/or that others probably wouldn't guess that you enjoy?
Tina Turner and Chaka Khan. I have seen them both live in concert. I also really enjoy the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood soundtrack. It has some good Cajun jams Nadia could probably translate for me.
3. What is a time that you have been afraid?
My roommate’s drunken friend wandered into my room one night when I was asleep. I didn’t know who it was because couldn’t see his face in the dark. Thankfully he just stood there dumbfounded and then walked out. I thought for sure it was a home invasion. The most disturbing part is I went back to sleep immediately after he left without looking into the matter any further.
4. What issue(s) get you on your soapbox?
Gun control. Otherwise, I avoid the soapbox at all costs.
5. Share a favorite quote.
“Hell is other people.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
My boss says this to me all the time.