24 February 2010

This quiz made me think

Found on RoseAnn's and Heather's blogs:

1) What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name?
~Eryka <*wink*>, or Lindsay. Or something totally gender-neutral, like Madison or Taylor or Hunter.

2) What was your worst date (as in going out on a date, not an actual calendar date…unless you have a really bad one to share)?
~Probably the one and only time I tried replying to a dating ad – it was obvious to both of us that there was no chemistry, conversation was awkward, he had major baggage including an ex and a kid and debts, he complained that I was ‘geographically undesirable’ (i.e., I lived too far away) and then he wanted to make out. So I told him that I had a long drive home – he’d set himself up for that with his ‘geographically undesirable’ comment – and left.

3) If you had to teach one subject in high school or college, what would it be?
~Geography (do they still teach geography?) During our travels, it embarrasses me to see how many Americans don’t have a clue about how the rest of the world lives. Worse, many of the island people we’ve met know more about the US than some Americans we’ve met!

4) When was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
~Dan did an amazing impression of a heron, squatting, walking in that weird mechanical way they have, stretching his neck and looking for food.

5) What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
~We lived in Colorado when we got a phone call that my mom was in a hospital in NY dying of cancer and wasn’t expected to last a week. One of Dan’s co-workers simply said, give me your housekey and some phone numbers and GO! We were on the next plane. We had a dog and 5 cats and a house in the country, she took care of them, contacted our bosses and explained the situation, and made sure our house, etc was okay. Mom lasted 6 days, and with the funeral etc, all in all we were gone 2 weeks. When we got back we gave the coworker some antique green and silver teacups that had belonged to my grandmother (the coworker was a collector of green antique pottery so it seemed an appropriate gift) and she merely said, “Tell me about the person who used to own these,” which of course was exactly what I wanted, someone to keep the memory alive.

6) If money or skill-set was no issue, what would you love to do for a living?
~I would be an actress or film star. I love to play make-believe and try on other roles, other lives.

7) What is one thing as an adult/parent/spouse you do that you swore you would never do?~Yuck. Drink too much.

8) If you could go back to one particular time in your life (not to live, not to change anything, just to visit) when would it be?
~One summer when I was in my late 30s, Dan and I both worked 4-day weeks. His was Sun-Weds and mine was Mon-Thurs. That meant we each had one private day, and we still had 2 days together. We lived in Colorado and went out every ‘weekend’ (Fri and Sat, the 2 days we had off together), backpacking one weekend, canoeing the next, something in a city the third. It was a wonderful time.

9) If your walls could talk, what would they say about you (good & bad)?
~Wash me! When I retired I thought I’d have more time to make my home a calm orderly haven. Hah! I’ve been so busy adventuring, if anything this boat is more chaotic than it was when we were working.

10) If you could fix or put an end to one problem in the world what would it be?
~People wanting/using/taking/HOGGING more than their fair share of resources, or not considering their impacts on others. I think competing for limited resources are a big cause of wars.