What is your motto? I have a million mottoes; here is but one: "Some haystacks don't even have any needle" (short poem by William Stafford).
If you could only name one all - time favorite book &/or author? The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
If you could only name one all - time favorite movie? Choose Me
Who / what / where are the major influences in your life? A hundred authors and poets whose words I have been lucky enough to read.
What keeps you going? Curiosity, obligation, the holidays.
Do you work best under or tension or relaxation? Definitely tension! When we're counting down the hours and the minutes, then I can get going!
How do you recharge your creative spark? Looking through the notebooks of poems, favorite passages, and mottoes (see above!) that I have collected over the years.
My best ideas come to me at unexpected moments,
like when I'm . . . Tossing some laundry in the washer.
The biggest enemy of creativity is . . . Busywork.
What is always on your desk? A cup of tea.
What was your first job? Shelving books at the Lindenwood College Library.
What was your childhood ambition? To sing on the Ted Mack Amateur Hour.
What is your fondest memory? Grandma & Grandpa Lindsey's house.
Soundtrack? All Christmas all the time.
Retreat? Reading.
Alarm clock? Fuqua.
Hero / role model? Gerry is my white knight in shining armor! He is invincible!
What accomplishments are you proud of? My beautiful home, my talented family, my Ph.D., my blogs.
No one is better than I am when it come to . . . Making literary connections; matching pictures to quotations.
What is your favorite way to celebrate? Baking desserts.
Through your life, how have you dealt with people who tried to discourage you from pursuing your dreams? The only one guilty of that is ME, MYSELF & I. I just have to constantly remind myself that I MUST have it in me to accomplish what I desire. If not me, who? If not now, when? If not here, where? (See Rabbi Hillel, the Elder)
The world would be a better place if only . . . we all followed the advice of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.: "Please -- a little less love, and a little more common decency."
What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you were younger? That "TIME FLIES" is not a mere cliche; that "A year is but a day" applies not only to the mind of God but to us humans as well! How can it be that events from ten, fifteen years ago seem like just the other day? Is the world spinning faster and faster each year? Somehow I thought it would slow down, but no!
What book or movie character reminds you of you / or would you prefer to be like? I've always wanted to be like Jo in Little Women -- so assertive, brave, independent, talented. Or like Tillie, the main character in "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man - in - the - Moon Marigolds." Of course, my worry is that I'm more like the mundane Janice, who is sure she's going to win, but in fact comes in second at the Science Fair, after Tillie, who is a girl of true vision.
Do you have any lucky talismans? I am still using a big ol' Leave it to Beaver style of red boys' bicycle that I bought at a yard sale in 1978 (don't know how old it was at that time, maybe 15 years). When I was at Notre Dame (1984), I encountered one of my wackiest professors as I was riding across campus. He hailed me to a stop so that he could admire my bike; he said, "This bike must be your talisman." I've never been sure exactly what he meant, but the idea has stuck with me -- and so has the bike! So there's my bike; also my lucky turquoise earrings and a little pewter Gemini necklace -- both gifts from Peg on my 19th birthday. A couple of years ago, I was wearing the earrings at Peg's house and Brittany was drawn to them -- I told her why -- because her very own grandmother had picked them out for me -- very talismanic! (See also: Life & Art on a Bicycle!)
My life is . . . half over!
Most importantly, I have come to realize. . .
1. that one day, I will die;
2. that, beyond a certain point, I am not all that special (i.e., we're all in the same boat).
The only thing I know for sure is . . . "The meaning of life is life" (from my notebook of mottoes; said by Anna Quindlen in her introduction to Living Out Loud).
Additional quizzes . . .Possible ~ Plausible ~ Improbable
Class of '75
Challenges: Special K & Ten Favs
"Christmas Quiz"
"You're Out Walking"
["Take This Quiz!"]
"Monday: Pop Quiz"
"Talk to Me"
Odd, I never realize how much paisley looks like a paramecium. And pandemonium is such a part of my daily life that I can't even recognize it when it's staring me in the face :o)
ReplyDeleteComments from picture posting on facebook ~ March 1, 2013
ReplyDeleteHerman: Beautiful work . . .
Kitti: Herman, worthy of classroom note taking? Haha!
Herman: OK, OK, OK: you may not remember my attitude toward "note taking" -- that it destroys some of the excitement of a class. Just listen, observe, take in ideas from me (hmmm) and your colleagues (yes, yes, yes); then after class jot down a few ideas that you recall; then, surprisingly, after many hours away from the class, you will recall other ideas; then jot down those. Do you recall comments like these?
Kitti: Herman, you taught me well, for that remained my style of note taking all thru grad school. A friend of mine at Notre Dame asked me once how I could write down so little, and I assured her that I would retain what I needed to know. She couldn't believe that sometimes I didn't even have a notebook, and she liked to tell the story that if I suddenly needed to write something down, I would just reach back and tear the label from my tee - shirt and jot down a word or two for future reference. I never really did that, but I liked that story!
Also, I never really "doodled" much either -- but maybe I should have done more drawings such as "Pandemonium, Paramecium, Paisley."