The Triple-Decker Interview Meme-A-Saurus. (Also: 5 Guilts.)
I can't help myself; I love the interview meme. So I got three of my awesome LJ peeps to ask me questions. Also, I am willing to interview all who wish it, so feel free to ask.
First, the rules.
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
And if you want...
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
My interviewers are girllikething, chvickers, and herm42. Q&A after the jump.
From girllikething:
1. What's your favorite book/author?
Gosh, that's a tough one. My favorite author in the world is probably Vladimir Nabokov, because he uses words the way artists use paint--blending them, layering them, unafraid to create new shades of meaning.
2. What advice would you give about being a mother?
Just this: You are good enough now exactly as you are. You will never be perfect, you will never be free of doubt or uncertainty, you will never be truly ready. All you can do is your best; trust your heart, be consistent, and it will keep you on the right path.
3. What would you say has most impacted your life?
My faith. Even when things were at their darkest, even when I didn't have much in the way of religion, I kept myself alive by believing with perfect certainty that someday things would get better. And, eventually, they did.
4. If you didn't have a husband/kids what would you be doing right now and where would you be?
I'd probably be working at the legal secretary job I had back in Texas. It was a good job, even if there wasn't any real chance for advancement. I'd have left my first husband anyway, but without skipping town, I don't know if I'd have been able to resist his pleas for reconciliation (which, by the way, lasted up until I told him I was pregnant with Sarah. Ever since then, nothin'.)
5. Are you happy?
Yes. I tend to focus on what I don't have in my life but I remind myself daily that my needs are met, I am loved, and I am working to heal the pain of my past. So I am happier than I ever thought possible.
From chvickers:
1. How do you keep your daughter's hair from tangling? (I look at that gorgeous picture of hers in your default icon and I can't imagine how you keep her hair in such good shape.)
Aw, that's sweet of you! Seriously though, it's hard work. I brush her hair twice a day and wash it with L'Oreal Kids 2-in-1 shampoo (costs a little more, but well worth it.) Regular trims from her stylist Miss Julie at the local kiddie salon (I know, it's ridiculous) help to keep the knots down.
2. What was your first fandom?
Star Trek: TOS (the only Trek my mother acknowledges; she's old school like that.) I like to think of Kirk/Spock as "baby's first slash."
3. What fandom pairing in DS9 do you not like?
Ezri/Jake. Ew, ew, ew. Jake/Nog = OTP. (Hey, no snickering, babel!)
4. Did it snow today where you live?
No. At the risk of pissing off those trapped in snowbound locales, it's been balmy and quite lovely here in Southern California.
5. What's the strangest question you've ever been asked on lj?
Somebody asked me in a pregnancy community while I was pregnant with Hunter if I was just having a C-section because it was more convenient for me. (No, I wasn't.) Actually, that wasn't strange so much as rage-inducing.
From herm42:
1. What is your name? What is your Quest? What is your favorite color?
I'm way too paranoid to put down my real name here. But my quest, that's another matter. You see, I was born to an alcoholic Vietnam veteran and the teenage incest survivor whom he liberated from her father's house only to keep her confined in a tiny apartment for a year or so, forbidden even to open the door. So my quest is to prove that I can amount to something despite that inauspicious beginning. Still working on it.
Oh, and my favorite color is blue.
2. How many ifs ands or buts do you use in a day?
Oh my gosh, hundreds. Mostly because I'm always harping on the things I wish I possessed/could do/had done in the past. I tend to live in the subjunctive tense. Not so good.
3. If a genie granted you a wish, but only on the condition that you could only wish for abstract concepts and not tangible things, what would you wish for?
Self-actualization. That oughta do it, don't you think?
4. Men?
Oh yes. Although I very much appreciate both sexes, I have a real nose for testosterone. I love the company (not to mention the sound, smell, and taste) of men, I get along very well with men, and given a choice, I generally prefer to socialize with men.
5. Are you a good cook?
Yes. Maybe not good enough to get into a top culinary school, but who wants to spend twenty years making Hollandaise sauce anyway? I'm particularly good at changing things in a recipe to make it more my own/make it fit the ingredients at hand: a very important skill when I was growing up and we never had two damn things that matched in the house.
I'm not much of a baker though, I still use Betty Crocker cookie mixes. You'd have to see my sister for that; she makes all her pie crust from scratch.
And now for something completely different: the 5 guilts meme, which kassrachel tagged me to do some time ago. Sorry it's late, darlin'.
Guilt What is yours? Explain yourself Culinary: Ramen noodles
The bread of my affliction, and yet I can't stay away. I still remember my father waxing rhapsodic about the way they fixed ramen at his favorite Vietnamese brothel during the war.
Literary: Really, really bad fanfic It's painfully irresistible, kind of like picking at a scab. Check out "Godawful Fan Fiction" at www.godawful.net if you don't believe me.Audiovisual: Forensic shows Eric always says I shouldn't watch this stuff because it scares me and fuels my paranoia. But I used to work in a lab long ago so I love the technical stuff.
Musical: J-pop It's fun! It's happy! The singers are all so cute! ...Hell, if it's good enough for Gwen Stefani it's good enough for me.
Celebrity: E! & VH1 Sometimes, late at night, when I'm alone, I find myself watching "Celebrity Eye Candy" or "Bad Celebrity Hair" or "THS Investigates." *sob*
Now I tag:-
dramaticus girllikething muliebrity kcobweb and chvickers
to complete this same quiz; it's here.
ETA: And look what one of my non-LJ peeps pointed me to: Guilty Pleasures of Literary Greats! (Also, Nabokov apparently once wrote a letter to his local paper to complain about the plot inconsistencies in Rex Morgan, M.D. Awesome! Truly a god among men. And I'm not just saying that because we have the same birthday.)
First, the rules.
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
And if you want...
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
My interviewers are girllikething, chvickers, and herm42. Q&A after the jump.
From girllikething:
1. What's your favorite book/author?
Gosh, that's a tough one. My favorite author in the world is probably Vladimir Nabokov, because he uses words the way artists use paint--blending them, layering them, unafraid to create new shades of meaning.
2. What advice would you give about being a mother?
Just this: You are good enough now exactly as you are. You will never be perfect, you will never be free of doubt or uncertainty, you will never be truly ready. All you can do is your best; trust your heart, be consistent, and it will keep you on the right path.
3. What would you say has most impacted your life?
My faith. Even when things were at their darkest, even when I didn't have much in the way of religion, I kept myself alive by believing with perfect certainty that someday things would get better. And, eventually, they did.
4. If you didn't have a husband/kids what would you be doing right now and where would you be?
I'd probably be working at the legal secretary job I had back in Texas. It was a good job, even if there wasn't any real chance for advancement. I'd have left my first husband anyway, but without skipping town, I don't know if I'd have been able to resist his pleas for reconciliation (which, by the way, lasted up until I told him I was pregnant with Sarah. Ever since then, nothin'.)
5. Are you happy?
Yes. I tend to focus on what I don't have in my life but I remind myself daily that my needs are met, I am loved, and I am working to heal the pain of my past. So I am happier than I ever thought possible.
From chvickers:
1. How do you keep your daughter's hair from tangling? (I look at that gorgeous picture of hers in your default icon and I can't imagine how you keep her hair in such good shape.)
Aw, that's sweet of you! Seriously though, it's hard work. I brush her hair twice a day and wash it with L'Oreal Kids 2-in-1 shampoo (costs a little more, but well worth it.) Regular trims from her stylist Miss Julie at the local kiddie salon (I know, it's ridiculous) help to keep the knots down.
2. What was your first fandom?
Star Trek: TOS (the only Trek my mother acknowledges; she's old school like that.) I like to think of Kirk/Spock as "baby's first slash."
3. What fandom pairing in DS9 do you not like?
Ezri/Jake. Ew, ew, ew. Jake/Nog = OTP. (Hey, no snickering, babel!)
4. Did it snow today where you live?
No. At the risk of pissing off those trapped in snowbound locales, it's been balmy and quite lovely here in Southern California.
5. What's the strangest question you've ever been asked on lj?
Somebody asked me in a pregnancy community while I was pregnant with Hunter if I was just having a C-section because it was more convenient for me. (No, I wasn't.) Actually, that wasn't strange so much as rage-inducing.
From herm42:
1. What is your name? What is your Quest? What is your favorite color?
I'm way too paranoid to put down my real name here. But my quest, that's another matter. You see, I was born to an alcoholic Vietnam veteran and the teenage incest survivor whom he liberated from her father's house only to keep her confined in a tiny apartment for a year or so, forbidden even to open the door. So my quest is to prove that I can amount to something despite that inauspicious beginning. Still working on it.
Oh, and my favorite color is blue.
2. How many ifs ands or buts do you use in a day?
Oh my gosh, hundreds. Mostly because I'm always harping on the things I wish I possessed/could do/had done in the past. I tend to live in the subjunctive tense. Not so good.
3. If a genie granted you a wish, but only on the condition that you could only wish for abstract concepts and not tangible things, what would you wish for?
Self-actualization. That oughta do it, don't you think?
4. Men?
Oh yes. Although I very much appreciate both sexes, I have a real nose for testosterone. I love the company (not to mention the sound, smell, and taste) of men, I get along very well with men, and given a choice, I generally prefer to socialize with men.
5. Are you a good cook?
Yes. Maybe not good enough to get into a top culinary school, but who wants to spend twenty years making Hollandaise sauce anyway? I'm particularly good at changing things in a recipe to make it more my own/make it fit the ingredients at hand: a very important skill when I was growing up and we never had two damn things that matched in the house.
I'm not much of a baker though, I still use Betty Crocker cookie mixes. You'd have to see my sister for that; she makes all her pie crust from scratch.
And now for something completely different: the 5 guilts meme, which kassrachel tagged me to do some time ago. Sorry it's late, darlin'.
Guilt What is yours? Explain yourself Culinary: Ramen noodles
The bread of my affliction, and yet I can't stay away. I still remember my father waxing rhapsodic about the way they fixed ramen at his favorite Vietnamese brothel during the war.
Literary: Really, really bad fanfic It's painfully irresistible, kind of like picking at a scab. Check out "Godawful Fan Fiction" at www.godawful.net if you don't believe me.Audiovisual: Forensic shows Eric always says I shouldn't watch this stuff because it scares me and fuels my paranoia. But I used to work in a lab long ago so I love the technical stuff.
Musical: J-pop It's fun! It's happy! The singers are all so cute! ...Hell, if it's good enough for Gwen Stefani it's good enough for me.
Celebrity: E! & VH1 Sometimes, late at night, when I'm alone, I find myself watching "Celebrity Eye Candy" or "Bad Celebrity Hair" or "THS Investigates." *sob*
Now I tag:-
dramaticus girllikething muliebrity kcobweb and chvickers
to complete this same quiz; it's here.
ETA: And look what one of my non-LJ peeps pointed me to: Guilty Pleasures of Literary Greats! (Also, Nabokov apparently once wrote a letter to his local paper to complain about the plot inconsistencies in Rex Morgan, M.D. Awesome! Truly a god among men. And I'm not just saying that because we have the same birthday.)