Friday, March 07, 2008

Yes! Another meme!

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Sitting in a busy, warm restaurant with a glass of good wine with my best friends for company waiting for a perfect meal.

What is your greatest fear? My greatest fear? I'm not sure. I suppose it being kidnapped and killed. It would seem to me that being vanished from friends and family leaving them to their fears and sadness would be terrible.

Which historical figure do you most identify with? The women who stepped out of their pre-assigned roles and strode forth to say, "If a man can do it, so can I." And then proceeded to do just that.

Which living person do you most admire? I admire people that go out of their way to help others, no matter the cost. And there are so many of them.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? My insistence that things be fair and equal. It just can't always be, and I get really upset by it. I don't enjoy that about myself. Logically I can get past it, but emotionally I can't and I end up in ball of anger and frustration and sadness all at the same time. Ugh.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Unfairness. (See? I can't escape it!)

What is your greatest extravagance? World travel.

What is your favorite journey? The night train ride across Europe. Leaving a country speaking one language and waking up having to speak a different one was amazing to me.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? I haven't ever spent any time considering this, so I don't have an answer. Although the phrase, "Patience is a virture" gets on my nerves on occasion. But that's not really the same thing, is it.

On what occasion do you lie? To preserve feelings.

What do you dislike most about your appearance? My hair, but it's a minor angst that can be easily resolved at a salon!

Which living person do you most despise? I despise people who use others to forward their own agenda regardless of damages or pain. Many world leaders might fall into this category, but it's certainly not confined to them.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? "Oh! I just read something about that!"

What is your greatest regret? That there was nothing I could do but stand by and watch while some of my friends deteriorated into homelessness and isolation.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? Bentley.

Which talent would you most like to have? I think I'd like to be able to play a multitude of instruments with some talent. And again, there's something that's doable!

What is your current state of mind? Relieved.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be? It's cohesiveness.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Having discerned at a very young age who my true friends were and held on to them tightly throughout my life.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? Oh, I don't know. A Ferrari? In Germany. With easy access to the Autobahn.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? I'd come back as a well loved, much coddled cat.

What is your most treasured possession? The relationship I have with my Mom.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Working at a crisis centre, I hear so many examples. I have a tremendous sympathy for those who live with mental health issues that don't allow for them to ever experience relief from it...it often leads to homelessness (in the more extreme cases) and alienation from the very people that can help. And so many just fall through the cracks and, because of their affliction, are unable to help themselves.

Where would you like to live? Italy or France.

What is your favorite occupation? Reading.

What is your most marked characteristic? That I read. All the time.

What are the qualities you most like in a man? The ability to sympathize with others.

What are the qualities you most like in a woman? A wicked sense of humour.

What do you most value in your friends? Everything. But mostly their steadfastness.

Who are your favorite writers? Oh boy. There are SO many. K. Bannerman springs to mind. Simon Winchester. Robertson Davies. Ellis Peters. Alice Munro. Carol Shields. The person who writes out my paycheck is one of my favorite, too!

Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Brother Cadfael at the moment.

Who are your heroes in real life? My mom.

What are your favorite names? Some of these questions are so thought provoking and others are so...not.

What is it that you most dislike? Rudeness. Unfairness. Selfishness. Schnitzel.

How would you like to die? Quickly, with a great peace in my heart knowing I lived well.

What is your motto? "Don't let fear or common sense stop you!"

I don't know who painted that picture, but I love it!

25 comments:

Grant said...

If you liked that picture, you will love Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" made entirely out of sushi.

limpy99 said...

Simon Winchester is a greta writer. So great that he probably never misspells great, unlike some of your readers.

Dr. Deb said...

Learned SO much about you in this one.

kimber said...

Oh my god, this meme made me love you even more.

Bentley. That answer caught my breath in my throat and made me sigh.

Brother Cadfael. YES!

Favorite writers. *eyes-squinty grinning*

jmb said...

Tai, you did this brilliantly.

Reading, yes. As my daughter says,taking after her Mum, reading is as necessary as breathing.

The women who stepped out of their pre-assigned roles and strode forth to say, "If a man can do it, so can I." And then proceeded to do just that.

You are a woman after my own heart.

Unfairness I've spent my whole life bewailing it and trying to fix it if I could.

Well done. You need Josie to identify the painting. It definitely seems familiar to me.

Big Brother said...

Brother Cadfael, you are a woman after my heart. I've read and re-read Ellis Peters' Cadfael stories multiple times. Try and get the BBC series on Cadfael with Derek Jacobi (He is just like the Cadfael of my imagination), they are really good and follow the books really well.
If you like medieval murder mysteries also try Sister Fidelma by Peter Tremayne (7th century Ireland, much more advanced than the rest of Europe at that time), Michel Jecks' Sir Baldwin Furnhill series (story takes place in the 1300's under Edward II in and around Dartmoor a place we visited and loved hiking in), Bernard Knight's Crowner John series with Sir John de Wolfe (takes place in Exeter under the reign of Richard I and the nasty Prince John).
As you can see I love medieval mysteries and I am constantly trying to find others... so if you know of any others please feel free to tell me them. ;o)

Anonymous said...

My favourite is... "don't let fear or common sense stop you."

Pol* said...

A very telling MeMe indeed!

I am so happy to have spent time with you this weekend, it was wonderful to be there with you and Spider!

geewits said...

Let's do that "perfect happiness" one when Josie and I arrive in June.

You don't have a favorite name?

A cat? Everyone says that, but do you really want to have to use your tongue to clean your butt and forgo all vegetables?

Yes, patience is highly overrated!

David Amulet said...

Oh, I just read something like your answers! heheheh

Phil said...

Hey Tai- I can't believe you didn't put me as the person you most admire. BTW, could you shoot me a quick e-mail? I have a quick question.

Scott said...

Love it. I am going to be a stealing this.

I like that you wrote about waking up somewhere else where they speak a different language. Very cool.

Jazz said...

Oh, Josie's questionaire. I've been sitting on that one, I really need to get to it.

I loved your answers and I think we'll probably have a couple in common.

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Good meme. I liked your answer on how you would like to die. I would give a similar answer too.

nosthegametoo said...

When I read your answers, it kind of makes me think to myself that I've never SERIOUSLY found real answers to a lot of these.

Or at least I don't think so. Maybe mine change from time to time.

Thank you for sharing.

Heather said...

you know yourself much, much better than I do (know myself I mean) Thanks for sharing this :)

Hermes said...

But... what are your favourite NAMES? Come on! I wanted to know. I feel your pain on this one. You go girl, only answer the ones you want.

Ian Lidster said...

Ah, the time-honored Proustian questionnaire. Love it. You did well, my dear. Re one reference, I don't understand why women have ever wanted to be like men. Women are so much better than men -- and cuter, too.
Night train across Europe. Oh yes, been there and done that and loved every minute and every awakening morning.

Jocelyn said...

Alice Munro is a goddess. These memes do such a good job of illuminating to me why I can so very much like someone I've never met.

Mz.Elle said...

I especially love the little blue flowers..

I remember your Bentley:)

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Unknown said...

Brother Cadfael! I’ve not read a Brother Cadfael mystery in years. Thanks for reminding me. I must take a trip back to the 11th Century soon.

Jo said...

Tai, "The women who stepped out of their pre-assigned roles and strode forth to say, "If a man can do it, so can I." And then proceeded to do just that." It is very nice to read that. Those women did it for your generation of women, and for generations to come, and it's nice to see that it was valued. I always used to tell my daughter the same thing.

That sort of ties in with your motto, as well, "Don't let fear and common sense hold you back." That is my motto as well.

Great answers!

Dr.John said...

Now we know a bit more about you than we did before.

Weary Hag said...

Tai ... it is SO good to see you and wonderful to know that in spite of my disappearance, you hung in there to come see me again. Thank you my friend.
I LOVE this meme and might use it sometime soon.
I might also have to say that one of my most over-used sayings is very similar to yours ... mine would be "Oh yeah... I read about that on the Net."