I love answering questions, so if you’ve got them, keep ’em coming!

Do I like Oprah?  Why/why not?  There are things I like about her.  I think she’s a very generous woman.  I think she really does care about making a difference in people’s lives and influencing others to make a difference.  I admire that.  I don’t like the way truth has become relativistic for her.  Finding your own truth rings hollow.  There can only be one truth.  I think she misses the boat there, and that makes me sad.

My favorite flower . . . I’m really not good at choosing ONE favorite thing.  I love irises.  The combination of the purple and the interesting shape makes me happy.  That being said, I also love carnations–they feel so nice and smell kind of peppery.  Roses are another favorite . . . especially peace roses.

Do I like summer?  Yes, but it’s not my favorite season.  I like the longer days.  I like the way it means I get to see a lot of people–it’s my busiest time of year at the office.  I love a good thunderstorm.  I hate sweating.  I hate not being able to sleep well because of the heat.  I miss the having summers off part of teaching and the freedom that allows.  Probably my favorite season is Autumn.  My birthday happens then, and while I’m not a huge fan of aging, I have an affinity for cake and presents.  I also like the way cooler and warmer weather mingle.  And when I’m in the Northeast, I love seeing the trees change color—the blaze of glory is a feast for the eyes.

If I could vacation anywhere in the world, where would I go and why?  Hmmmmmm—I would love to take a cruise through the Panama canal with my family.  It would be fun to be on a cruise with my brother, sister-in-law, nephews and parents.  My great-grandfather helped to build the canal, so it would be viewing a piece of family history, too.  Other than that—visiting good friends in Morocco is always good.  I’d love to go back to Rome and Edinburgh some day.  And there’s always the cruise I’ve talked about with two of my friends . . .oh!  There are so many places I haven’t been yet, too . . .

Do I have any pets?  Not at the moment.  I travel too much and even when I’m in town, I’m often away from home for long hours.  It wouldn’t be fair to an animal to have it only to leave it cooped up all the time.  And then there’s the money issue—right now I can’t afford to feed and care for anything other than myself.  In a perfect world, money wouldn’t be an issue and I could bring my Rhodesian Ridgeback to the office with me.  The last pet I had was a Ridgeback—great dogs.  My brother has two, so I get my fur therapy at his house once or twice a year.

What is it that I like about scrapbooking?  It’s a creative outlet for me.  It combines elements of design, people and places I love, with color, texture, and writing.  I was involved with yearbook in high school and college, and then I taught it in high school.  I love seeing it all come together to tell a story in so many different ways.

My heritage —on my Mother’s side I’m English and Norwegian.  On my Father’s side I’m English, Irish, Scottish and French.  I guess that makes me a good melting pot American.

And now for some more . . .

Where is my favorite place to be and why?  Again, narrowing it down to one is pretty hard.  In general, my favorite place to be is by water—preferably an ocean’s beach.  I love the sea.  I’ve learned to love the sand, even though I really don’t like it when it sticks to me.  Almost anywhere with family and friends is a great place.  Under a tin roof in downpour . . . the rock quarry near Bouake at sunset . . .

My favorite song . . . my favorite hymn is probably “It is Well”. . . there are so many good other songs though I don’t think I can choose.

Favorite band/singer . . . I really like Billy Joel’s stuff—especially from the 80s.  George Strait and Rascall Flatts for Country . . . the Beach Boys . . . I’m not big into music.  I really like Thelonious Monk, too.  Bare Naked Ladies and Moxie Fruvous spent a lot of time in my CD player when I had one.  Then there’s Mozart and Dvorak . . . I guess I go through spurts when I’m into music and my tastes are pretty eclectic.  Lately I’ve made a decision to fast from music in my car, and that’s about the only place I ever listen to it.

Type of music . . . I think I already answered that.

Candy . . . finally and easy answer!!!  Dark chocolate.  Yummmmmm.

Do I collect anything?  If so what?  Not really.  I’ve gone through phases of collecting souvenir spoons, rainbows and Precious Moments figurines.  Oh, wait!  I collect tea cups!  I used to actively seek them out.  And then I lost many of them in the evacuation.  One of my friends retrieved as many as he could for me.  I just unpacked them last week and got shelves to display them on.  I like looking at them and being able to use them on occasion.  I suppose it didn’t immediately occur to me because I haven’t acquired any in almost 5 years and they’ve been packed away for so long.  My desire to simplify and declutter also doesn’t lend itself to collecting much.

photo courtesy of Ivan Petrov