Ever wondered what the people you befriend on the internet perceive about you without ever having met you in person?
The "Say 33" meme has been floating around so, since I can't leave well enough alone, I took a liberty by turning it upside down. Instead of answering all the questions myself about myself, I sent it to some writer friends whom I have never met face to face to see just what I have put out there, like so many breadcrumbs on the path.
Two fellow writers from Open Salon took up the challenge and answered these queries about me.
First this from pundit and humorist, Cranky Cuss:
1. Her main trait: The ability to laugh
2. The quality she likes best in a man: Sense of humor
3. The quality she likes best in a woman: Kindness
4. Her main flaw: Doesn’t write nearly often enough
5. Last time she cried: Just now, when she read #4
6. Her ideal job: Collector of Tony Awards for Best Play
7. Her most remembered scent of a place: The fireworks while workin...g for The Mouse
8. Beloved movie: Nobody’s Perfekt (yeah, I remember that post)
9. Book on her nightstand: Chicken Soup for the Teenager’s Mother’s Soul (OK, I made that up, but if there isn’t a book by that name, I’ve got dibs)
10. Her First and best kiss: I wasn’t there, dear, honest!
11. She couldn’t do without: Her daughter
12. How she would like to die: Quickly and painlessly, like the rest of us
13. Song she sings in the shower: “Pumped Up Kicks”
14. Her deadly sin: Tempting fate by using her blog to criticize priests and nuns
15. Her not-so-deadly sin: Over-generosity (just a guess)
16. Her motto: “Let me tell you a story.”
17. Ideal first date: a night at the theater
18. Favorite present: Her avatar from Dianaani (it’s one of my favorites)
19. In the train: Reading a book
20. Something she’d change in her body: I’m not going there. Wait, that sounds dirty. I mean, I’m not going to touch that one … oh, crap, I give up.
21. Her addiction: Air conditioning (come on, she lives in Florida)
22. Now on her left: The dog
23. Now on her right: Something decorative that makes her feel comfortable while writing
24. Now in front of her: The computer
25. Now behind her: A lot of good and bad memories
26. Names for her children: Um, well I know she’s got a daughter, can’t remember if she’s ever mentioned her name
27. 3 things in her purse: Wallet, keys and HER DOG!
28. 3 places that fascinate her: Stage left, stage right, the dressing room
29. 3 people she’d like to meet: Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Haskins, the father of her grandchildren (but not any time soon)
30. 3 traits she hates in people: Intolerance, cruelty to animals, conceitedness
31. Values inherited from her parents: Humor, tolerance (how else to get along with siblings)
32. In her past life she was: Hell on wheels
33. In her future life she’ll be: The precocious daughter of Neil Simon and Eve Ensler
1. Her main trait: The ability to laugh
2. The quality she likes best in a man: Sense of humor
3. The quality she likes best in a woman: Kindness
4. Her main flaw: Doesn’t write nearly often enough
5. Last time she cried: Just now, when she read #4
6. Her ideal job: Collector of Tony Awards for Best Play
7. Her most remembered scent of a place: The fireworks while workin...g for The Mouse
8. Beloved movie: Nobody’s Perfekt (yeah, I remember that post)
9. Book on her nightstand: Chicken Soup for the Teenager’s Mother’s Soul (OK, I made that up, but if there isn’t a book by that name, I’ve got dibs)
10. Her First and best kiss: I wasn’t there, dear, honest!
11. She couldn’t do without: Her daughter
12. How she would like to die: Quickly and painlessly, like the rest of us
13. Song she sings in the shower: “Pumped Up Kicks”
14. Her deadly sin: Tempting fate by using her blog to criticize priests and nuns
15. Her not-so-deadly sin: Over-generosity (just a guess)
16. Her motto: “Let me tell you a story.”
17. Ideal first date: a night at the theater
18. Favorite present: Her avatar from Dianaani (it’s one of my favorites)
19. In the train: Reading a book
20. Something she’d change in her body: I’m not going there. Wait, that sounds dirty. I mean, I’m not going to touch that one … oh, crap, I give up.
21. Her addiction: Air conditioning (come on, she lives in Florida)
22. Now on her left: The dog
23. Now on her right: Something decorative that makes her feel comfortable while writing
24. Now in front of her: The computer
25. Now behind her: A lot of good and bad memories
26. Names for her children: Um, well I know she’s got a daughter, can’t remember if she’s ever mentioned her name
27. 3 things in her purse: Wallet, keys and HER DOG!
28. 3 places that fascinate her: Stage left, stage right, the dressing room
29. 3 people she’d like to meet: Luciano Pavarotti, Joan Haskins, the father of her grandchildren (but not any time soon)
30. 3 traits she hates in people: Intolerance, cruelty to animals, conceitedness
31. Values inherited from her parents: Humor, tolerance (how else to get along with siblings)
32. In her past life she was: Hell on wheels
33. In her future life she’ll be: The precocious daughter of Neil Simon and Eve Ensler
1. Her main trait: Compassion
2. The quality she likes best in a man: Humor
3. The quality she likes best in a woman: Wit
4. Her main flaw: Excess soul
5. Last time she cried: Last week (after Pumped Up Kicks-Redux)
6. Her ideal job: Doyenne (of a Salon for artists of all sorts & philanthropist novelist)
7. Her most remembered scent of a place: Citrus, creamy coconut, warm fur, salt-water and beach grasses carried on an errant ocean breeze (with the long,slow moan of a train whistle in the background)
8. Beloved movie: Buddha
9. Book on her nightstand: Lucky Man
10. Her First and best kiss: 12 years old
11. She couldn’t do without: The Boy, T, Bella, Family and the furry ones
12. How she would like to die: Telling a tale to her great-great-grandchildren and finishing with "the end, my loves."
13. Song she sings in the shower: Pumped Up Kicks seguewaying into Nessum Dorma (humming the melody)
14. Her deadly sin: Howling at the moon
15. Her not-so-deadly sin: Passion
16. Her motto: Let Me Tell You a Tale
17. Ideal first date: The theatre and drinks after
18. Favorite present: Does she have a favorite? (I think she may have many. How to choose?)
19. In the train: Listens to music to block out the cacophony, carries a book but secretly observes people and begins a story in her mind
20. Something she’d change in her body: Maybe the second toe (mine is longer too)
21. Her addiction: Pocket Poms
22. Now on her left: Spirit of Calamity Jane
23. Now on her right: T, The Boy, Bella
24. Now in front of her: An unlimited horizon and a view of the most perfect pristine, softly falling snow over Salisbury Plain
25. Now behind her: Disney World, Ted Bundy (whew) and Kim Cattrall and a plethora of rich experiences both mundane and amazing
26. Names for her children: The Boy, T
27. 3 things in her purse: Bella, keys, cellphone
28. 3 places that fascinate her: Stonehenge, Paris, Dublin
29. 3 people she’d like to meet: Anne Bonney, William Shakespeare, Michael J. Fox
30. 3 traits she hates in people: Arrogance, cruelty, pettiness
31. Values inherited from her parents: Strength, perseverance, honesty, love of mankind and all denizens of the Earth
32. In her past life she was: Anne Bonney
33. In her future life she’ll be: A combination of Hypatia, Cleopatra, Elizabeth I, Calamity Jane, Sappho and Dorothy
They say what you put out there on the internet stays out there forever. So, with all the permenance one can derive from telling stories on the web, it is nice to know that, at least for Cranky and Doireann, I have not wandered this way without leaving a mark. Maybe a good mark. And neither have they.
As for question #5: Now. And upon reading again, now.
Again.
