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| "Sleeping Eros" courtesy of Wiki Images. |
Greetings Toadlings
For Valentines Day I bring you all a very special offering. Say what you will about this holiday. Say it’s a manufactured lie. Say that it is a beacon of romance and sentiment in a dark world gone awry. Whatever your feelings are, my muddy warty siblings, today I present to each of you my own homemade Valentine. Yes, I ate some of the glue and have suffered numerous paper cuts from paper doilies, but nonetheless, you are worth it. So from my glitter littered heart to yours, I present:
The DIY interview.
Over the last few months, I have had the honor to interview several Toads and followers by way of having an easy flowing conversation. A little writing talk, a little inspiration, and a lot of strange “quick fire” questions meant to reveal the inner most workings of the creative brain. You know the questions:
What is your favorite curse word?
Alarm clocks: don’t use one, hit snooze repeatedly, or wake at the first chime?
Three things you never write about....
There has been an unlabeled tin can in your kitchen cupboard for years, do you open it?
Matinee or Late show?
Matinee or Late show?
You have developed a rare and specific super power....what is it?
What is your favorite thing to do on a Tuesday night?
Time to go to the laundromat! Do you bring Lou Reed or David Bowie?
Boy Named Sue or Folsom Prison Blues?
This is the chance to ask your very own “quick fire” question of your fellow toads.
Here is how the DIY Interview works:
The interview starts when the first commenter picks their own question and answers it in the comments section, then they will leave a new question. The next commenter will answer the question in the comment above then ask their own “quick fire” question. I urge you to make up your own, but you may use one of questions I have left as an example if you wish.
Essentially, each commenter answers the question in the comment above, then asks a question of their own for the next commenter. The more of us who participate, the brighter and resplendent the interview will become.
AND: there is no limit to your participation, toads. I encourage you to revisit and re-ask as many times as you would like.
AND: there is no limit to your participation, toads. I encourage you to revisit and re-ask as many times as you would like.
So go now, my toads, and enjoy the friendly pond!
I am going to swoop in and comment first here to get us going:
ReplyDeleteWhat is your earliest childhood memory?
Winter time. I was three. It was late at night. I had been hiding under my blankets because Mom and Dad had been fighting, loudly. I scooted down the stairs to the kitchen, where I found my mom making christmas cookies, Russian tea cakes. I remember her giving me one of those delicious sugary, crumbling cookies. Then she went back to the kitchen, singing to herself. I scooted back up the stairs and fell promptly to sleep.
What is the strangest dream your remember having?
Wow, what a question to ask ME! My dreams are often rich, detailed, and wild, and they not infrequently end up as poems.
ReplyDeleteHere's the one I chose: I dreamt I was a street hooker turning tricks. s I recall, I was wearing a short white lacy summer dress, sweetly sexy but not really hookerish. But I was definitely hooking. I thought, I should do one off the books, so that I get to keep the money...I'll buy myself something nice with it.
As I was turning that last trick, in the opening to an alley, my girlfriend Helen showed up and saw me. She hadn't known about this, and her face was full of shock , disappointment, and betrayal. I was mortified.
In waking life, I'm a recovering alcoholic, and haven't had a drink in more than 27 years, but in my dream I got utterly wasted, which was weird to experience again! I grabbed my little notebook containing my best poems, and stole a car (!) to drive to go see Helen, and give her the book, which contained the best of me.
I nearly crashed, swerving all over, but I found a church where they were having Easter services, and I knew Helen was inside. I tried to go in, but the ushers said i had to dress in male drag if I wanted to go inside.
I was desperate to get in, so I went in the ladies room and changed into this tuxedo, which hung on me and the neck and sleeves were to big. I knew I looked ridiculous, but I did it, and went inside the church, looking for Helen. I could feel her there, but couldn't spot her.
It became clear to me thagt this was her world and would never be mine, so, broken-heearted, I took my book and left, knowing it waqs over between her and me.
Find the resulting poem here:
http://fireblossom-wordgarden.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-drinking-dream-of-helen-t.html
My question: You're a sandwich. What kind, and why?
i am a cucumber sandwich on wheat bread with vegan mayo, salt & pepper. because that's my FAVORITE, that's why!
ReplyDeletewhat is your best memory of snow?
The first time I saw snow, I was about 16. I was spending the weekend with my friend and her boyfriend's family in a cottage in a small town called Underberg (Under the mountains). I have never been as cold as I was that night, trying to sleep on a camp bed but in the morning I woke to a thin layer of snow, and miniature icicles in the trees and a reservoir covered in a layer of ice so sheer it melted between my fingers. I was in Wonderland.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your pet hate?
What is my pet hate? O Kerry, I have so many! Boilerpoint political talking points, pantyhose, looking at people who have so much Botox they no longer fully resemble humans, but rather some alien race out of a bad Star Trek episode, etc.
ReplyDeleteBut my biggest pet hate s automated phone lines for customer service. I have been on two different ones today, and they both sucked horrifically.
What is the earliest movie you remember seeing? (Mine is the Wizard of Oz in its first theater run)
The first movie I remember is The Aristocats! I still love it and have had cats named after several of the characters.
ReplyDeleteIf you woke up to find you'd turned into an animal, which would it be?
I think it would be a cat. They are independent yet loving..and have attitude. Yes, I would be a cat.:)
ReplyDeleteIf you had wings, where would you fly?
If I had wings (and flew with ease) I would fly EVERYWHERE, starting with the San Francisco Cliff House area and up the coast to Vancouver. After visiting Sherry for a week, I would head to LA theater land, then down to the Oaxacan area weavers and potters and on to South Africa and . . . Just let me know where I can get those wings!
ReplyDeleteIf today was your Birthday, and you could have a meal in any restaurant anywhere with any person or group of people--where, what, who, and why?? (I would have risotto and truffles too in Spoleto, Italy during the Festival with old friends from Santa Maria de Spoleto where we could reminisce about travels with MaMa Ellen.)
I would gather all of my childhood friends, return to the diner we all hung out in (the 50s), gorge on hamburgers, fries, cherry cokes, raspberry malts, ice cream sundaes!
ReplyDeleteIf you had to be stranded on a desert island for one month, who would you want to take along? Why? No family or significant others allowed!
Sarah Silverman. If I'm going to be stuck with one other person for a month, she has to be able to see the humor in stuff and make me laugh. Plus, Sarah Silverman is smart and good looking. Plus, she's young enough to do the physical stuff we would have to do, like build a hut and so forth.
ReplyDeleteNext question: You're under arrest. What the hell did you do?
When we lived near Lake Michigan, one evening i was tempted to suggest to my husband to have sex on the beach under a star filled sky. There are police that patrol and they do nab teenagers now and again and i decided not to ask him as he probably would have said yes. Would police actually arrest a middle age married couple? Perhaps one day I will let you Toads know :)
ReplyDeleteOops. Question: if you could go back in time and live for one week, when and where would that be?
ReplyDeleteSuch a cool idea, Izy. I can't approach right now, but will check out later. Thanks much. You are a great interviewer. k.
ReplyDeleteI think I would definitely like Europe in the 1920s. The fashion, the decadence, the music and art!
ReplyDeleteYou have one quarter left, do you chose the pinball machine or the Jukebox?
Definitely the Juke Box, because with one song, I can entice others to drop their last quarters into the music machine and then we'd have a party going on!
ReplyDeleteNext Question...
You are the subject of your local newspaper's headline. Why?
OK after all my years working at our local paper and putting others in the headlines I will answer this one. My first thought on this is that it would be something good like winning the lottery or perhaps winning a big prize (guess I am just always the optimist here!!) Since those are not really very imaginative perhaps it would be "Local woman discovers mummy in garage." Or "Woman paints murals on every wall in her home"
ReplyDeleteOK here is another question: Are you a morning person or an evening person? How do you know and why do you think this is?
I am a morning person, always have been since the time I was a child. I was never one to sleep late. Even as a young adult when I was out late, I always got up early anyway. Most mornings I am awake and up at 6 a.m. I just feel more invigorated at that time of day.
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Which reality television show could you fantasize yourself on? Here are a few possibilities, but you may think of others: The Bachelor, American Idol, The Biggest Loser, Jersey Shores, Survivor.....
I wanted to go on Survivor since it first aired! I have thyroid disease-so I'm use to starving and being married to a military spouse means pain and bossy people always being around! I would win...lol! ;D
ReplyDeleteQuestion: If someone was to write your Biography, what would you like the name of your life story to be?!
"I Turned Emmylou Harris. Where's My Toaster?"
ReplyDelete;-)
Isadora Gruye shows up at your door at 3am. What do you suppose she wants?
PS--I guess I should explain that it's an old tired lesbian joke that if you turn a straight woman, you win a toaster.
ReplyDeleteFB so glad you shared! :D I didn't know this~
ReplyDeleteIzy has a sinus infection and she knows I get them bad. So, I hook her up and give her meds, some Hot Lemonade and tell her she must hang and watch Boardwalk Empire-I am so hooked! I love the 1920s~
This is all such a terrific hoot and majorly cheered me up. The title that sprang to mind with Ellie's question about the book of my life was "I Did It Their Way". Hee hee.
ReplyDeleteoops, forgot to ask another question!
ReplyDeleteQuestion:
All of us Toads are going to meet someday. Where should we meet and why did you pick this joint?
( I know we have to have a watering hole) lol
There's a bar on this island (I'm in Honolulu) called "Senior Frogs." They have cheap drink specials. Then you'd get to come to paradise, and get to stumble to the beach.
ReplyDeleteThere's an opportunity to explore space, but no guarantee of survival. Would you go? Why/why not?
before motherhood I always said yes, what an amazing opportunity to extend our knowledge of the universe. but now I'm a mum - no chance, I'm needed here.
ReplyDeleteif giving up all your belongings could guarantee you health for 10 years, would you do it?
Hi Emma, I am hoping to have health for ten years without giving up all my belongings, but if that is what it would take, I would give them up in a flash. There is nothing like a day spent nauseated or with vertigo to put you right off even your best diamond tiara.
ReplyDelete(Giving up a computer is a bit harder, and photographs, but I am assuming that other people in my life will not be required to give up their belongings, so hoping that they have some of the dupes - of photos anyway.)
My question: if you would write a book right now, and know it would be published, what would it be about? Could it be made into a movie?
I would write the definitive (and entirely original) Dystopian novel of the 21st Century... and of course, I'll whore it out for the movie rights. They can turn my magnum opus into a 4-D adventure movie for the summer holidays.. more money for me right...I did say it was dystopian, after all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this DIY interview, Izy. It has been such a lot of fun to read the Q & A responses.
I think Hawaii is a great destination for our get-together but if you could pack only one luxury item, what would it be?
one luxury item for a RT gathering in Hawaii? i'm not even sure what a luxury item is, but i'm fairly certain i would want fantastic photos of such an event. so i'd buy a very fancy camera and bring it along.
ReplyDeletewhat kind of flower are you?
A stinkweed, hee hee.
ReplyDeleteYou are granted one wish, as a reward for being such a wonderful human being. What would you wish? There are no limits!
Izzy,what a fun idea...great interview fellow Toads!!
ReplyDeleteSherry!! Great question. :)
I would wish away ALL dis-ease...every stinkin' form of hatred, bitterness and wrong-doing would be banished, there would be no sickness and not a trace of malice would reside in all of creation...just accordance...true harmony.
Hee! Wishful thinking indeed!!
Sometimes I can be SO predictable!
If you could embody a creature...what kind would it be and why?
{I couldn't resist ...}
ReplyDeleteI would morph into an Oompa Loompa working the days away in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory .... pure
heaven!
Question: Is that all there is?
is this all there is? almost too much, never enough, just the right amount.
ReplyDeletewhy are you not sleeping right now?
it's midday, mind you I still wish I was sleeping :)
ReplyDeletehave you ever traveled somewhere that you've really not liked?