Meme Answers... A Few Weeks Later

Weeks ago, I responded on Shannon's Interview meme that I wanted to be interviewed. Life got in the way, but here are my answers.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Being loved. Laughing a lot. Being respected and honored for my writing. Spending time with cherished family and friends. A day filled with lots of reading, lots of delicious food, and a good cardio/strength/Pilates workout afterwards to balance things out.

Then again, my wedding was a lot of fun and I didn't work out or read much that day.

2. What is your greatest fear?

I used to say, before I lived in New York, that I feared crime and cockroaches.

Now, thankfully having avoided one and conquered the other, I'd say dying before I've done everything I want to do. And dying in a particularly horrible way. At an age I consider 'way too young. This makes me hope that I will finish writing the books I want to write before I can't, and that if I have children, I'll see them grow up long before I die.

3. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Hmmm. I don't have a ready-made answer, not being a strong reader of history. Certain figures I've admired, certainly, particularly for their fight for women's rights: Susan B. Anthony, Gloria Steinem, and Betty Friedan all come to mind. Particularly Friedan: I read The Feminine Mystique at 15 and thought it was brilliant.

4. Which living person do you most admire?

There are plenty of people to mention, but I'd say my mother, Lyrehca's Ma, for being a tough broad at times when necessary and a genuine softie at others. She's made me who I am today.

5. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

I procrastinate on some things, like writing the books I have thought about for years. While I think I'm ambitious and an achiever, it's taken me a long time to do something I've always dreamed of doing. I'd like to think, though, that all this time passing has helped marinate and shape some of my thoughts so that when they actually come out on paper, they'll be better than they were when I first conceived them, years before.

OK, didn't mean to end on a down note. I think this Interview meme's time may have passed, but if you're up for being interviewed, let me know and I'll think up some happier questions to ask.