This post was inspired by Minnie’s post:

Seven unusual things about me.

1. I can do a great impression of a bike horn.

2. I can write upside down very quickly and easily.

3. I’ve always driven a stick shift (a manual transmission).

4. I like reading words out loud backwards every now and then.

5. I usually become fairly proficient at almost everything I attempt to do.

6. I’ve always loved fruit and vegetables, even squash and lima beans, even as a kid.

7. I’m not a fan of soda, coffee, or alcohol, and I can’t stand cigarette smoke—and I’m not even Mormon!

Questionnaire

1. Which character in a book is a lot like you? How?
I relate most closely to Jane Austen’s Emma, who is smart, talented, and pretty well content with her life and various accomplishments, but she’s a mite raw and immature and needs a little polishing. Her hero, Mr. Knightly (who is a lot like my H.E.), is her best friend and knows her better than she does herself. He’s the influence in her life that allows her to realize her full potential.

2. Which character from a movie you have seen is a lot like you? How?
Jenna Rink, played by Jennifer Garner in 13 Going on 30. When we first saw a promo for the movie, H.E. said to me, “That’s so you.” This is because I am a child in a woman’s body, still quite amazed that I have boobs. I also grew up steeped in the ’80s culture, like Jenna did, and I left behind my closest friends to be with the In crowd, while still maintaining that optimistic, idealistic outlook on life and wondering why my once closest friends aren’t around much any more. And like Jenna, I came to realize what was really important to me in the end.

3. If you could wake up tomorrow speaking a foreign language fluently, which would it be?
English. Just kidding. Given the economic trends, I’d choose Chinese Mandarin. It’ll probably end up being the most useful. My next choices are Arabic and Japanese. I’m all about the practicality—that’s why I chose to learn French as I was growing up in a Spanish-speaking San Diego.

4. What part of your home do you like best?
My bedroom is the coolest room in the house, many thanks to tree shade and a nice breeze through the window—it’s my favorite place in the summer.

5. What about getting older makes you most afraid?
I’m most afraid of losing those dearest to me.

6. What games are you the best at playing?
I love word games and logic puzzles, and I am not too shabby at them either.

7. What is one thing you admire about each of your parents?
I love that my mom tried to give me a life better than she ever had. She went through a lot of adversity and abuse and tried to make sure I didn’t have to suffer the same thing. I love that my dad could cook anything. I, as a result, have never been a picky eater.

8. Which would you rather be: handsome/beautiful or incredibly intelligent?
Physical beauty is fleeting. I’d rather be incredibly intelligent.

9. What things are essential in creating a romantic evening?
Two people who care very deeply about each other and are moved to show it, however it is they choose to show it.

10. If you could be an internationally known expert in any field, which would it be?
I wouldn’t mind being a poet laureate.

11. Would you rather work with your head or your hands?
I like working with both, and I like to alternate between the two.

12. When you go out with friends for an evening, what do you like to do the most?
So long as I am with them, I don’t usually care either way and would rather do what they would like to do most.

13. What in life make you the most angry?
Hypocrisy, arrogance, greed, and incompetence. Or should I just say the Bush administration?

14. Which in life give you the most joy?
Feeling loved and cherished. Giving gifts that are loved and cherished. Having my loved ones (H.E. and the cat) close by.

15. What is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?
Granted every wish, spoken and unspoken, I ever had.

16. If you could change your first name to anything else, what name would you choose?
I wouldn’t. I like my first name.

17. What is the strangest thing you ever brought home when you were a child?
Mollusks that ended up opening like flowers in the jar of water in which I brought them.

18. If you could wake up a genius at anything, what would you like that to be?
Finances and economics, whatever it takes to do well in stock trading. Then I’d put some money in the market and never work a day unless I wanted to, and in my twilight years, I’d give billions of dollars to great foundations, like Warren Buffet did.

OK. Tag, you’re it!

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