Tagged Again & Cool Questions

Welcome to Deep-Fried Friday! Yum. I’ve been tagged again to answer some questions, this time by The Midnight Novelist, Karen Rought.
I should warn people generally that I’m that girl who broke the chain in high school. You know, when someone sent out letters and you had to rewrite the whole thing and find seven more people to give it to or you’d have eons of horrible luck. Yeah, I threw away the letter.
Thus, I will never get oodles of good fortune, fifty-six pairs of panties, or the prayers of monks in Nepal because I’m a chain-breaker. Why? Chalk it up to laziness, I suppose.
Plus a good dose of curiosity. After all, I was promised in that chain letter that I would be bereft of joy, never experience the love of a decent man, and my girl parts would shrivel up before I reached age 30. I HAD TO KNOW: Would that all come true? I was willing to offer myself up as the test case, the guinea pig, the rat in the maze, the girl in the padded experiment room. All for the sake of curiosity.
Which is why I am not ignoring Karen’s questions, because they are curious ones. Cool ones. Wonderful questions that I’m happy to answer. So why not?
1. What book or series can you read over and over again without getting bored?
This is a hard question because I eventually get bored with almost anything over and over. That said, I might pick a children’s book. I could read Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hatches the Egg over and over or maybe Owl Moon by Jane Yolen or Animalia by Graeme Base.
If I had to pick adult fiction, perhaps I’d go with C.S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces — a fascinating retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

2. If you decided not to be a writer, what would your other dream job be?
I kicked around a few ideas and decided that my other dream job would be Communications Director for the Bayard/Lamb White House. I’d love to stand behind that lectern and explain the common sense approach to governance of the Foxie with Moxie team. Journalists, beware! I am quick-witted and ready to spar.
3. What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done in your life?
Have children. Don’t tell my kids, but I don’t always know what the heck I’m doing.
4. If there was one fad that you could bring back from when you were a kid, what would it be?
Leg warmers. Seriously, how cool were these?

5. Who is the one person that has singlehandedly inspired you the most in your life?
I’m of the “it takes a village” philosophy, so this one is so tough. Can I pick a Bible person? Sure, I could go with Jesus as the ultimate inspiration, but I can’t picture myself living up to the Big Man. But the Apostle Peter: I take heart from him. He had all this passion and a desire for a mission in life and chalked up numerous failures. But he never gave up. He screwed up, learned something, and tried again. That stick-to-it-iveness inspires me to keep going.
6. If you could take a trip to any foreign country RIGHT NOW, which one would you choose?
This answer has been the same for years: Israel. Yes, I know that seems crazy to many. However, having heard and read Bible stories since childhood, I do indeed want to see these places in person. I want to walk where Jesus walked.
7. What is one talent that you’re hopeless at, but you wish you had?
Sports. I’m a rather petite woman, so power has never been my forte. I wanted to be able to serve an ace in tennis or hit a home run in baseball. But I’m not that strong.
8. What TV show are you most addicted to?
After discussion with my husband, it was agreed that I would watch Gilmore Girls every day if it were on and I had time. I love the rich characterization, the brilliant scripts, and the quirkiness of the series. (Admittedly, the last season or two dropped in quality.)

9. If you were stuck on a deserted island, name three objects and three people you would want with you.
Thank goodness I have a family of four. I would take my husband and two children. As for objects, how about a deck of cards, a blanket, and a broad-rimmed hat? That’s a lame list, I  know. But every cool thing I could think of would break eventually or require batteries or an internet connection.
10. If you could be any animal, what would you be?
Black panther. Sleek, fierce, beautiful.

11. What is one trait or physical characteristic that you are proud of/love about yourself?
A few weeks ago, I wrote about describing yourself in Me, in One Word Only. The word I chose was passionate. I don’t have an opinion about everything, but when I do commit to something, I am passionate about it. I would have myself no other way.
Now comes the tagging part, which as I confessed earlier, I stink at. So how about 11 questions, and commenters pick 2-3 favorites to answer? (You can certainly answer more than that, if you wish.)
1. Do you like your own name? Why or why not?
2. What’s your favorite thing to shop for?
3. What was the best concert you attended?
4. What’s the last book you purchased to read?
5. Do you have any phobias? If so, what?
6. If you had to pick a color to describe yourself, what would it be?
7. What’s the strangest dish you ever ate?
8. Do you have a nickname for your beloved? Can you share it?
9. What’s something you did as a teen that your parents still don’t know about?
10. Compare and contrast the use of animals as symbols of deeper conflicts in Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis and George Orwell’s Animal Farm. 😉
11. Are you a chain letter keeper or breaker by nature?
So there you have it. Answer away! And check out Karen Rought’s blog. She came up with cool questions because she’s a super-cool writer and worth following. Thanks, Karen!
A note on another fellow writer/blogger: Jillian Dodd has a bet with CJ West that she can get 5,000 comments on his blog. If she does, West will make an appearance on an upcoming MANDay on Jillian’s blog. It’s a friendly bet and I think Jillian can do it. Let’s help her get to 5,000 by commenting HERE.