Wordgoddess collab: questions

An Illustration Friday collab. This week's topic: "Sorrow."

Today's entry is part of a Wordgoddess collab. Each of us came up with a question for the group.

1. "What would your My Little Pony name be?" - Alicia

Joni Rigatoni Pony. See Figure 1B later in this entry.

2. "What do you think of when you look up at a brilliant night sky?" - Athena

If I look long enough, I feel as if I'm falling into the stars, with arms outstretched, imaginary solar wind tugging at my hair and clothes. I feel small and insignificant, one with the universe, at peace with myself and everyone and everything in the cosmos.

Then my head explodes from the vacuum of space.

3. "Have you ever felt prejudice towards anyone, or felt it aimed at you? Describe/explain." - Becky

Though I was the only non-Caucasian in most of my classes through much of my grade school years, I only experienced direct prejudice occasionally. A friend commented that it really wasn't fair that I got good marks since it was a well-known fact that all Japanese people were smart, so I had an unfair advantage. I remember being called "Chink" and "Jap" and "Slanty Eyes."

Yes, I've felt twinges of prejudice towards certain groups of people in the past. But I'm always aware of when it happens, try very hard to think of people in terms of individuals instead of the group because I know how I hate it when anyone makes sweeping statements about the Japanese, no matter how innocent.

Fig.1B: Joni Rigatoni Pony

4. "You suddenly notice a doorway in your home that you've never noticed before. You open it and find *your room*! Describe it." - Carrie

It's comfortably cluttered, with colourful fabrics and crafts and photographs. Nothing matches; an interior designer would be horrified. Every wall is covered with bookshelves, from hardwood floor to cathedral ceiling; I use a rolling ladder to get to the top shelves.

One corner of the room is my writing corner (mega-computer, high-speed access, etc.), another is my music corner (with my harp, guitar, keyboard, other instruments), another for crafts and drawing, another set up just for reading, with a cozy armchair and a reading lamp.

5. "Pick a song that can make you cry every time you hear it and explain the reason why it does." - Cricket

I don't know of any songs like that, though I do know of songs (and have written songs) that will make me cry, depending on my mood. See my entry on sad songs for more on this topic.

6. "If you could, in retrospect, change one thing about your childhood, what would it be?" - Danielle

I wish I had been more adventurous.

7. "What was your first job?" - Debbie

First parttime: either babysitting or teaching piano or doing cartoons for a Christian kids' newspaper. Can't recall the exact timing.

First fulltime (summer job): Selling hot dogs at the Shopsy's booth at the Canadian National Exhibition food building. It took me years before the smell of cooking hot dogs didn't make me vaguely queasy.

8. "Explain the name of your journal. How'd you come up with it?" - Heather

I chose "Blatherings" because it gave me the flexibility of talking about anything I'd like, didn't tie me down to a particular mood or style or theme.

9. "Describe your bedroom when you were 17. And now?" - HMW

When I was 17:
Small, pale blue walls, blue and white macrame lampshade that my mom made hanging over the bed.

Now:
Jeff and I are temporarily staying at my mom-in-law's condo while we're househunting, so our bedroom is her bedroom (she's not here). Exquisitely designed, white and pale sea-moss green. My bedside table is not nearly as neat and organized as Jeff's. :-)

10. "What does being a woman mean to you?" - Jenn

Independence and strength without losing an awareness of my own femininity, compassion and empathy, vulnerability mixed with courage, complexity.

I've never been what many men would consider a "typical woman." I don't wear makeup, dislike clothes shopping. "Doing my hair" consists of a quick wash/rinse, letting it air-dry.

And I'd much rather get computer hardware than jewellry.

11. "Name one thing you to did today that made you step outside your comfort zone." - Jolene

I've been working through these questions gradually throughout February and the night I came to this one, I had just come back from a session at the Tranzac. Tonight I introduced myself to two new people I had never met before (I'm generally shy so don't tend to do this), chatted with them: a concertina player on my left named Patricia, whistle player on my right named Tim. Through Tim, I found out about Patricia's father's Web site; he was sitting on the other side of Patricia and playing an accordion. When I got home, I checked out the Durham music Web site and was delighted to discover a page of tunes commonly played at the Tranzac, each tune with sheet music and MIDI file!

12. "If you could do anything, knowing that money, opportunity, talent, etc. weren't considerations, what would you do for a living?" - Katherine

What I'm doing now: freelance writing.

13. "When you're feeling down, what can you always count on to cheer you up again (even if only temporarily)?" - Kathy

Reading one of my comfort books, usually a childhood story like Heidi or The Little Princess or The Phantom Tollbooth.

14. "When you're having a bad day, what do you find most comforting?" - Lissa

Reading a comfort book (see above).
Taking a bath. Reading a book in the bath until the pages wrinkle.
Good friends: hanging out in person if possible, else chatting on the phone.
Taking a walk outside, preferably in the sunshine.
Having a good long cry to get it out of my system.
Browsing a bookstore.
Talking with my sister.
Ordering in food with Jeff and watching a rented movie.

15. "Have you ever had a friendship go sour? If so, describe what happened to tear you apart." - Lynda

For me, friendships start drifting apart (I've never had a friendship "tear apart") when the communication breaks down for one reason or another, when I feel as if I'm putting more effort/interest in maintaining the friendship than the other person, when the number of "things we can't talk about anymore" makes the relationship too complicated, when unresolved issues start building up, when I feel as if every conversation is a complex dance around potential landmines.

The ability to be upfront with each other is vitally important to me, as well as open communication, even about difficult subjects. I would MUCH rather drag a touchy topic into the open, hash it out, then put it away for good than pretending it doesn't exist or evading it. I hate conflict, but I've realized that sometimes it's much better to have a good ol' fight and then make up. And if you don't make up, then perhaps the friendship wasn't meant to be.

Of course all the above applies to me as well in any friendship; one of the reasons I feel so strongly about this is because I've been guilty of the same, and have been making an effort to change over the years.

The fact is that I have many friends, but very few truly close friends. I see this as a Good Thing.

16. "Using MapBlast or MapQuest, find the distance between your current home and your hometown (or, if you moved a lot while growing
up, your birthplace). How many miles or kilometers separate you from that place now?" - Melissa

About 25 miles.

17. "What would be your ideal job?" - Nance

What I'm doing now (freelance writing).

18. "Do you Google people you know or come in contact with, and do you think Googling people is a good thing?" - Noreen

Yes, I Google all the time and see nothing wrong with Googling people.

19. "If there was one thing you could change about yourself, personality-wise, what would it be and why?" - Reb

Less guilt.

20. "How does your current life differ from what you thought it would be like when you were 10? How (if at all) is it the same?" -
Robyn

I didn't really think that far ahead when I was ten. I guess I vaguely figured I'd be married with kids, like my mom, but was hazy on the process since I had zero interest in boys at that point. Had no clue about what I wanted to do, except that I knew I'd always be writing.

Now? No kids and no plans to have kids, but I'm married. And I'm still writing. :-)

21. "If someone were to gossip about you, what do you think they would say?" - Say-Say

Geez, I have no idea. Gossipy-types could pick anything, including my obsession with compartmentalized food, the secret lesbian affair I had with my friend Luisa back in university days and the little gnome in my nightstand drawer who quotes Lovecraft.

22. "If you could spend 24 hours living the life of one other person, just for fun and the sake of seeing how someone else lives and
feels, who would it be?" - Sherry

Thursday Next in the Jasper Fforde series: a fictional character in a fictional story about fiction.

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