1. I'll kiss to that! I called the blog "kisstothat" because I intended it to be a toast, a tribute, an expression of esteem for the things in the world (large, small, famous, almost invisible) that I find to be brave and beautiful and brilliant.
2.I am a natural redhead. I am asked that question by at least one person pretty much every day. Lately the color is much more of a strawberry blonde, but . . . it’s still real. I like it now, but I hated it as a kid (taunts of “better dead than red in the head” at an early age don’t do much for one’s self esteem!)
3. I have been on every continent except Antarctica, and a great number of countries on each of those continents. The bulk of that traveling was done between age 10 and age 20, but I have also continued to visit many interesting foreign places as an ostensible adult.
4. I have visited 49 of our 50 states (sorry, North Dakota), and have performed in 47 of them (sorry, Alaska and Hawaii and the aforementioned ND!) mostly in small theatres or on rickety little tours.
5. I am sometimes completely overwhelmed by all the suffering in the world. I like to receive news reports (written and broadcast) in the morning. Getting the news at night tends to upset my sleep. But then, it surprises me that the things in the news are not enough to upset everyone’s sleep every night . . .
6. I am an ENFP (or “champion idealist”) on the Myers Briggs test. And . . . I am. Both the positives and the negatives.
7. I am very nervous around helium balloons. I am always waiting for them to burst (as they nearly always do), and yet when it finally happens I am as startled and upset as I was when a bunch of them popped all around me in a hot car when I was about 3 . . . which was *really* startled and *pathetically* upset!
8. I could eat pasta seven days a week.
9. I read a lot. Some days many more pages than others, but I read something every day, and end up reading well over 300 new books a year, plus re-reading old favorites.
10. I hate the taste and texture of raw tomatoes - seriously, they make me gag. But, COOKED tomatoes are one of my favorite foods. Similar for onions, though I neither hate them quite as much raw nor love them quite as much cooked.
11. I was raised as an atheist, but later attended Seminary to work on an MA in Theology. In my opinion, if something is loving and rational and inclusive, it is good theology, but I reject hateful, divisive ignorance.
12. Depending on the circumstances, sipping from one of these - a glass of Veuve Cliquot, La Crema Pinot Noir, or Woodpecker Cider - can fill me with delight. However, despite joyfully indulging in the beverages mentioned here, I have never been intoxicated. (I also enjoy an occasional Dr. Pepper from the Texas plant that still uses cane sugar instead of corn syrup.)
13. Despite having made a thousand mistakes in my life, and feeling shame for the times I inadvertently hurt someone, there is only one regret that weighs on me . . . so if I were offered that classic fantasy option of “being someone else”, I would turn it down. (Though I do wish I could figure skate.)
14. I have had, during periods of stress ever since I was very small, recurring nightmares about Alligators, and no dream book or website ever lists what Alligator is supposed to mean symbolically, even when there are thousands of other definitions. (Of course, I did grow up in Florida, so maybe an Alligator is just an Alligator!)
15. I have been working on expanding my vocal range, having been told, after all these years, that I am not really a mezzo but “an untrained soprano”. So after months of long hours of vocalizing, I have been solidly singing high Cs on a regular basis. Hooray! It makes me SO happy! My neighbors . . . maybe not so much. ;-)
16. I have no interest in ever joining a gym. I just don’t get the whole “working out” culture. I do, however, love to go on hikes, go swimming, take bike rides, or attend dance classes. I am willing to hear arguments to the contrary, but to me, being on a stationary bike or a treadmill when there is a whole world to explore is like eating dehydrated astronaut-type food at the Bellagio Buffet.
17. My mother died when I was in fifth grade. That has affected much of my life. She was really a wonderful, complex person . . . you probably would have liked her. Then again, I am astounded by how many beautiful, creative and unique souls are rejected by the bulk of humanity.
18. There was something else written here as #18 a moment ago, but I just erased it as I thought it might be too provocative.
19. I believe, with all my heart and soul, that:
“Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds”
Also:
that love “is a weapon of matchless potency”
Also:
that love “is the great reality”
So, having quoted Shakespeare, Gandhi, and St. Bernard, I move on . . .
20. If I buy a pint of Ben and Jerry’s, I will eat a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. Right then.
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