Mememememememe

[darkemeralds]

It's meme time. Please, won't you play?

ravurian posts the meme thusly:

1. Leave me a comment saying something random, and I will respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better. Your comment can be a lyric or a quote, or something about your day, or a picture - anything you choose - but it will brighten my day if it's about something that interests or inspires you.

2. You will update your LJ/DW with the answers to the questions and include this explanation at the top of your post.

3. When you've posted your answers, you will return to this entry and post a link to your entry so I can read them and ask for questions of my own.

4. When others comment to your entry, you will ask them five questions.



Here are the questions ravurian posed to me:

1. How did your parents meet?

Mom was a shop girl at Liberty House in Waikiki. Dad was a sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor. Mom's roommate, a wild girl, picked up a couple of sailors for double-dating purposes. Dad was the roommate's date, but that didn't work out because it was LAFS between him and my mom. The roommate, it eventually turned out, was a lesbian.

2. What's your favourite myth/piece of folklore?

Artemis and her band of maidens, hunting in the wood one day, came upon the hunky hunter Orion bathing in a pond. She fell in love with him. Her twin brother Apollo, jealous of his sister's virginity (for reasons that make sense only in Greek mythology), decided to make a romance into a tragedy.

"You're a strong guy," he says to Orion. Orion agrees that he is, indeed, the strongest and most athletic guy anywhere in Greece. "Well then," says Apollo. "Show me how far you can swim."

While Orion is doing the Australian crawl out past the breakers, Apollo goes to his sis and says, "Everyone knows you're the best archer on Olympus." Artemis agrees that really, she's never been known to miss. "Maybe," says Apollo, pointing out to sea, "but I bet you can't hit that dark speck out there just beyond the breakers."

She does not miss.

When she realizes what she's done, she makes a constellation out of Orion and hangs her bow on the bough of a cypress, never to touch it again.

3. You're asked to provide a written description of yourself for an artist (who doesn't know what you look like and has never met you) to turn into a portrait. What description would you send to the artist, and would you be telling the truth?

That's just...bravura question-asking. Bravurian, one might say.

Paint me as a goddess of wisdom with a silver helmet. She's got a star in one hand--it's probably the LED flash on her phone--and she's just letting a heavy pack slide from her shoulders to the ground. Her face and frame are strong, but rigid, and you can just see the faint lines of a more graceful form behind her.

It's true enough.

4. What kind of teenager were you? Do you think you would recognise your teenage self if you bumped into her in the street? Would she recognise you? If you had 20 minutes over a coffee with her, what do you think she would find surprising/interesting/horrifying about your life?

Brilliant. The question, I mean.

I was an afflicted, barely-holding-on teenager with serious mood disorders. Big in a land of rather small people, wintry in a sunny place, I was at once miserable within myself and proud. I thought I was smarter and more creative than I was. I thought I was uglier than I was. I believed I'd go farther than I did.

I have no idea whether I'd recognize her. She certainly wouldn't recognize me. She'd think I'm incredibly old, and would probably despise me for not doing better with my life and not being thin yet. On the other hand, she'd be really, really impressed and excited about meeting a time-traveler.

5. If your writing talent had an expiry date, what stories would you like to tell before it went off?

Oh my. The one that's stuck in here with the hazy graceful ghost and the miserable teenager and the time-traveler and the hubristic accidental murderer of love, I guess.

Comments

[llaras]

Wow. Good questions! And good answers!

May I please have some?

[darkemeralds]

1. When was the last time you were totally in a state of flow and lost track of time? What were you doing?

2. What do the people in your life thank you for? What should they thank you for?

3. Imagine that you won a large lottery about three months ago (you can define "large" however you like). What will you do tomorrow?

4. What do you find yourself consistently longing for?

5. What do you like to be noticed for?

[writerscramp]

"Each life converges to some centre/expressed or still"

[darkemeralds]

This is fun! And hard! Trying to be even slightly original (and I'm not--I'm raiding all sorts of materials for questions) and then trying to fit questions to the person by asking myself, "What do I genuinely want to know better about this person?"

So, here we go:

1. How would you characterize your philosophy of friendship? What kind of friend are you?

2. What one thing is most likely to stop you from being expressive/expressing yourself genuinely?

3. When was the last time you overdelivered on something? What was it and why did you do it?

4. You're planning the most wonderful party or celebration you can imagine. Cost is no object. What do you have in mind?

5. How would you describe your inner, natural personal rhythm?

[writerscramp]

Well it only took me forever, but I finally got my answers up. You asked some really incredible questions!

http://writerscramp.dreamwidth.org/173118.html

[darkemeralds]

\o/

I've had a very quick late night read-through of your teriffic answers. I want to spend a little more time with them tomorrow, and will comment further on your journal, but meanwhile, please invite me to your party in Marrakesh!

[writerscramp]

I wouldn't consider it a worthwhile party without you.

[darkemeralds]

PS: The Dickinson is very apt. I've been working on getting some of credibility's temerity out of the way of my goals. You remind me, via Emily, that how I get there's the worthier part.

[blueraccoon]

For I have known them all already, known them all:
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;

[darkemeralds]

Well, here we go: Meme time!

1. How do you most nourish and nurture yourself and your well-being? Or, if you don't, how would you if you could?

2. What do you love helping people with? What gift do you most naturally offer to others?

3. What is your favorite flower? If it were a person/personality, how would you describe it?

4. When was the last time you couldn't sleep because you were so excited about a project or idea? What was it?

5. Have you ever surprised yourself with your own strength? What did you do?

[darkemeralds]

PS: Thank you for the Eliot!

[dine]

cool meme! I really liked the questions asked, and your answers

"You call this a sandwich? You don't have bacon on it!"
Master Shake Aqua Teen Hunger Force

[darkemeralds]

Here we go!

1. Out of all the things your job calls for you to do, which would you do for free?

2. Think back to your childish dreams of what you wanted to be when you grew up. What careers did you dream of? Can you see any symbolism in them for your current life?

3. The world is ripe for revolution. Which revolution would you want to lead?

4. How do you know when you're physically or mentally overtaxed? Do you have a strategy for dealing with it, and if so, what is it?

5. Have you ever made an "Oh my God what was I thinking???" purchase? What was it and do you still have it?

[dine]

you posed some excellent questions - I had to think over my answers seriously before posting

http://dine.dreamwidth.org/631550.html?mode=reply

[darkemeralds]

Yay! I'm going over to read now.

[ravurian]

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, world without end. Amen.

[darkemeralds]

Praise God from whom all blessings flow...

Okay, I saved you for last because you're the trickiest.

1. What aspects of your cultural/ethnic heritage do you feel most connected to? How do you think your own life expresses those aspects?

2. Suppose you were entrusting a qualified professional to replace your entire wardrobe in your absence. All that person has is your measurements, your coloring, and a three word summation of your personal style. What three words are most likely to result in a look you can rock?

3. What self-critical story do you tell yourself most often? How much of it do you really believe?

4. You're a highly creative person. What does inspiration feel like in your body?

5. What is the next single thing you need to know or do in order to be in a state of grace?

[ravurian]

Blimey. I regret asking you such probing questions now, LOL. These will require some thought...

[darkemeralds]

My evil plans are coming to fruition.

[ravurian]

Also, I'm totally going to raid this post for questions. Good show, DarkEm!

[darkemeralds]

Raid away. I did.

[tehomet]

I enjoyed the questions and the answers. Would you believe I've never heard that story about Orion?

'The Viking Great Army camped in the ruins of the Roman walled city of Chester during the winter of 896 AD.'

[darkemeralds]

I'm not sure the Orion story is really canon Greek mythology. I don't remember where I first ran across it, but the piece of beadwork in my icon was inspired by it (that's Artemis, and you can kind of see two of the Orion belt stars next to her face).

I will work on your questions this evening!

[darkemeralds]

Okay, I am finally sitting down to the questions. Here goes:

1. You've done a lot of decluttering lately. What's something in your living space that you'd like to jettison (or feel you should), but just can't get rid of yet? Any idea why?

2. How would you describe your ideal house/home/living space?

3. What is your favorite form of play? Do you do it as often as you'd like, and if not, why not? (And if so, go you!)

4. Do you ever think you'd do better or be happier living in another culture, time, or place? Where, when, why?

5. Suppose you were to write a book that would help the world, and it was guaranteed to be a bestseller. What would its title be?

[tehomet]

Thank you for asking!

My answers are here.