From Justine. From Mel.
1. What would you do with $5000 and eight weeks to spent it however you want, without any other responsibilities to worry about?
Really? NO responsibilities? Like I'm not a mother in this scenario? I can't really imagine that. Instead, I'll pretend it's summer, so I don't have immediate job responsibilities. I use a chunk of that money to ship LG off to summer camp, hire a night nanny to deal with Tiny Boy overnight. Sleep. Eat some nice meals. Maybe buy myself a cozy chair for reading. And use it. And probably because it's summer buy a sundress and wear it some place; maybe I'll take a weekend trip to see Dr. Boy.
2. What is your least favorite chore?
Cleaning bottles. For real. I have been known to run a mostly empty dishwasher so I don't have to wash baby bottles (yes, Tiny Boy still drinks from them; don't judge me. Apparently my kids have major oral fixations).
3. What do you wish you had more time to do?
Yoga. Art. Cooking without someone yelling for me.
4. Where is the career you'd least want to have?
Dental hygienist. Probably there are other jobs I'd dislike more but off the top of my head that strikes me as something I don't ever want to do.
5. What would you do for a living in another life?
Be an RE or a midwife. Or maybe a yoga teacher.
6. What superpower would you want: flight or invisibility?
Dude! Invisibility!
7. What was the last book you read? Was it any good?
Probably not the best question to ask of an English professor. Literally the last book I finished was Eula Biss's The Balloonists. I love the voice. I love the shape. It feels like it needs another major round of edits, though. The last book I taught was Natasha Trethewey's poetry collection Thrall, which yes is amazing. I started to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao because my students like Diaz and it's like the book of the twenty-first century...and I decided that I'm at the stage of my career that if I don't like a book I don't need to force myself to read it. If I ever teach a straight c.20-21 lit class again I could probably force myself to do it (classes will do that) but not for myself.
8. Which would you be: Anna, Elsa, or Olaf?
Well, my son says I'm "Oval" when we play; he, of course, is Elsa, his sister is Anna. In personality terms I'm probably an Elsa.
9. Describe your ideal day off.
(I'm sensing a theme here, Justine.) I wake up after sleeping more than 5 hours straight; preferably 8.5-10 total. You said day off, so my children are...elsewhere. Coffee and breakfast at some place amazing. Writing longhand in a notebook, reading. Somewhere in here is a massage. A yoga class. A long walk. I suppose it's spring or early summer. I cook something new, and it's splendid. And I drink a glass of wine that doesn't give me a headache, maybe with a friend on the porch formerly known as The Porch of No Baby. My children can come home tomorrow, and I'll miss them.
10. Pose your own question and answer it.
What's something you can't bear to get rid of, even though it makes no logical sense to keep it?
My follistim pen. At least the sharps containers are gone.
*
You're up next :) Here are ten questions for you to answer, either in comments or on your own blogs.
1. Why do you read blogs?
2. What's your favorite TV show?
3. Have you ever gotten a ticket for anything other than parking?
4. What's your favorite food to eat when you are alone?
5. What's your favorite food to eat with company?
6. What is the last novel you read? What did you think about it?
7. What's something you can't bear to get rid of?
8. What's the thing you were most embarrassed about as a kid?
9. Were you in a sorority, if you attended college? Why or why not?
10. Has anyone ever accused you of being racist/sexist/homophobic/etc?
BONUS: did you ever cheat on a test? (I took longer than I was supposed to on that test for GD when I was pregnant :))
1. What would you do with $5000 and eight weeks to spent it however you want, without any other responsibilities to worry about?
Really? NO responsibilities? Like I'm not a mother in this scenario? I can't really imagine that. Instead, I'll pretend it's summer, so I don't have immediate job responsibilities. I use a chunk of that money to ship LG off to summer camp, hire a night nanny to deal with Tiny Boy overnight. Sleep. Eat some nice meals. Maybe buy myself a cozy chair for reading. And use it. And probably because it's summer buy a sundress and wear it some place; maybe I'll take a weekend trip to see Dr. Boy.
2. What is your least favorite chore?
Cleaning bottles. For real. I have been known to run a mostly empty dishwasher so I don't have to wash baby bottles (yes, Tiny Boy still drinks from them; don't judge me. Apparently my kids have major oral fixations).
3. What do you wish you had more time to do?
Yoga. Art. Cooking without someone yelling for me.
4. Where is the career you'd least want to have?
Dental hygienist. Probably there are other jobs I'd dislike more but off the top of my head that strikes me as something I don't ever want to do.
5. What would you do for a living in another life?
Be an RE or a midwife. Or maybe a yoga teacher.
6. What superpower would you want: flight or invisibility?
Dude! Invisibility!
7. What was the last book you read? Was it any good?
Probably not the best question to ask of an English professor. Literally the last book I finished was Eula Biss's The Balloonists. I love the voice. I love the shape. It feels like it needs another major round of edits, though. The last book I taught was Natasha Trethewey's poetry collection Thrall, which yes is amazing. I started to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao because my students like Diaz and it's like the book of the twenty-first century...and I decided that I'm at the stage of my career that if I don't like a book I don't need to force myself to read it. If I ever teach a straight c.20-21 lit class again I could probably force myself to do it (classes will do that) but not for myself.
8. Which would you be: Anna, Elsa, or Olaf?
Well, my son says I'm "Oval" when we play; he, of course, is Elsa, his sister is Anna. In personality terms I'm probably an Elsa.
9. Describe your ideal day off.
(I'm sensing a theme here, Justine.) I wake up after sleeping more than 5 hours straight; preferably 8.5-10 total. You said day off, so my children are...elsewhere. Coffee and breakfast at some place amazing. Writing longhand in a notebook, reading. Somewhere in here is a massage. A yoga class. A long walk. I suppose it's spring or early summer. I cook something new, and it's splendid. And I drink a glass of wine that doesn't give me a headache, maybe with a friend on the porch formerly known as The Porch of No Baby. My children can come home tomorrow, and I'll miss them.
10. Pose your own question and answer it.
What's something you can't bear to get rid of, even though it makes no logical sense to keep it?
My follistim pen. At least the sharps containers are gone.
*
You're up next :) Here are ten questions for you to answer, either in comments or on your own blogs.
1. Why do you read blogs?
2. What's your favorite TV show?
3. Have you ever gotten a ticket for anything other than parking?
4. What's your favorite food to eat when you are alone?
5. What's your favorite food to eat with company?
6. What is the last novel you read? What did you think about it?
7. What's something you can't bear to get rid of?
8. What's the thing you were most embarrassed about as a kid?
9. Were you in a sorority, if you attended college? Why or why not?
10. Has anyone ever accused you of being racist/sexist/homophobic/etc?
BONUS: did you ever cheat on a test? (I took longer than I was supposed to on that test for GD when I was pregnant :))
You did this! I'm so tickled!
ReplyDeleteGood for you that you put down the Diaz book. He's a celebrated hero at my alma mater, and I read it, because I felt compelled to, but I can't say that I enjoyed it.
Someone else told me to read Eula Biss recently.
I love your answers to questions about your free time (funny, I hadn't noticed a theme, but I guess I was trying to conjure a parallel universe at the time). Because yes, as much as we want/love our children, it would sometimes be nice to step away. (The last time I did that I spent it with 50 college students. Not relaxing.)
Justine, Biss's essay "The Pain Scale" is one of those unforgettable pieces. Instant fan of her work.
ReplyDeleteBut despite all the buzz about her new book, I think it's meh...sort of bloated and off. I did manage to read the whole thing, so that's something. Her husband, John Bresland, is an AMAZING video essayist.
Thanks for your confession about Diaz. Really, if I were still teaching surveys of c.20-21 Am lit, I'd force myself to include it, but for "pleasure" I have really particular desires for fiction, and that doesn't come close...