Good to have something to think about when one is awake at a ridiculously early hour on a Sunday. Here are my answers to the questionnaire, via the fabulous Ms Howell at insideadog, who invites you to post your own.**
What is your most marked characteristic?
Insomnia (yes, I know that's not really a characteristic, but it feels like one at the moment). Other than that, watchfulness.
Insomnia (yes, I know that's not really a characteristic, but it feels like one at the moment). Other than that, watchfulness.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Intelligence and humour.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence, warmth and humour.
Intelligence and humour.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence, warmth and humour.
What do you most value in your friends?
Openness.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Neurosis.
What is your favorite occupation?
Writing. Novels, preferably, but anything will do.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Dog beach.
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Cruelty to others.
In which country would you like to live?
(Southern, rural) Germany.
Who are your favorite writers?
Changes by the day. Timeless favourites: Margaret Atwood, Doris Lessing, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy.
Who are your favorite poets?
Auden, John Forbes, Dorothy Porter, Philip Larkin, Emily Dickinson, Blake, ee cummings, too many living Australian poets to mention.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Hmmn. I'll get back to you on that.
Who is your favorite heroine of fiction?
Laura Ingalls (and yes, she is fiction. Read The Ghost in the Little House if you don't know what I mean.)
Who are your favorite composers?
Bach for relaxation, Leo Brouwer for weirdness, Ulvaeus and Andersson for joy.
Who are your favorite painters?
Brett Whitely, Sidney Nolan.
What are your favorite names?
Variable.
What is it that you most dislike?
Insensitivity.
Which talent would you most like to have?
To be able to really sing.
How would you like to die?
Painlessly, of course. Torn between sudden and lingering as preferred, but then, who has a say in these things?
What is your current state of mind?
Generally optimistic but slightly anxious.
What is your motto?
Must read The Ghost in the Little House. I had not heard of that book, although I was aware of the degree to which the LIW oeuvre is fiction because of various articles I've read. If I had known that as a child I would have been seriously displeased! It doesn't bother me now, though. Laura is a wonderful heroine. Extraordinarily enough, I think she's under appreciated. I was astonished to read on a blog somewhere the remark that she's not "feisty". Makes me wonder whether we've lost a sense of what genuine strength is.
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