Monday Meme

No meditations to share today. Instead, a meme boosted lovingly from Chili who boosted it lovingly from Tense Teacher.

1. Are you currently in a serious relationship?
I’ve been married to my darling Wifeness for 15 years. We take our relationship seriously, but we have a lot of fun in the process!

2. What was your dream growing up?
When I was in elementary school, I used to imagine I would want to be a lawyer. My first day of high school, I knew absolutely that I would be a teacher. I cannot explain why this knowledge was so absolute, but it was (even when I was not actively engaged in teaching).

3. What talent do you wish you had?
Despite a fairly successful career as a graphic designer, my freehand artistic skills are shameful at best. I have always wanted to be able to sit somewhere of indescribable beauty and sketch in charcoal what I see. That I cannot communicate well in that medium makes leaves me feeling wholly inadequate sometimes.

4. If someone bought you a drink, what would it be?
Well, I’d appreciate most it if it didn’t have vodka in it (I’m ruined on the stuff now), but if you’re buying me a drink, I will accept it gladly and say, “That’s very kind of you! Thank you so much! ”

5. What was the last book you read?
I finished Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. Wifeness recommended it to me, and I love that she knows what I like so well! I really did enjoy both the writing and the rich detail with which he describes the world of Kvothe and the mechanics of magic and arcanum. It’s only his first book. I’m eagerly waiting to read more!

6. What zodiac sign are you?
Leo. So very Leo. But there’s a lot of Pisces and Libra in my full profile, which I hope does a fair job of complementing my lionesque tendencies.

7. Any tattoos and/or piercings? Explain where.
None of either. I wouldn’t reject getting either, but I’ve never really had the true desire to do so.

8. Worst habit?
Not doing what I know I want to do. It’s not procrastination, necessarily. Procrastination is to delay. Sometimes I do that, but sometimes I also just choose the other path.

9. What is your favorite sport?
In terms of team sports, soccer is, without question, my favorite sport to play and to watch. I enjoy listening to the Red Sox on radio during the baseball season. Of individual pursuits, I really like watching mixed martial arts--not for the violence, but because I really appreciate the practical side of what martial arts can do. In terms of actual individual competition, I have to say I really love triathlon for its uniqueness and variety. There’s really nothing else out there like it!

10. Do you have a pessimistic or optimistic attitude?
I am an idealist, but quite pragmatic in many ways. I believe that, if it can be imagined, it can be accomplished, but I recognize that to simply dream a thing can be done does not mean it can, or even should, be done. I think that’s mostly optimistic.

11. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
It is simultaneously the worst thing and the best. I nearly died from a necrotic gallbladder. It’s the best thing because I didn’t, and I’ve been so much healthier ever since.

12. Tell one weird fact about you.
Hmmm… One that not everyone knows… Ooooo! I know! I once hit the grand prize on a slot machine in Las Vegas--to the tune of half a million dollars. Great! Except that I had only put in one quarter instead of two (two were required to actually win the prize).

13. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
I don’t ever think they’re cute. Funny, cheerful or captivating perhaps, but not cute. I’ve seen scary ones. The one from Harry Potter 3 that Parvati created from the boggart? Scary.

14. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
I’d like to be rid of my chub around the middle. It’s going away, but not fast enough or consistently enough for my liking. I’d also like to have eyes that don’t stick out quite as much. I don’t have any control over that, though.

15. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
I can easily be both. Indeed, that runway light up in my office didn’t come from nowhere!

16. Ever been arrested?
No. I’ve been drawn on before, though. Thanks, Bubba, for that moment of excitement!

17. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
I think it’d great to invest it in something that would help start the Community School. I’ll have to think about what that would be. Any ideas?

18. Where’s your favorite place to hang out?
Locally, I like spending time with Wifeness at either Hope and Olive or The People’s Pint. If I’m by myself, there’s a Panera nearby where I will on occasion spend the day drinking coffee, reading, writing and thinking. Worldwide, I think it has to be the Champ de Mars, in Paris. I’ve had some wonderful moments with my wife and my students there, and I always smile when I think about just lying in the grass and watching life happen there, just as the sun is setting.

19. Do you believe in ghosts?
In spirits, certainly.

20. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
Number one on the list has to be napping. There are lots of other things I could do (sometimes too many to know which to do first), but I always consider first whether a nice, quality siesta might not fit best.

21. Do you swear a lot?
You really already know the answer to that.

22. Biggest pet peeve?
Spin. People often spend so much time and energy trying to make things work for their own ends that they don’t stop to consider whether those ends have any lasting value or purpose.

23. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
“purposeful”

24. Do you appreciate romance?
I do, but not so much for myself. I don’t really need to be courted. I recognize that it’s important to my wife, though, and I’m sorry I’m not as mindful of it as I probably should be.

25. Do you believe in God?
Not in the western, biblical sense, no. That doesn’t mean that I don’t believe in power greater than myself, or that I don’t revere and respect the greatness of the Ten Thousand Things. Quite to the contrary, I work hard to express both in the course of living my life. The paradigm of your belief is not important. That you are doing what you can to realize your potential as one of God’s creations and supporting others in doing the same is what matters most to me.