Friday, December 11, 2009

Today I am responding (belatedly) to the lovely gift of Art House Design, who was sweet enough to pass me the Honest Scrap award.

My assignment was to reveal 10 things about myself. And, I have to admit, this month I am so overtaxed that it's hard for me to even think of ONE thing about myself...Also, I have shared so much over the years on my other blog that it seems extremely self-indulgent to reiterate. Therefore, I give you here a random selection of entirely useless trivia:

1. I have French, Dutch, Spanish, Indian, and Persian blood running in my veins (and probably a few other things that I don't know about).

2. There was a time that I thought I'd never be able to live for more than two years at a time in a single location, and it still amazes me that I am now the owner and inhabitant of an actual house, with a back yard, an apple tree, and a play structure. I have never owned the comfort zone of a hometown - that which, for some people, is the ultimate grounding factor. For the bulk of my life, I've felt most "at home" on the road.

3. I drink espresso and bear a strong grudge against latte (with apologies to all latte drinkers - it's just me. I like my coffee, much like my whiskey, neat).

4. I really enjoy sleeping in the desert.

5. I wear socks to bed.

6. I believe fervently in the power of positive thought on one's life, physically, metaphysically, spiritually, emotionally, subconsciously, practically...whatever you've got. This conviction served me well when I had cancer at the age of 29, and if I believed it before that, I have believed it even more firmly since.

7. ...HOWEVER, I'm a lone wolf. An introvert. I will stop short of misanthropic, because I think I usually manage to rise above that designation, if only just barely. I work better on my own, and need a lot of solitary time. I can go for days camping or road tripping alone with no human contact outside of gas stations and convenience stores, and that kind of solitude is most likely the most difficult thing I have had to give up by becoming a wife and a mother. Fortunately, my husband understands and is independent in his own right (and my daughter is a rockstar), so it works out for us.

8. Although I have been forced to watch Curious George (the movie) at least four times a week for the past two months, I have to admit that I enjoy it. I enjoy it a lot. In fact, I might be even just sliiiiiiiiiiightly more addicted to Curious George than my two-year-old daughter.

9. I never believed I'd have any sort of desire to have children. When I finally did (rather late in the game) adoption was my first choice.

10. I drive a station wagon. An AWD station wagon, granted, with a stick shift (I object to automatic the way I object to latte), a roof rack and hardcore rubber floors. But a station wagon nonetheless. If I were single, childless, and had any sort of mechanical skills (I am not, I am not, and I most definitively don't) I'd drive a jeep, one of those old-school, three-speed, canvas-topped ones like my dad had when I was a kid. Sigh.

I pass on the Honest Scrap award to:

- Musings
- Lupus in Flight
- Passage Paradis
- Capers and Olives
- Caramel Caramelo
- Muguet Everyday
- Wu Feng Road

That said, I know that many of my friends are very private, and prefer not to share much of themselves publicly. So, take it as a compliment, not as a mandate, my friends! OX - M.

8 comments:

  1. I adore you.
    I wear socks to bed. I always have cold feet. I drink black inky coffee, I drive a Honda element becasue it has rubber floors. The longest place I ever lived was on Wu Fung Road. I'm French and English on the outside and 99% Chinese on the inside. Oh and I am messy.

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  2. thanks! what an honor! and your answers are great --i am with you on the latte bit --yes, expresso and whisky neat. hum... i will try and come with ten things. thanks again! kenza.

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  3. Oh, Maia,
    What sweet and tender revelations...Thank you for playing along, despite the fact that you had to reveal more before!
    I am so happy to get to know my favorites a bit better!
    I feel so close when it comes to roots and where one comes frome. I have been on the rad a lot, I actually do not know anymore were I belong, apart from to myself...Even though I have the need to build a homebase, to put in roots again!

    And I feel very close to your notion of being by yourself with pleasure, I share that. I love to spend hours, time permitting, just being alone, working, reading, exploring places...
    Maybe because I crave it so and have so little of it! Married with 4 kids....

    XX
    Victoria

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  4. I didn't know it would be possible to like you any more than I already do...but your list, I get it! Totally! Well, except for the stick shift thing, and this is only because I am so mechanically challenged that I could NEVER learn! At least we still have espresso to share!

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  5. Ca y est! C'est fait! Thanks Maia! It was fun. And now we are even more intrigued: Indian and Persian too?! OOPS! Now must pass it on.

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  6. Thank you! How very sweet of you. Like Jeanne I drive a Honda Element. I love this car, it suits the element I live in perfectly. Sand and water just gets a hosing inside and out. I am ambidextrous, not penwell but natural, a thing that for some reason made a lot of my teachers very uncomfortable. I have a penchant for parrots, I adore them. The louder and better. Like you, I have travelled extensively and am the happiest when I am buckling myself into a plane seat. Never thought I wanted or much less was going to have children. Then the heavens laughed at me. Unlike you, I find my solitude in cities. I love getting lost in crowds. NYC, Japan, India, China, all contain throngs of people which permit my chaotic mind to relax by getting lost in them. I am a mix of Spaniard, French and Arab blood.

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  7. hey maia! what a great list. it´s great to get to know you a little more. besos!

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  8. So nice to get to know a little bit more about you. I've never been to the desert but I am bit of a loner too. And I agree, that was the hardest thing to give up when having children.

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