Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The One in Which I Answer Melody's 11 Questions

My friend Melody from Melody's Reading Corner tagged me for the 11 Question Meme and, of course, I couldn't resist participating. It's been so much fun answering Lisa's & Susan's questions.

Being the rule breaker that I am, I am not tagging the required 11 people to answer questions of my own making. Instead, I am appealing to all of you wonderful people. I hope you will answer one or all of them. If you do, you can create your own post or leave your answers to one, two or however many in the comments. And because I was tagged three times for this meme, I divided the eleven questions between each post. That way, I only had to come up with eleven questions and not thirty-three. The first two sets of questions can be found here & here.

1. Who’s your idol? It can be anyone and doesn’t have to be a celebrity or a public figure.
When I was growing up the song The Greatest Love of All made famous by Whitney Houston took on special meaning to me. Like for so many others, the song became my anthem for many years. Cliche, I know, but true. What made this song stand out to me were the lyrics, particularly the lines about how everyone is "searching for a hero" and yet "I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs," and then "I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow." I have never really had an idol. Not when I was growing up and not now. I have admired many people over the years and certainly they have had qualities I would like to emulate--but never as a whole person.

2. If you could be someone famous, who would you like to be?
As I was thinking of an answer to this question, I realized that I tend to associate famous with wealth--on top of being well known. The first name that popped into my head was James Patterson. He has good business sense and his name on many book covers. Sure, he's a bit controversial, but he's worked hard to turn his name into a trademark and he's helped a lot of new authors off the ground. So while I might not like to be him exactly, I appreciate what he's accomplished and don't think it'd be too bad a gig to have.

More seriously though, but along the same lines, Tom Hanks comes to mind. He's someone I greatly admire. I wouldn't mind walking in his shoes for a week, even. He seems like such an upstanding man, both professionally and personally. He is talented too. That's a great combination.

Ideally, I would be famous as myself. I am not sure how I would accomplish that. Maybe I would be a bestselling author. Or a rock star. Or perhaps a superhero. Yes, I think I like that idea best. Think of all the lives I could save . . .

3. What are your favourite TV shows or movies?
Hmm. I would have to say my favorite movies include Independence Day (yeah, I know), Sleepless in Seattle, Ever After, Lord of the Rings, and Empire of the Sun. I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy (funny since I don't care for that type of book) and love action flicks. Drama movies have their place in my heart too.

My all time favorite television shows are Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, The Wire, and How I Met Your Mother.

4. Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings? Why?
Such an unfair question! I don't know that I can choose. I loved all of the books. Character and world wise--I love them both equally. Lord of the Rings is such an amazing tale--and world. It has influenced so much of fantasy writing today. Harry Potter and his freinds are more personable--more like you and me--and that is what I love most about Rowling's books.

But for the record, my husband tells me, on good authority, that the Lord of the Rings video games are much better than the Harry Potter games.

5. Popcorn. Sweet or salty? Why?
Definitely salty. Some things just aren't meant to be sweetened.

6. Facebook or Twitter? Why?
I like them both for different reasons. My Facebook page is not book related nor is it any way tied to my blog and Twitter account. It's more for personal stuff--mainly pictures of the baby these days. While I do use Twitter for personal updates and such, I tend to think of it as a less personal venue for communicating. Though, the more I think about it, I like Facebook better for its interactiveness with others. More often than not, anything I post on Twitter goes into a void never to be seen or heard from again.

7. What are your pet peeves?
I once would have said tardiness, but I'm afraid since becoming a mother I am finding it hard to be on time myself. No matter how much I prepare the night before or get up early, I can't seem to make it out the door in a timely fashion. I keep trying though and one of these days I will be back on track!

One of my longstanding pet peeves is one-up-man-ship. It is one thing to commiserate and share experiences with one another. I am all for that. It is another to turn it into a competition of who has it best or worse. Please don't.

I also abhor arrogance in people and get annoyed (and bored) with people who think they are better than everyone else.

Another pet peeve of mine is listening to someone complain over and over about his or her situation with no intention or movement to do something about it. I do my share of whining and complaining about certain things--venting has its place--but there comes a point when enough is enough and a person needs to try to better or change his or her situation instead of just wishing it away.

Oh dear. I sure have a lot of pet peeves, don't I? Better stop here.

8. Where do you like to go on a vacation?
I so rarely get to go anywhere on vacation. Visiting family is always a priority, although I have to say my favorite vacations are the ones in which we go someplace new. My husband and I had such a wonderful time on our roadtrip of the Southwestern U.S. Visiting Nevada, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona was a real treat. Nothing compares to the fun we had in Hawaii though. Such a beautiful place!

9. Your most wonderful memories you had last year.
Oh my gosh! I have so many. This past year was crazy. My most wonderful memories: read here.

10. What’s your favourite holiday?
I love Christmas and everything about it. I love the music, the decorations, the atmosphere, the food, and the spark of generosity and kindness that people show at that time of year. And now I have the added joy of seeing Christmas through my daughter's eyes and sharing my favorite family traditions with her.

11. Finally, I couldn’t resist asking a bookish question: Would you read a book which has received lots of hype and positive reviews, even though the storyline isn’t what you like to read?
Hype and positive reviews will not stop me from reading a book I want to read, but it might not be enough to convince me to read a book with a storyline that I am not especially interested in. Those reviews would have to be very compelling!


My Questions to All of You:

9. What is your first ever memory?

10. How do you decide what book to read next (when you have no reading deadlines to meet and can read whatever you want)?

11. It's your birthday. I've sent you a package. What would you most like to find when you unwrap it?


© 2012, Wendy Runyon of Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved.If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

19 comments:

  1. I answered the same questions, they were pretty good ones. I particularly liked your idol answer. If we could all be famous as ourselves, that would be pretty cool.

    Okay... I going to pick one of your questions to answer.

    What is your first ever memory?

    I have two, which happened around the same time so I cannot tell which was first, but the first was me falling into a pond at Central Park and my dad getting a ticket for indecency while I ran around naked while my clothes dried on a tree branch.

    The other, which could very well have happened on the same day, was at a diner. I was leaving with my dad and took a dollar off a table thinking it was lost money when in fact it was someone's tip. I gave it back.

    I was about 18 months when these events took place.

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    1. I thought so too! I enjoyed answering the questions.

      I am not sure I would consider a near two year old running around naked in a park as indecent, but I guess there is bound to be someone who would. I hope the ticket wasn't too much. That's too funny about you taking the tip. :-)

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  2. I'm with you on the complaining and not doing anything to make things better. That drives me crazy.

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  3. Kathy - It can really get to be a bit much after awhile.

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  4. Great answers and it's always fun to learn more about you!!! :D

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  5. You have traveled to so many great places! I would love to visit Hawaii one day! Great answers to these questions!

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    1. Heather - There are so many more places I want to go. I hope I am able to someday. Hawaii is beautiful. I hope to go back someday and visit more of the islands.

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  6. Thanks so much for playing, Wendy! I enjoyed reading your answers, and of course getting to know more about you, my dear friend! :)

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  7. Ok, to answer some of your questions:

    I usually decide on a whim when it comes to books. I may have a book in mind but then when it comes to the time when I've finished a book, I may decide to read another. It all depends on my mood, hehe.

    As for your last question, that's easy! Books!! :)

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  8. So, so agree with your last pet peeve. I've worked with a lot of people like this. At first I get sucked into their vortex and try to help them but eventually find that I'm wasting time and money and I get angry.

    I'm never really sure what my earliest memories are - can I really remember things that happened when I was three or am I just remembering the things that people told me I did? I tend to believe the memories where I just have little images of places or people are more real. Like the house we rented in the Ozarks when I was four or the cabin we stayed in the Black Hills and my mom washing my sister in the sink (again - I must have been about four).

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    1. Lisa - Dealing with people like that can be very draining.

      I know what you mean about memories. It's hard to know for sure, isn't it? I have memories like that--where I'm not sure if they are my own or just images I've put together based on what others have told me.

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  9. These are great questions and I love learning more about you through your answers.

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  10. Holidays are so special with babies aren't they? Easter is not a holiday we really celebrated but this year we are going to an Easter egg hunt :)
    My birthday package would include a book, chocolate and a gift certificate to somewhere that would let me get away for the day (a spa?).

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  11. Some great answers there. I agree with facebook it is more a personal site for me not a bloggers thing and twitter I go through phases with. I love Independence Day movie as well.

    How do you decide what book to read next (when you have no reading deadlines to meet and can read whatever you want)?
    I am a mood reader and othe factors like how much time/mental capacity (eg busy at work so need something light to read).

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