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1. In your life do you find that it works better to plan ahead or go with the flow?
I'm more of a go-with-the-flow person, I think. Even if I carefully plan things, I tend to change my mind as whatever it is gets underway, whether it is a list of chores, or an outing or longer trip somewhere. I think I might even feel a little hemmed in if I adhered perfectly to a pre-set plan.
2. Do you trust your intuition?
I might have good intuition -- but I think it is a little hard to tell because the one strong intuition I easily remember having -- that this person I met from Craigslist and was having breakfast with at a cafe next door to where I used to live in Oakland was an arrogant ASSHOLE and I absolutely should not go out with him again -- I fucking ignored, and overrode, and it led to the worst relationship I ever had and one I still regret and one I am mad at myself for entering, especially since I HAD THIS DAMN INSIGHT that it was -- that HE was -- a terrible idea.
3. When is the first time you felt like an adult?
I FELT like an adult, mostly, the time I visited Montreal on my own -- staying with family political friends who we didn't really know all that well, especially since for the first part of the trip, it was with a woman my folks really didn't know at all. I was fourteen, but I looked a lot older (if you look at my Freshman Year photo, taken that summer before my Freshman year, I look like a secretary at a law firm or something). Louise Proulx spoke English, but it wasn't her preference, and most of the Quebecois she knew and introduced me to didn't speak English at all, either because they'd never learned or because they didn't want to, politically. So it was a great (and terrifying, at first) immersion opportunity. I was away from my family for three weeks, basically only hanging out with adults, who didn't care that I wasn't in my twenties, and in a lot of cases didn't know. I loved the separatist politics, which I equated to the North of Ireland, and Palestinians, and maybe a little to the case of South African Blacks in their own country. Although I loved my family, it was great to be on my own -- it felt like free fall, and like freedom.
4. In what areas of your life are you most successful?
Gah. I have never liked thinking about being successful, or not, I guess because I don't feel particularly successful. When I was a teenager, I would have thought being a revolutionary leader on the barricades was successful, even though I knew that in practical reality the barricades were unlikely. I never thought about success being having a well-paying job or fancy belongings -- being a teacher is a stable union job, and I did aspire to THAT. I have a mortgage, which is some gauge of American early 21st century success, but I wouldn't if it weren't for my dad. I never feel good enough as a teacher, so it's hard to think of myself as successful in that. I'm not in a relationship, but I don't seem to be minding that, so I don't know that I would measure success or not on that basis. Confusing, all around. I don't feel like a FAILURE, at least.
5. What is a skill you have that you’re proud of?
To Microbie: isn't "detecting patterns" basically the Ur way to measure intelligence? The test they give to see what kids' potentials are involves nothing BUT seeing how well they perceive and predict patterns.
Hm. For me, I have a lot of skills that I enjoy, but the one I am I guess proud of is French, and language-learning in general. But French especially, and my ability to imitate sounds.
6. Are there any social events that you don’t enjoy?
I used to be a much bigger fan of social events, where now I feel a lot of anxiety around them beforehand, even small or family ones. Once I am actually there, they are usually enjoyable, but social events in general, oy.
7. What is something you grew out of that meant a lot to you at the time?
Man, so often I can just quote Microbie's actual words: "Various friends over the years (or they grew out of me)" -- I watch my nieces adopt and adore various bits of pop culture or literature or enthusiasms, and then watch as they sometimes grow out of those same interests in what seems a very short space of time, to me. But there are some that persist, for all three of us. Art, or drawing. Reading and writing.
Something I used to care about but don't so much any more? Hmm... nostalgia means not much -- I continue to value things I knew and did in the past. But is there something that fits that category? You know, honestly, I can't think of anything. I am more accretive, in general.
I'm more of a go-with-the-flow person, I think. Even if I carefully plan things, I tend to change my mind as whatever it is gets underway, whether it is a list of chores, or an outing or longer trip somewhere. I think I might even feel a little hemmed in if I adhered perfectly to a pre-set plan.
2. Do you trust your intuition?
I might have good intuition -- but I think it is a little hard to tell because the one strong intuition I easily remember having -- that this person I met from Craigslist and was having breakfast with at a cafe next door to where I used to live in Oakland was an arrogant ASSHOLE and I absolutely should not go out with him again -- I fucking ignored, and overrode, and it led to the worst relationship I ever had and one I still regret and one I am mad at myself for entering, especially since I HAD THIS DAMN INSIGHT that it was -- that HE was -- a terrible idea.
3. When is the first time you felt like an adult?
I FELT like an adult, mostly, the time I visited Montreal on my own -- staying with family political friends who we didn't really know all that well, especially since for the first part of the trip, it was with a woman my folks really didn't know at all. I was fourteen, but I looked a lot older (if you look at my Freshman Year photo, taken that summer before my Freshman year, I look like a secretary at a law firm or something). Louise Proulx spoke English, but it wasn't her preference, and most of the Quebecois she knew and introduced me to didn't speak English at all, either because they'd never learned or because they didn't want to, politically. So it was a great (and terrifying, at first) immersion opportunity. I was away from my family for three weeks, basically only hanging out with adults, who didn't care that I wasn't in my twenties, and in a lot of cases didn't know. I loved the separatist politics, which I equated to the North of Ireland, and Palestinians, and maybe a little to the case of South African Blacks in their own country. Although I loved my family, it was great to be on my own -- it felt like free fall, and like freedom.
4. In what areas of your life are you most successful?
Gah. I have never liked thinking about being successful, or not, I guess because I don't feel particularly successful. When I was a teenager, I would have thought being a revolutionary leader on the barricades was successful, even though I knew that in practical reality the barricades were unlikely. I never thought about success being having a well-paying job or fancy belongings -- being a teacher is a stable union job, and I did aspire to THAT. I have a mortgage, which is some gauge of American early 21st century success, but I wouldn't if it weren't for my dad. I never feel good enough as a teacher, so it's hard to think of myself as successful in that. I'm not in a relationship, but I don't seem to be minding that, so I don't know that I would measure success or not on that basis. Confusing, all around. I don't feel like a FAILURE, at least.
5. What is a skill you have that you’re proud of?
To Microbie: isn't "detecting patterns" basically the Ur way to measure intelligence? The test they give to see what kids' potentials are involves nothing BUT seeing how well they perceive and predict patterns.
Hm. For me, I have a lot of skills that I enjoy, but the one I am I guess proud of is French, and language-learning in general. But French especially, and my ability to imitate sounds.
6. Are there any social events that you don’t enjoy?
I used to be a much bigger fan of social events, where now I feel a lot of anxiety around them beforehand, even small or family ones. Once I am actually there, they are usually enjoyable, but social events in general, oy.
7. What is something you grew out of that meant a lot to you at the time?
Man, so often I can just quote Microbie's actual words: "Various friends over the years (or they grew out of me)" -- I watch my nieces adopt and adore various bits of pop culture or literature or enthusiasms, and then watch as they sometimes grow out of those same interests in what seems a very short space of time, to me. But there are some that persist, for all three of us. Art, or drawing. Reading and writing.
Something I used to care about but don't so much any more? Hmm... nostalgia means not much -- I continue to value things I knew and did in the past. But is there something that fits that category? You know, honestly, I can't think of anything. I am more accretive, in general.