An interview

Char has been kind enough to interview me, and here are the questions and answers from that interview:

1. Tell me your favorite game as a child along with a fun memory of playing. I love the details, so feel free to elaborate.

I loved anything that involved the imagination, and making stuff. My sister Sam and I were usually partners in play, and would always come up with some sort of fantasy together. We loved making our own magazines, audio stories, and pop songs.

One of our favorite things was playing with our vast collection of stuffed animals. We created an entire world around them called Animalville, complete with elaborate names, family relationships, and unique jobs. It didn't matter what sort of creatures they were, either. Stuffed monkeys were married to stuffed geese, and stuffed bears were roommates with stuffed birds. We even had the younger stuffed animals attend a confirmation class together, and whipped up matching vests and skirts for the final ceremony.

2. You have a lot of fur babies, so I’m guessing you’re an animal person. Besides cats and dogs, what are some other animals that you adore?

I think the question should be, what are some animals I DON'T adore? Seriously, I've had almost every pet imaginable: raccoon, toad, frog, chameleon, gerbil, hamsters, guinea pigs, earthworms, an ant farm, sparrow, snake, fish, an iguana...I guess I still haven't had a pony or anything like that, but just about everything else. I can't be trusted going anywhere near Petsmart's adoption center or any sort of animal shelter, because I will absolutely melt and give in to the first cute face I see. Strays seem to sniff me out because they know I'm a softie.

3. I adore those orange and red slippers in one of your photos. Where did you get them and tell me more about how you developed such refined taste in shoes.

The monkey slippers are from Target. You can get them in the socks section, and they're relatively inexpensive (under $15, I think). I'm ready for a new pair because mine are rather nasty looking right now.

As for shoes, I've always had an extreme love for footwear, ever since I was a young lass. Sam and I used to walk down the sidewalk together, posing our pretty shoes side by side, saying things like, "Only $9.99!" as if we were on a shoe commercial. And of course I used to tap dance in front of anything reflective and twirl til I was dizzy, whenever I wore an especially stylin' pair of dress shoes.

Now that I'm an adult and can buy my own shoes, that love has just deepened and gotten a bit crazy, I must say. To me, shoes are like wearable works of art. And no matter how out of shape or moody I am, if I just put on a pretty pair of shoes, I instantly feel better. I think I've become a bit of a collector, and my collection has certainly grown in the last few years. My favorite thing is to do a little shoe parade when I'm feeling fashion-y, and try on shoes from my collection that I don't often wear. Yes, I'm a big, big dork.

4. What’s your favorite food and why?

I don't know if I have a favorite food, but I have several that I really like. Foods like McDonald's french fries, Breyer's mint chocolate chip ice cream (or any ice cream, for that matter), chocolate and candy in general, pizza, chips, soda, bread, cheese, cheeseburgers, pretty much anything fried or salty or fatty or sugary. Coffee, too, is a favorite, and I'm rather fond of Starbucks. Sadly, I can't eat most of these foods because my delicate digestive system doesn't really like them anymore. But candy is the one thing I can still tolerate, so I keep eatin' away, much to the chagrin of my scale and my jeans.

5. So, did you love or hate your senior prom? Why?

Neither. I didn't go. I was a huge nerd in high school (not so much before that), and I mean huge: very overweight, pimply, glasses, very shy, not a very fashionable dresser, weird in musical tastes (I was way into the Beatles while everyone else was into Depeche Mode), and I guess just an odd bird in general. So no one was exactly beating my door down to get a date with me.

I was the Artist of the Year for 1991, which was one of my saving graces. I was always the artist of the school, from kindergarten on, and held such respectable roles as homeroom decorator in junior high. I earned a modicum of respect that way, I suppose. I used to draw things for people all the time, so I avoided being at the absolute bottom of the social scale in high school.

But yeah. The prom? No. I always wished I could have gone, and I've told my husband Pete that someday I'd like to go out with him, all dudded up, somewhere nice to dance and dine, as a little consolation prize to myself.

Want to be interviewed by me? These are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions.)

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.