All alone in the moonlight...

Memory Meme

1. Who was your favorite relative and why?

Tough. Right at this moment, I would say my grandpa Carl. He was Guamanian, and about 5'4" and balding for as long as I can remember. He had a laugh that would light up a room, he was a chef that made the best pancakes and pie crust I've ever tasted, and when he ate jalapeños he'd sweat on the top of his little bald head.

2. What is the best and worst advice a friend ever gave you?

Best: That I shouldn't sweat the small stuff.
Worst: That I should go ahead and try to climb that tree to get onto the roof.

3. Where was your favorite place to when you were young? Least favorite?

Favorite was my grandmother's enclosed back porch -- a bungalow-sized room where I used to play house. Sometimes my cousin Michael and I would play "Grandma and Grandpa" -- he would put the white plastic tips from one of Carl's Muriel Corona cigars in his mouth, I would put one of my grandmother's Salem cigarette butts in mine, and then I would pretend to cook dinner, and then we would pretend to go to bed (all very clean). And then he'd get up and pretend to go to work.

Least favorite was shopping, whether clothes or grocery -- it was boring, and I got in trouble if I played in the racks or sang and danced to the muzak.

4. What lesson did you have to learn "the hard way"?

Still learning it: If you don't have cash, don't buy it.

5. What are the three best decisions you ever made?

a. To move to Chicago
b. To major in theatre
c. To not let BHE let me get away :)

6. Did you have a favorite age that you aspired to as a child, i.e. like a time you thought you'd be "grown up" or that life would be easier/clearer/independent?

Sixteen -- I thought that on the day I turned 16, I would get my driver's license and then immediately move out and into my own apartment. Duh. :)

7. What is the most important thing you've learned about relationships?

The golden rule ain't just a river in Egypt. Uh, wait...

8. How have your spiritual beliefs changed over time?

Not much, really. I have both more and less respect for extremists, and a basic lack of faith of my own. The alleged 'gawd-shaped hole in my heart' don'tcha know.

9. What is the first death you remember?

My great-uncle Forrest. I only remember that he died, and everyone went some place and was sad, and I was not allowed to go to the place. I was likely 5-6 years old.

10. What is the most memorable birthday gift you ever got?

A crown woven of spring onions and chives on my 25th birthday on the island of Saaremaa from my friend Erik. It wasn't the most expensive or beautiful gift I've ever gotten, but it is very memorable.