38 questions
8:01 p.m. - 04.23.03
i'm answering 100 questions about me. hopefully this will be a good exercise for me to do some character building for the 2 stories i'm working on.
i'll fill out the other questions soon.
if anyone has the inclination, could you please let me know if anything in my answers sounds interesting or 'story worthy?" no one is obligated, but i think it would help me get an objective perspective on some possible material
thanks
1. What is your full name?
2. Where and when were you born?
cleveland, ohio dec. 7. 1970. pearl harbor day. the hospital is now closed but, ironically, my first apartment was just a few blocks away
3. Who are/were your parents? (Know their names, occupations, personalities, etc.)who is your mom - a nurse now on a criminal forensic unit floor in a mental hospital. the people on her floor are convicted criminals, and awaiting sanity/insanity charges. mom says some of them are malingerers, faking it so they don't have to go to prison. she said it's mostly easy to spot them. most are really very sick. sometimes they act out violently. one lady got hit in the head with a chair. mom brings them movies to watch. but, if they are misbehaving they don't get to watch the movie. mom gets sick if you ask her about the food and other services. basically, there isn't any food or services. the director said that the food should equal in weight to a child's happy meal. he says he is fully satisified after eating a happy meal, and that should be more than enough for the patients. if they are hungry they have a choice between cookies and chips. they can have all the cookies and chips they want until they are gone. yes, this is the state-approved diet.
mom used to be a greaser chick in the late 60's with leather and beehive hair. she was working as a beautician when she met my dad, shortly after he came home from vietnam. they married quick. both couldn't wait to be married and start a family. mom came from a loving but strict home of a 2nd generation hungarian auto worker. she had an 11 o'clock cerfew the night before her wedding. she did stay out one night and partied with Smoky Robinson. whe got in a lot of trouble for that one. she got married when she was 20. she's been smoking since high school. dad left and it was up to mom to support us with no skills. she walked and got a job at mcdonalds to put herself through nursing school. the bank foreclosed our house so we moved in with our great-grandpa. lots more about her but just not now.
who is your dad?
dad killed himself 3 years ago. he was a very sick and disturbed vietnam vet who never actually came home from the war. he left when i was 10. theres lots about him scattered in my journal. i'll have to write about him some other time. sometiems, it's hard.
4. Do you have any siblings? What are/were they like?
my brother is two years younger than me. i could write all about what we experienced in out childhood. it was rough, but we shared some great times - playing bert and ernie, watching ferris bueler, etc. more i can say about him too - lots - but i like to keep him private anyway. he is my shining star.
5. Where do you live now, and with whom? Describe the place and the person/people.
i live with my grandmother. after i got date-raped and my dad died i lost my job and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. i wound up in a hospital - the same one my mom works at. i didn't want to go there - but it was the only place that i could go without insurance. i went 48 hours with orders not to tell my mom i was there. i timed my cigarette breaks when i knew she wasn't there. but, oddly, i ran right into her. after my hospital stay, i had nowhere to go, so i moved in with my grandma. grandma is great. i love learning about her past and about my family. we have a blast watching british sit-coms together. it's hard, sometimes, because she is about 400 pounds with a list of health problems. sometimes i feel very guilty when i feel i have no privacy or i get stressed trying to take care of her.
6. What is your occupation?
other than taking care of her i am writing, with hope to send my stuff out one day, and hopes that someone might read it and enjoy it. i am also working in promoting an art gallery and troupe of artists
7. Write a full physical description of yourself. You might want to consider factors such as: height, weight, race, hair and eye color, style of dress, and any tattoos, scars, or distinguishing marks. about 5'5 1/2 and 145 pounds. i used to weigh, and was very happy with 125. dark blond long hair with lighter blonde highlights. it's wavy, except it frizzes aroung my face if i let it air dry. for casual days, i let my ahir dry natural, and usually wear little makeup, maybe some lip color, and my black glasses. you usually see me in levis a few sizes too big and a t-shirt. if i go out, it's usually a spiffed up kind of casual, hair straighter and contacts. i have blue eyes. no tattoos, but a beauty mark on my left shoulder.
8. To which social class do you belong?
i'd say lower middle class, with emphasis on lower. you can also say i'm part of the creative class as well - eccentric art freaks work well, too.
9. Do you have any allergies, diseases, or other physical weaknesses?
allergic to seafood
10. Are you right- or left-handed?
left hand
11. What does your voice sound like?
a lot of people say they like my voice. they say it's deep and raspy
12. What words and/or phrases do you use very frequently?
i know i say 'right on' a lot. i know i say a few other things too - i'll have to think about it.
13. What do you have in your pockets?
nothing
14. Do you have any quirks, strange mannerisms, annoying habits, or other defining characteristics?i know i have more of them. but i twist my hair if im thinking or i'm stressed. i twist the top srands by my forehead. from a distance, it looks like i'm twirling my hand in a little circle over my head. i'm sure it looks graceful.
Part 2: Growing Up
15. How would you describe your childhood in general?in general - challenging. lots of alcoholic stuff cause of my dad. i was very fat for a long time, too. very fat. dad made fun of me a lot. called me fatso. even when i was on a doctor's program and loosing weight, he seemed to get more upset with me. i was very smart - straight a's all the time. i started out with friends, but i thing the combination of me geiitn wierder because of my family and me getting fatter i lost friends. when we moved in 6th grade it was the worst. i was so unpopular. by this time i had a gap between my front teeth, lots of acne, and the 1st girl in the class to wear a bra. for some reason, that was very uncool.
16. What is your earliest memory?
i think i was two and i remember seeing my baby brother come home. i remember sitting on a green couch and looking into a blanket. i remember thinking that it was the first time seeing some one smaller than i was.
17. How much schooling have you had?
bachelors in english and journalism. history minor
18. Did you enjoy school?
yes and no. i liked learning. the deadlines were killers for me.
19. Where did you learn most of your skills and other abilities?
all over - i really can't answer this one now
20. While growing up, did you have any role models? If so, describe them.
i thought my mom was the ideal
21. While growing up, how did you get along with the other members of your family?loved my moms sid of the family. hardly saw my dad's side
22. As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
a writer. i wanted to write my first book in 1st grade. i was going to call it 'what should i do' - it was going to be about a girl with a dad who was angry all the time, a mother who was trying to fix everything, a brother and sister trying to be better kids, and a crush that the narrator had on a boy in her class.
23. As a child, what were your favorite activities?
imagining i was a super hero or a star in my own movie.
24. As a child, what kinds of personality traits did you display?
i faked sick a lot. now i can say that i did that when i was depressed or scared. especially if dad was up all night tearing the house apart - i wouldn't want to go to school the next day. when he left and i was in junior high. i faked sick a lot because every day i went to school at least someone was mean to me. my sic days were vacation days from ridicule.
25. As a child, were you popular? Who were your friends, and what were they like?
i got more friends in high school - i was a theatre geek (president!), and by college cliques were hardly an issue.
26. When and with whom was your first kiss?
that depends on the kiss. my fist actual kiss was with tommy - at a 6th grade party playing spin the bottle. my first french kiss was with someone i met in a movie theater watching Gremlins. i don't know his name. the lights went up and we left in opposite directions.
27. Are you a virgin? If not, when and with whom did you lose your virginity?
i lost my virginity the very first night of college.
28. If you are a supernatural being (i.e. mage, werewolf, vampire), tell the story of how you became what you are or first learned of your own abilities. If you are just a normal human, describe any influences in your past that led you to do the things you do today.
i was always liberal, but after finding out about what happened to my father while he was in the war, and wha he was involved in doing, -- well - some of my past theories seem to have come true
Part 3: Past Influences
29. What do you consider the most important event of your life so far?
ohh - that real hard. i guess finding out i'm bipolar. that really changed how i think about myself. i don't think i'm wierd anymore - now i know what's 'wrong' and i can now manage that.
30. Who has had the most influence on you?
my mom
31. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
the ability to write everyday
32. What is your greatest regret?
that i went out with the guy who abused and raped me
33. What is the most evil thing you have ever done?
pissed in a batch of brownies that i watched the rapist eat
34. Do you have a criminal record of any kind?
no
35. When was the time you were the most frightened? in college - i was in a play and there was a massive snowstorm that closed down the state - and my mom, uncle and aunt were lost in it. it took them almost 5 hours to get to my college 60 miles away. i was certain something had happened to them.
36. What is the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to you?
hmm - i'll have to think of a good one for this
37. If you could change one thing from your past, what would it be, and why?
i wouldn't change a thing, except i wish i could have save more money when i had the good paying job
38. What is your best memory?
lots - but my trip to greece by myself
39. What is your worst memory?
lots, but my grandpa's death
38 questions - 04.23.03
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