Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being in a beautiful place on a beautiful day, with a beautiful meal ahead of me and no pressure to be anywhere else. (Gettin' laid is also nice.)

What is your greatest fear?
I'm actually quite superstitious and writing my worst fear could make it happen. I don't like to leave myself open for that sort of karmic interference....

What historical figure do you most identify with?
Diana Vreeland (ok so she's not exactly a "historical" figure), Queen Elizabeth I, Edith Wharton.

Which living person do you most admire?
Dalai Lama. Hirsi Ali. Jimmy Carter.
(Dad, don't scream).

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Impatience and intolerance.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Lack of initiative. disloyalty.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Pretty clothes.

What is your favorite journey?
I've been on many journeys of late, so I am honestly going to say my journey of discovery over the past 5 years.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Religiosity.

On what occasion do you lie?
Whenever I am confronted with authority or bureaucracy.

What do you dislike about your appearance?
I'm a bit annoyed with my new belly. It is going to go away. After that I can go back to complaining about my ass.

Which living person do you most despise?
Our current president. Now that Jerry Falwell is dead, that certainly helps shorten my list.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Fuck. also, "Rich where is my......?"

What is your greatest regret?
I don't really have any regrets, as I think of regrets as something you have when you did something actively you would like to take back. I have some "what if's" and I do wish I had not miscarried in Jan 2004, but how can you regret something that you did not initiate?

Who is the greatest love of your life?
My husband, of course. Duh.

When and where were you happiest?
When I went to Oxford the summer of 1989 and studied there, I remember being in a haze of such happiness I thought it would never end. That will always be the absolute best time of my life. Sometimes my heart would race I was so happy. I still get that occasionally, but not for such an extent of time as then. That is the happy place I go whenever I need to rekindle that certain excitement.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I'd like to be a bigger risk taker. I'd also like a 36" inseam and legs and bum like Giselle Bundchen.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Becoming an inveterate traveler. Realizing that life comes one day at a time and letting go of some unnecessary stresses.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Minor yet very wealthy royalty somewhere in Europe. Either that or a redwood.

What is your most treasured possession?
My Luccese boots, my bug ring and my glasses.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being cold and wet.

Where would you like to live?
I'd love to live in London. But ultimately I will always want to go home to Austin.

What is your favorite occupation?
Reading.
My favorite job was doing visual merchandising for stores. I loved creating store windows and making style statements. If I could I'd be a fashion editor.

What is your most marked characteristic?
My sense of humor. It won't be contained.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Humor, initiative, tall, with a way of making me feel safe. I also like a hairy (not TOO hairy, think Pierce Brosnan) chest.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Independence and strength. Humor and a certain quirkiness as well.

What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty, acceptance and humor.

Who are your favorite writers?
Diana Gabaldon, Bill Bryson, Terry Pratchett, Alexander Dumas, Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer, Antonia Fraser.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Pick a Musketeer.....I also love Lady De Winter, even though she's not a hero.

What is it that you most dislike?
"Compassionate conservatism". "Faith Based Initiatives". Red, green or yellow peppers. Rude people.

How would you like to die?
In my sleep. Or very quickly and painlessly.

What is your motto?
Try it once...if you don't like it you don't have to do it again.

With thanks to Jaye, from whom I snatched this. She, of course, snatched from others.....