Kranki's meme

"Kranki" did this last week and posted it, and I was intrigued by it. I'm kind of glad I had a few days to mull the answers! :o)

These are the questions she sent me:

1. If you had to change your name what would you change it to and why?

I actually considered changing it a few years ago, for reasons I will save for the one post I have yet to screw up my courage to write. Perhaps for "Mother's Day"...anyway, though I considered changing it, I never considered to what!
Everyone listed to the right here is someone I admire; someone I wish I were more like. There are some very fine names there; names anyone would be proud of!
The one I keep coming back to, though, is Samuel Clemens. Enamored by his wit at an early age, if he would forgive me for borrowing it, I believe I would. My hope would be it would remind me to try to see the humor in things no matter how dark they seem!

2. What animal are you most like and in what ways?

My wife would say a pack rat, I have no doubt at all! Be it which animal or which of the "deadly sins", my mind says a sloth. For all the things that I should be doing, I will sleep, read, or sit in front of the TV or this magic window on the world as they pile up around me. I haven't been to the gym in ages, my weight is up, my energy is down, and I'm sleeping more. Always I say "tomorrow"; as always, tomorrow never comes!

3. What would you give up forever?
-driving- not until they pry the wheel from my cold dead hands! Too many places to go, too many things to do. Pulling the boat with my mountain bike wouldn't work well, either!

-eating meat- since I'm not giving up books until I can't see them anymore, I guess it's meat by default, though that name change might have to be to Cranky afterwards!

-reading books- I just couldn't! There are too many things I want to read; too many I'd like to re-read; too much to learn!

4. If you trained to be a medical doctor what would your specialty be (surgeon, heart doc, pediatrics etc) and why?

Cancer; I've lost way too many family members and others I cared about to this horrid awful disease to not "go after it"!

5. a. What was the best gift you have ever given?

One of the first Father's Days after I went to work at GM I bought my Dad the nicest, most expensive bait casting reel he ever owned, and the first graphite rod he ever owned to put it on. A half week's pay at the time, he was stunned. He was even more stunned when he lost it the first time out...(a story I'll save for later)!

b. What is the best gift you have ever received?

I followed someone "home" from Rosie O'Donnell's blog once, because of something wonderful they said. I read their blog and commented, then followed some others home who commented there and was introduced to this wonderful world where despite how it seems "in the news" or "on TV", there are still people who care; there are people who are good; there are souls that are beautiful.

Like each and every one of you!

Though I'm a bit more wary now than I was when I started this, the rules stated I have to include the following:

This is how this meme works.

1. Leave me a comment saying that you would like to be interviewed. Include your email address if I can’t get it through your blog.

2. I will email you five questions that you HAVE to answer. I get to pick the questions. You don’t get to opt out if you don’t like the questions I give you so think twice before asking me for an interview. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you anything I wouldn’t be willing to answer myself.

3. You must post your answers to the questions on your blog. If you don’t have a blog I will post your answers on my blog under your name.

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

5. When other commenters ask to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

And so on and so on…


alan