Tagged

Leanne of From Chaos Comes Happiness -- she with the radiant smile and the generous heart -- has tagged me and is interviewing me quite extensively with the questions that have been posed!

Here's how she phrased the invitation to bare my soul: "So, ladies, here's the story . . . copy the below 19 questions and answer them on a post of your own. OR . . . don't. I really don't mind! But, it's a fun way to learn a little more about your blog buds, and I'd love to learn more about each of YOU!"

So, since this gives my faithful readers a bit of a break from the endless parade of food -- and it also permits me to share some wretchedly sad news that I've been trying to figure out a way to announce -- let's go on with the show, shall we ...?

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals or are they members of your family?

When we had pets, they were "the babies." They had their own seats on the furniture (the cat made a dent in the back of one chair!), and the dog even had a little pink "princess coat" with a faux leopard collar. I'm not an Alpha anything ... they had me wound 'round their fluffy little tails ... :)

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

"Ya gotta have a dream! If you don't have a dream, how you gonna have a dream come true?" (from "South Pacific") I had a lot of dreams that have recently been dashed, so I'll have to think a bit on that one now.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

Oh, there's a long list -- lack of integrity, betrayal, cowardice, child abuse, poverty, unequal division of resources. I -- the queen of indecision -- am only allowed to choose one???

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Pay off my credit cards. Fix up some family property. Support numerous good causes. I have simple needs.

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Listening to Barry Manilow songs ... I know 'em all. "Mandy" and "When I Wanted You" have been played countless times in recent days.





6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

Although it is glorious to be loved, to have a full heart and the capacity to love is precious.

7. What is your bedtime routine?

In recent days I'm back to my old bad habits: fall asleep with the computer on my lap, sometime after 1-ish in the morning.

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

Well, here's where my very sad and heartbreaking announcement comes in: I am still living (sorta -- stayed elsewhere for a few nights this week) at the house with Tom, but we're no longer in a relationship. It will officially be over when I figure out where I'm moving to. But he's recent enough that I'll tell you we met online through intervention by his older sister, who recommended that particular site to him and had thus been considered our guardian angel. We corresponded for weeks and weeks until finally meeting for breakfast just over a year ago. (Please also accept this as a deeply sincere apology for not having had the time or the focus to be able to keep up with reading all of my friends' blogs lately ... things are very stressful and painful, right now. Most of my posts this week had been pre-written, so it appears that I've been functional when, in fact, it's taken extraordinary effort to just get through the most basic aspects of daily life.)

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

A wedding cake designer, which involves sketching and baking and building and coloring and decorating a masterpiece.

10. What kinds of books do you read?

I've got rather an eclectic library -- books on linguistics and learning languages (Yiddish, Italian) ... fiction by Michael Chabon and Anne Tyler and Ian McEwan ... books about Jewish culture and history and religion ... dozens and dozens and dozens of cookbooks ... poetry (particularly by Irish poets, it seems) ... biographies of artists ... stories about travelling.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

Truly, at this moment, I have no idea at all. Maybe getting paid to write about food, combining passion with livelihood???

12. What’s your fear?

At the moment, being alone and not falling asleep in anyone's arms for the rest of my life.

13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

I suffer from severe motion sickness -- I ain't goin' into space anyway, so why give up guilty pleasures???

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married but poor?

I've always maintained that you can get through anything if you have love, sharing a 39-cent box of Kroger brand macaroni and cheese for dinner. The important thing is to have that someone to share the cheap dinner with ....

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Put on my glasses, 'cause I can't see otherwise.

16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

Continuing with the pretense from #8 that I'm close enough to having been in a relationship to use Tom as a reference, I would make it all better and make it all go away. Can't say anything less vague or more specific ....

17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

"Raya" [REYE-yuh], which is Hebrew for "friend."

18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

I've forgiven far, far more than I should have in this lifetime. But as Frank McCourt once wrote: "As long as you have memory, there's no catharsis." I can forget why I've walked down the hallway or what I ate for dinner the night before, but if there is any pain attached to it (a song, a date, an experience, etc.) it is permanent scar tissue on my heart and in my brain.

19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

Can I get away with saying "salad," which then offers leeway for egg salad, chicken salad, spinach salad, fruit salad ...???

Now the rules say that I must tag 4 others to answer these same questions ... decisions, decisions!

Candace: Mi Chiamo Candace

Judy: Cranberry Morning

Miriam: Meatless Meals for Meat Eaters

Robin: Your Daily Dose

Have at it, girls!!!

8 x 8 x 8

The ever-charming baking whiz Kristin, at Kuppy Kakes by Kristin, tagged me in a round of 8 x 8 x 8 which has very simple rules: You answer the 8 questions that the tagger has come up with. Then you get to create 8 questions of your own, tag 8 people, and continue the torture! ;)

So here I go, answering 8 really tough questions and then racking my brain to find 8 victims of my own and think of 8 unique, creative and scintillating questions to pass along ... hmmmm. Well, I guess there's no better place to start than at the beginning!

1.) If you could choose to be any kind of food, which would it be, and why?

A dessert, of course! I'd be sweet, I'd be rich, I'd be popular ... :)

2.) What is the best memory you have from elementary school?

I loved school, loved it! Not only was I really good at it, but it was an escape from home -- perfect in all ways. So what was my favorite memory??? The one that comes to mind took place in 1st Grade, as my class sat with Sr. Hosa -- whom I loved dearly -- talking about something, I don't even remember what. I mentioned that I'd had a brother, who had died before I was born. She looked at me and very gently said "You still have a brother, he's just waiting for you in Heaven." It was such a sweet, kind, reassuring thing to say! It's been 41 years, and I still vividly remember her expression, the tenderness in her eyes, and her sincerity ....

3.) What is your most favorite holiday tradition?

Latkes at Chanukkah!!! I love Rosh Hashanah services on the first night of the holiday ... I bake hundreds of Christmas cookies to give to loved ones ... I always make corned beast and cabbage and soda bread for St. Paddy's Day. But really, how can you beat fried potatoes???

4.) What would be your dream location to live (money not a problem)?

Ooooh, let's see ... Paris? Provence? Florence? Marrakesh? It'd have to have fabulous food, gorgeous art, lots of color and flavor and intrigue!

5.) Have you ever been stung by a jellyfish? If so, where were you?

Not a fan of being in the water and don't live near the ocean, so the jellyfish have thankfully not tasted my toes.

6.) What is your favorite color?

PINK!!!

7.) If you could choose to marry any celebrity, who would it be?

Not into celebrities, particularly ... I wouldn't even have a clue, sorry!

8.) What is your absolute favorite song? EVER.

"More Than This" by Roxy Music. (Gotta click on the link, 'cause I couldn't embed it.)

So, now let's pick some names from a hat, in random order ....

1. Judy - Cranberry Morning

2. Jenn - Jenn's Food Journey

3. Nicole - Destination Unknown

4. Rachel - Diary of a Chocoholic

5. Leanne - From Chaos Comes Happiness

6. Tanya - Miller Racing Family

7. Keri - Always Curtsy When You Sneeze

8. Karen - Eat Drink Wash Up

And now for the hardest part -- coming up with my own questions, ones that won't make me seem either improper or insipid! I'll try to make them easy, for the end of a long week ....

1. Do you speak any other languages besides English?

2. Do you still have your favorite blanket, teddy bear, toy, whatever from childhood?

3. Marshmallows on the Thanksgiving sweet potatoes, or not?

4. Do you have a compost pile/container?

5. Baseball, football, hockey, basketball, soccer, golf, dodgeball, lawn mower racing ... what's your favorite sport to watch?

6. How many cookbooks do you own?

7. Do you like scary movies?

8. Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?

That's all, folks!

Eight Cubed

My dear friend Robin, at Your Daily Dose, picked me as one of the recipients of her "Eight to the Eight to the Eight" post: "... eight lucky people ... get to answer these eight questions, make up eight of their own, and pass them on to eight of their friends."

I had to think about this ... only two easy answers here (#s 5 and 7). Good thing I color my hair, so you can't see how many new grey ones I got while bursting a few brain cells as I debated my options (both in terms of answers as well as bestowees)! But thinking is actually good for me -- keeps the ol' neurons working. So thank you, Robin, for doing your part to forestall my aging ... :)

But enough prologue! Here we go:

1. What career would you choose for your own if you had all of the gifts (i.e. creativity, genius, dexterity, etc.) that went along with said profession?

I would love to be able to sing -- I envy you that gift, Robin. Performing in a Broadway musical would be an experience beyond description! I also wish that I had patience and more refined fine motor skills, so that I could be a pastry chef and create extraordinarily gorgeous works of confectionery art.

2. If you could travel back in time to observe what life was like in a specific time period in a specific place, when and where would you go?

Brain paralysis! Too many options, too many choices, too much curiosity! The first Election Day after women got the right to vote in this country? The Italian Renaissance? The building of Stonehenge? Homesteading out West? Ellis Island at the turn of the 20th century? So many fascinating periods and people to observe!

3) What is your biggest vice?

Cheetos? Milk Duds? They tie (for the moment, anyway) as food vices. Personal vices,using the Merriam-Webster definition of "a moral fault or failing"? And this is conveniently asked just when I'm supposed to be taking an inventory for Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), too! Hmmm .... I can hold a grudge better than almost anyone I know, except for Jeremy. I sometimes have a tendency to ruminate down negative paths. And I'm stubborn and proud when I should ask for help.

4) Do you find yourself getting in trouble from speaking your mind too often or not enough?

I sometimes dare to state opinions, and they are not always received well. There are circumstances to explain this sensitivity, but there is inevitably a debate about excessive negativity vs. the right to have and express an opinion and to express it in any tone that I might choose. I believe firmly in Rabbi Israel Salanter's adage that "Not everything that is thought should be said," though, so I will usually keep my notions to myself if there is any doubt as to whether they will be effective and productive.

5) Do you like your name? As an aside, do you know what it means? If so, just curious ....

I hate my name, which happens to mean "bitter."

Well, let me clarify that a bit. I've always hated my name, but am becoming fractionally more sympathetic towards it.

I'm a flaky, cheerful, giddy, enthusiastic and effusive, pink-and-glitter bedecked prissy city girl and Fancy Feast cat (this last descriptor being what my son thinks of me), but I have one of the most boring and pedestrian and over-used names in history ... and that is truly not an exaggeration. I graduated in a class of 41 girls, and 8 of us -- 20%! -- were named some variation on "Mary."

I'm named for both of my grandmothers (paternal: Mary Brigid, who died when I was 2 weeks old; maternal: Mary Dorothy, whom I loved dearly), as well as being named -- obviously -- for the Virgin Mary. (My birthday is December 8, too -- the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, honoring the day on which Mary was conceived without sin in order to be a proper vessel for the son of God ... according to the Catholic Church, that is.)

But in the Jewish community (work and otherwise), I'm one of only 2 Marys (the other being my dear friend Mary Schuman); rather than being the 613th Rebecca or Miriam, I'm unique. And Tom's mother was named Mary. She died of breast cancer in 1995, so I never got to meet her; she sounds fascinating, and if ever a woman deserved to rest in peace, this woman did. Tom's sister Anne, upon learning my name, said "Oh, that was Mom's name!" And she said it with such love, such affection, such an attitude of "Well, this means you belong here with us" that I can't help but feel a certain pride in it now ... a little bit, anyway ....

6) What do you like most about yourself?

I'm the sorta girl that people talk to, share with, confide in. And I'm glad that people find me warm and welcoming in that way, that they feel I'm kind and empathetic ... heymish [HAY-mish] in Yiddish.

7) What is your favorite record? That would be a record as a whole and it cannot be a greatest hits album. It's not your favorite song, but the collection as a whole on a record.

"Avalon" by Roxy Music. Don't even have to burst a brain cell to answer this one! I've loved it since it first came out in ... ahem ... 1981. I cannot tell you how many times I've listened to it, how I know every nuance of every song. (And mucho credit to Robin for actually calling it a "record," rather than a CD! I have both versions, but the latter lacks the warmth and the familiarity of the former.) There is beauty, love, loss, and all in a sumptuous and romantic package ... life in general, summed up in 10 songs. "More Than This" is one of my very favorite songs ever, ever ever; and I intend to have the title track played at my funeral.











8) What song, book, movie, tv show, short story, etc. comes closest to hitting you where you live? You heard it, read it, watched it and thought it could be describing my life. It is like it was written for me.

"Galileo" by the Indigo Girls: "Look what I had to overcome from my last life -- I think I'll write a book ...."

Okay, now here are my 8 victims ... um, "invitees":

Andrea - Andrea the Kitchen Witch

Candace - Mi Chiamo Candace

Heather - Girlichef

Kristin - Kuppy Kakes by Kristin

Michelle - All Home Cooking. All Year Long.

Natasha - 5 Minutes Just for Me

Sheila - Reforming U

Shelley - I'm Still Standing

And here's what I'd like to know about you:

1. What is your favorite work of art?

2. What do you collect, if anything?

3. What faith were you raised in? And do you still belong to that one, or have you found another, or ...?

4. What is your favorite flavor of jelly/jam to use for a PB&J?

5. What song did or would you play for your first dance together at your wedding reception?

6. What is your favorite charity?

7. Nuts in brownies -- yea or nay?

8. What is your favorite cookbook, the one you rely on time after time?

Have fun!!!

Tag -- I'm It!

Kristin at Kuppy Kakes by Kristin tagged me in a post, and has seen fit to divert me from my usual obsessive devotion to food by asking me some questions ... and some rather dishy ones, at that. Well, what are girlfriends for if not for chatting and gossiping???

So, here are my instructions: I get to answer the 8 questions that Kristin has asked me. Then I pick 8 unsuspecting friends and ambush them with 8 questions of my own ... heh, heh, heh.

To begin with, here are the questions that Kristin asked me:

1. If you could be a fruit, which would you be and why?

Dragon fruit. I don't particularly like the taste, but it is the most gorgeous shade of pink!!! And with those green accents, it matches the decor of my blog -- how could I resist??? Dragon fruit is vivid and feisty, with many tidbits of intrigue hidden within ....

2. Have you ever had a one night stand?

Youth and indiscretion go hand-in-hand, sadly.

3. If you could have plastic surgery, no matter what the cost, what would you get?

My personal opinion is that plastic surgery is only warranted for medical, rather than aesthetic, reasons. If you can't feel comfortable in your own body, then you need a psychiatrist to help you improve your self-esteem rather than a surgeon to cut into you. I cannot begin to comprehend how people can literally risk their lives or their health for the sake of vanity! I could scrutinize myself from my virtually non-existent lips down to my flabby thighs; pregnancy 20 years ago has recently teamed up with gravity to wreak some nasty havoc upon me. But I am what I am, and I'm loved; and I do my best to dress in a way that minimizes the flaws while maximizing the curves. (God gave us lip liner and push-up bras for a reason!) That having been said, if I had time, money, and a less vehement stance against it, I would do the Mommy Make-Over.

4. Cats or Dogs?

I have one of each, and love them dearly; each has -- shall we say? -- some eccentricities and oddities that makes them either particularly annoying or particularly endearing, depending upon your point of view. But the cat (Bummie, short for Boomerang) doesn't make me go out into the rain, the heat, the cold or the snow; and he doesn't require that I revolve my life around his bladder the way the dog (Fuzzybutt) does. Therefore, cats should win ... but the pooch does such a joyous "Happy Dance" when I come home, and smiles adoringly at me for no reason whatsoever ... that goes a long way vs. the senses of entitlement and superiority that are the very essence of "cat." So, each has benefits and each has detriments; I can't decide ... there's a shock!

5. What would be your last meal, if you knew you were going to die the next morning?

Hmmmm ... too many choices, too little ability to make decisions!!! Pasta, I think ... fettuccine Alfredo, perhaps? I try to limit refined carbs and yeast most of the time, so maybe I'd indulge in a huge ol' deli sandwich from New York City? Chocolate. Excuse me, I didn't make myself sufficiently clear when I uttered that statement -- CHOCOLATE!!! Chocolate cake specifically, I think. Layer cake. Lots of frosting. No ice cream necessary. Extra frosting.

6. What kind of car do you drive?

A big ol' 1999 Chevy Suburban. I love my car!!!

7. Would you ever bungee jump or base jump?

There are insufficient quantities of liquor, sedatives and anesthetic in the universe to calm me enough to do this. Never. Never, ever, ever, ever, ever. Ever.

8. What is your talent?

Hmmmm. I'm an excellent listener and empathizer and nurturer. I'm very good with languages. I may write overly verbose and convoluted sentences, but I like to think that my writing has a certain fluidity to it. And I can take almost any leftover tidbits and turn them into some semblance of a meal.

Okay, now it's MY turn to come up with questions:

1. What item of yours has the most sentimental value, and why?

2. What is the best compliment you've ever received?

3. What did you want to be when you grew up?

4. Do you love or loathe family get-togethers?

5. What is your favorite breakfast?

6. Where were you born?

7. What is your favorite holiday?

8. What are you going to do for yourself today to make yourself happy?

And now, the unsuspecting folks being invited to this interview:

Always Curtsy When You Sneeze

Beth: A Work in Progress

Cranberry Morning

Destination Unknown

Diary of a Chocoholic

Fake It Til You Make It

Jenn's Food Journey

Your Daily Dose

Tag -- you're it!!!