navel gazing

So I'm at Nordstrom tonight trying to pass the time as I wait for my takeout order from the café when I come across an intriguing book called "The Proust Questionnaire." You must understand that I am facinated with 1. Literary Stuff and 2. Any Kind of Quiz. So...bonanza!

The premise behind the book is that back in the day answering questionnaires was a popular pastime at social gatherings. And someone had the foresight to keep the questionnaires that Marcel Proust answered, first when he was 13 and again at 20.

I must say that this book is way overpriced and not worth buying since more than half of it is the blank questionnaire printed on page after page. Sure, the book is all pretty and stuff, but c'mon, i'm much more likely to email the questionnaire to my friends as opposed to collecting their responses in a book. Seriously.

And, of course, I felt compelled to answer the questions myself, so here goes: (p.s. if you're interested in Proust's answers just consult with mr. google.)

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
To be unloved, unlovable, and unloving.

Where would you like to live?
I'd like spend a year or so living in various European cities, and should I suddenly become wealthy, I might enjoy living in New York City. But for now I am happy living in Seattle.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
To spend time each day doing something creative and to stay in close contact with those I love.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Laziness, sweet-toothedness.

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Darl Bundren (As I Lay Dying), Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye), John Ames (Gilead), Ignatius Reilly (Confederacy of Dunces), Max Morden (The Sea). It seems i prefer mostly anti-heroes.

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Rosasharn. At the end of Grapes of Wrath, she performs the most heroic act I can imagine.

Who are your favorite characters in history?
Dorothy Parker, Sylvia Plath, King Solomon. (I suppose I relate to depressive personalities.)

Who are your heroes/heroines in real life?
Suffragettes, 9/11 firefighters and volunteers, civil rights workers, teachers.

Your favorite painter?
Monet, Renoir.

Your favorite musician?
Geoff. (and then bob dylan)

The quality you most admire in a man?
Confidence, integrity, forthrightness, generosity.

The quality you most admire in a woman?
Confidence, integrity, forthrightness, generosity.

Your favorite virtue?
Honesty.

Your favorite occupation?
Reading, writing, listening to music, good conversation.

Who would you have liked to be?
Dorothy Parker, only sober.

Your most marked characteristic?
Spontaneity.

What do you most value in your friends?
Willingness to celebrate my successes, mourn my losses, and make me laugh my ass off.

What is your principle defect?
Impatience.

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?
To end up regretting not having children.

What would you like to be?
Disciplined, patient, nonjudgmental, more well-traveled and well-read. And, yes, a successful author.

What is your favorite color?
Purple.

What is your favorite flower?
Hydrangeas.

What is your favorite bird?
Are there any that don't squawk?

Who are your favorite prose writers?
Flannery O'Connor, Ellen Gilchrist, John Steinbeck, John Banville, Javier Marias, David Sedaris.

Who are your favorite poets?
Edna St. Vincent Millay, Theodore Roethke, Lucille Clifton, W.D. Snodgrass, Yeats, Shakespeare, Anne Sexton.

What are your favorite names?
The kind that have some sort of personal meaning and don't come from a baby name book.

What is it you most dislike?
Injustice, dishonesty.

What historical figures do you most despise?
Hitler.

What event in military history do you most admire?
The ending of any war.

What reform do you most admire?
The first amendment.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Singing ability, musical talent, artistic talent, fast metabolism.

How would you like to die?
Suddenly, before I become infirm or senile, and (selfishly) before my sister.

What is your present state of mind?
Optimistic, yet still burdened with a sense of despair due to my mother's recent death.

What is your motto?
From Shakespeare: "To thine own self be true."

And also (taken from Sally from Peanuts): "Whatever, who cares, and how should I know?"