Eleven Eleven

Only for the one and only… Team Gloria!

Honored to be asked; struggling to deliver: Eleven questions, eleven answers.

From time to time, those of us who know each other through this extraordinary online world wish to get to know each other just a touch better, and in more unusual ways. The result is something like “tell us ten things we don’t know about you,” or a set of questions, all with the intention of fleshing out more of who we are and how we live.

So, for Team Gloria – though I haven’t pursued this sort of exercise in a long time – it’s my pleasure to answer. And while tempted to attempt it in terse verse or Shakespearean sonnet, I will refrain from the inane, and get to the point.

So – From the elegant and engaging Team Gloria, eleven questions, and from yours truly, eleven responses.

1. Candles or spotlights?

Both, absolutely. Stubby little candles for emergencies, tiny floating tea lights in a tub for romance, tall tapers casting their shadows at the dinner table, for an evening that is not to be forgotten.

Spotlights? Yes, on my artwork, which is hung salon style.

2. How many books do you have next to the bed?

Does in bed count?

In bed, by the bed, or on the floor next to the bed… mmm… four magazines and… I count seven books plus what’s left of the Sunday Times.

3. When did you last read in a cafe and what did you eat?

French café? American café? If French, it would have been the last time I was in Paris, reviewing art. A few years ago. I would have been downing espresso (with gusto), and probably a French art magazine. Likely not eating. However, if late afternoon or evening, I might have been tempted into a slice of tarte aux pommes.

If an American café, I’d be reading an American art magazine.

4. When did you set up your blog and why?

In June it will be four years. (Whew! Am I really still doing this?) It’s been quite the adventure, a bit of “real life with a twist.” I will pluck from something I’ve already written to answer this, though even now the site is evolving.

It wasn’t a dare exactly. More like an experiment, and then a labor of love.

When an old friend suggested I start a blog, I attempted – twice – only to set the idea aside. In 2009 he urged me to try again, and I did. At the time, I had just completed a project, I missed the pace of my newspaper days, and I was hungry for more hands-on involvement in social media. Although my world was already crazy busy – juggling freelance work and raising two boys – I needed a mechanism for reconfiguring the pieces of an old life, a harried present, and moving into an emerging future…. Daily Plate of Crazy… was just the ticket for me to play, to learn, to articulate my questions, and to hone my skills by intentionally writing in a variety of styles and voices.

5. What was the last film/movie you saw?

Better Than Sex (from 1999), and while I wouldn’t say the film actually was better than sex, it was a quirky little flick about a one night stand. Delicious. I’ll take Quirky over Epic any time.

6. What was the first single you bought?

My first single what? (I buy all my shoes in pairs…)

7. Chocolate or cheese? Discuss.

Non, non, et non – impossible de choisir… An exceptional cheese to finish off a meal can be a near divine experience. For example, a gooey, not-quite-stinky époisse. But nothing blue-cheesy for me, thank you very much.

And chocolate? I don’t know a woman who doesn’t indulge, even if in moderation and occasionally. (I make no claims to moderation or occasionally, though I’m better at both than when I was younger.) I confess, I have been known to surrender to mad cravings for Reeses cups, and might I add… I have fond memories of lingering in European chocolate shops. Talk about perfume!)

8. Do you identify with any of the characters in Pretty In Pink? If so, which one? And – still?

No. (Does that cover it?)

Moreover, I am not a pink woman. Fuchsia? Fine. Magenta? Love it. I’m red, red, red. Regally, rambunctiously, and raucously redeemed and rejuvenated by red.

9. Maria Callas or Madonna Ciccone?

Non merci.

I’d prefer Piaf. Dramatic, I know. Or Robert Palmer, because I would (of course) be a Robert Palmer girl. Well, if I were taller than, you know… Piaf.

10. You’ve been invited to (where?) for supper – name the 11 other guests (alive/passed-on/haunting-you-still)

This is a cruel question. Cruel, cruel, cruel. I could spend months pondering this, and still not settle on the names. May I narrow it down to 20th century (mostly) French writers and a varied group of mid-century modern artists? Let’s see. Colette, Simone de Beauvoir, Henry Miller, a few Surrealists and Abstract Expressionists.

And Fred Deux! Marvelous, fascinating, brilliant man. Genius. And we must have a poet as well, but I’d be hard pressed to select only one.

May I sprinkle in one or two historically hungry and articulate friends? And perhaps, my beloved grandmother in her prime – so elegant and at ease. 1930s, perhaps the 40s – but the 40s only if after WWII, when my grandfather had returned safely to the bosom of his family.

Then again, I would give a great deal to share a meal with my father, taken much too young. Just to reach out, touch his hand, see his smile, hear his laugh. Watch him drink his ice tea – whatever the season.

The where? It wouldn’t matter. Somewhere informal, wine flowing. We could picnic on my living room floor for all I care, though that would require that I clean my house… Perhaps I could add Hazel to the list of guests?

11. Is there a meaning to life? Do you need one?

Is this a Monty Python joke? No?

Well then. Here goes. Without meaning, we’re just going through the motions. That said, your “meaning” won’t be my “meaning,” and my meaning won’t be anyone else’s. But don’t we drift – disoriented – without something that leads us in our thoughts and feelings and actions? We confuse meaning with purpose at times, and purpose with simply keeping busy and that, in itself, may prevent us from defining meaning for ourselves.

As to what is meaningful for me?

Relationships. Doing good. Loving. Creating. Questioning. Learning.

And then there’s the beauty of an exquisite sentence, stanza, or paragraph. A magnificent painting. My kids’ faces when they smile. Knowing my friends are doing well. Great shoes.

These are my angels.

*

Be sure to visit Team Gloria’s recommendations, also selected to participate in this exercise.

1. 1904

2. lost in arles

3. just add attitude

4. three times yes

5. filling in the blanks

6. beautycalypse

7. miss whistle

8. get mummys purse

9. coffee and cardigans

10. killer femme

 
In case you’ve been wondering, my list of sites I read is accessible via the gorgeous red pumps to the right… Hot Shoes, Cool Sites.
 

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© D. A. Wolf

Big Little Wolf’s Daily Plate of Crazy