::Earth-Shattering Distinctives::
We feel that our cause is just and holy; we protest solemnly in the face of mankind that we desire peace at any sacrifice save that of honor and independence; we seek no conquest, no aggrandisement, no concession of any kind from the States with which we were lately confederated; all we ask is to be left alone... ~ President Jefferson Davis| [::..Archives..::] |
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:: Saturday, October 04, 2003 ::
I hate jury duty!>
Once a year I get called away from my home for jury duty. I got there about 9:30 AM Tuesday morning and was placed in a group around 11:30 AM. I had some rot gut lunch and updated my planner, bored and frustrated out of my skull. Everyone looked angry and inconvenienced, and I know I looked the same.
A friendly, attractive mulatto woman with big blue eyes sat down next to me and applied some wonderful smelling lotion to her hands. I asked, "Is that Bath and Body Works?" She smiled and said, "Yes, would you like some?" I held out my hands and she squirted a generous helping of fragrant Raspberry lotion to them. We spoke briefly about our day, sharing our different perspectives on the yearly imposition of jury duty upon our lives. How nice to talk to this sweet, friendly woman! She was later excused from the trial on the basis of work related issues. The civil trial for our group was scheduled to run until the beginning of January.
I then reported to the courtroom where I sat answering questions and more questions - where I work, where my husband works, where I worked ten years ago, what my hobbies are, etc. The judge was a woman, and was very congenial, and so were the male lawyers. They really made a concerted effort to make the afternoon as hospitable and enjoyable as possible, and I appreciated it.
Finally one woman from our group was picked to serve at 4:30 PM, and the rest of us got to go home. On the relatively uncongested freeway, as a soft sunset promised the closing of a hectic day, I decided for a once a year deal, the whole thing wasn't really that bad.
:: Mal du siecle 10:21 AM |
Valerie's (Kyriosity) Interview Questions>
Interview Questions for Toni
1) Describe your earring collection -- quantity, styles, etc. (I like earrings, too!)
I have quite a diverse collection, being that some earrings are those I bought for myself at different times of my life when I've liked different styles; and others were given to me as gifts, and I keep them to remember the person. According to the three ice cube trays in front of me, I have a grand total of 28 pairs of earrings. I have categorized them according to post and hanging earrings.
Posts: doves; (wedding present from Bill's mom) silver diamonds with little indentations; (I bought them one evening at the grocery store a long time ago in my single days) gold and silver flowers (a 1998 birthday gift from Bill's mom)
Hanging: dragons (the most recent addition to the family - they're green red and gold and gorgeous and are my favorites!) Gold, wine and plum hoops (Goodwill buy. I love them because wine and plum were my wedding colors) pewter chain with black beads (I wear these with everything when I'm dressed up in black - remember, I'm an OPC Goth. ) Indian Head pennies with black and gold beads ( Another Goodwill buy. These are for my black and tan outfits. One earring says 1898 and the other says 1897) Pewter pianos (given to me by another piano teacher) and gold pianos (given to me by Bill's mom for a Christmas present) Brown, earth colored earrings with stones and spikes. (Pier One Imports Buy over ten years ago. They're really new agey, American Indian, gypsy looking things. They used to have gold tri chem on them in a hieroglyphic style "W" shape, but then it peeled off. (It's a good thing, because a girlfriend of mine kept saying, "Oh, you're wearing your Wienerschnitzel earrings again!"
2) Uh-oh! You've just been sentenced to a month in solitary confinement. The good news is that you get to listen to music while you're in there. The bad news is that you only get to listen to one music CD. The good news is that you get to pick the music CD. The bad news is that it will be played incessantly -- 24 hours a day -- for the entire term of your imprisonment. What do you pick and why? (No home-burned compilations allowed).
I'd say Handel's Messiah, because I should be listening to it that often in order to practice for our performance Dec 7th. However, all things being equal, I'd probably choose Narada's Romance For Piano. It helps me write.
3) Whew! You survived your imprisonment! But you've just found out that the authorities are after you again. (What have you been up to, girl?) Bill has decided to pack the family off to a distant desert island where no one will find you. Who knows how long you'll be there? You've packed everything else and find that you have room for exactly 5 DVDs. Which do you choose and why?
I'd choose Braveheart, The Patriot and Gods and Generals. I need to be inspired to go through the hardships I will encounter. The other two would be comedies to give me some laughs. They are "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (I like that one because I look a lot like Nia Verdalos. I haven't had any requests for autographs yet, though!) and Miss Congeniality. I love that movie, because of the opening scene where Sandra Bullock's character, Gracie Lou Hart is an undercover
FBI agent in a Russian restaurant studying a Russian Grammar book that I've personally checked out from the library several times. I can relate to that scene... and also the one where she comes home angry, slamming stuff around and kicking and punching a punching bag until she's exhausted. I love how it zooms in on her tired and frustrated face, the first of many foreshadowings of her journey from a tough, hostile exterior to a feminine vulnerable one.
4) Years later, the FBI tracks you down, but there's good news! They're willing to grant you immunity in exchange for your testimony in another case. You agree to the deal. The circumstances are such that you will have to enter the witness protection program after the trial. You have to choose a new name for yourself. Bill says you can choose his new name, too. What names do you pick and why?
Bill: Mr. Gabriel Alexander Davis
Toni: Mrs. Monica Anastasia Davis
I like the names Gabriel and Alexander for men’s names; I like Monica because of St. Augustine’s mother, and I like Anastasia because it’s Russian for “Resurrection.” I chose the surname, “Davis”, because hopefully we’d be able to get extra protection and asylum in the Southern States for claiming direct lineage of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
Note: Valerie, this question took me the longest to answer. Now do you understand why it took so long to post your questions on my blog?
5) You move into your new house and start work on a garden. While you're digging one day, your shovel hits a box. There's a hundred thousand dollars in it, along with a note saying, "I, Philpot Q. Schnickelfritz, being of sound mind, but also being just a little eccentric, hereby bequeath the money in this box to whomever might find it. Spend it any way you want." How do you spend it?
On a parcel of land so we can build a Southern estate called, “The Gabriel and Monica Davis Manor” and entertain all of our lovely cyberfriends!
:: Mal du siecle 11:20 AM |
Kelly's (BadgerMum) Interview Questions>
Questions for Toni
1. Your "about me" page says that you enjoy studying foreign languages. Which have you studied, which is your favorite, and do you speak any of them well enough to pass for a native?
I've studied all of the Romance languages in depth except for Romanian, which I only know a few words of. I've achieved fluency in Spanish and have a good conversational ability in French. (They were my major and minor in college respectively.) I can speak Italian as well as I do French if I have someone around to speak with, and because of my knowlege of Spanish, Portuguese is fairly easy for me also.
As far as the Slavic languages, I've tackled Russian, and can finally read and write the Cyrillic alphabet. I can also speak a few words and phrases of Czech, Polish and Croatian.
My history with Germanic languages is very interesting. German is actually the first foreign tongue I ever tackled, since my father's family was German. I studied it on my own from about the age of 12-15, got frustrated with the cases (nothing compared to the Slavic languages!) and stopped, since I started studying French in highschool, since the school didn't offer German. I know a few words and phrases in Danish and Swedish, which I get a yen to speak every now and then. I would probably know more Dutch if the sound of the language didn't bother me so much.
I've also studied Vietnamese, Mandarin Chinese, a little Cantonese, Korean, Arabic and Persian. I worked as a secretary for an Auto Glass Store owned by Vietnamese people, and I picked up a good amount of their language just by spending day in and day out with them. The sounds of it and Roman writing (due to French missions) absolutely thrills me. I love tripping people out speaking the Asian languages because I'm a 5'9" Caucasian and can pronounce the words and tones pretty well. Korean thrills me with its simple alphabet, more than speaking it. I don't feel comfortable having a conversation in the above tongues, but I know enough to entertain people and enjoy learning. I've studied Arabic and am amazed how close it is to Hebrew. It's rich, gutteral and exotic, and I love being able to speak it as a Christian.
Of all the foreign languages I've studied, Persian is my favorite. It's not a semitic language, but is an Indo European one, such as the Romance and Germanic tongues are. I guess it's my favorite because it sounds like a spoken lullaby. There are gutteral sounds as in Russian and Arabic, but they are balanced by sweet, melodic consonantal blends and a comforting rhythm.
2. If you could lead a class teaching homemaking skills to girls, what would you be most likely to teach?
I would mostly teach cooking and baking, because that is what I'm best at as far as homemaking goes! I would want to teach young ladies how to take three ingredients in their cupboards and make a seven course meal out of them. I would also want to teach them how to fix cooking mistakes, substitute ingredients and the importance of patience and love for younger children in the kitchen. Little children need to be allowed to help and make huge yucky messes and mistakes. I would want to teach them that as future wives, they set the tone of the home from the minute they wake up in the morning. It does no good to set out a feast for their families if they are grumpy and irritable in the process. Food is an important ministry, and it's a way to minister to anyone at any time. And it's important to have a clean conscience before God, because the prayer before a meal where a husband or father says, "We ask You to bless this food and the hands that prepared it" means something.
3. Is there any place in the world you haven't been that you would love to go to? Tell me all about it.
I would love to go everywhere! I've only been to five states - CA, AZ, NV, OR and NY; and in May of 1998 I traveled to the Florido Section of Tijuana Mexico with our church in order to build homes for homeless families. So, I really want to go to Europe, the Orient and see the rest of the U.S.
4. Your favorite food list includes almost everything on the planet! Is there anything that you would never ever eat (unless maybe your life depended on it)?
I would never eat sheep eyeballs, animal brains or intestines. I'm not much of an organ meats fan anyway. I actually do have a few food dislikes, believe it or not - watercress, artificial banana flavoring... nor do I like mackerel or halibut sashimi.
5. What does poetry mean to you?
For me, poetry is the abridged or unabridged poignant music of one's soul, where the exotic is made familiar and the familiar, exotic.
*Be sure you post the following info on your blog when you post the answers:
If you would like to participate too, here are your instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying "interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions (not the same as you see here).
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
:: Mal du siecle 2:24 PM |
