For one of Rachel's art classes, her final project involved interviewing friends (and me!) and doing drawings of them as animals...or as the animals they liked or identified with, I guess. Anyway, by now you know how much I love these silly Q&A sessions, so here's what I wrote:
Where are you most comfortable?
At home in my comfy chair or in front of my computer.
What do you feel is your default mode of interacting with others?
Sitting back and waiting for the other person to make a move. Sitting back and watching the action rather than being in the middle of it.
Do you consider yourself a social person?
Not at all.
How do you approach new situations?
Usually, with trepidation. I prefer for things to stay pretty static.
What thrills you?
Yarn. Knitting. Watching my daughter do new things. A freshly printed book by an author I love. Snow. Learning how to do something new.
Do you want to have children?
Had one. Best thing I’ve ever done.
Where would you like to live—both in the specific (e.g. apartment, house) and in the larger scale (e.g. mountains, desert)?
I would love to live at the beach…I love watching the waves…but I’d also want it to be somewhere with cool weather. I hate heat. I’d love to have a house with odd staircases and unexpected rooms and window seats…rambly and messy and lived in and comfortable.
What is your favorite season? Do the seasons affect you?
Fall, I think. I like winter too, but you get those crystalline days in the fall that are so invigorating.
What scares you?
Public speaking. Moths. Dentists. Being destitute.
Do you think humans are different from animals? How so?
Humans think too much sometimes. (And sometimes they don’t think enough.) Humans don’t seem to have the ability that animals have to live-right-now-in-the-moment. Well, children live like that sometimes.
How do you see yourself in relation to animals? What about the human race as a whole in relation to the animal world?
I love animals. I’d like to protect them. I am angry that so many animals are disappearing as a direct result of man’s actions. I am angry that man so easily screws up the world.
Have you been close with animals in your life? If so, what animals? How did that closeness manifest—did you feel a “bond”?
I had hamsters as a kid…but it’s sort of hard to bond with a hamster. As an adult, I’ve been lucky enough to have three wonderful cats in my life. Well, one of them is, like a toddler, sometimes hard to take…he’s so needy. But they have all been such distinct personalities…they’ve each brought something special to my life. And yes, I feel very bonded with them. Especially my toddler cat…he’s both endearing and infuriating.
With what animal do you most identify and why, or if you don't feel like you identify with any animal, why not?
Sometimes I feel cow-like…sort of large and slow. Sometimes, when I’m enthusiastic about something, I feel puppy-ish.
Is there any animal you would particularly like to be? If so, why? If not, why not?
An otter. Not only are they adorable, they play. They seem to have such fun. And they are sort of clumsy on land and then transform into elegant swimmers in the water.
What are your thoughts on the way we categorize animals (e.g. lions and tigers are noble, mosquitoes are uniformly terrible, etc)?
I think it’s a human thing to do, to categorize things. I think early man categorized animals for the same reason he made myths…it helped make sense of a big, unknown world. Think of how man found animals and people in the stars in the form of constellations…easier to cope with the vast immensity of space if you can make stories that bring the stars down to earth.
Would you say you feel connected to nature? Are there times when you feel more or less connected, and why or why not?
I would say not really…I’m not a camper, hiker, outdoorsy sort of person.
To go with my interview, Rachel drew an otter, floating in the water and reading Moby Dick.
Where are you most comfortable?
At home in my comfy chair or in front of my computer.
What do you feel is your default mode of interacting with others?
Sitting back and waiting for the other person to make a move. Sitting back and watching the action rather than being in the middle of it.
Do you consider yourself a social person?
Not at all.
How do you approach new situations?
Usually, with trepidation. I prefer for things to stay pretty static.
What thrills you?
Yarn. Knitting. Watching my daughter do new things. A freshly printed book by an author I love. Snow. Learning how to do something new.
Do you want to have children?
Had one. Best thing I’ve ever done.
Where would you like to live—both in the specific (e.g. apartment, house) and in the larger scale (e.g. mountains, desert)?
I would love to live at the beach…I love watching the waves…but I’d also want it to be somewhere with cool weather. I hate heat. I’d love to have a house with odd staircases and unexpected rooms and window seats…rambly and messy and lived in and comfortable.
What is your favorite season? Do the seasons affect you?
Fall, I think. I like winter too, but you get those crystalline days in the fall that are so invigorating.
What scares you?
Public speaking. Moths. Dentists. Being destitute.
Do you think humans are different from animals? How so?
Humans think too much sometimes. (And sometimes they don’t think enough.) Humans don’t seem to have the ability that animals have to live-right-now-in-the-moment. Well, children live like that sometimes.
How do you see yourself in relation to animals? What about the human race as a whole in relation to the animal world?
I love animals. I’d like to protect them. I am angry that so many animals are disappearing as a direct result of man’s actions. I am angry that man so easily screws up the world.
Have you been close with animals in your life? If so, what animals? How did that closeness manifest—did you feel a “bond”?
I had hamsters as a kid…but it’s sort of hard to bond with a hamster. As an adult, I’ve been lucky enough to have three wonderful cats in my life. Well, one of them is, like a toddler, sometimes hard to take…he’s so needy. But they have all been such distinct personalities…they’ve each brought something special to my life. And yes, I feel very bonded with them. Especially my toddler cat…he’s both endearing and infuriating.
With what animal do you most identify and why, or if you don't feel like you identify with any animal, why not?
Sometimes I feel cow-like…sort of large and slow. Sometimes, when I’m enthusiastic about something, I feel puppy-ish.
Is there any animal you would particularly like to be? If so, why? If not, why not?
An otter. Not only are they adorable, they play. They seem to have such fun. And they are sort of clumsy on land and then transform into elegant swimmers in the water.
What are your thoughts on the way we categorize animals (e.g. lions and tigers are noble, mosquitoes are uniformly terrible, etc)?
I think it’s a human thing to do, to categorize things. I think early man categorized animals for the same reason he made myths…it helped make sense of a big, unknown world. Think of how man found animals and people in the stars in the form of constellations…easier to cope with the vast immensity of space if you can make stories that bring the stars down to earth.
Would you say you feel connected to nature? Are there times when you feel more or less connected, and why or why not?
I would say not really…I’m not a camper, hiker, outdoorsy sort of person.
To go with my interview, Rachel drew an otter, floating in the water and reading Moby Dick.
(Is it okay to put it up here, R? I'll take it down if you don't want it here.)
3 comments:
Oh, I like that. You make a good otter. But do you like Moby dick?
Actually, I do! It was one of my grandfather's favorite books and I started reading it because of that but soon found that I really liked it.
Well, that makes it perfect then.
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