***Spotlight Member of the Week*** CarolPetunia!!!

I had such an enlightening week, I just can't wait to share the joy with the lovely CarolPetunia

Just a few questions from me:

1. What do you wish more people understood about you?
2. Who was and who is the greatest crush of your life?
3. Please tell us something about a camel and Instanbul?
4. Is there a movie you could watch over and over again? What is it?
5. Have you ever had an unconvential pet? What was it?

Have a great week!!

Yay!

I have a few...

1) If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?

2) Do you have a claim to fame?

3) Sweet or savoury?

Enjoy your week!

1. What, if any, natural disasters have you lived through (earthquakes, tornados, etc)?
2. If you could, what kind of natural disasters could you handle living with?
3. Have you lived in Texas all your life? If not, then where did you grow up?
4. What is your fondest memory of childhood? Of teenage years?

I'll think of more later, if no one else posts them...

Amanda

Hi Carol!....
Congratulations & Welcome at this wonderful week....we try to be not deeply sneaking in your life!

SO,...Today the topic would be the Mexican Stuffs… AJUA!!!.........Here we go...

1.- ¿Do you to know México? …as a country or as a city?
2.- ¿Wich part exactly? are you came by business or by vacations?
3.- Have you ever hearded about Mérida Yucatán México???? Is the place where I´m live! As you can see in yucatán is Chichen Itza one of the New 7 wonders of the world!
Here´s the link my friend….http://www.yucatantoday.com/index.php
4.- Can you speak spanish?
5.- Do you have some CD of Spanish music? do you like it?
6.- Have you ever to watched a Mexican Movie? ( I mean with Spanish Dialogs?)
7.-Do you like the Mexican Food? ( do you have any preference for example: burritos, Tacos, rice & beans, etc?)
8.-Do you like the Tequila? ...or else Mexican Alcoholic beverage?
9.- Have you ever to sleeped in a hammock?
10.- Have you ever to saw the traditional mexican clothes?
11.- Do you to know Cancun Mexico? ( Is a beach) ( here´s the link my friend: )
http://cancun.gob.mx/guiaturistica2/

Enought for today, ....see you tomorrow my friend...

I just have one...

How ever did you become so wise?!

Yay! Carol!

When you have nothing to do, what do you do? Where do you go?

Alright I might as well join in!!

~ Whats your favorite passtime??
~ Whats your favorite holiday??/Least favorite??
~ Do you preferr sneakers or heels?
~ Summer or winter??
~ Sleeping vs partying??
~ If you could be any person at all for one week who would it be and why??
~ Do you have a favorite color? Least favorite?
~ What kind of pizza do you like??
~ Whats your favorite game??

Alright, Ill quit now!

Horray!

What thing(s) do you still need or want to do in your life?

How do you define integrity?

If you were 18 years old, and know what you know now, what would you do and where would you go?

What's your biggest regret in life?
What's your biggest success in life?
Who do you think your life has impacted the most?

And the toughest of them all.....
How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? (Sorry, too much caffiene today!)

Aw, thank you for choosing me, Bonnie! I'm honored! But for heaven's sake, don't y'all hear enough outta me already?

Okay, here goes. Bonnie's questions first:

1. What do you wish more people understood about you?
I wish they understood that I say exactly what I mean. No hidden agenda... you can take me at face value.

2. Who was and who is the greatest crush of your life?
Oh boy. There's a Was and there's an Is, but I'm not sure which is which! Most likely...

Was: Johnny from high school, boyishly handsome, very thoughtful and intelligent, openminded, openhearted... wanted to be a doctor but ended up traveling the world as a buyer for a major corporation. I haven't seen him since 1984. He was so special that I never even dreamed I had a chance with him... and by the time I found out I had, he was married.

Is: Neal from Austin, an artist I worked with, and for, at various times... such a warm smile, such a sweet soul, such a tragic life in many ways. The timing never worked out, and nothing was ever acknowledged between us. I haven't seen him since 1989, but it still makes me happy to know he's out there.

3. Please tell us something about a camel and Instanbul?

Oh, you caught that, did ya? Y’know, I don’t really remember when I first used that line – it was at least 20 years ago, in some bit of comedic nonsense I wrote for somebody, and it became my obscure little reference when I want to imply that I have a mysterious and chequered past, probably in black ops: “Why no, I’ve never [eaten squid, fired a bazooka, whatever] -- but there was that incident at the camel market in Istanbul...” I think I’m the only one who gets it.

4. Is there a movie you could watch over and over again? What is it?

Oh, lots of ‘em! I never get tired of "Field of Dreams" or “Cast Away” or “Singin’ In The Rain” or “That Thing You Do”... those are the first few that come to mind. And “The Big Chill!” I can recite the lines right along with the cast.

5. Have you ever had an unconvential pet? What was it?

I’m told that I had a pet cricket for a few days when I was four years old. I questioned my father’s plan to spray insecticide in the garage, protesting that it might kill the cricket who was always singing in there... so my father put away the Raid, and suddenly it was “Carol’s cricket.” I made him a little bed and put out a plate of grass for him to eat.

Thanks, Bonnie! And now we turn to the inquiries of Jaffacake...

1) If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?
Ooooh, I would infiltrate Washington DC’s most highly restricted areas and learn all our government’s secrets!

2) Do you have a claim to fame?
Literal fame... back when I was a DJ, I had some groupies who used to call in and make requests – does that count? Figurative fame... well, I used to sing jingles and custom music for commercial purposes, and my voice got recognized all the time, especially on the phone. That was kinda neat.

3) Sweet or savoury?
Oh, I would normally say savoury... but the other day, I tasted Ben & Jerry’s new Willie Nelson Country Peach Cobbler ice cream, and now I have to say sweeeeeeeeeeet!

Moving right along... we have some questions from RubSlut’sMommy...

1. What, if any, natural disasters have you lived through (earthquakes, tornados, etc)?
When we were stationed in Oklahoma when I was a kid, a tornado came down and demolished some houses on the next block, then lifted up and skipped our block, and dropped back down to tear up the next street over. Our house was right under its path, but we weren’t touched. I remember my folks running around opening all the windows, which was what we were told to do back then.

There was an earthquake in LA when I was there back in the ‘90s, but it wasn’t bad. My boss and I were in a hotel ballroom and the chandeliers started to sway and drinks spilled – I really wanted to get out from under the forty-some stories of concrete above us, but nobody else seemed concerned.

And the Army transport plane we flew back from Germany on was hit by lightning! Luckily, it didn’t turn out to be a disaster... just an inconvenience, because we had to stop at Gander, Newfoundland, and transfer to a new plane.

2. If you could, what kind of natural disasters could you handle living with?
Hm. Fire, flood, and pestilence are out for sure. Earthquakes... not good, but not as bad. Hurricanes – well, we’re back to flooding, aren’t we? But I’m strangely fascinated with big storms, lightning, and tornados. Scared, but fascinated. I’d love to be a stormchaser!

3. Have you lived in Texas all your life? If not, then where did you grow up?
It sure seems like it! My father was an Army officer, so we traveled all over the States and to Germany when I was little – but he retired while we were stationed in Texas, and we just never left. I’ve been here since 1969 (age 13), but I’m not a Texan at all.

4. What is your fondest memory of childhood? Of teenage years?
Childhood: Every summer (if we were in the States), we would drive around Ohio and Kentucky to visit relatives. We always stayed longest at my mom’s parents’ house, an old Victorian in northwestern Ohio. It was on a street still paved with bricks, shaded by huge old trees that met in the middle across the street to form a tunnel.

In the evenings, my parents and my uncle and Grandma would play Hearts and Euchre in the “new room,” a breakfast nook built onto the back of the house forty years earlier. My brother was little and went to bed early... so that left Grandpa and me.

We’d go out on the front porch and he’d sit in the glider while I lay in the swing, and we’d watch the beacon at the little airstrip outside town go around and around, green, white, green, white... and three blocks down, the trains would thunder past, which we loved, because Grandpa had worked for the New York Central line.

When a car went by, the headlights would angle through the rose trellis on the side of the porch and cast shadows on the wall of the house, and Grandpa called them “movin’ pictures.” Grandpa and I talked and talked for hours every night on that porch, hearing the distant laughter of the others at the back of the house... it was a wonderful time that I’ll always treasure.

Fond memories from teenhood? Oh gosh, I don’t think so. Teenhood was a nightmare!

And now let’s see what Rigel wants to know...

1.- ¿Do you to know México?:…as a country or as a city?
2.- ¿Wich part exactly? are you came by business or by vacations?
I’m sorry to say that I have never been to Mexico. I’ve been to El Paso twice, and McAllen once, and somehow have never set foot across the border. But oh, if I could, I’d so love to go – especially to see the ancient ruins!

3.- Have you ever hearded about Mérida Yucatán México????
I’d heard of the Yucatan Peninsula before, but only through you have I come to hear of Merida, and how beautiful your part of Mexico is! Thank you for the link – Chichen Itza is one of the places I most want to visit someday!

4.- Can you speak spanish?
I can usually, very slowly, work out the gist of Spanish when I read it.. I can sometimes do the same when I hear it spoken... and I can sometimes make myself more or less understood when I try to talk to a Spanish-speaker. But no, I can’t speak Spanish. I only know what little I’ve picked up living in Texas. Lo siento, mi amigo!

5.- Do you have some CD of Spanish music? do you like it?
In the movie “Desperado,” do you remember the song Salma Hayek plays and sings while Antonio Banderas is sleeping, just before the bad guys attack? I’m not sure how the words are spelled, but it starts, “Qui sedeo son reire / Pienso solamente en ti / En la magia de la amour / En tu piel, en tu sabor...” I wasn’t sure what the words meant, but I loved that song! So I got the CD, worked out the chords on guitar, and learned to sing it. I haven’t done it in years – I’ll have to get out my guitar one of these days and see if I remember the chords!

6.- Have you ever to watched a Mexican Movie? ( I mean with Spanish Dialogs?)
Yessir – it was “El Mariachi,” Robert Rodriguez’s little low-budget independent film about the “Desperado” character. (It became a cult hit and got him noticed by Hollywood, which is how “Desperado” came to be made.) I loved the scene where El Mariachi is walking into a little town and there by the side of the deserted road is a little wooden pineapple stand, and the proprietor sells him a pineapple. But Rodriguez forgot to film him paying the man for the pineapple, so he added a line to the off-camera narration – something like, “Free pineapples on the edge of town! What a friendly place!”

7.-Do you like the Mexican Food?( do you have any preference for example: burritos, Tacos, rice & beans, etc?)
Oh, you bet I do! Being a vegetarian, my choices are limited... but I love chips and salsa, cheese nachos, chili con queso, and my homemade vegetarian chili, which is mostly onions and beans and very tangy-hot. I like to use chalupa shells as the crust for little “Mexican pizzas” – a smear of pizza sauce, a sprinkle of cheese, and a few minutes in the oven. I also love sopapillas!

8.-Do you like the Tequila?

...or else Mexican Alcoholic beverage?
Margaritas are okay... they’re made with tequila, right? I’m not much of a drinker – but I do love Kahlua & cream!

9.- Have you ever to sleeped in a hammock?
Yes, sort of! When I was a kid, I used to take a bedsheet and tie its corners up over the top bar of our swingset, then climb up into it and hang there in my little white cocoon and read a book! It was so comfy, I always fell asleep. I loved it!

10.- Have you ever to saw the traditional mexican clothes?
When I was younger, I loved to wear those beautiful dresses with the flowers embroidered all over the yoke and sleeves – so feminine and pretty!

11.- Do you to know Cancun Mexico? ( Is a beach)
Only from hearing people talk about how lovely it is... gosh, I’d love to go.

Thanks, Rigel! And now we have a question from Troutsmom:

How ever did you become so wise?!

Ah, your question giveth, and your smilie taketh away! Yup, I’m a pontificator, all right. I think I inherited it from my father... but he was a lot smarter than I am.

And EnzoLeya asks:

When you have nothing to do, what do you do? Where do you go?
Y’know, I have so many unfinished tasks hanging over my head – BIG tasks that will take months – that I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have anything to do. But sometimes you have to give yourself a day off, and when I do that...

Assuming I have a little bit of cash, I might go to the zoo... see an IMAX movie... or drive over to Arlington to my favorite bead store, then come home and make something with the beads I bought. Or just spend the day with a pot of tea and a good book.

That’s right, I’m livin’ the dream, baby! Livin’ the dream...

And here’s what Glitch wants to know:

~ Whats your favorite passtime??
Reading. Or beading. No, reading. Yeah. Reading!

~ Whats your favorite holiday??/Least favorite??
There are a couple of ways to evaluate this.... by the meaning or by how much I enjoy the traditional activities, y’know? I think... maybe Thanksgiving is my favorite, because of the way the house always smells, a smell I’ve loved ever since I can remember... and because I always get to be in charge of making the yeast rolls and cornbread, which I love to do.

If I go by meaning of the holiday, I think my favorite would be Independence Day -- but not as a mindless, self-congratulatory kinda thing. To me, it's a day to think about the vision that's embodied in the Declaration and the Constitution, and how we can better live up to those ideals.

Least favorite -- New Year's, I guess. Because of the drinking and driving and (around here) the insane "tradition" of firing guns up into the air to "celebrate." Too many people die on New Year's Eve.

~ Do you preferr sneakers or heels?
High heels make such a big difference in appearance – I love the way they make me look! But I also like being able to walk, so I no longer wear anything over two inches. But I don’t wear sneakers, either, except when I walk for exercise -- I can’t stand feeling so closed in! So I like sandal-style shoes, especially graceful, feminine designs.

~ Summer or winter??
Winter! Definitely!

~ Sleeping vs partying??
I like to get together with people, but not in big loud groups with a lot of drinking. So I guess I’m a sleeper!

~ If you could be any person at all for one week who would it be and why??
Heaven help me, I’d have to be George W. Bush. I’d tear into the Oval Office and undo virtually everything he’s done.

~ Do you have a favorite color? Least favorite?
I love green, especially softer light greens... but I seriously dislike burnt orange and maroon. (So you won't catch me at the UT/A&M game!)

~ What kind of pizza do you like??
Plain cheese pizza, light on the cheese, with fresh onions to sprinkle on at the table. I like both thin and thick crust – especially if there’s cornmeal on the bottom!

~ Whats your favorite game??
I like Scrabble and Upwords, and Hearts and Euchre and Cribbage... and badminton!

And SwampWitch asks:

What thing(s) do you still need or want to do in your life?
Oh, so many! I’ve barely begun! I’d really like to marry again someday, and get it right this time... I’d love to write a good book... I’d love to travel a lot more... and I’d like to have a job again, one in which I can do something good for people, not just build wealth for the guy who owns the company, y’know?

How do you define integrity?
Integrity is giving priority to the welfare of others in everything you do.

If you were 18 years old, and know what you know now, what would you do and where would you go?
I’d go to college – but probably not UT Austin again, because it was too big for me. I’d take whatever courses interested me, without a plan, and over time, I’d find out whether I was an architect or a writing teacher or a filmmaker or an archaeologist or a meteorologist...

Please forgive any typos -- it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm asleep at the wheel! 'Way past my bedtime... g'night!

Hello, thank you for your answer at my questions from yesterday let me see for the questions of today:

some comments of your answers,...Cast-away..the history of my life... .... ...

Margaritas yes, has Tequila!.. ... and don´t worried for your spanish, you can learn here if you want!..

Well. back a the game.....The Topic of today would be Music

1.- Wich one is your favourite Genre of Music?
2.- How many Cd´s do you have?
3.- Wich one is your favourite singer Male?
4.- Wich one is your favourite singer Female?
5.- Have you ever to listened at http://www.rippingtons.com/ ?????
6.- Do you have a CD collection? ( I mean for example all Cd´s from a determinate artist???
7.- Have you ever to participated in some Concert of your favourite artist?
8.- Do you have any preference to listen a Radio FM station???
Have you ever to listened this one??...,…. http://www.1.fm/Stations/SmoothJazz/Listen.aspx?pidx=0 )
9.- In your own opinion wich one is better, a CD original from an artist or an MP3 collage of music without nothing of information?...
10.- Do you play some Musical instrument? …

Thank you my friend in advance for your nicely answers, I beg you love the music like I!...

Carol, you should know by now you are the TCS Oracle

Thanks for yout answers. I want to try that icecream now and hear some of your jingles!

Back again! Let's catch up...

White cat lover asks:

What's your biggest regret in life?
I wish I'd gotten serious help with my chronic depression much, much earlier on... like at age 7 or 8. So many self-sabotaging thought patterns took over during those twenty undiagnosed years! I'm still working to free myself from some of them. And it all caused me to waste time, decades of precious time.

And I wish I'd had children. It's going to be a lonely old age, I'm afraid.

What's your biggest success in life?
Hm. "Success" is not a word people use in talking about me. But there are two things that even my worst critic says I'm good for: I can write, and I'm good to have around in an emotional crisis. That's about it.

Who do you think your life has impacted the most?
My friends Rush and Ray Anne! Rush and I were a couple for several years, and shortly after we decided to go back to being friends, I introduced him to Ray Anne, an old friend from high school I'd recently gotten back in touch with. I could hardly dare to hope -- but sure enough, they hit it off, got married, and are now the parents of an amazing 14-year-old, Rush IV -- my pseudo-nephew, I call him. So I figure my purpose in Rush's life was to keep him busy until Ray Anne divorced her first husband.

How much wood would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?

Ah, yes, a question for the ages. It came up in another thread recently, so I will offer here the same profound insight I gave then; to wit:

When a woodchuck digs a burrow, he moves something on the order of 700 pounds of dirt in just a day or two -- so these are hard-working little critters! Therefore, I suspect that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he would chuck as much wood as was available to him, and would then go in search of additional wood, in order that he might... keep on chuckin'...

And Rigel returns with the musical questions of the day!

1.- Wich one is your favourite Genre of Music?
I know it's only rock & roll, but I like it, like it, yes I do!

2.- How many Cd´s do you have?
CDs, not so many, because my current condition of persistent poverty began not long after the CD format became prevalent. So maybe... 60 or so? Mostly I've tried to collect key artists who really matter to me: Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley...

But I still have about 800 black vinyl records and the turntable on which to play 'em, so I'm set!

3.- Wich one is your favourite singer Male?
Oh gosh. Okay, if we're talking about voice alone... well, I dearly love James Taylor. His voice is like an old familiar friend, and I just smile whenever I hear him. And I feel almost the same about Paul Simon, who is an even deeper influence in my life.

4.- Wich one is your favourite singer Female?
Well, I'm notorious for being tough on female singers. There are very few I really like to listen to. But again, on voice alone, with no other considerations... I have to say Carly Simon! She has such a rich voice, such amazing range, and she has the maturity to sing a melody straight -- not like all these warbling teenagers today!

But if we set voice aside and talk about sheer ability to deliver a song like nobody else never no way no how -- gotta love Janis Joplin!

5.- Have you ever to listened at http://www.rippingtons.com/ ?????
No sir, but I shall do so tonight and report back to you!

6.- Do you have a CD collection?
I have Springsteen complete on CD -- but all my other complete collections are still vinyl only.

7.- Have you ever to participated in some Concert of your favourite artist?
WOOHOO, yes indeed! I just love live music, and I've probably been to at least 300 concerts of one kind or another. I've seen Springsteen five times, Paul Simon twice, Bob Dylan twice, Neil Diamond, Paul McCartney, John Denver, Lyle Lovett, Johnny Rivers, The Moody Blues, Michael Martin Murphy, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, John Sebastian, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Willie Nelson, Don Henley, George Benson, Kris Kristofferson, Chuck Berry... I can't begin to remember them all, but oh gosh, what wonderful times!

8.- Do you have any preference to listen a Radio FM station???

Have you ever to listened this one??...,…. http://www.1.fm/Stations/SmoothJazz/Listen.aspx?pidx=0)
I like Lone Star 92.5 -- it's one of those no-format stations: "If it's good, we'll play it." You can hear Rufus Wainwright right next to Johnny Cash right next to Stevie Ray Vaughn... you never know what's coming at you, but it's almost always good music!

I'm not much of a "smooth jazz" person, but I will check out that station tonight and, again, report forthwith!

9.- In your own opinion wich one is better, a CD original from an artist or an MP3 collage of music without nothing of information?

Back in the day, there used to be some wonderful album packages -- big, beautiful photos, booklets filled with detailed information on the musicians and the recording, complete lyrics to the songs, sometimes a poster or a letter from the artist... I really miss all that. CDs are so tiny that even the visual element is 'way diminished, and there's no room at all for anything extra. And an MP3... it's thin air! I really miss the old way.

10.- Do you play some Musical instrument?…

Yessir, I play guitar and piano, and I also drum on my steering wheel with great vigor!

Hi Carol....Here are some from me

If you could go back in the past and change anything what would it be?

If you could choose to be/have any culture in the world, what would you choose and why?

What is the one thing in this world that can make you happy even when there is no joy left to be found?

If you could find a cure for any disease, which one would you pick and why?

If you could go back in time and meet anyone, who would it be and why?

Originally Posted by Jaffacake

Carol, you should know by now you are the TCS Oracle

Thanks for yout answers. I want to try that icecream now and hear some of your jingles!

Click to expand...

Oh, no no no... I only act like I know everything.

But yes'm, the All-Seeing Eye gazes into your future and sees a trip to the supermarket... a silver spoon... and a cat licking the drips off the side of the ice cream carton.

If you ever won a free trip to Australia, would you come and visit me? I'd shout you a veggie burger

What is your number 1 sweet addiction?

Is there a song that describes your personality?

If you could go back in time to meet one celebrity, one relative and one spiritual leader, who would they be, and why?

Which celebrity do you have the biggest crush on?

If you did in fact win that trip to Australia, and i shouted you toe veggie burger, would you get offended if i ate a chicken sandwich?

If it turns out that you're my Secret Santa for this year, can you please find me some of those cute cat butt magnets?

So, james taylor and carly simon your fav my friend!...
I only know about paul simon when sang with chevi chase in a funniest video!... ...
cool answers my friend....
I wished you was more smooth jazz... ...but I think you´re of the old guard!.. ... ...

how is your day today?...I hope fine!.... ....ready for the new set?,...let see for today …The topic of today going to be Movies!

1.- Wich one is your favourite Genre of Movies?
2.- Do you collect DVD´s or VHS??,….How many do you have?
3.- Wich one is your favourite Actor Male?
4.- Wich one is your favourite Actor Female?
5.- Have you ever to participated in some Special Event of your favourite artist?
6.- Have you ever to saw in live to some artist? ( I mean is some restaurant, buying at mall or in some resort?)
7.- Do you like to watch the Oscar Awards?
8.- Have you ever to participated in a role in a Theather representation? ( maybe just for fun or when you was on School?) …
9.- If you could to meet to some artist wich one would be and say us why!...
10.- Would you like to live next at some artist (? ( I mean for example your neighboor would be a TV anchor or else?)… …

Cheers my friend…

For other members can participate.... ....

Have you ever been out of the country?

Where else have you lived?

Have you ever been to California? If so, where have you been?

If you could come back as an animal, what would you want to be?

What are your favorite foods?

How did you obtain your kitties?

I'm sorry to be so slow! Had a rough couple of days... but let's see what Sabrina wanted to know:

If you could go back in the past and change anything what would it be?
Ah, well... ANYTHING? Maybe I could go back and cause life to develop in such a way that there is no such thing as disease. No cancer, no AIDS, nothing. Of course, I would also have to reduce the rate of human reproduction, so we wouldn't overpopulate the planet any further than we already have...

No, I know you were talking about changing something in my own life, so... I would not have married Michael. Some of you already know that I was very young and incredibly naive, and I married my best friend from junior high... and when he concluded that he was gay, the depth of rejection I felt was overwhelming. I lost every shred of self-esteem and became terrified of ever committing myself to a relationship again. I think that's why I'm alone today.

If you could choose to be/have any culture in the world, what would you choose and why?
Do you mean living in another kind of society? Well, for all my griping about how overly-capitalistic the US has become, I still love America and would find it very hard to leave. But having said that... we have some friends of the family who are Swedish, and I generally tend to admire the way they do things over there. I do love Scotland, though...

What is the one thing in this world that can make you happy even when there is no joy left to be found?
Two things:

1. Music. Throughout my life, music has saved me more times than I can count.

2. My kitties. I've only had them for a few years, but in moments of despair, they always pull me back before I sink too far.

If you could find a cure for any disease, which one would you pick and why?
Cancer, without a doubt. It takes so many forms -- I think curing cancer would probably have greater impact than anything else I could do.

It's tempting to cure heart disease, which is so ubiquitous. But heart disease is more straightforward: it's easier to prevent, easier to diagnose, easier to treat. But cancer is an implacable, mindless demon, devious and cunning and relentless. It's evil incarnate. I want it gone.

If you could go back in time and meet anyone, who would it be and why?
Well, the classic answer is a good one: Jesus Christ. I'd like to learn the truth once and for all about what he believed himself to be, and what he really taught, what he really did in his life, as opposed to what's been written about him. I hope I'd get to meet Mary and Joseph, too, and find out what they believed.

And now for Dragoriana's inquiries:

If you ever won a free trip to Australia, would you come and visit me? I'd shout you a veggie burger

Oh my gosh yes, I'd just love to visit! Will you take me sightseeing, and can we hop over to New Zealand and visit Kiwideus too? Oh boy, this'll be fun! I'd love to go to Ayers Rock and the Great Barrier Reef and --

Oh, wait. I have to win a free trip first.

What is your number 1 sweet addiction?
My mom's apple pie. It almost doesn't count, because it's very tart, rather than sweet... but it's the very best thing there is to eat.

Is there a song that describes your personality?
That's such a good question that I have to answer it, even if it's a little embarrassing. My friend (and ex-SO) Rush, who knows me better than anybody, told me long ago that this song could have been written about me:

Real Emotional Girl
Randy Newman

She's a real emotional girl
She wears her heart on her sleeve
Every little thing you tell her
She'll believe
She really will
She even cries in her sleep
I've heard her
Many times before
I never had a girl who loved me
Half as much as this girl loves me
She's real emotional
For eighteen years she lived at home
She was Daddy's little girl
And Daddy helped her move out on her own
She met a boy
He broke her heart
And now she lives alone
And she's very, very careful
Yes she is
She's a real emotional girl
Lives down deep inside herself
She turns on easy
It's like a hurricane
You would not believe it
You gotta hold on tight to her
She's a real emotional girl.

If you could go back in time to meet one celebrity, one relative and one spiritual leader, who would they be, and why?
Celebrity: William Shakespeare. He must have been a blazing genius... he had a great sense of humor... I just think it would be fascinating to spend time with him.

Relative: The Honorable Lee Neal, Illinois attorney and state senator who helped propose and draft the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. He was my several-times-great grandfather on my father's side!

Spiritual Leader Tempting though it is to confront L. Ron Hubbard about his outrageous fraud, I think I'd better stick to my earlier answer and ask Jesus a few questions.

Which celebrity do you have the biggest crush on?
It used to be Peter Jennings, rest his soul. These days, I think --

Well, let me preface this by saying it's not as shallow as it sounds, because this man is not just a pretty face. He also shares my passionate political and social views, he's brilliantly creative, he has a wonderful sense of humor... and there's just a sweetness about him, an openheartedness that I love. I am speaking, of course, of George be-still-my-heart Clooney.

If you did in fact win that trip to Australia, and i shouted you toe veggie burger, would you get offended if i ate a chicken sandwich?
Ah, I'm afraid I would not care for a veggie burger, thank you -- though I'm certainly curious as to how you would "shout" me one! But of course you can have your chicken sandwich! Some of my favorite people in the world eat meat -- no problem.

If it turns out that you're my Secret Santa for this year, can you please find me some of those cute cat butt magnets?
I don't think I've seen 'em! But I do love the little wall hooks they have at IKEA:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60095321

Gosh, this is fun! But I've got to go -- will try to continue later tonight...