Wed., Nov. 16

Aha! Hilda got home last night and helped me figure out how to get into my blog and leave a message without having to go through Picasa, so I don't "always" have to post a picture now. Thought I would try the Detective Work exercise as well -- still haven't figured out Deb's link thing yet, but I'll work on it.

1. My favorite childhood toy was a book - not sure that qualifies as a toy, but I remember more hours spent reading as a child than anything else.

2. My favorite childhood game was make-believe. I loved to "pretend" -- most often pirated from books I had read as I recall. I was then and still am a voracious reader, mostly of fiction.

3. The best movie I ever saw as a kid was Gone with the Wind. My parents took us to the drive-in to see it when I was about 10 I think and I fell in love with the costumes, the homes, the scenery. I then practically wore out a copy of the book reading and re-reading it.

4. I don't do it much but I enjoy camping and hiking.

5. If I could lighten up a little, I'd let myself try more new things and make more mistakes.

6. If it weren't too late, I'd be an athlete -- I've grown up as a fairly sedentary kid and adult, but I see the need in our society for more of a focus on exercise -- maybe athlete isn't the word I'm looking for, because I don't mean this in the sense of competition. I think we need to make exercise more attractive and more important to everyone. I really think there is entirely too much focus on "winning" and not nearly enough on "enjoyment." Everyone, child and adult alike, should learn to do more physical things for the pleasure of it - I think the focus on winning often deters people from participating at all.

7. My favorite musical instrument is, like Deb, the guitar -- but I love classical guitar, no CW for me!

8. The amount of money that I spend on treating myself to entertainment each month is hard to calculate. If this is entertainment in the sense of movies, concerts, dinners out, etc., I'd say perhaps $25-50 per month, but if we're talking fabric buying, embellishment shopping, etc., in a good month, the amount could increase dramatically. And I have to admit, I often find the fabric buying, etc., more entertaining than the more conventional ideas.

9. If I weren't so stingy with my artist, I'd buy her a digital camera, a Bernina Quilter's Edition and/or a Gammill longarm -- this is, of course, given unlimited funds and space to put the newly acquired items - I simply don't have room for a Gammill right now, even if I had the $$.

10. Taking time out for myself is second nature. I'm single and don't have any children, so once I'm away from work, I can pretty much do what I want, when I want.

11. I am afraid that if I start dreaming, I'll have to follow through on it. Now isn't that a revelation? But it is the first thing that popped into my head when I read the first part of the sentence. I'll have to give that some more time and attention. I do know that when I start a new quilting project, it invades my dreams for awhile. I spend entire nights sorting fabric searching for just the right piece to use in my quilt. Hmmmm.

12. I secretly enjoy reading children's books and I collect them, even though I have no kids.

13. If I had had a perfect childhood, I'd have grown up to be a ballerina. I doubt that this is true, after all I'm 5'9" tall, so that alone is a detriment to being a ballerina, to say nothing of the fact that I am not svelte. But I do remember wanting desperately to take ballet lessons as a child and my parents simply couldn't afford them at the time.

14. If it didn't sound so crazy, I'd make a life as an expatriate somewhere. I've traveled to some places in Mexico where I'm convinced I could live, and I'm sure there are other places around the world I'd feel equally strongly about. It's not necessarily that I don't like living here, I think I'd just like to trying living somewhere else, maybe for just a bit, maybe forever?

15. My parents think artists are not practical.

16. My God thinks artists are a gift.

17. What makes me feel weird about this DIScovery is wondering where I'm going with it. I've enjoyed it so far, but still don't have a really clear idea of what the outcome will be -- but I guess that's why the journey, eh?!

18. Learning to trust myself is probably the lesson I need most to learn.

19. My most cheer-me-up music is the Gipsy Kings and Willie & Lobo.

20. My favorite way to dress is eclectic casual -- jeans with something soft and comfortable for truly casual moments, and jeans with velvet, silk, chiffon and/or beads for dress. Can you tell I grew up in the late 60s, early 70s?! Jeans can be anything from grunge to formal in my book.

Off to work - can't wait to see what others have to say about this, it was a good exercise for me anyway.