fox

Friday Five

1. Are you superstitious?
selectively. i don't think the fact that it's friday the 13th matters much, but it's sort of refreshing to have something a little more specific to blame it on if things go wrong today. :-) but i try not to talk about wishes i've made, or things i'm hoping for, because somehow i think that lessens their likelihood of coming true. and in theatrical matters, i'm very superstitious -- because it's tradition. you won't catch me talking about macbeth in a theatre, whistling in a dressing room, failing to leave a light on, and so forth. and i absolutely make people leave the room and turn around three times and knock to be allowed back in if they do.

i also believe almost certainly that carrying an umbrella will keep it from raining. mentioning something you think is dead certain is the surest way to jinx it. (premature self-congratulation, for instance, guarantees a loss of the good fortune.) and so on. but i don't know if that's superstition or just cynicism.

2. What extremes have you heard of someone going to in the name of superstition?
same extremes you've heard of: refusing to stay in a room numbered 13, that sort of thing. like girlfromsouth said, it's not really something i tend to talk about a lot with people. :-)

3. Believer or not, what's your favorite superstition?
um ...

4. Do you believe in luck? If yes, do you have a lucky number/article of clothing/ritual?
i believe in belief in luck. so i do have a lucky necklace, lucky number, routine i go through on important mornings to assure myself of success at whatever is important about that day, etc. but i don't think it's the things themselves that bring me luck; i think it's the fact that i have something through which to focus my own energy that helps me do well.

5. Do you believe in astrology? Why or why not?
only in the same way i believe in superstitions. i think the lore is fascinating, but i don't literally believe it's true.

1. Name five things in your refrigerator.
milk (lactose-free), orange juice, cranberry juice, raspberry jam, roasted garlic

2. Name five things in your freezer.
(i wonder if i even have five things in my freezer.) coffee, vodka (i think), cheese ravioli, ice cream, frozen corn

3. Name five things under your kitchen sink.
trash bags, recycling bags, paper towels, bleach, white vinegar

4. Name five things around your computer.
box of tissues, collection of prescription bottles, half a ream of paper, two chapsticks, pencil cup

5. Name five things in your medicine cabinet.
contact lens enzyme cleaner, hair rubberbands, dental floss, tweezers, nail polish

(oh, my god, this is the best ice cream ever ...)

( you don't understand - there's brownie batter *in the ice cream.* )

i stole it from pistorius

1. What size shoe do you wear?

9 1/2 or 10, depending on the cut and the width. (7 or 8 in men's and "unisex" sizes.)

2. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Far too many. I honestly don't know.

3. What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)?

I object to the question on the grounds that it depends what I'm going to be doing, what type of shoe I prefer.

4. Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite?

These are Frye boots, Harness style, in black with an eight-inch shaft. They are super-comfy, and I looked and looked and looked for, like, years until I found them (in a store, that is; I could have ordered from online, but I need to be able to try shoes on at least the first time I buy them). Love these shoes. Love. Them.

5. What's the most you've spent on one pair of shoes?

Hmm, that's a toughie. About $130, I think. I've found that it's worth it to me to get solidly-built (and therefore more expensive) shoes once than to get cheaper knock-offs and have to keep replacing them.

I have determined that I need more icons. I am feeling the lack. I even have an enabler -- the gracious and lovely laurakaye tells me that if I send her pictures and theme ideas, she will make me some icons. She is wonderful and talented (and responsible for "Creamy," the Icon of Ultimate Goodness, after all), and I thank her. :-D So I am taking Suggestions! Who has ideas for me, eh? Several minds are better than one, say I.

And now, the Friday Five.

When was the last time you...

1. ...sent a handwritten letter?

Um. Not long after Passover, when my friend's grandmother had just died, to my friend's mother. (I used to be a much better letter-writer ... particularly when I was studying abroad, and my closest friends were not at all a phone call away.)

2. ...baked something from scratch or made something by hand?

Shoot -- probably before Christmas, when I made some really damn fine amaretto cookies.

3. ...camped in a tent?

June 20, 1999, in Moab, Utah.

4. ...volunteered your time to church, school, or community?

Last week I went to a training session on pro bono work for asylum seekers.

5. ...helped a stranger?

What counts as "helping"? On Tuesday a woman on the Metro platform asked me if the train we were waiting for would take her to a particular destination, and I told her it would (which was true). Does that count?

1. If you could eat dinner with and "get to know" one famous person (living or dead), who would you choose?

The living one.

No, okay, seriously? Hmm. That's a toughie. So many people, for so many different reasons. This evening, I'll go with Mr. Michael Chabon, whose bloody fantastic novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay won the Pulitzer, and deservedly so. Heard the guy speak, and he's just so cool.

2. Has the death of a famous person ever had an effect on you? Who was it and how did you feel?

A profound, lasting effect? Fortunately not. At the time, though, the assassination of Yitzakh Rabin hit me hard, as did the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr., and how I felt was pretty ripped up for their surviving families. Rabin's granddaughter, who was about my age, spoke not long afterward, and I remember she said "I'm not going to give a speech about peace today. I want to talk about my grandpa." I cried and cried. And in Kennedy-land, I just thought, God, of all the people in the world I'm glad I'm not, Caroline Kennedy is right up there in the top five -- old enough at the time of her father's murder to remember it, watching her mother die slowly of a long illness, and then losing her brother, god, god.

3. If you could BE a famous person for 24 hours, who would you choose?

Only 24 hours? Aaron Sorkin.

4. Do people ever tell you that you look like someone famous?

One of these days, people are going to ask me if I ever get told I look just like Fox, and I'm going to smile all smugly. :-D

Three stories about that:

Kathleen Turner is sitting on the subway in New York, in a nearly empty car, and becomes aware that a fellow-passenger is staring at her. Guy looks terrified. Guy finally works up the guts to say, in a choked whisper, "You look just like Kathleen Turner." She grins and says, in a harsh, brassy, not-at-all-Kathleen-Turner-like voice, "Oh, thank you, what a compliment!" Guy looks relieved -- it is clear to him that she is no one of the kind. :-)

Her Majesty the Queen of England is informed, by someone who has apparently managed to get close enough to speak to her without noticing the, you know, posse of guards she must have with her at all times, "You look just like the queen." Queen looks right at the guy and says, "How very reassuring." :-)

Harrison Ford is stopped on the street by someone who says, "You look just like Harrison Ford." Harrison Ford smiles and says, "You know, I get that all the time." :-)

5. Have you ever met anyone famous?

Depends on the criteria, both for "meeting" and for "famous." I met Pele, the soccer player, when I was a very small child. Shook hands with Al Gore at a '92 Clinton rally, though I was a layer or two back in the crowd and he certainly didn't see me. Worked in a theatre for a while, and knocked back a few beers with some folks who are eventually going to be very famous, if there's any justice. :-) Some of my professors in college, and some of the attorneys at my firm, are pretty famous in their respective fields, I guess. I've met and shook hands with Chita Rivera and Nathan Lane outside stage doors. [swoon.]