An “About Me” section is never easy, not for the cover of book, nor for a website, so I’ve found a crutch.
Below are my answers to the famous Proust Questionnaire.
Your favourite virtues
Forgiveness, kindness, discipline with kindness the most important.
Your favourite qualities in a man.
Sense of humour, intelligence, ability to tell a good story, ability to enjoy himself
Your favourite qualities in a woman.
Sense of humour, intelligence, beauty, ability to tell a good story, ability to enjoy herself
Your chief characteristic
Determination, discipline a close second. I wish it was kindness, but it’s not.
What you appreciate the most in your friends
Sense of humour, intelligence, ability to tell a good story, ability to enjoy themselves. I tend to like outgoing people. Friends have always been important to me. I know some men who have no close friends and I find that a little sad.
Your main fault
High expectations, critical nature, combativeness, there are definitely times I have to force my self to reign it in.
Your idea of happiness
Relaxing, good times with friends, good times with family
Your idea of misery.
Alone at four in the morning, awake, lonely, worried about something, stressed out. This tends to happen most when I’m on the road, away from my family.
If not yourself, who would you be?
I found leaving San Francisco back in 2003 very hard–so many people there I loved, a city I loved. It’s a long story as to why I left, but if I had two lives to live, I’d have continued one there.
Where would you like to live?
San Francisco
Your favourite colour
Purple. When I was about fourteen, I painted two walls of my room baby blue, two walls a soft purple. I’d wanted to paint it black but my parents wouldn’t let me. This was the compromise.
The flower that you like
Magnolia. I love flowering trees. With magnolias, maybe it’s the fact the flowers are so short lived makes them special. There’s nothing quite like a magnolia tree in full bloom.
Your favourite bird
How about I invert this to my least favourite: Crows. As I write this in a small coastal town in southern India, a crow’s been eating above me, spitting seeds onto me and finally just shat on me.
Your favourite prose authors
Cormac McCarthy, Pat Barker, Tobias Wolff, Richard B Wright, Ernest Hemmingway, David Mitchell, Raymond Carver, Tim Winton
Your favourite poets
Blake
Your heroes in fiction
All my favourites are anti-heros
Your favourite heroines in fiction.
Anna Karenina
Your favourite composers
Musicians? Connor Oberst, M Ward. The other day a friend told me the music I like is dark: “Like your stories.”
Your favourite painters
Sharon Thompson, my mother, but also a wonderful painter, Cezanne, Mattisse, Modigliani, Emily Carr.
Your heroes in real life
I don’t really believe in heroes, or at least not enough that I’d confess them here.
Your favourite heroines in real life.
Ditto
What characters in history do you most dislike.
All the classic evil characters, Hitler, Stalin. There are many noteworthy evil men that preceded them, but once you get beyond a century, the crimes fade a little. Outrage and hatred are harder to muster.
Your favourite food and drink.
Gin and tonic, with beer a close second; my favourite foods, anything my wife makes, Provencal salads
Your favourite names
Kim, Evelyn, Tessa, Vivian—the names of my daughters and wife. Could I say anything different?
What you hate the most
Deliberate meanness. It’s amazing how early this can manifest. I’ve see it in children my kids age. I guess we all learn from our parents.
The military event you admire the most
The peace treaties. Most of them anyway. There have been peace treaties that seem to just lead into another war.
The reform you admire the most
Anti-slavery movement: from the reforms that ended the slave trade to the UN Convention last century and the ongoing struggles this century.
The natural talent I’d like to be gifted with
A beautiful singing voice. Wouldn’t it be great to have an instrument like that always with you? When I sing, my wife either laughs or plugs her ears.
How you wish to die
Old and surrounded by loved ones
What is your present state of mind
Worried I’ll die young and alone
For what fault have you most toleration?
Tardiness
Your favourite motto
Live in the moment
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