In which I become verbose, witty and find my sense of humor

So, I was interviewed by Tangobaby. You will see the five questions below. I will warn you, I apparently was bitten by the dissertation bug this morning and grew quite verbose in my answers. You can skim if you like - suffice to say, I was witty. Yes, yes...I promise.

Now, perhaps you would like to be interviewed by me? Come on, it's fun I tell you. Let's lay down some legalese on how that can happen:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (there you go - ok, that will make sense later in the blog I assure you.)--

********************************5 QUESTIONS****************************************

1. Tell us about the little sneakers in your icon. To me, and knowing you're a little Southern girl, I immediately picture you as a grown-up version of Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird. Am I right on that one? What do those little shoes say about you?
The shoes – my chucks. I love them and would live in them if I could. I was for many years a shoe girl. Loving the high heels and all of that, even now I see pretty shoes and lust for them. But, I put on my first pair of chucks and knew I had met my sole (smile) mate. Currently I have three pairs but the brown pair are my favorite. I know, brown is not quite as edgy as black – but I’ve been known to break a mold once in a while. Now, as far as Scout – she’s one of my favorite characters…and it’s compliment to be compared to her. She’s fearless (but fearful when appropriate). She has an intense sense of right and wrong – that describes me to a tee. And she is what she is – a champion for the underdog, curious, southern and a boyish girl. I think Scout grew up to be quite a charmer.

2. For those of us who only know the South from what we see in the television and movies, share a little piece (or a big piece, your call) of what it means to live in the South and to have been raised there.

This is an interesting question. Almost the first thing that springs to mind is a defense of southern women in that we’re not all Scarlett, Blanche or any other stereotypical woman from the screen or books. But we are. Stereotypes arise for a reason, right? I would like to think that I take from each of them the good qualities but not the bad. But…I’m sure on my bad days a little bad may leak through. After all, isn’t Scarlett’s badness what made her so interesting instead of a minor character like her sister Suellen?

Alabama among the sister states is the cradle of the Confederacy. The place where George Wallace stood in the University doorway and declared it would not be integrated. I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama. Where all things about the South came to a head. It was the capital of the Confederacy. It was where Rosa Parks grew too tired to move to the back of the bus and it is where Dr. King preached. One of my favorite quotes is by Dr. King – “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Yes, we have rednecks that cannot accept the war of northern aggression never came. Yes, we have unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and all of the things that can oppress a nation. But I would argue you could find this in any state. You can find prejudice – hatred – self-involvement – fear – anger, anywhere. But, Dr. King also said something else, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

I’m proud of our state – it is beautiful and full of rich history. From Huntsville – a home of the space program, to Tuscaloosa – home of one of the greatest universities (Roll Tide baby), to Birmingham – where Bessemer steel was invented, to Montgomery – well, yeah, I’ve told you about that, to Mobile – home of the first Mardi Gras, to Gulf Shores – home of sugar white beaches.

I also love being able to say “there you go” and have people nod their head and understand what I meant.

3. Your photography, besides being very beautiful, is very simple and intimate, very Zen-like. What are you trying to share with us when we look at your photographs?
I think my photography is sort of all over the place. But I seem to be settling into a style that a friend of mine calls modern bohemian. I’m not sure what that means. I think some of it comes across as Zen-like because that is me in a lot of ways. I’m not a frou-frou fancy girl (hence the chucks). Yes, I love getting dressed up as much as the next girl – but, no ruffles or lacy stuff. I think my photography is the same way. I think my photography is feminine in that I like curves and soft lines. I like unusual colors in unusual places. I like a touch of whimsy. So, I guess what I’m trying to say is “see the unusual in the usual – look at the word through different eyes. You might be surprised what you see.”

4. Of your five senses, what makes the most impact on you in your perception of the world? What are things you crave to experience?
I’m a texture person – in eating, decorating, and all facets of my personality. I’m constantly reaching to touch something. But secondly, I remember things by smell. I can smell my mother’s perfume and remember her standing there spraying it on. I can remember the scent of freshly laundered sheets on the line and the scent of honeysuckle in the back yard.

I want to experience Provence when the lavender is blooming and I want to see Tuscany when the golden light hits the fields. I want to see Paris from the top of the Eiffel Tower and sip wine at midnight from a small café. I want to lie in a green field in Wales and I want to light a candle at the Vatican. I want to sit on my front porch at dawn, watching the pink and lavender fingers crawl across the horizons of the lowlands of North Carolina. Then I want to pick up my cup of coffee, softly call my dog inside and make breakfast for someone I love.

5. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? Give us as many details as you can.
I think I really just answered this didn’t I? I guess I learned a long time ago that I should read ahead. Remember that silly test where all you really had to do was sign your name and turn it in? It got me.

Right now….actually, my answer surprises me. Right now I wish I was at a job making an honest living. My current ambition is to be a nursing home administrator and I want to run the kind of home that you would want your mother to go to, if she had to live away from you. Both of my parents died of cancer. Mom nursed dad at home for three years before he passed and some of the indignities that they went through together, well, I wouldn’t want that for anyone. She loved him and gladly did it. But cancer changes a person and she suffered through a lot with his pain. My sister did a lot of the nursing for mom because I was not in town. That is a guilt (my sister says false guilt) that I will bear for a long time before I let it go. Anyway, neither here nor there as they say. I saw a home in Portland, Oregon actually that I would love to duplicate – I felt as if I was walking into a home instead of an institution.

Frivolously? Right now? I would love to be on a beach somewhere with a lovely cocktail, a handsome man and a fantastic book. And of course, with my camera. I may need a job, but I’m not dead. *grin*