Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Getting To Know You/Or, Facing Facebook: Another Meme From Me to You

getting to know you...



I've deserted you. I know that. I've been meaning to write. You mean a lot to me. Thank you for being you and for your presence. But, frankly, after the divorce two years ago, it's all become very personal at last. It's harder not to feel someone reading over my shoulder beside the fact that that's the point. You know I love you.

I have to say that I am, by nature, a bloody hermit.

But come and visit me when I'm not at home at (say it) Facebook where I hang out and play. Part work, part fun, part distraction, part practical and a way to keep all those little slips of paper in one place, and most part sound serendipity. It reminds me of the novelist, Frances Jose Farmer, who wrote the Riverworld series about a river along which everyone who ever lived is alive again. And they interact. Begin again. Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) teams up with a neanderthal with psychic powers and meets Cyrano de Bergerac and they build stuff like airplanes across the river.

We will reach the other side. And soon.

Meanwhile, won't you come out and play?

Here's a sample, posted last night/this morning.

Provecho!
-----------------------------
Getting to Know You


If you've been tagged or you are reading this, you have the honor of copying all these goofy questions, writing your own response, and tagging 25 other victims. You have to tag me so really you just need 24 more people. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way. And nothing is to be assumed by the order of the tagging.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to know each other!", tag 25 people including me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.



1. What time did you get up this morning?
Around noon. But I went to bed around 7am.

2. How do you like your steak?
On the cow.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Oddball films, "strange sinima", everything from "Welcome to LA" from the 50s to a film about Sri Lankan buddhism. I go to Stehen Parr's on Capp Street. I hate seeing movies by myself in a theater, and this is more like hanging out at an eccentric friend's house with a bunch of projectors and 10,000 movies (literally.) Last time I saw a movie in a theater was with my son who's been back in Boulder for months (sob), so maybe one of the Depp pirate movies, or the second to last Harry Potter movie. Sad, huh?


4. What is your favorite TV show?
I don't own or watch tv. But I follow Ugly Betty online, and a handful of others, mostly the ones about very smart people. Or, Hell's Kitchen, going, "I can do that!"


5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Rollin' in my sweet baby's arms.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Spinach and egg whites.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Crosscultural, with at least 3 different regional or ethnic influences. Organic, of course.

8. What foods do you dislike?
At age 13 I figured my 1984 menu for torture, from apps to dessert: raddish & turnips w/ wasabi dressing & black walnuts, borsht (beet soup) w/ rye bread, brussell sprouts, lima beans, eggplant, fried liver and onions, butterscotch pudding out of the box. The menu still stands. (shudder)


9. Favorite place to eat?
In bed with company. (don't ask). Favorite way to eat? Cross-legged.

10. Favorite dressing?
Mango.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
Sheer will-power.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Something black. Currently, my little blue palm tree dress w/ black leggings and my black hoodie that makes me look I joined an Aztec biker clan.


13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Macchu Picchu. Haha, Carlos Santana.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
Full with emptiness after I drank part, gave part to the parched & watered a plant with the rest.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Uh, I think I am retired, home in the Bay Area. Or, a writer never retires. Or, it's a thin line between self-employed and unemployment. Or, give me a gig, please.


16. Favorite time of day?
Dusk.

17. Where were you born?
I left my placenta in San Francisco.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Used to be men's swimming when I was young, hot & horny. (Wait a minute, that's now.) I don't watch much, much less sports. I like the Olympics, though.


19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
Philip

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
You.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Everyone. All writers are nosey.

22. Bird watcher?
Haha, with a book like Emplumada? I'd love a bird-watcher as a mate. I could get into it, minus the goofy clothes. Sure, I'm a bird-watcher. They watch me back, too.


23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Night. But I usually wake up early. "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow." ~ Dylan Thomas

24. Do you have any pets?
A dog & cat in Boulder, who may not be "mine" anymore. A little "terrorer" in Pacifica. All rescued, the dog in Boulder rescued from Isla Mujeres.


25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
"It's none of your business." ~ Grandma. Actually, a new book of poetry from Wings Press in production, a critical work about my poetry from same publisher, and I'm almost done with the young adult book, BEST IN THE WORLD.


26. What did you want to be when you were little?
An herpetologist.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
I'll go with Mine's answer: "good childhood memory? hmm..."

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
I AM a cat. A dog-loving feline.

29. Are you looking for love?
"None of your business!" ~ Grandma. (I'm afraid the answer to that will appear on my literary tombstone, and be the topic of a couple of dissertations. Sigh) One of my favorite quotes from childhood, "Make your heart a nest and love will come." Author unknown. I found the obscure book of Jewish-American fiction in a Goodwill box.


30. Always wear your seat belt?
Yes. But it always makes me think of my Most Beloved Ex who would always remind me, sadly.

31. Been in a car accident?
No. Wait. I was hit from behind while in a taxi, very minor but upsetting.

32. Any pet peeves?
Nazi's & fascists; although, I wouldn't call it a pet or a peeve. Oh, yeah, typos or out-right poor grammar in the newspaper; it's becoming almost unbearable to read anymore.


33. Favorite pizza toppings?
Spinach, feta, garlic, basil, black olive, artichoke hearts & mozzerella on spelt crust. Mmm, now I'm hungry.

34. Favorite flower?
Outside: yellow daffodils (makes me think of Wordsworth); inside cut flower: stargazer lilies.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Balsamic caramel from the place on Harrison & 24th St.

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
The tamale lady.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
Once and only. Instead I got a D+ in the compulsory driver's ed class because I swore on my mother's body that I had no intention of ever driving a car. I only failed out of creative non-cooperation. I got a perfect score on the written exam.


38. From whom did you get your last email?
Eva Martinez.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Some independent bookstore. Haha, bike shop. Maybe the Apple Store. Oops, wait, I don't have a credit card to max.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
Always. Daily. The after I do whatever it is I like to keep doing it. At heart, I'm a creature of habit.

41. Like your job?
I'll go with Mine's answer once again: "i do. if i didn't, i'd be jobless :) " And, I am. Got one to spare?

42. Broccolli?
Fixident?

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Chicanas don't do vacations. Best place to travel: Isla Mujeres & the Yucatan in general.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Dave Dike.

45. What are you listening to right now?
Listening to the sounds of silence (rare in The Mission at this hour.) "Hello silence, my old friend...." I was listening to old doo wop girl groups from the early 60s.


46. What is your favorite color?
Pale teal, the universal color of the universe.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None, I don't like to mess with my symmetry.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
I have no idea. I have almost 2000 from which to bug.

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
1:21 am.


------------------------
And, speaking of symmetry and because tomorrow's my birthday (Hiroshima Day, newsreels of bomb victims after every party), I'm adding

50. What are you doing for your birthday?"

I have no idea.

6 Comments:

Blogger OBermeo said...

Happy Birthday, Lorna.

6/8/09 07:24  
Blogger Unknown said...

happy 55, you think I forget, but I can't

6/8/09 15:32  
Blogger In the End... said...

Found it (this post), but on too little sleep to remember why I'm supposed to.

Obviously because it's yours of course. And to wish you Happy Birthday again.

Happy Birthday.

7/8/09 01:46  
Blogger Lyle Daggett said...

First, Happy Birthday a day late... (I did in fact remember yesterday, but got wrapped up in stuff last night and...)

Also, if I recall correctly, the Riverworld books were written by Philip Jose Farmer -- Frances Farmer, as I recall, was the actress who was played by Jessica Lange in the movie "Frances" years back.

A lot of meme questions here, and I don't want to flood your comment box by attempting to answer all of them, but will pick out a few and answer here, in the spirit of I wanna play too.

1. Time I got up today?
About 6:30 a.m.

2. Steak?
Well, now that you said "on the cow," I guess I'll feel guilty if I say "medium to medium-rare." :p

3. Last film at the cinema?
"Public Enemies." Thought it was so-so.

7. Favorite cuisine?
Tough one, hard to pick just one. I have a fondness for pizza and for burritos. (And my grandma's watermelon pickles.)

8. Foods I dislike?
Cream cheese. Creamed anything. And I can't even be in the same room when cauliflower is cooking.

11. Vehicle?
Impeccable vision. ;-)

13. Visit if I had the chance?
Paris is probably first on the list. It's a long list.

14. Half empty / half full?
Sideways.

17. Where was I born?
Sewickley, Pennsylvania. (A touch down the Ohio river from Pittsburgh.)

21. Who I'm curious about their responses?
Yeah, me too, everyone.

22. Bird-watcher?
Wouldn't have thought so, but I have in fact spent a day (twice) travelling with bird-watcher friends from Minneapolis to Duluth (MN) in September to watch the annual raptor migration on Hawk Ridge above Duluth. (Spectacular view of Lake Superior, besides of course the birds.)

24. Morning person / night person?
Originally a night person, though sometime in past 10 or 15 years seem to have edged toward morning person at least sometimes.

29. Looking for love?
Let me not to the marriage of true minds / admit impediments.

32. Pet peeves?
Corporate talk of any kind. And right now, in particular, and for a while now, people who say "going forward" when they mean "from now on."

33. Pizza toppings?
Pepperoni and green olives.

34. Favorite flower?
Lilacs and lilies of the valley.

35. Ice cream?
Strawberry.

39. Store where I would max out a credit card?
Who thinks up these questions?

41. Like your job?
At an open-mike reading years ago, a guy in his 20's read a one-line poem he'd written, titled "Sarcasm." The poem went, "I love my job."

(I totally can't remember the name of the guy who read the poem. If he sees this by any chance, and posts his name, I'll gladly acknowledge that the poem was written by him.)

43. Favorite vacation (or, if you prefer, travel)?
Traveling the length of the U.S. west coast from L.A. to Port Townsend, WA, with a poet friend in October 1984.

45. Listening to right now?
Public T.V.

46. Favorite color?
At the moment, turquoise.

47. Tattoos?
None. Not gonna happen.

50. Doing for my birthday?
Dropping in at Lorna's blog, couple of days after.

Feliz cumpleanos, bella. (Insert tilde as needed.)

7/8/09 18:41  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Lorna Dee Cervantes I was wanting to know why you decided to write the poem Daffodil that is in your volume, From the Cables of Genocide.

23/11/10 05:17  
Anonymous HILTON HOTELS BOSTON said...

this is genius! I admire your sharing of idea. It is really fantastic material. thanks for sharing this nice post.

14/2/12 23:54  

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