So You Think You Can Interrogate?

It’s a new challenge created by our very own Rory at a A Guy Called Bloke .  I cannot say enough amazing things about this guy!  I love seeing each new post he makes because it will either inspire a deep thought process, make me think about something I’ve taken for granted, make me laugh, or help me find and appreciate new bloggers.  He’s always supporting our community here.  I’m grateful for all his work.  If you don’t follow him already, I’m….I’m…I’m speechless.  This new challenge is a 20 questions challenge.  There are no wrong answers.

I was nominated for this new challenge by the One and Only Britchy One at Bitchin’ in the Kitchen whom I adore in every way.  This woman is so kind with such a wicked sense of humor!  She goes out of her way helping others, she has the quickest and quirkiest wit I’ve ever seen (read – as I’ve not literally seen it, though I want to very much), and she is also a huge supporter of our blogging community.  I think these two must never sleep as I don’t know how they are able to do as much as they do.  I’m in awe of the both of them.

Okay….here we go:

The Rules …

…because there are always rules, are simple!

1] Thank the nominator

2] Answer the 20  Questions

3] Nominate two bloggers of your choice and notify them.

4] Delete two of the questions in the list between 1 – 19 and insert two of your own.

Britchy’s Questions For Me:

1] What would you like to have for dinner tonight if you could have anything you wanted? If I could have anything I wanted (without fear of gluten or dairy or calories) I would have a giant pizza, with a super thin but crispy crust, the best sauce ever, and the perfect combo of cheeses that stretch into the longest strings ever as you pull a slice from the pie. It’s been 8 years since I’ve had real pizza!

2] If you could have 1 super power what would it be? To make someone stop talking and completely forget what they were talking about. I keep searching for people’s “mute” buttons but I can’t seem to find it!

3] Most embarrassing moment?  I think I wrote about it in my post “The Porcelain Throne” where I “broke” the toilet upon my first meeting with French Charming’s mum.

4] What is the one thing you wish you were great at?  Filtering the thoughts in my brain before they come out of my mouth. If words could be like little clouds coming out of my mouth, I would be swatting at them, trying to dissipate them before they reached someone’s ear!

5] Dinner with anyone in History who would it be?  Marie Curie, a scientist/inventor, who’s birth name was Maria Sklodowska.  She was Polish and the first female awarded the Nobel Prize.  I am always inspired by strong women who have truly contributed to humanity.

6] List 3 things you would like to be remembered for?  Being fearless in chasing my dreams, standing up for what’s right both for myself and others who aren’t brave enough, my honesty- even though many times it gets me in trouble.

7] What do you think people misunderstand about you?  People often think I’m cold-hearted or uncaring when I don’t get bothered by sickness or death, and because I expect people to push through their hardships and overcome obstacles because I know they are capable.

8] Your main strength? Persistence

9] What passions do you have?  Integrity – I feel so strongly about being a stand up person and never cheating anyone or any system.  I like knowing that what ever I have chosen to do I can be proud of my endeavors every step of the way.

10] Name 3 pieces of music you love? I agree with Britchy with ANYTHING by Queen.  I’m into a bit of a Foo Fighters right now, especially The Sky is a Neighborhood – it’s a great “angry” Argentine Tango song!  One of my all time favorite songs is “Every little thing she does is magic” by the Police.  That one always makes me smile.

11] 5 weird things you like?

1. Potato chips dipped in mustard, the spicy dijon style
2. Celery dipped in chipotle mayonnaise
3. I love the smell of patchouli, it does not make me think of hippies with body odor at all.
4. The smell of French Charming’s sweat – only when it’s fresh!  20 mins out, he needs a shower.
5. I used to pour chocolate chips into a jar of peanut butter and just eat it with a spoon.  Who needs to buy Reece’s peanut butter cups? 

12] How important is education?  Education is EXTREMELY important!  I am so saddened to see how the school systems are these days, both in the US and in France.  When I was in school, the kids that moved through the material easier were in one group and the ones who needed a little more time were in another group.  That’s gone because no one wants to feel “stupid” or be considered “smarter”…it’s not FAIR!(said in a loud whiny voice)  When I was in school, if there was a sport or competition there was a winner, maybe a second and third place and that was it.  Everyone did NOT get a trophy or medal just for participating.  I hate this mentality that we need to reward kids just for showing up!  NO!  How are they ever going to be motivated to try harder, study more, work harder for something they want if they are always told they’ve done great and they always get a medal for showing up?  In a company, does everyone have the title of CEO with a corner office just because they showed up to work?? NO!  Kids are passed to the next level even if they are struggling because the school system is not allowed to hold them back for fear of retaliation from the parents for singling out their child.  So we are preparing a generation of socially retarded (because they only text each other from across the room), motivationally challenged (because they are a winner just for showing up), lazy, impatient (because everything is about instant gratification), common sense lacking (if the answer isn’t on google it doesn’t exist), kids who will be the adults we depend on to take care of us as we age!  Don’t hold your breath.   Whoa…I’ll step off my soapbox now.

13] Your favourite childhood book?  It was “The House With A Clock In Its Walls” by John Bellairs.  I checked this book out of the library three times!  I just googled it to find the author and they are making it into a movie with Cate Blanchett and Jack Black!  I’m so excited!  It might have been a little dark for me at 7 or 8 years old, but I loved it….and besides my older brother had given me The Necromancer to read already.

16] If you could cure ONE disease, what would it be?  This is really hard because by choosing one I seem uncaring about the rest.  I would love to cure cancer, heart disease, diabetes, alzheimer’s disease, and a myriad of others.  Then again, I know there is all kinds of research going on for all these well known diseases.  But what about the lesser known diseases which are considered “rare” and don’t get much publicity or funding?  There is one I would choose for selfish reasons as someone very close to me suffers from this disease.  It is called lymphangioleiomyomatosis (I know right?  Who comes up with these names?) or LAM disease for short.  It’s a lung disease for which there is no cure and treatment is at best experimental right now.  It’s not caused by anything in particular – smoking etc, it’s not genetic, and it 99% of the time it only affects women.  It’s cruel in that it basically slowly suffocates the person as their lungs are destroyed.  I wish I could cure this disease for her and her family.

17] An image that makes you happy? Okay, I need this after the last question.  I probably would have said the sun and a palm tree in the past because that makes me think of vacation time.  But I think now, since knowing French Charming, anything French – the Eiffel Tower, the French flag, a baguette (even though I can’t eat it) makes me think of him and our time together and that always makes me happy.

18] Bullet point your day so far.  Let me say first of all this is a highly unusual day and in no way represents my real life.

10:30 – Wake up in the vacation house in the south of France

11:00 – Breakfast (petit déjeuner) on the terrace with French Charming

11:30 – Take a shower, get dressed

12:45 – walk down the street to pick up two dozen oysters for lunch

14:00 – lunch on the patio of the house under a huge umbrella, oysters and grilled sausage

15:00 – sit on the terrace working on my blog and peeking at French Charming lounging on a transit reading magazines.

19] Place you would most like to holiday in?  It’s a toss up between two places on my bucket list.  1) Italy – Rome, Venice, Pompeii, the Amalfi coast.  2) Morocco – Marrakesh, Fez, Tangier, and Casablanca

20] The Two Bloggers you nominate?  Be sure and let them know!

Rêveuse

Grey Goose, Dirty at 43 & Single

My 20 Questions for Rêveuse and Grey Goose: 

{that sounds like a cool drink}

1] What would you like to have for dinner tonight if you could have anything you wanted?

2] If you could change one decision you made in your past, what would you have chosen instead and how do you think it would have changed your life?

3] Most embarrassing moment?

4] What is the one thing you wish you were great at?

5] Dinner with anyone in History who would it be?

6] List 3 things you would like to be remembered for?

7] What do you think people misunderstand about you?

8] Your main strength?

9] What passions do you have?

10] Name 3 pieces of music you love?

11] 5 weird things you like?

12] How important is education?

13] Your favourite childhood book?

16] If you could cure ONE disease, what would it be?

17] An image that makes you happy?

18] Describe a perfect morning (real or fantasy).

19] Place you would most like to holiday in?

20] The Two Bloggers you nominate?