February Friday Five
2003-07-24, 8:53 a.m.

On to more Friday Fives.

Explain why you started to journal/blog.

Well, it seemed like a good idea. I'd been reading other people's and thought, "Why not?" Not the most inspiring beginnings.

Do people you interact with day to day or family members know about your journal/blog? Why or why not?

Yes they know but I'm not sure how many read it at all much less regularly. Why? Good question.

Do you have a theme for your journal?

Nope. Just whatever comes to mind that day.

What direction would you like to have your journal/blog go in over the next year?

I haven't even thought about direction! I just want to keep it up. Ambitious, aren't I?

Pimp five of your favorite journals.

Well, one I think is private. So, here are five others, all at Diaryland:

DivaMel, Gnomad, Poppyfish, TiendaSexo, and Compendious. The last is a review site and I love to read what they think of other journals. I have NOT submitted mine for review, however. Not brave enough.

What is your most prized material possession?

I don't know. Let me think. I have a bookmark that my nephew made for me when he was 3. I love that. I really like my sofa and chair.

What item, that you currently own, have you had the longest?

I have a teddy bear that my grandmother gave me the day I was born.

Are you a packrat?

God, no. I'm a pitcher. I pitch everything after a while. I just can't stand having all that stuff around.

Do you prefer a spic-and-span clean house? Or is some clutter necessary to avoid the appearance of a museum?

I prefer not to clean so clutter would be okay but PJH prefers spic-and-span neat so that's what we've got. For the most part.

Do the rooms in your house have a theme? Or is it a mixture of knick-knacks here and there?

I am personally not a big fan of knick-knacks. I have a few giraffe statues around but not much else in the way of knick-knacks. No themes other than "How can we make all this stuff we have work together?"

What is your favorite type of literature to read (magazine, newspaper, novels, nonfiction, poetry, etc.)?

I read all kinds of stuff. For a favorite, I'm tied between magazines and fiction novels. Though I also do like to read gardening, decorating and fashion books.

What is your favorite novel?

I don't have just one. I have several. I love Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, I Wish I Had a Red Dress, The Red Tent, Cane River. Probably others that I just can't think of right now.

Do you have a favorite poem? (Share it!)

Once again, I have two.

The first is by Sappho:

He is more than a hero

He is a god in my eyes-

the man who is allowed

to sit beside you - he

who listens intimately

to the sweet murmur of

your voice, the enticing

laughter that makes my own

heart beat fast. If I meet

you suddenly, I can't

speak-my tongue is broken;

a thin flame runs under

my skin; seeing nothing,

hearing only my own ears

drumming, I drip with sweat;

trembling shakes my body

and I turn paler than

dry grass. At such times

death isn't far from me

The second is by Rumi.

The minute I heard my first love story

I started looking for you, not knowing

how blind that was.

Lovers don't finally meet somewhere.

They're in each other all along.

Oh, and there's a third, also by Rumi:

In your light I learn how to love.

In your beauty, how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest,

where no one sees you,

but sometimes I do,

and that sight becomes this art.

What is one thing you've always wanted to read, or wish you had more time to read?

I pretty much read everything I want to but I do have a To Read list that's several pages long.

What are you currently reading?

Middlesex by Jeffrey Euripides.