et cetera

from Soulless, thanks! Another 5 questions. These I have put as an extended post since I wrote A LOT.

1. What is the title of your biography and what are the highlights on the dustjacket?
This was the hardest of all the questions. I have this hang up on naming things and will fret for hours over "the perfect name." Since I would like to post this sometime before the next milennium, I will go ahead with my first choices. A) Possessed by Demons (or Daemons) - because I have been told I am for many years now. B) Would you sit still? - because I don't spend much time on any given thing. C) What the Hell Are You Doing? - another thing I have heard a lot in the past few years. I would love to come up with a punny play on a song title or book but nothing comes to mind. D) Where do I go from here? is another one that works for me. I will probably revise this several times before settling on something. As to what hightlights would be on the dust jacket? I would avoid the CBS Afterschool Special descriptions like "One woman's journey through life and how she made good...blahblahblah." I want something funny. "From the time she was born, Ms. Holston was destined for mediocrity" or something. This was a really, really hard question for me. More later.

2. What book (or books) had a profound effect on you? No matter if you were an adult at the time or a child, why was the book so powerful?
--The Shining-taught or enhanced my fear. I still look behind shower curtains, even in my own house. I do not like to be surprised by monsters.
--Alice in Wonderland- here was a girl alone in her world and getting by by being clever. But it also gave me a DEEP love of puzzles and solving them. I believe this book affected me on as many layers as there are in the story. 1) I am alone. It is me and my wits against everyone and everything. No one is really on my side. 2) Things won't always make sense. Do whatever you want/think is right anyway. No one is really paying attention. 3) Be creative in your solutions. What is normal won't work. 4) It is everyone else who is crazy.
--An old college psychology textbook I found when I was 6 or so. It had a chapter on genetics, with a lovely explanation on dominant and recessive genes. I wanted to do work in genetics from that age on.

3. Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. How would you rank those cities? What are your criteria and what puts one higher in the list than another?
I had to decide if this was counting them as places to live or visit. The criteria is what is there to do there that will hold my attention for any length of time. Here goes.
1) Washington, D.C. Plusses-The Smithsonian! There's a lifetime's worth of stuff to look at there. Good restaurants. You can walk or do public transport everywhere. Minuses-politicians, high prices, and they aren't represented in the government so "no taxation without representation." Isn't that one of the reasons we broke from England in the first place???
2) New Orleans. Plusses- marvelous history and architecture. Magic. Voodoo. The tomb of Marie LaVeau. Crawfish. Other food. Darkly mysterious. Minuses-below sea level and falling. humidity. decay. It is a vampire town that feeds on the blood of the tourists. Otherwise it is truly a decaying shell.
3) Las Vegas. Plusses- Lots of good shows (Penn & Telller!), lots of things to do. You can do something at any time of night. In Nevada, so not too far from the Burning Man Festival. Not too far from California and Washington, or Peuget Sound. Minuses-tourists. gambling (I don't care if others do it, but I don't think it is too fun).

4. One of my most irrational fears is that this whole computer industry and internet thing will just go away. Assuming there were no more computers, what would you do for a living?
Good question! The short list: sculptor. geneticist. forensic pathologist. crime scene investigator. comic book/strip author-artist. librarian(!). teacher. antique book seller. curio shop owner (think Needful Things). Metaphysical shop owner. massage therapist. counselor. detective. something creative.

5. Why is evening your favorite time of day?
Evening is my favorite time because it is the most magical and tingly time. Bright daylight is for work and sports, picnics, family. Deep night, 3 am or so, is for allnight movies, bars, drinking, basically abusing the body. Twilight into darkness is when I (in theory) have no responsibility to anyone but myself and can do whatever I want. Twilight, when the first star is visible for the night, is meaningful in Judaism as the end and beginning of the day. Holiday begin at this time for them. Plus-Halloween in an evening thing. Shadows come out and fun happens. So in a nutshell-magic and unlimited possibilities. My mind opens up then.