proust questionnaire

My favorite magazine, Vanity Fair, has a feature every issue called the Proust Questionnaire. You can look at some of the archives here. I decided to fill one out myself while waiting for my last client of the night.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Being off work for several days, a clean house, a stocked kitchen, and low maintenance people to spend time with.

What is your greatest fear?
Whales in the ocean, someone I love dying. (not in that order)

Which living person do you most admire?
Obama!

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Not speaking up when I should.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Constant drama, one-upmanship.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Magazines! I buy 10,000 a month.

What is your favorite journey?
Driving to Nebraska to see my family.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Trendiness

On what occasion do you lie?
To spare someone’s feelings. Or to get out of trouble.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
Well, I hate it when my brother calls me “Cheeks”. And he is talking about the ones on my face.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
All the bad ones…

What is your greatest regret?
Not having more confidence in myself in high school and college.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Nicholas. And diet coke.

Which talent would you most like to have?
To play the piano extroidanarily well.

What is your current state of mind?
I’m on vacation mode all the way.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
Not as much distance. Also maybe make some of them less funny than me.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Passing my LMFT exam, after taking it 8 days before my wedding and was stressed to the max.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A writer.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. That kid’s living the life.

What is your most treasured possession?
My engagement ring.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Being alone when you REALLY don’t want to be.

What is your favorite occupation?
I always like the idea of teaching, but in the end couldn’t imagine myself doing it.

What is your most marked characteristic?
Red hair.

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Will laugh at my jokes.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Bad language.

What do you most value in your friends?
Sense of humor

Who are your favorite writers?
Irwin Shaw, Marian Keyes, Chaim Potok, Larry McMurtry, JK Rowling

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Thomas Jordache from Rich Man, Poor Man or Lee from East of Eden.

What is it that you most dislike?
People who scoop the punchline.

How would you like to die?
When I’m feeling selfish – before any of my friends and family so I don’t have to endure their deaths. When I’m feeling generous – pulling children out of a burning building.

What is your motto?
I’ll borrow one from my hero, Mary Pipher: “Get more rest, do good work, take things a day at a time, and find some people to love.”

i feel so inexperienced after doing this...

Stole this from The Sheila Variations. Makes me feel like I haven't done much with my life. Maybe I should do stuff other than see 4 movies in a weekend? Nah.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (maybe. See #64)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day