My family

Family Stories Vlog

26 February 2017

My-New-Favorite-Author Questions 
These may be Bud's "new favorite" questions, but I wasn't thrilled.  I've answered many of them before, but what the heck...here goes.

Where do you go to decompress from the world?
Go?  As in out of the house to go somewhere else?  I can't think of a place I go to decompress.  Maybe that's my problem.  I used to get energized in San Francisco, but it has changed in the past 40 years and now while I still enjoy going, I don't get the "rebirth" I used to.

If given $10,000, what would you do with it?
Give a maximum "family gift" to each of my sponsored kids.  That would leave me with $1,000 and I'd go to a couple of very expensive restaurants and try all that great food we see on Check, Please, Bay Area, which are always too expensive to consider.

What is one major renovation you would love to make on your house?
Enlarge the kitchen, adding more storage space, and put in a ceiling light so I don't have to cook in semi-darkness any more!

What is one movie that you love and didn’t expect to love?
We see so few movies in a year (4 is a big year, and rarely happens), that I don't watch movies I don't expect to like.

What is the oldest knick-knack you own and what is its sentimental value?

This.  It's a rose cut into an acrylic block.  It belonged to my godmother, who died of cervical cancer when I was 10.  My mother inherited everything in her apartment and told me I could take whatever I wanted.  This always fascinated me, so I chose this.  (What I really wanted was her chiming clock, but thought that would be asking too much.  I'm sorry now I didn't choose that, but I love this little thing.)

Do you own any books you keep out of obligation, but actually hate?
One that comes to mind is one that was written by a friend.  I didn't like it, but I feel it necessary to keep it, though she is highly unlikely to ever know whether I have it or not!

How many countries have you visited outside of the one you live in now?
I think it's 14:  Mexico, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Finland, Russia, China.  When I was younger, I thought only rich people traveled and we are by no means rich, but Walt made it happen and I'm so glad to have had that experience, though with the world the way it is now, and my body the way it is now, I suspect my traveling days are over.

Have you ever read only part of a book, but claimed you’ve read the whole thing?
I can't think of anything specific, but I know there was a book or two I didn't finish when I was going to a book club.

Have you ever spent a lot of money on something? What was it?
The day we signed the papers when buying our first house was a real shock, knowing we had committed to spending that much money.  Then we bought another house 3 or 4 years later.  That was the most we ever spent.

If you could change your name, what would it be?
I've mentioned that I would change my name to Barbara.  It was the name mhy parents were going to give me when I was born, named after my aunt.  But then they decided it might be too confusing to have two Barbaras, so they gave me her middle name, Beverly.  Oddly enough whenever someone isn't sure of my name, they call me Barbara.

What is a nickname a former (or present) lover gave you?
I have never had a nickname except the one a priest gave me when I was in grammar school and he told me that my name translated to "beaver-lake," and he called me that for years afterwards.

How do you style your hair? If you just would say "cut" what style is it?
After I had my head shaved for children's cancer, I discovered as it grew back that when it was very short, in a pixie cut, the natural curl/wave came back, so I try to keep it that short now.

How many colors are you wearing now?
Two.  Red shirt, black pants.

What's one piece of fiction that changed your life?
Probably "The Black Stallion," which was the first "real" book I remember reading and which sparked such a love of horses in me that I devoured any horse book I could find for years afterwards.

Is there anything that has made you unhappy recently?
Oh good lord--pick a day.  Watching the fake president destroy everything good about this country, creating bad feelings with other world leaders, and watching the threat of nuclear war, and feeling helpless to stop him.

Tell us about the job that you did before your current one or last one.
I managed an ob/gyn office.  "manage" meant that I was the receptionist, bookkeeper, nurse assistant, transcriptionist, and janitor.  It was just the doctor and me.  I learned a lot in that job (I now know how to take a blood pressure), but I was grossly underpaid for what I was doing.  He now has three people working in his office.

What was the last song to get stuck in your head?
We went to see How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying tonight and I have been singing "Brotherhood of Man" ever since

What is your least favorite thing to do that you have to do everyday?
I don't mind feeding the dogs, but I hate that they make such a celebration of it and burst into celebration the minute I stand up.  Polly turns in circles and barks and barks and barks and Lizzie jumps up on me and has, occasionally hooked her toenail on my pocket and torn it.  If they would just come and eat I would love it.

Best time of your life?
I kind of break my adult life into decades, many of which overlap -- the nursery school years (Tiny Tots and the start of the Piñata years), the room mother/diving mother/scout mother years, the Lamplighters years (when I volunteered for the theater company in San Francisco and made some of my best friends), the medical transcription years, the foreign student hosting years, the travel years, and now the dementia-mother years.  Of those decades, the Lamplighters was my favorite, not only for the Lamplighters, but Paul and David were still alive and we never dreamed they would die so young.

What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
Nothing in particular.  We have nothing big coming up (so far) this year.