Friday Five

Last seen in the journal of: the_ogre

1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why?

Isis. She's the only female one I'd ever seen. (I later discovered Wonder Woman, but Isis held my loyalty by then.)

2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?

I desperately wanted to be a grown-up. I now realize that what I really wanted was to be a full-fledged human -- free, worthy of respect and love, and belonging somewhere.

3. What's the furthest from home you've been?

Oh gosh, I don't know the distances! The temple of Abu Simbel or the Aswan High Dam, south end of Egypt? Alesund, Norway? Neither one of those felt anywhere near as far as my first day in Paris (when I moved there, and had yet to meet my new boss) or Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet?

Just ONE? Augh! Um, okay: why I do what I do.

5. What are your plans for the weekend?

Not much yet! Start putting photos in albums, hopefully say hi to gs, hopefully say hi to cwilson, rescue my poor long-suffering pothos from the Room with No Light, sit in hot tub, eat bonbons.

Cool Hike!

Rob and I went hiking in Butano! Mmm fun. Hilly. Knees mostly okay. The moleskin on last week's blister managed to walk all the way around to the other side of my foot while we were walking, and I didn't notice, which I suppose is good: I can call the blister healed now (though it still looks hideous).

Then we sat by the beach and watched the waves crash. I got up from there and BLAMMO, left knee no longer okay. Yeow.

Now I will finish a jigsaw puzzle I started last night. Well, after I make another LJ entry, maybe. And take off a Band-Aid to see what the end of my finger looks like. It had a lot of blood before, so I bet it'll be yucky. Cooool. 8-}

What have I always wanted to learn?

What a GREAT question! Stolen from the Friday Five (my answers are here), and modified just a little:

What are some things you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet?

Always wanted to learn. So I can't count voluntarily dilating my irises, a thing I just thought up a few minutes ago but now really really wish I could do.

How to play: guitar, harp, dulcimer, hammer dulcimer.
How to speak, read, and write: Arabic, Swedish and/or Norwegian, German (improve), Russian (relearn), Japanese, Hindi, Basque, Latin.
Understanding: myself and others. Why I do what I do. Why I fall for the people I fall for. Why I can at times be so immobilized by anxiety or stress. Why the Brandenburg concertos or Yosemite have the effect on me that they do. Why people park across two parking spaces, or deliberately get in the wrong lane, or push away the very people who care most. Why why why!
Skills: Chess (improve), the craft of writing, the ability to make a room look nice, the ability to be at home in widely varied social situations, physical self-defense, physical grace. There are lots more in this category that don't really count as "I've always wanted to learn". Flying stuff, for example.
Weird body stuff: How to make my eyes diverge. I have been trying this since I was in grade school and I can't do it yet.
Supernatural stuff: If this sort of thing could be learned, I'd enroll in classes for: out-of-body experience, levitation, telekinesis, clairvoyance, and healing by the laying on of hands.

The scary part is I'm sure this list isn't exhaustive. ExhaustING maybe... :-)