Bernard Pivot's 10 Questions.

May 11, 2002

So the Friday Five is on its second week of hiatus, and Heather (former Blogger Insider partner) has pulled the comments links off of her web site because of some abusive posters who went and ragged all over her because they didn’t like what she blogged about (it was her kids. She talks quite a bit about her kids. And some arseholes bitched at her for it. And she got tired of the whole thing, and yanked commenting off of her blog. And the Friday Five kind of counted on commenting.) Sew ennihew, here’s another linking meme to play with. Feel free to do the same thing in your blog. You can find the questions here.

1. What is your favourite word?
Lethlogica. It describes that state wherein you can’t remember the word you want to use. Though what happens when you can’t remember the word to describe the state when you can’t remember the word you want to use? And how many times can it subreference before it times out the semantic loop?

2. What is your least favorite word?
It’s not a word, it’s three words: “No more coffee.” That one’s a total bummer.

3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
Being challenged —or more to the point, learning a new way of doing/thinking/being. I’m like a kid with a new toy. I’ve just got to show off!

4. What turns you off?
Being required to do substandard work when there is no reason not to do good quality work. Either that, or sitting idle for days at a time…which happens far too often in the tech industry.

5. What is your favorite curse word?
Bloodyhell. And yes, in my vocabulary, that’s a single word. My favourite insult is “oxygen thief”.

6. What sound or noise do you love?
Purring cats. It’s quiet, it’s soothing, and I hear it when my cats are curled up next to me.

7. What sound or noise do you hate?
Brendan Perry’s voice. In the eighth track of the Dead Can Dance album Aion, he manages to go sharp and flat in the same measure. That takes some doing — and I wish he’d not do it ever again.

Some days, I hate having perfect pitch.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Some days, I think it would be interesting to be a professional writer: a columnist, or something. I do enough writing already, and get the occasional compliment hither and yon, so I’m entertaining others as well as myself.

9. What profession would you not like to do?
Parent. There is no formal recognized workplace structure in the first world, the benefits are wildly uneven and highly subjective, and the hours are lousy.

10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“Oh hi, cool, okay, library’s off that way, the ailurophiles are meeting in a few, and yes there’s coffee and chocolate.”

Actually, it would be really nice to hear the same thing said to a lot of people as they enter Heaven: “You weren’t perfect, but you all tried, you really honestly tried to be good humans, and most of the time you were terrific humans. No one else knew, but you did, and that was enough. Do you know how many others’ lives you made better just by being a good human? Do you know how easy that is to screw up, how delicate a balance that is, and how few people realize that from moment to moment? You did good, you fell occasionally but you kept trying, now it’s time to come home.”

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