Q&A Meme

Responding to a challenge posted by scb here:

1. Which of your ancestors would you most like to meet?
I would like to talk to my paternal grandparents.  The immigrated from Ireland before independence and landed at Ellis Island.  They both passed away before I was born but I would love to know more about them and their story.

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Huh, this is a hard one for me given the career choice.  At the moment, I can't help but thinking "there's no place like home" and wishing we were living back in the US, but I know if we were, I would soon go stir crazy.  If I had money, celebrity money, I would love to have a home in Venice.  I would love to have a small place in Ireland where we could vacation and see family.  If I was going to plant myself forever in one place, I would want to buy a house in the neighborhood where I grew up in DC, a fixer upper that needed some TLC to rediscover its former glory.  Sadly, that also takes celebrity money these days!

3. If you could have dinner with three contemporary celebrities, who would you choose?
Hard one for me as I'm not a big celebrity person.  I think Angelina Jolie would be interesting because of the work she has done for the UN around the world.  I would also think Christiane Amanpour would have wonderful insights to share based on her work as a journalist.  Finally, the Queen of England I think is a fascinating woman who has seen so much in her lifetime and has taken her country through such upheavals that dinner with her would be a chance to learn.

4. What is your favorite piece of music?
I never studied music and so don't have much a background in classical music- I recognize a lot of it because of years of ballet, but never know the names of the pieces or the composers.  I have a tragic love of 1980s glam rock, and a deep affinity for Irish music.

5. What was your favorite toy when you were a child?
As a tot, I had a very odd stuffed duck- green gingham and very well loved.  I left him on a bus once in Ireland which was a crisis that led my mom back out at the end of a long day to go to the bus station downtown to see if anyone had turned him in (no easy access to phones in 1970s Dublin).  She was crossing the street when she saw the duck in the front window of a bus just passing her, leading to my mom chasing down the bus to retrieve my precious duck (a passenger had turned it in to the driver, who finished his route and was on his way downtown to turn in both the bus and the duck).  I still have the duck.  When I got older, my big love was Lego.  I still have that as well!

6. What is the last movie you saw (either in the theater or at home)? Would you see it again?
We just watched Beauty and the Beast in 3D; Brad had never seen it before while I found myself able to sing along to every song.  I've seen it before and I'll definitely see it again.

7. If you could hire someone regularly to do one chore around your house, what would it be?
I already have someone doing many chores around my house which is a delight.  I think the chore I hate the most is cleaning the bathroom, though I am also terrible at laundry which to me is so much work and so futile because clothes just keep getting dirty.  I hate doing laundry, especially the folding and putting away part.

8. When you think of your favorite holiday or celebration, what sound(s) come to mind?
My favorite holiday is Christmas and I think of the carols from church.

9. Which is your favorite season, and why?
Tough one.  Spring and fall trigger my allergies, while summer in DC is hot and muggy, and winter is often cold and wet.  Years living in the Middle East and on the equator have taught me that what I really love is HAVING seasons; we had about three minutes of rain a couple of days ago which could be all we'll get this winter in Saudi.  I miss rain.

10. Which book do you wish YOU had written?
So very many- Pride and Prejudice.  Jane Eyre.  Anna Karenina.  To Kill a Mockingbird.  Harry Potter.  A Busman's Honeymoon.  Anne of Green Gables.

11. Tidy desk or messy one?
Messy.  Really messy.  I think the only times I have a clean desk are the first day I move into an office and the last day I move out of one.