I have been interviewed.
7:38 p.m.
1. Your house is on fire. All the people and pets are already out and safe. You can take only one thing with you. What will it be and why?
I am having a really hard time answering this question. It isn�t that there aren�t material things that mean a lot to me and that I would regret losing, but after the experience of cleaning out my mother�s house, I realize that these things really aren�t important in the long run. What is meaningful to me now will not be to my children, and after I�m gone, they will be so much garbage. However, for the sake of the interview, I will say that my address book is the one thing I would not want to lose in a fire. In it are the names, addresses and phone numbers of friends and family compiled over years, and it would be virtually irreplaceable.
2. A benefactor has agreed to fund you for a year. There are no strings attached - you can do whatever you�d like for 12 months, practical or frivolous, and have it all paid for by this person. What will you do?
I would rent a studio and buy the materials I need and I would go there every day and paint and sculpt to my heart�s content.
3. Tell me about your favourite place (you can interpret this as narrowly or broadly as you like - a cozy chair, an interesting continent). Why is it your favourite? When did you first go there? When did you last go there? What is your favourite memory there? Is there someone you would especially like to take there?
My favourite place, alas, no longer exists and, sadly, I did not take enough advantage of it when it did. Up until a few years ago, the street I live on ended abruptly at the edge of a forest. There was a track that continued through and emerged onto another street where we had to go pick up our mail when we first moved here. On the way, there was a rocky promontory that made a great tobogganing hill for the kids in the winter. We spent many hours sliding there. I remember crashing into the trees when the sled went off course. It was also in these woods that I found the wee spruce which now grows atop my father�s ashes in the backyard of the house where I grew up. My favourite spot was just off the side of the sliding hill,. You walked maybe 10 metres or less into the woods and suddenly you came upon a clearing. It was quiet and otherworldly. I loved it. But it�s gone now as that whole area has been opened up and turned into a street lined with new houses. I would have taken all of you there, but now I can�t.
4. Of all the things that you have made or done in your life so far, what are you most proud of? Why does the thing you picked mean the most to you?
Of all the things I have done with my life, having and raising children has been my greatest accomplishment. I never really liked kids much, so having my own was an incredible leap of faith. I was determined that I would produce offspring that were better than the generation they came from and, for the most part, I think I have succeeded.
5. Tell me about the first time you ever sang a solo in public (or, if you prefer, the first time of which you have a clear memory, if it�s not the very first). What did you sing? How did you choose what you sang? What did you wear? How did you feel about your performance? Did it affect your feelings about what you do?
To be completely honest, I can�t remember the first solo I sang in public. It could have been in elementary school, as I sang in a choir there and it�s not inconceivable that Mrs. Bell singled me out for a solo at some point. But if so, I�ve lost it. I do remember singing a duet in high school with the girl who later was my maid of honour. For the life of me, I can�t remember what it was. I do remember, though, what I wore. I made a white satin blouse from a dress pattern I had with a princess neckline and seaming. It was gleaming white and I wore it atop a long black skirt. My girlfriend also wore a white blouse and black skirt and she was extremely thin. Standing next to her, with my full breasts and hips (but still not in the least overweight), my mother remarked that I looked fat. She used to do that a lot. But as for the singing? I remember loving performing and the applause afterwards. I guess it was a positive experience, because I obviously continued to do it.
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