Sunday, April 29, 2007

With more than a bit of apprehension I decided to let Kelly ask me five questions. Luckily, he's on a kick of being kinder and gentler so the questions were ones that I could handle. I must say his questions, especially number 5, were much much worse!

1.What is your worst vice and would you really like to stop?

Just one? Ok, I'm trying to decide on which vice to pick. The second part of the question is easy. All my vices bring far too much fun into my life so no, I do not want to stop! Worst vice? Geez, I have way too many to pick just one. Can too many vices be considered a vice? I have no idea in part because most of my vices seem periodic. Oh dear, did I just fail the five question survey on the first question? Not a good start.

2. What is the most fun thing you have ever done in your adult life?

This one is a hard one. First thing that came to mind was the two months I studied art in France but then I thought about the time I taught art in Pennsylvania. Teaching art was great fun but some of the other stuff we were expected to do was not. But man did my roommate and I have fun. We would laugh and gossip into the wee hours of the morning. We capped off the summer with spending a few days in Philadelphia and then in New York City during the Republican Convention. I will definitely have to post about that sometime. New York was insane with 120,000 police on duty 24 hours a day and 30,000 police circling a "free zone" which included our hotel. Protests galore. It was just one exhilarating crazy summer.


3. What is something you regret having done or not having done?

In grade six I wrote a paper where I stated that I was going to go to New York and study piano at Julliard. I did and although in the end it turned out that I have a little problem with performing, ok an enormous massive problem with performing, I have absolutely no regrets. Some people in my life look at the end result and see failure. I do not.

I have never had regrets in anything that I have actually pursued. I do have regrets in what I have allowed to slip away.

I was accepted into the civil engineering program at University of Alberta and at the University of BC but I foolishly decided I did not want to leave Victoria. That is how I ended up with a stupid math degree instead. (Victoria does not offer civil engineering.) I count that as my single worst decision of my life. I don't know when I became so settled in my life that I was unwilling to leave it. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Anyone reading this that has a dream, go for it. Learn from me. No matter what I will always regret staying put. I get sad just thinking about it.

I know people say you are never supposed to have regrets but quite frankly I don't trust those that don't have regrets. How is that possible?

4. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

Refer to number three! Number three aside I really wish I could sustain a focus and a passion for a single thing instead of being all over the map. The end result has been I'm pretty good at a few things but brilliant at nothing.

5.Now for the sex question............nahhh just kidding....What would be the ultimate adventure for you?

Ok, Kelly the Fireman had me scared there for a moment. I would sell everything I own. Everything! Well, maybe I would store my piano with a friend but everything else I want gone. Then I see myself taking off and just travelling the world and working odd jobs as need be in far off countries and taking in all the art the world has to offer. First stop Italy. The world has so much to offer and I want to take it all in.


Ok, so here are the rules of the game if anyone is interested.

If anybody would like to be interviewed.....
Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
I will respond by e-mailing you five questions. I get to pick them, and you have to answer them all.
You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Trust me it wasn't so bad. I survived and you can too.

Hmm, I just hit spellchecker and I see I say ok a lot and apparently I do not even know how to spell it!

26 comments:

Barbara Bruederlin said...

I think you are right in not trusting someone who claims to have no regrets. Everybody has regrets and if they don't,they haven't lived.

(I won't ask for an interview, as I have been through the interview round already, but it is quite fun, isn't it?)

Allison said...

Ooh, I want to hear more about your adventure teaching art, sounds very interesting.

I agree, you can't trust someone who claims to have no regrets.

Toccata said...

Your interview was the first one I read. The interviews have been very interesting and rather insightful. I read Danny tagalog's answers to your questions last night and enjoyed reading about how he ended up in Japan and about his father.

Toccata said...

Allison, hi. I think you and I were commenting at the same time. Teaching art was pretty fun and wild at times. I had never taught little kids before. Believe me, I have a whole new respect for kindergarten and grade school teachers!

Deb said...

You sound like you've had a very full life already...so very interesting!

Toccata said...

Deb, so far so good. I'm definitely hoping for many more adventures in my second set of 45 years!

Anonymous said...

good job on the answers

Toccata said...

Kelly, it turned out to be fairly painless. Number 3 was a bit hard, more just having it out there.

Small Town Teacher said...

I love your answer for number 1 ... very clever! And I love it if you'd interview me! I'm on a blogging spree this week and it would be great to have something where I'm not bitching about something.

Women on the Verge said...

tocatta...can I tag along when you teavel the world... that would have to be my biggest regret... I did go to Hawaii for 3 1/2 weeks when I was 20, but I also turned down a trip to Europe a year later cause my fiance (at the time) didn't want me to go *sigh*.

E

Toccata said...

Small town teacher, I would love to interview you. I have two questions off the top I know I want to ask and I will think about the other three this morning. I will try and have the questions to you before I start work.

Ethel, you most certainly can tag along. I think when we're young we just assume opportunities for travel will keep coming our way but then life gets in the way and suddenly we find we didn't quite get there.

Wayward Son said...

This is interesting.

Yes we all have regrets. But the things that lead us to where we want to be are those regrets. Who would we be if we didn't have regrets? Would we be the person we are today? Better? Worse? Maybe the question best answered is what do we regret right now?

Of course I have a million regrets and have to take this approach. Any other would sink me completely. Needless to say I'm not fun to play these kinds of games with. I'm great fun at a dinner party,though!

WS

Toccata said...

Wayward son, I will be sure not to ask you five questions unless of course we're at a dinner party.

Anonymous said...

Ahh, the ol' "unable to sustain a focus and passion for one thing syndrome"....I regret to say I know that frustration.

Evelyne said...

I love how you answered those questions. Mostly when you talked about regrets, but sometimes, I think that we shouldn't be allowed to have regrets, I mean, you are who you are now because of everything you did, even if you wished to do that thing, you did something else and if today you are happy, then there's no place for regrets. But what do I know about regrets?

But regrets are something that truly scare me, it might explain why it takes me so long before I decide something, because I have regrets and I understand how they can "haunt" you.

Toccata said...

Leazwell, finally someone that knows what I'm talking about! I content myself with saying but look what I would have missed out on. I want to try everything.

Evelyne, its true what you say. I think just remember that sometimes life doesn't end up where we thought it would but sometimes it does end up better.

Anonymous said...

...and i am NOT a flasher (on purpose anyhow)

668 aka neighbour of the beast said...

i try not to get to wrapped up in regrets because if i did, i'd probably be a basketcase. what i try and focus on is what i would have lost if i hadn't chosen the other path. ie, yes i could have chosen a path that made me more money, but then i wouldn't have had the friends or adventures that i did so wouldn't i be worse off?

Toccata said...

Kelly, I think I too need to try and be a kinder gentler Toccata. No more insults to be thrown your way. At least not tonight!

668, overall I don't either but sometimes I still have a hankering to be a civil engineer working on water systems.

Deb said...

aw kel, now you ruined it.

Anonymous said...

hmmm....actually those "all in fun" insults are good.....now how will I get back at you?......geeezz...haa haa...

Anonymous said...

you gave in way to easy...
after I called you old, and didn't I say something about dorky a while ago?........

Toccata said...

Kelly, all I can say is that olive branch has just been snapped in two! Look out.

Deb, you all ready for the upcoming game?

668 aka neighbour of the beast said...

i know, sometimes i have a hankering for some of the money i lost out on by my career choices. :)

Toccata said...

668, I hear you there but then I just have to remind myself of my year in hell when I was making gobs of money and hated every living minute of my life on the job! All I did was spend it getting the hell out of dodge every single weekend!

Phil said...

Cool list, but there should have been a sex question in there :]