1) Dishwasher or hand wash? Nowadays I rarely make a big enough mess to bother with the dishwasher, but standard procedure -- as it seems with most people -- was always to rinse the dishes in the sink and then load them in the dishwasher. Some of you may have heard me make this joke before, but when my wife and I first set up housekeeping and she asked for an automatic dishwasher, I asked her why she needed another one when she already had one at the end of each arm.
Here's a tip, fellas: Don't.
2) What is the best gift you've ever received (besides love, family, kids, etc. Those are too easy.)? That would be Georges the bear. I got him for my 37th birthday, which happened to coincide with the arrival of Hurricane Georges on the Florida Panhandle, where I then lived. We'll skip over why a stuffed bear was an appropriate gift for a 37-year-old man (boy?), but it's important to note that the story I told about it was only in passing, and the girl remembered. To me, this is key to the importance of the gift.
She had one of those little Singer sewing machines in the guest room that she mostly used to make these plain, simple button-up dresses that I always made a fuss over. It was a dying art, it seemed to me, and I wanted to make sure she understood how much I valued that aspect of her charm.
Anyway ... all unbeknownst to me, she went out and got a pattern and fabric and ticking and whatever-all else you need to make a bear, and contrived to work on him in secret, so that when I opened the box it was one of the few pleasant surprises I can ever remember getting. He was a funny-looking thing. She'd never made a bear before (and never would again), and she didn't know how to fashion the legs so he could sit down like those mass-produced store-bought bears. That's okay. He's the only one of his kind. Like me. And like you. This is the kind of thing people mean when they say "It's the thought that counts."
The girl is long gone, to all our sorrow. Those capering gods of mischief do delight in taking the good ones, don't they? But I still have that bear and he is still a good listener (even if he doesn't say much). And he still always hugs back. That's important.
That's the best gift I ever got out of a box.
3) Do you sing in the shower? Oh my, yes. In truth, I sing all over the house. But it really only sounds remotely like actual singing when I'm in the shower.
4) Why do you love that single song more than all the others? Our lives have soundtracks, or so it seems to me. Music is evocative. It sets memory in time and place. Somebody mentioned "loving" different songs at different times and in different situations. I can get down with that. Music reminds us of what was happening or where we were or why we were happy, or sad, or whatever we were.
Short answer: I love that song because I loved someone, and that song was playing.
5) Where (location, not anatomy) did you get your first romantic kiss? Here's an American cliche for you: On the front porch of her daddy's house. It was pure happenstance, and I even thought for a minute that the whole thing was my idea, but you ladies will know better. This girl --we'll call her Vicky -- was not my girlfriend or anything. We were classmates who knew each other mostly because I was the only kid who was anywhere near her rank in English class. She got straight A's, but I only excelled at things I enjoyed, and words were one of those things. I ran into her at this street party (a place I never would have expected to find one of the "good" girls) that happened to be near her neighborhood and we talked of things I couldn't possibly remember, while I walked her home. When we got to her house I thought it would probably be okay if I kissed her a little bit, and when I began to do exactly that she decided to kiss me instead ... a lot. I won't claim to remember much about it, and wouldn't tell you if I did, but it went on for some length of time . . . and then the porch light began to flicker off and on.
The girls are generally ahead of the boys in most things. This is not always a good thing. But that night it was.
6) How many black shirts do you own? Not sure. At least two T-shirts and two Polos, and one button-down.
7) Is there a book (aside from Mr. King's stories) that you're especially anticipating reading? The book I am most looking forward to reading has not yet been written.
8) Who influenced your behavior most as a child? The obvious answer is my mother, but I gravitated away from my parents as I got into what I call my "formative" years. My folks were not happily married and most of their influence upon me was of the "Don't follow their example" variety. There was a guy in the neighborhood for whom I did yard work and such. He was ex-military and very ordered and rational (things which were alien in my home). I learned a lot from him. Honesty. Work ethic. Responsibility. He even taught me how to drive. Nowadays I'm learning -- to my sorrow -- not to take cues from anyone. Growing up is cool and everything, but sometimes I miss those little illusions it used to be okay to keep.
9) What food do you avoid at all costs? Oysters. Who's idea was that?
10) When are you most relaxed? Just lately I can only seem to relax when I'm playing my guitar. That's kind of funny. When I was younger, the music was usually energetic and angry. Nowadays it isn't.
