17 posts tagged “qotd”

How have people mispronounced your name?  How is it supposed to sound? 
Submitted by Lorie.   

Ohmygod. As you may have noticed, my name is Leigh. It is the female version of Lee, and therefore is pronounced the same. I never thought it was a terribly difficult or challenging name, but experience has proved otherwise. The most common mispronunciation is Leah (either Lee-ah, or Lay-ah). However, my two favorite mispronunciation's are Lay-ig-(ha) (for those who feel the need to sound out each letter) and Liege, the latter of which took on the spelling of Leej and became a nickname. Honestly, I'm baffled.

What is your favorite kind of bagel and what do you put on it? 
Submitted by Nacwolin.

I'm a sucker for an everything bagel with egg, cheese, salt, pepper, & ketchup. Best consumed either at the end of a long night of drinking, or the morning after. Cures a hangover like no other, especially when paired with a Vitamin Water. Sometimes, I miss those days.

What are five books that changed your life? 
Inspired by Ms. Genevieve.

Most recently, The Alchemist. It's a book about passion, determination, personal destiny, and always striving for that which you love. Santiago, a shephard who dreams of treasure in a distant land, learns that he is able to discover the soul of the world when he works towards attaining his personal destiny. It's a book about how one can become synchronized with the world and other people through the pursuit of a dream. Ultimately it echoes Marianne Williamson's quote*, often cited from Nelson Mandela's speech, which argues that as we achieve, we unconsciously give other people permission to achieve great things and that as we are liberated from our own fears, our presence liberates others. I find something new every time I read it, and since it's a short read I'm thinking about picking it up once a month or every other month. It's incredibly refreshing and encouraging.

 

 I discovered this book the summer before my junior year of college, around the same time that I heard of Bogart's unique theatre technique, Viewpoints. I actually intended to purchase a book about Viewpoints, but was unable to find one and picked up this instead. What a lucky mistake! A Director Prepares gave me new ideas on what it means to create art & theater, as well as a vocabulary to utilize to express myself. I felt like I had found a mentor, someone who knew and understood the position I was in as I stood on the precipice, months away from directing my first University production. Incidentally, both Ms. Bogart and I directed The Bald Soprano very early in our careers.

 

 I've directed The Bald Soprano twice, during my junior year in high school and my junior year of college. I've been enamored with Soprano since I first discovered it at the age of 15. The play was my first introduction to absurdist theater and the social and political implications of theater & art. I directed it the first time for a student one act play competition, and won Best Director. I felt like I was falling in love, and by the end of the project was absolutely certain that I wanted to be a theater director for the rest of my life. When I reapproached the play in college, I was enamored with the idea of post-war societies and the utter inadequacy of language to describe the cultural shifts that occur. I was able to utilize some magnificent designers to create a really wonderful piece of which I am still insanely proud. I still have the VHS tape of the production, and every now and then watch it to remind myself that I am capable, competent, & artistic, and that I do indeed have vision.

I don't remember which Wayne Weible book I read first, Medjugorje: The Message or Medjugorje: The Mission, but I read both within months of each other. A very Christian friend of my Mother's realized that I was in a bit of a spiritual conundrum and passed these books on to me. Very early in life, my brother and I decided that we were atheists, and I have to admit that my main motivating factor was my brother's disbelief. When he pointedly asked if I really believed that a magical father sat in the clouds and looked down on us, I had to admit that it sounded outlandish. So we stopped attending Church and I felt generally good about our decision until middle school when I felt like I was missing something, mainly community, and recognized that people who attended Church or were religious didn't seem to have the same void. I find the books fascinating, but don't know if I truly believe. I think the greatest gift the books gave me was a shift from atheism to agnosticism. I am completely unsure of who or what exists, but believe there must be some sort of universal and spiritual connection between people, and the world. I don't believe in organized religion, but do believe (in something I've yet to define).

 

It's going to take me a little while to come up with a fifth book.

 

*"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?  You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

What do you do to ensure you get a good night's sleep?
Submitted by Jacob's Ladder.

Take an ambien. Well, when I had health insurance and I needed to make sure that I'd get a good night's sleep, then I'd take an ambien. That's one of the perks of being an insomniac. These days I say a little prayer and hope for the best. However, a relaxing bath, cup of herbal tea, or any other ritual calming practice can be quite helpful if my stress and anxiety levels aren't too high.

How do you beat writer's block? 
Submitted by marvel is my pen name.

One keystroke at a time. I think the act or writing, just writing anything at all in a stream-of-consciousness manner is cathartic enough to enable writing a specific project, paper, etc. When I was in school and having trouble formulating ideas or finishing a paper, I'd open up a new document and just let all of my words and thoughts spill out of me and ramble and tumble and turn and just keep writing until I felt emptied. Somehow the effort of acknowledging the position I was in, and forcing myself to write, opened up a window in to whatever needed to be finished. I'm a big believer or writing for the sake of writing, of stream-of-consciousness documents with filenames that are simply the date they were written. I like to just let everything pour out of me, then save it or close the journal, and toss it aside. Months later I'll allow myself to look at old writings to discover where I was. It's always an interesting review.

How many bones have you broken? Yours or someone else's?

Way to encourage all of the bullies. I'm proud to say that I've never broken someone else's bones. The only bone I've broken is my thumb, which I managed to jam up against a wall after falling down the stairs. I fall down stairs often, but this is the only major incident. Is it strange that I used to be jealous of kids who broke an arm or a leg? I always thought that they must have done something heroic even when their stories were quite contrary, and besides having a cast that everyone could autograph and draw on was damn cool.

Ever get away with saying somebody else did it?

Not that I recall. However, I remember being sent to my room when I was 9 or 10 because my name had mysteriously appeared written on my wall in white shoe polish. No matter how much I cried, protested, or tried to explain to my parents that I didn't do it, they did not believe me. They refused to acknowledge that it wasn't me. I was so hurt and upset and obviously bewildered. My parents kept asking, "who else would write your name on your bedroom wall?" I had no answer. So I sniffled and cried as I scrubbed at the wall. I tried and tried to figure out how the world could conspire to achieve that black magic. Honestly, I thought witches and magic were involved. I had no idea how it had happened. Fast forward seven years where my brother and I are sharing a rare moment of nostalgia when he begins to bring up the story of how he had written my name on the wall in shoe polish and then immediately tattletaled on me. I was devastated and vindicated. Despite being 17 years old and supposedly way beyond these petty childhood grievances I immediately ran to my Mom to tell her that Brent had confessed! All of those years ago it was Brent who had written my name on the wall. I pointedly asked, "Don't you feel bad for not believing me now?" She could have cared less, and that hurt just as much as when I was a 9 year old scrubbing the wall and blubbering like a fool.

I think it says something about being a little sister and big brother worship that I never once suspected him.

What's something you bought, knowing it was a total waste of money?

Oh, I do this all of the time. I just spent $100 on Cacique underwear. Granted, underwear are important but given my budget, I probably shouldn't have. I buy handbags like my life depends on it, and um, there are only so many I use at any given time. I'm trying to become more fiscally responsible, and get out of debt, but it's hard.

What is your favorite ring tone?
Submitted by rach. 

It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp. Immediately after the 3-6 Mafia won their Oscar, I decided I needed that song in my life more. I giggle everytime my phone rings and that makes me happy.

Who's the hardest person to shop for on your holiday list?

My brother. Hands-down. He's into looking good, somewhat metro, but at the same time fiercely, ruggedly macho and afraid of being perceived of as metro. He owns at least 3 pairs of the same white diesel sneakers. I mean, do I buy him a fourth pair? I don't want to... A gift card seems too impersonal. His tastes are very selective and I never seem to get the right gift and it's a hassle for him to return it. This year he needs furniture, but my meager temp'ing salary can't buy him a living room set.