Tag: Manic Monday

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Cheers to all of us thieves! This is from Manic Monday, stolen from a blog that, alas, is no more.

1) What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleep?

I believe it was my freshman year at college at New Paltz. Previously, I had always been good at math: arithmetic, algebra (97 on the final), geometry (86, only because I refused to memorize theorems), and trigonometry (98).  But I never “got” calculus. I got a 73 on the 1st test, 56 on the second, and 37 on the third, and needed a decent score on the final. So I spent two days cramming and managed to get a 73 in the final, and I got a C for the course. I never took another math course. Moreover, I looked at the calculus book about two weeks later but understood nothing. (BTW, all those scores are the actual ones, which I inexplicably remember; I don’t know my scores in any other high school or college course.)

2) What was the highlight of your last week?

I visited my cardiologist – I have this congenital condition – and the news was good. We had a lovely banter back and forth. He was impressed that I knew the meaning of the word interrobang, which he used in a sentence. It’s probably because I wrote about it in this blog last year.

It’s all about me

3) You have to give a 10-minute speech to a group of high school students. What’s your topic? 

My circuitous path to my career, starting at undergrad and then to grad school, dropping out, working in a comic book store, then going back to a different grad school and becoming a librarian.

4) What is the single best decision you’ve ever made in your life?

Going to library school. It fits the way my brain works. I was conversing with somebody at church recently, and they noted that I have a wealth of sometimes arcane information, such as the history of the Lincoln penny (1909). You can pull that off a bit better when you’re a librarian.

5) If you could ask a coworker, friend, or family member a question and be guaranteed an honest answer, who would you choose and what would you ask?

When I was in high school, sometimes I disappeared. I’d be at a party and feel overwhelmed and go home. Sometimes, I’d hide someplace. There was somebody I knew at the time and still know, and I wanted to see if they remembered this and, if so, if anyone missed me.

6) Do you cook for yourself when you’re home alone?

Goodness, no. When I’m by myself, I eat canned tuna, rotisserie chicken, leftover takeout, or cold cereal. I might fry a couple of eggs.

7) Do you most often access the internet from your computer, your phone, or your smart watch?

My computer. I was a late adapter using my phone, and I don’t even know where my smart watch is, although it’s probably in this office.

Text me if you must

8) Do you have more email addresses or phone numbers?

Far more e-mail addresses. It wasn’t until my most recent phone, which I think I’ve had for a couple of years, that I realized I could put the emails into the phone. I’m not a big texter; I text because it fits the needs of others. If I’m home and somebody texts me, there’s a less than 50% chance that I’ll know I’ve gotten the message, whereas I always hear the landline phone ring.

9) What’s the biggest source of anger in your life right now?

FOTUS, based on a variety of issues, but near the top is the fact that folks in my county have been apprehended without due process.  The Rev. Dan Clark (he/him), Director of Organizing, Faith in Public Life, posted on Cesar Chavez Day, March 31, about Rubén Castilla Herrera, an activist inspired by Chavez. “All people impacted by injustice are human beings with innate dignity and the breath of the divine within them. But they are not a nameless mass, an anonymous crowd. Rubén taught me that they are personas… personas con nombres.” People… people with names.

10) Mondays make me feel _________________.

As though I’m going to get a lot done this week. Then Friday proves me a liar.

Prince

Bangles

Green Day