What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Not being ‘up to’ an important task. Knowing I have failed
at something that could have helped others.
Where would you like to live?
Chicago.
What is your idea of earthly happiness?
debt free, good people to talk to and go on walks with, able to write, read, and think.
To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
I’m always sympathetic to people who try to take on more
than they can handle. I understand the impulse, and think it’s noble (even if
it’s shortsighted). It’s far superior to waiting around for a hero to deliver
you.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Satan
Who are your favorite characters in history?
Josephine Baker, Vladmir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, Christopher Hitchens
Who is your favorite heroine of fiction?
Eve
Your favorite painter?
Vincent Van Gogh
Your favorite musician?
Leonard Cohen
The quality you most admire in a man?
A deep respect for me, and an appreciation for my sense of
humor and many charms.
The quality you most admire in a woman?
See above.
Your favorite virtue?
Empathy.
Your least favorite virtue, or the one you think is most overrated?
Respect for authority
Your proudest achievement?
Whatever role I have played in raising my children (who are some
of the most interesting and basically good children I have ever met).
Your favorite occupation?
Lounging.
Who would you have liked to be?
Myself. Because if I was someone else, I would have liked to
be someone else still. Better to stop this violent cycle before it starts.
Your most marked characteristic?
Selective enthusiasm.
What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty
What is your principle defect?
Periodic existential despair.
What to your mind would be the greatest misfortune?
Causing some irreparable harm to my wife or children.
What would you like to be?
Effective at everything I do. Barring that, I would settle
for being happy.
What is your favorite color?
I always say black, but I really think it’s yellow. Bright
colors cheer me up.
What is your favorite flower?
Lilac.
What is your favorite bird?
Owl.
What word or expression do you most overuse?
‘experience’.
Who are your favorite poets?
Charles Simic, Guilliame
Appollinaire.
What are your favorite names?
Langston, Jack, Spencer, Abby.
What is it you most dislike?
People who ‘tell it like it is’. I like honesty, but people
who claim this as a trait are usually stupid, arrogant, vulgar, and cruel. And
often wrong.
Which historical figures do you most despise?
Woodrow Wilson, Joseph Stalin
Which contemporary figures do you most despise?
Sarah Palin, Mahmoud Ahmadinijad
Which events in military history do you most admire?
Harpers fairy, October Revolution.
Which natural gift would you most like to possess?
The patience to learn a musical instrument.
How would you like to die?
At an old age, in a comfortable bed, with a clear
conscience, surrounded by my wife and children, and my brother and sister.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
I’m about 50 pounds heavier than I care to be, and way low
on muscle mass.
What is your motto?
‘Life is a great balancing act’-Dr. Seuss.
A+
ReplyDeleteDamn Spence! You're gonna put Che Guevera and Woodrow Wilson in with Josef Stalin? You must really hate those guys! That's reserved, Hall of Fame ignominy there.
ReplyDeleteWoodrow Wilson: A racist & a stuffed shirt. His emphasis on nationalism, and the work he did for nationalist propaganda are horrible. I have to hold him to a higher standard because he was an internationalist and progressive liberal, like myself.
ReplyDeleteStalin: The embodiment of tyranny.
Che: In life he was a thug and a terrorist, but there are countless of those. I hate what he represents more than I hate him. He has become a leftist fetish item and saint, and saints have to be held accountable, especially the secular ones.
Well, then I say "F"-em too!
ReplyDeleteno mao?
ReplyDeleteIt would have been boring if I had listed all dictators. I did consider Ryan Seacrest for a minute though...
ReplyDeleteMao Ze-Dong (China, 1958-61 and 1966-69, Tibet 1949-50) 49-78,000,000
ReplyDeleteJozef Stalin (USSR, 1932-39) 23,000,000 (the purges plus Ukraine's famine
put's mao no.1 with a bullet (sorry)
I'd have to place Hitler over both Stalin and Mao as all-time most degenerate despotic leaders. As bad as Stalin and Mao were, you could argue that they came from backward--poverty infected countries. True, they tried to bring them into the 20th century with a sledgehammer and machine gun; but Germany had been an advanced country. Probably the most advanced country (along w/ Britain) of Europe prior to WWI. To descend into what they did--well, it was de-evolution. At least the results of Stalin and Mao brought their countries into the industrial world and international community.
ReplyDeleteGood point, Lodo. Hitler was a super douche.
ReplyDelete