Me! Me! Me! (Meme)

Gord posted a meme where he answered five questions from someone else, and then invited others to ask him for five questions to answer. I asked (“I too am an egomaniac”) and got my five questions.  You may ask me for five questions–directions are at the bottom of this post:

1. I often imagine about what kind of a person I’d have been like if I’d grown up in Malawi, or the Maritimes, or in Northern Canada, all places I’d lived in as a young child. What kind of person do you think you’d be if you’d somehow ended up growing up in Korea?

Great question, Gord–I’m encountering “deep thought” waters with this opening question. If I’d somehow ended up growing in Korea, I think I’d end up a high achieving person without an outlet for rebellion. And without that rebellion, I think I would not be writing, and thus very unfulfilled. Basically, I think I’d be unhappy.

I think I’d still be the same person, just with a very different life outcome and life behaviors.

Hrm. Great short story idea.

Now I’m thinking some more about this question. Maybe I’d BE happy, since I would be surrounded by other individuals in a comformist society, and there would be implicit understanding in a homogeneous society. Certainly, I wouldn’t feel racism in the same way as I did growing up in the United States.

And certainly, I’d be surrounded by tons of family and have a great support system.

2. How would you describe, in a blurb, the best and worst stories you’ve ever written?

The best short stories always come in a burst of magic from inside of me, as if they’re already composed and gestated. The worst stories I’ve written were, in hindsight, for other people, and not for myself. The more self conscious I am, the worse the outcome.

Um. Does that count as a blurb? It better.

3. Since your stroke, you’ve reflected a lot on yourself and what you’re learning about yourself from the experience. But what, if anything, do you think people close to you have learned from it?

This question has brought a new perspective to my recovery. I think the people close to me have learned how flukey life is. I have certainly bonded with those close to me during recovery.

4. What’s the worst thing about the contemporary mainstream literary scene?

I’m not much in the scene, and that probably speaks for how I must feel, subconsciously, about it. I’m not sure what is “worst,” but I do think that the literary scene is highly conceited and self-absorbed. I can’t help but think “the scene” as it is these days, must take away from the art of writing.

That said, the literary scene is a necessary part of the “business” of literature and selling books. So what can we do about it?

This, from someone who doesn’t really participate, so take my words with a grain of salt.

5. If you eventually turned your back on writing, for one or another reason, but wanted to keep on being creative and artistic, to which other outlet for creativity would you end up turning?

I think I would keep up my photography–though the thought of never writing again fills me with horror. How would I survive, psychically?

Now, you:

1. Leave me a comment saying, “I too am an egomaniac.”
2. I respond by asking you five question. You will answer them, because you like talking about yourself.
3. You will update your blog
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.