What You Get When You Google "Ice Breaker Questions"

1. If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get? Pasta. Wait, I do have an endless supply of pasta.
   
2. If you were an animal, what would you be and why? I've always thought (generically) a bird, but maybe I'd be a dog so I could keep my dog Patsy company during the day now that her pal Charlie has passed away. But then who would walk us?
   
3. What is one goal you’d like to accomplish during your lifetime? Loving well.
   
4. When you were little, who was your favorite super hero and why? Tintin. Clever and adventurous, with an interesting life.
   
5. Who is your hero? (a parent, a celebrity, an influential person in one’s life) I posted this without realizing I hadn't answered this one. Very hard question, as I don't generally think in those terms. I think parents should be honored with gratitude for raising their children to be loving and responsible people (and I do), not be burdened with a legacy of heroism. I can think of celebrities I admire, but I can't think of one I'd call a hero. I've had people in my life I consider professional and creative mentors, but that's different, too. I'll say D. is a hero -- for loving well (see number 3); for accepting me as I am; for being a good, lifesaving brother to his sister; for achieving the life he dreamed of as a boy; for wanting to be part of my family; and for being fun pretty much every day.
   
6. What’s your favorite thing to do in the summer? Going to Provincetown with D. (we're going in two days for New Year's, so it may turn out to be a favorite thing in winter as well) and going to Wolf Trap.
   
7. If they made a movie of your life, what would it be about and which actor would you want to play you? It would be a quiet indie film, very internal -- one of those movies about which people say, "Nothing really happens in it, but I wasn't bored for a second." I don't know -- John Krasinski? If the movie were made anytime soon, it would have to be someone who could play me both young and older; he comes to mind as someone who could do that.
8. If you were an ice cream flavor, which one would you be and why? Orange creamsicle. You have to ask why?
   
9. What’s your favorite cartoon character, and why? Tintin, if a comic counts as a "cartoon." I dread what Steven Spielberg will do to him.
   
10. If you could visit any place in the world, where would you choose to go and why? To Munich, where I was born. I've been back once, in 1981, and would like to go again. Anytime I revisit my past, I'm moved and piqued in some way.
    
11. What’s the ideal dream job for you? One that would allow me to edit (so I could fix redundancies like "ideal dream job") and force me to write. Not too far from what I do now, with the difference that I'm not often forced to write. Now, fantasy job is different -- that would be photojournalist (I seem to remember saying this in a long-ago post). Yet another version of the question: What would I want to do if I had to do something in a different field (I see this as a more realistic question than the fantasy job). I would work in the theater in some capacity; that's always struck me as a profession in which one can be part of a tight community.
    
12. Are you a morning or night person? Neither, really, if you mean getting anything accomplished, but I love nothing better than evenings at home puttering. So I guess night.
    
13. What are your favorite hobbies? Baking, running, reading.
    
14. What are your pet peeves or interesting things about you that you dislike? What a strange question. You mean pet peeves about myself? That doesn't make sense. I have peeves, but they're not "pet." Pet peeves in general? Too long a list. Interesting things about me that I dislike? What in the world could that mean? If they're interesting, I'm all for them! I dislike it when I stumble over my words, which happens often, and I suppose someone else might find that interesting. Next question.
    
15. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? The whole idea that some people see some food as "weird" makes me impatient. Since I don't eat meat, though, I'll say meat. I actually do think that's a little weird.
    
16. Name one of your favorite things about someone in your family. One thing about my father that I love: He wrote a condolence note to Jacqueline Kennedy when JFK died. I'd give anything to know what he said -- I find it incredibly touching, and somewhat out of character, that he would do that. All we have is her (form) reply on cream-colored Crane's stationery.
    
17. Tell us about a unique or quirky habit of yours. I like to examine my fingernails and cuticles close up.
    
18. If you had to describe yourself using three words, it would be… Nice, shy, modest.
    
19. If someone made a movie of your life would it be a drama, a comedy, a romantic-comedy, action film, or science fiction? It would be "other." You know, the section with all those "weird" films with subtitles and talky scenes and gay stuff.
    
20. If I could be anybody besides myself, I would be… Myself with biceps.