Defrosting in Proust

Several years ago, VF ran this Proust Questionnaire, not at all credited to Marcel Proust but believed to be character-revealing. Hmm...I'm trying my hand on it. See how it works.

What is your current state of mind?
Brimming with hope. A little nostalgic and sentimental

What is your greatest fear?
When I was young and full of shit, the prospect of becoming irrelevant. But that was pure humbug. Later, the thought of outliving my loved ones and sure enough, God’s warped sense of humor made sure I dealt with it gallantly. I am fully orphaned and dealing with cancer. Now, it’s losing my memory, my humanity, my resolve to sanctify life and love.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Romantic optimism about people and life in general, oftentimes neglectful that it has its limits.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Lack of compassion; absence of integrity; not having a mind of their own; too much self-importance.

Which living person do you most admire?
Is Jesus dead? This is tough. Abbas Kiarostami whose films are amalgams of poetry and philosophy .

Which living person do you most despise?
My wrath is reserved for oppressors and exploiters, people wrapped in hate and greed and only love themselves.

On what occasion do you lie?
Every occasion. I’m a lousy liar, I need years of practice before I can lie with a straight face and credible conviction.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Life itself and its attendant trappings. Life has not been exactly easy but I strive to celebrate it. I am grateful, despite and inspite of its imperfections and intricacies.

When and where were you happiest?
Inhaling the rarefied air, in the company of family and friends whom I consider family.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Music - crafting it, playing it or understanding the human condition in the context by which it has to be interpreted.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I wish I had more ambition and focus.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would it be?
I’ve blogged about this quite recently. I wish to be a polygot, a physicist and a superb dancer, I wrote. In addition, I wish to swim and drink like a fish in the next life. Have a fat bank account, perhaps? And Good Lord, not to have cancer. If I were to choose one disease, it would be nymphomania.

What is your favorite occupation?
Not to have one? Be in development work, work at the grassroots. Maybe teach again. I don’t know.

Who are your favorite writers?
I am a fan of my friends’ writings. Some Continental authors, a few Anglo-Saxon.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?
Would Logan of “Veronica Mars” or Tony Soprano qualify? Phoebe in “Catcher in the Rye”; Atticus Finch

Who are your heroes in real life?
People who are governed by compassion, moral courage, and integrity.

What are your favorite names?
I like the name Rodrigo.

What is your greatest regret?
That I have been more self-absorbed at times.

How would you like to die?
By the ocean with the whisper of the waves beckoning me home or by the forest and birds are singing.

What is your motto?
Love is the strongest drug? It’s got to be from Goethe – “What is the path? There is no path. On into the unknown.”

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Preserving my humor and sanity or at least, a semblance of it. Let me bring to the dinner-table Ralph W. Emerson “to laugh often and much/to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children/to earn the appreciation of honest critics/and endure the betrayal of false friends/to appreciate beauty/to find the best in others/to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition/to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived/this is to have succeeded.