1. Where are you? Tell us the story that got you there.

I am in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, in a Caribou Coffee shop, sitting by myself at a table for two. I imagine I will be in a somewhat different place by the time I post this.

I ended up in the general area because my husband got a job offer that was too good to pass up. I never had considered living in Minnesota, and I have no particular desire to be or stay here, but haven't run away screaming (yet).

I am at this coffee shop because my daughter is light board operator on a play at a nearby theater. I didn't feel like watching the show today, nor did I feel like wasting the gas for a drive home and back.

2. One book, one song, and one movie, and tell us why.

Hmm... for what? If I had to give away all but one? If I wanted to recommend one for somebody to read? Which ones had a significant impact on me? I don't understand the nature of the question, so I'll do some typing and see where I go with it.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury - "I can't talk to the walls because they're yelling at me. I can't talk to my wife; she listens to the walls. I just want someone to hear what I have to say."

With A Little Help From My Friends by The Beatles - What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know it's mine.

Parenthood, directed by Ron Howard "You need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.

So apparently my question was "What is one book, one song, and one movie that you feel like quoting something from?"

Why? Because that is what came to mind.

Sometimes I hated the books assigned to me to read in school. Sometimes I loved them. This wasn't my favorite of the assigned books, but I love it, and it definitely had impact. This quote I wrote and had on my wall for years. Actually, I still have the piece of paper with this quote written on it, in box somewhere.

I don't have a favorite song, or even a favorite group, but The Beatles were highly influential in my life. I listened to them over and over as a kid, sang along to their songs as my uncle played them on his guitar, and gravitated toward people who liked them when I was a teen. My daughter has posters of them on her wall, that I had on my wall when I was her age. I had an excerpt from some lyrics to Imagine on my wall when I was a teen, but that was Lennon, not The Beatles, and those were not the lyrics that came to mind.

Again, not my favorite. I don't even count comedies as one of my top genres. Even at 18, I was already completely cynical about the parenting abilities of most people. It was well delivered by Keanu Reeves, and it made me laugh and feel frustrated at the same time. I am not sure why this particular film quote came to mind right now, as I can practically have conversations in film quotes, I just found myself picturing the weird head shake he tops off his monologue with.

3. Why do you Moblog? And which of the posts on your Moblog are your favourite?

I moblog because of the community. I joined because a friend suggested that I should. I would post more, but I am frustrated by the quality of my cell phone camera. I wander off because I post less. I wander back because I like people here and want to see what they are doing. I post because I want to share too.

In a strange way, some of my favorite posts are ones from before the crash, because I made a half-assed attempt to draw my missing pictures. Beyond that, this one means a lot to me, but there are a lot of other key ones too.

4. Do you think the content of your photos and your photographic style has changed since contributing to Moblog?

It has changed since I started contributing to moblog, but it has steadily changed since I started taking photos as a child. I don't think moblog has specifically had a large impact. Moblog had a huge impact on self portraits though, thanks to nige and the year of self portraits project.


5. If you could take a year off, what would you do with it.

Spend it traveling with my family ( my husband and our daughter ), eating our way around the world and taking photographs of it.


6. When were you happiest?

It is difficult to pick a happiest point, and I am lucky to have had many happy moments. One that springs to mind is - On the ferry after my wedding. We were married. We had said goodbye to guest and planning stress. We had caught the last ferry of the night to make it to our destination, and I was so pleased not to have missed it, and to just be able to relax.


7. What trait do you most dislike in yourself and what trait do you most dislike in others?

This list is ridiculously long, and absolutes like "most" are too difficult to sort out. I do greatly dislike my tendency to take on too much. In others, being untrustworthy in both large and small ways is a big button pusher for me.


8. Where is your favorite place to holiday/vacation and where in the world would you most like to visit?

My favorite vacation so far was a trip to New Zealand, and I hope to go there again. The place I have gone to the most and am drawn back to is Japan. This year I'd like to go to New York, and to Martha's Vineyard and to California a couple of times. I'd like to travel many places I haven't been to yet. My dream vacation is a trip to Antarctica, which is about just being there, and the scenery and the wildlife. This is unusual since one of my primary motivations for going most places is a chance to sample the cuisine. Some people follow their heart. I follow my taste buds.


9. If tomorrow was your last day on Earth how would spend the day?

I would want to spend it with my family. I especially have many things I still think are important to say to my daughter, and while it wouldn't be ideal to dump them all on her in one day, it would be better than losing the opportunity to say them. I would probably want to write and video record some things for them too, so they could look at them in the future, under less time pressure.


10. What question would you like to ask yourself? Answer it if you can.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I don't know the answer. I am still trying to sort it out.

Posted by Tori