What was your worst hairstyle decision ever?
It was 1980, the summer after I'd turned 10, and a friend of someone in the family offered to cut my hair. At the time, my hair was waist-length and I wanted it to be about shoulder-length so I could still braid it. What I got... oh, it still hurts me years and years later. This woman cut my hair so short that I looked like a boy!
I struggled with that short hair for several years after, trying to manage a cut that was feminine and flattering and easy to take care of... it was the 80s, too, when layers were stylish. Unfortunately, with my chaotic waves, I ended up with a frizz ball, which has stuck with me since.
What's the longest boat ride you've ever been on?
I think I've been on two rides that lasted roughly six hours each. As a teenager, I traveled from Belgium to the UK and we took the ferry. There was a shorter trip if one traveled from France to the UK, but the drive north to the base where we'd stay for a reasonable price was longer. It made more sense to take the longer ferry for a shorter ride, unless of course, I wanted to hit the theatre district in London.
The other boat ride was a whale watching trip off the Cape of New England. I traveled north to spend a long weekend with three girlfriends from an online RPG. We stayed at a timeshare, toured Martha's Vineyard, watched The X-Files, talked into the wee hours... it was a nice extension of our online friendships. One of the days, we took a boat to see some whales. The seas were really rough, and I got so seasick that I spent most of that trip inside, head between my knees and wishing I was back on land.
What time is your alarm clock set for? Do you use the snooze button?
Actually, I don't use an alarm clock. My body, for some inexplicable reason, just knows when it's time to get up. I usually wake around 5 or 5:30 am. Even when I travel, my body seems to know when it's 5 am EST so I have to force myself to sleep in when I'm on vacation.
After all the recent season and series finales, what are you watching on TV these days?
That's the beauty of cable television... some series have just started new seasons so there's never really a summer shortage of new entertainment. TiVo also makes it easier to enjoy shows after they've ended. Take, for example, The Shield... it ended last month, I think, but we've been stacking episodes for a marathon of viewing. We also did the same for Battlestar Galactica and we've got two eps left in this latest season.
Right now, I'm enjoying Army Wives and The 4400, plus a rerun glut of all variations of Law & Order.
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?
I have two favorites, actually -- cherry vanilla and coffee. I usually get the former, however, as it's available as a tasty frozen yogurt from Ben & Jerry's. On the other hand, I experience true ecstatic joy whenever I can get my hands on Häagen-Dazs. Their coffee ice cream is to die for, but it keeps me up at night so I don't have it that often.
How many TVs do you have in your house?
We have just one TV, and it's in the living room for everyone. We used to have three TVs, with the two smaller ones in upstairs bedrooms, but when they died, we didn't bother replacing them. Sure, it can be inconvenient at times with one TV if someone wants to play a game while another wants to use the TV for something else, but that's what DVDs and computers are for!
