Life with the Friday Five

Difficult questions this week, but at least they're more interesting than "What brand of toothpaste do you use?"

1. What do you most want to be remembered for? In truth? I'd rather not be "remembered" at all. In the words of Woody Allen, I'd rather be immortal by not dying.

2. What quotation best fits your outlook on life? "Why does it happen? Because it happens." -- Rush, "Roll the Bones."

3. What single achievement are you most proud of in the past year? Ummm... Nothing stands out as a single achievement, really. I've written a few bits and pieces of things that I'm fairly pleased with, I guess.

4. What about the past ten years? I feel like I ought to say "graduating college," but I think that was more relief than pride, to be honest.

5. If you were asked to give a child a single piece of advice to guide them through life, what would you say? Well, that would depend on the child, really. But if I have to generalize, it would probably be something like: "You know all those people you feel are judging you or whose approval you worry about? They're all thinking more about themselves than they are about you, so don't worry too hard about 'em. Inside, they really aren't any different than you, anyway. Nobody's got the secret of life. Everybody's just muddling their way through it in one way or another, whether they want to admit it or not... So if that's what you're doing, congratulations, you're normal." It took me a long time to figure that one out, but I gotta tell you, once it did, it made all the difference in my life.