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June 12, 2016

73 Questions

When I looked back through old blog drafts, I remembered my fleeting interest in the 73 Questions feature from Vogue Magazine. I became interested in this format when I read Being Rudri’s version.

Here’s my stab at it!

1. How long have you been in the area? 31 years in Tallahassee (with 3 years in New York dividing two Tallahassee periods)

2. What’s your favorite season in Tallahassee? Spring

3. What’s your favorite activity in Tallahassee? Running

4. Would you ever leave Tallahassee? Yes

5. What are three words to describe living in Tallahassee? Hilly, Southern, Cultural

6. What’s your favorite movie? Philadelphia

7. Favorite movie in past five years? I actually haven’t seen many movies in the past five years, and the ones I have seen were chosen by my son (looking at you, Fast and Furious). But after reading the book, I couldn’t WAIT to see Me Before You and the movie did not disappoint!

8. Favorite Hitchcock film? The Birds

9. Favorite TV show that’s currently on? 23.5º with Sam Champion

10. What’s a book you plan on reading? A Place Like This: A Memoir by Mark S. King

11. A book you read in school that positively shaped you? The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

12. A book you read in school that you never think of? Beowulf (but how are we supposed to answer this question? The mere fact that I *think* of Beowulf sort of disqualifies it!)

13. On a scale of one to ten how excited are you about life right now? 7

14. iPhone or Android? iPhone

15. Twitter or Instagram? Twitter

16. Vine or Snapchat? Snapchat

17. Who should EVERYONE be following right now? The Gates Foundation

18. What’s the coolest thing in your office? I don’t have an office right now but my favorite things were my annual Broadway Playbill posters.

Self Awareness

19. What’s your favorite downtown restaurant? Bella Bella

20. What’s your favorite food? Penne alla Vodka

21. Least favorite food? Overripe bananas

22. What do you love on your pizza? Vegetables

23. Favorite drink? Spring Water

24. Favorite dessert? Dairy Queen Blizzards

25. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate? Dark Chocolate

26. Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten? An Ant

27. What’s the hardest part about being a mom? Having to let go (fearing for their safety), despite my belief in the power of prayer, and as my friend Lea so eloquently stated, “and the knowledge that somehow there is a God who loves them even more than we do. and He watches over them constantly!!!”

28. What’s your favorite band? The Florida State University Marching Chiefs

29. Favorite solo artist? John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting, Idina Menzel

30. Favorite lyrics?

When you walk through a storm
Hold your head up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark
At the end of the storm
There’s a golden sky
And the sweet silver song of the lark

Walk on, through the wind
Walk on, through the rain
Though your dreams be tossed and blown
Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone
You’ll never walk alone

(From Carousel’s You’ll Never Walk Alone) Here’s Celtic Woman’s version:

31. If your life were a song, what would the title be? Turn! Turn! Turn!

32. If you could sing a duet with anyone, who would it be? Josh Groban

33. If you could master one instrument, what would it be? My Voice

34. If you had a tattoo, where would it be? On my inner wrist (a semi-colon)

35. To be or not to be? To be

36. What’s Oprah like in person? I’d love to know!

37. What number of question was this? #37 (I guess this made more sense in a rapid-fire five minute interview)

38. Dogs or cats? Cats

39. Kittens or puppies? Puppies

40. Dolphins or koalas? Dolphins

41. Bird-watching or whale-watching? Whale watching

42. What’s your spirit animal? Sloth

43. Best gift you’ve ever received? My children

44. Last gift you gave a friend? Besides green pens, a Motivate Wrap that said “You Got This”

Self Awareness

45. A person you want to have coffee with? Sam Champion (see answer #9!)

46. A historical figure you’d love to have coffee with? Dorothea Dix

47. How do you like your coffee? With skim milk and stevia

48. Can I play a note on this piano? Doesn’t Apply

49. What’s your favorite curse word? I dislike them all but sadlly, it rhymes with “duck”

50. What’s your favorite board game? Apples to Apples

51. What’s your favorite country to visit? Guatemala

52. What’s the last country you visited? El Salvador

53. What country do you wish to visit? Spain

54. What do you see in this image right here? Doesn’t apply

55. Can you write down your favorite word that starts and ends with the same vowel? abracadabra

56. What’s your favorite color? Red

57. Least favorite color? Beige

58. What color dress did you wear to your prom? lavender

59. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

60. Cheap shampoo or expensive? Expensive if it works

61. Blow-dry or air-dry? Blow-dry

62. Heels or flats? flats

63. Can you give an impersonation of someone? No

64. Can you do the same impersonation with a British accent? No

65. My friend outside this window would love to ask you a question? Doesn’t Apply

66. [Holding two different colored dresses] Which should I give my girlfriend? Doesn’t Apply

67. Pilates or yoga? Yoga

68. Jogging or swimming? Jogging RUNNING

69. Best way to decompress? Take a walk

70. If you had one superpower, what would it be? Waving a wand and creating peace

71. Can you describe an experience you felt most nervous? Trying out for cheerleading before the senior year of high school

72. What’s the weirdest word in the English language? In a nod to the Idiots Running Club and the word every runner loves to hate: moist

73. Last question: Is this the strangest interview you’ve ever had? Doesn’t Apply

It bugs me that there were six “Doesn’t apply” responses since I stuck strictly to the previous structure, so  I looked up some other “getting to know you” questions and used a random number generator to pick 6.

1. Most important quality in a friend? Trustworthiness

2. When was the last time you got the giggles at an inappropriate time? Oh I don’t know! It hasn’t been recently (or often enough!). It wasn’t the giggles but I was talking with a friend recently about something very serious, and I was trying to make a light and slightly sardonic observation while indicating I cared. The interaction was heavier on the sardonic and lighter on the serious. I sent her a message later that day to clear it up.

3. What is your favorite kind of music? I like all kinds of music, but as almost everyone is surprised to hear, rap is a fave.

4. What is the last book you read? Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

5. What date on your calendar are you looking forward to? June 26, my daughter’s 20th birthday!

6. What makes you laugh out loud. Hmmm…..it takes a lot! I laughed out loud recently at passages from Shonda Rhimes’s Year of Yes, at Lino Rulli on Facebook Live, and at frolicking puppies.

What are some of your answers to these questions? Fun exercise! I recommend everyone to try it. 

Paula Kiger
Paula Kiger

Wife of one, Mom of two, Friend of many. My pronouns are she/her/hers.

Filed Under: Reflections Tagged With: 73 Questions, Vogue

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Rena McDaniel says

    June 13, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    Loved learning more about you, I really want to hear the story of how you came to eat an ant now.

    Reply
    • Paula Kiger (Big Green Pen) says

      June 14, 2016 at 8:16 am

      Ha! Well, let’s see. When I was a kid, I went to “Junior Gardener” camp for years (looking at my current yard, you’d never know!). One counselor made a big deal every year out of “eating an ant” and explaining that the’re full of citric acid (“like orange juice”) — this guy was convincing! After a few years of this I decided to take the big leap. I don’t know that an ant is large enough to really discern the “orange juice” nature of their insides but I was pretty proud to rise to that particular challenge! 🙂

      Reply

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