Tag...I'm It

With traditional tags people get tagged by others...I wanted instead to tag myself. (Maybe some of you who run across this post will be inspired/interested in tagging yourselves, too! By all means, do...and let me know.)

I've been fortunate enough to have TIME and SPACE/PLACE to get to know people and cultivate friendships. More accurately, I've been fortunate enough to be able to make time and space/place to get to know people, and have that effort and energy returned, as well as initiated by others.

Still, I think the task of starting a friendship can at times be a daunting one--not for lack of interest, but rather because there is so much to know that beginnings can seem overwhelming.

With that in mind, I journey on my own beginning here...and share it with others that they may then want to share themselves with me.

"A memory of our beginning, maybe, to ward off our end." (Emma Donoghue, Hood, 28)

Twenty Questions

#1 Your favorite color?
Blue, with Orange a close second--blue for its deep, cool, and calmness and orange for its fiery intensity

#2 A quirky thing about you?
I save silly mementos of times I've shared with others (e.g., receipts, movie stubs, plastic animals, bottle labels, coins, etc.)

#3 The quality you admire most in your best friend?
Sense of adventure that makes room for new experiences, and isn't stunted by fear of taking risks

#4 A quality of your parents/guardians/caretakers that you'd like to better emulate?
Social grace--not in the PC sense, but a genuine concern and care for others that is so apparent that it makes a significant impression on others for years to come

#5 Something you've wanted to do with another person, but haven't gotten the chance to yet?
Slow dance with a woman--not the kind of touch-dancing that goes on in a dark club (which admittedly can be very fun), but another kind of intimate dancing that happens when the lights are on

#6 A bad habit of yours you want to break?
Pushing people away, or not ever letting them get close in the first place
Being obsessive compulsive about my relationships

I've spent too much time being defensive and hiding in my turtle shell

#7 A quality you love about yourself?
Frank honesty. It would be nice (for others) if I had more tact, but I do take pride in the lack of ambiguity/explicitness in my relations with others

#8 A quality you haven't quite mastered but hope to?
Forgiveness
Sense of humor

#9 A quality that you find makes others irresistibly attractive?
Passion
Eyes that sparkle

#10 Do opposites attract?
Yes, but the question is for how long...

#11 Sunrises or sunsets?
Sunrises, not only because the whole day is still ahead, but also because it's amazing to see and feel the power of the sun break through morning clouds

#12 Inside or outside spooner?
Outside, though I'm willing to be versatile

#13 Your favorite flower?
Irises

#14 A recent or recurring New Year's resolution?
To stay in better contact with friends in my life, and to make new friends.

#15 Do you take life too seriously?
Yes...and I'm too literal, too. But then when I think about taking life less seriously, I proudly hold fast to my intensity

#16 Your best good quality that's also your best worst quality?
My persistent inquisitiveness--I think its reception depends on how open others are to it

#17 Something you collect/save?
Directions to places I've gone (as a marker of where I've been, and where I might want to go again)

#18 Something about you others find unexpected?
That I think of myself as shy
That I'm only 5'1"

#19 A happy moment you had today?
I was able to help out a friend who had a flat tire

#20 A gift you got from someone that you absolutely cherish?
The time and energy of sharing themselves with me