Time.

I recall vividly what I was doing two years ago today, right now. I imagine most everyone in the US remembers what they were doing too. In fact, I’m willing to bet they were doing the exact same thing I was. They were glued to the television, or the radio. They were witnessing the aftermath without knowing if it was truely the aftermath, or just an intermission. It was a car wreck of national proportions. It was terrible, but you just could not look away. And I didn’t think that time was ever going to really pass, that the vulnerability I felt would ever soften.

In spite of what I thought, time passed, and vulnerability faded (but hasn’t vanished, nor ever will). That day brought me closer to a few people. That day cost me a virtual friend, whom I’ve sworn not to speak with again. A promise made in the passion of the moment, but never regretted. Other than my mother’s death, I think it was the first time The Socialist ever saw me cry. I know it was the first time I ever saw tears from him.

I don’t know what global lessons have been learned, what global healing remains undone, what global alliances have been realigned because of the day the towers fell. Replace the word “global” with the word “personal” though, and I am more certain of the answers. And I guess “global” has to start somewhere.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.

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Picked this up from Moonman’s diary. I’ve done it, or ones like it, before. It might not be a bad time to review the information though.

2. Name: Palimpsest, also known as The Salamander.

3. Name as it appears on birth certificate: see entry Memory Lane & the Name Game

4. Nickname(s): Palimpsest, Salamander, Elf, and maybe a few others

5. Number of candles on your last birthday cake: None. I elected to forgo festivities on my last birthday, since I really didn’t feel up to it so few weeks after the surgery. I had a birthday yogurt in lieu of cake. It wouldn’t support any candles.

6. Pets: O’Beast (a bumbling, loving cat, of the conviction that no hand is clean until he has personally cleaned it), Kitten (who is a full grown cat of two years and some odd months, but does not seem to realize this yet, though I live in hope), Cattitude (really The Socialist’s cat, but she’s a member of the household and deserves acknowledgement as resident curmudgen), Voglinde (my turtle who apparently has no personality but would make a good door stop)

7. Hair Color: brownish-red (or reddish-brown – take your pick) thanks to a wonderful hairdresser

8. Piercings: None. There’s a story behind that. Remind me to tell you sometime.

9. Color of eyes: The kind of blue that picks up color from what ever I’m wearing. They can range from bright blue to grey-blue.

10. How much do you love your job: I love my work. I work for a good employer, who has supported me through the entire crisis of the last year. I do important things potentially affecting the lives of thousands of people on a daily basis. I’m also scared shitless that some day I’ll mess up, and miss something important. I love my job, but it scares me at the same time. Sometimes I think it might be prudent to consider a different line of work.

11. Homestate: Pennsylvania

12. Current Residence: see question 11

13. Favorite Food(s): I go through phases. Right now, the phase is kettle corn. Prior obsessions have included Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate, Sweet Tarts, macaroni and cheese, Rita’s tangerine water ice, and blood oranges. Some (now past) obsessions were also vinegar and ice cubes (not at the same time, though). Long story.

14. Been to Africa? No.

15. Been toilet papered? I’m not sure what that means, so I suppose the answer would be “no”.

16. Loved somebody so much it made you cry? I’m not sure. I’ve cried because I hurt someone I loved. I’ve cried because someone I’ve loved hurt me. I’ve cried because someone I love made me happy. I’ve cried because I love, but I don”t think I’ve cried because of love.

17. Been in a car accident? No major ones.

18. Croutons or bacon bits? Yes.

19. Favorite Day of the Week: I’m not sure I have a favorite day, but I have a favorite evening. Friday evening is “kick-your-shoes-off-and-relax mode” evening. Somehow the universe seems more settled on Friday evenings.

20. Favorite word or phrase: “I live to serve.” For some reason, it never fails to elicit a laugh.

21. Tattoos: I’ve got freckles. Why would I wish to further mar my skin?

22. Favorite Flower: Larkspur. It has to be purple, though.

23. Favorite Drink: I’ve just discovered vanilla Pepsi. Unfortunately, it does not seem to be available in my area.

24. Favorite sport(s): Sorry folks. I can’t think of a single sport I wouldn’t remote right past on television. I do like playing cribbage. Is cribbage considered a sport?

25. Favorite ice cream: Recently, I seem to have reverted to plain old vanilla. I’m not all that nuts about ice cream anyhow.

26. Disney or Warner Bros.? Is this for a vacation spot, or the Cartoon Network? If cartoons, then Warner Brothers. If vacation, then “no”.

27. Favorite Fast Food Restaurant? Chik-fil-A

28. What Color is Your Bedroom Carpet?

29. How many times did you fail your drivers test? Passed on the first try.

30. Before this one, whom did you get your last email from? A classmate of mine who is practicing in a clinic in Maryland. I had found an advertisement in one of my journals featuring a fellow classmate who we used to make fun of, and scanned it and sent it to her and a few other friends. She emailed me back with a few comments. Yes, I know it was petty. You had to know this guy though. Among other things, he was hit by a parked car in our sophomore year. At least, that’s his version of the story. But I digress….

31. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? A home furnishings store specializing in modern. I’d get rid of every last piece of furniture in my computer room (every bit of it either free or purchased because I could afford it) and have it professionally made over into the room I really wanted it to be.

32. What do you do most often when you are bored? Read,or hit the internet.

33. Most annoying thing people ask me? “What’s the matter?” I must have one of those faces that look perpetually depressed. I can be sitting there, minding my own business, happy as a lark, and someone will come up and ask me if I’m upset. I’m thinking of supergluing my cheeks to my earlobes so I’ll have a permanent smile stuck on my face.

34. Who will comment on this the quickest? Depends on who’s online. I have my guesses, but then again no one may comment on it. If I predict who it’s going to be, and no one comments, it’ll be like thowing a party with no one showing up. I hate to open myself up to that kind of embarassment.

35. Who is the person that is least likely to comment? I take the fifth.

36. Favorite TV show(s): I seem to be caught in a rerun vortex from which there is no escape. I watch reruns of ER, Babylon 5, Star Trek, and (my secret guilty vice) Seventh Heaven. I’ll occasionally watch Enterprise, but I’ve really run out of hope that the show will ever amount to anything. The only current show that I go out of my way to watch, and which I enjoy immensely, is Monk. The high quality of that show leaves me a glimmer of hope that perhaps television will some day redeem itself.

37. Last person you went out to dinner with? The Socialist.

38. Ford or Chevy? Whichever one gets a hybid out on the roads first. My guess is it will be Ford.

Some of you may have noticed that there is no number “one” on this questionnaire. That is apparently because Nurse42690, from whom Jenstired got the questionaire, from whom Moonman got the questionaire, from whom I got the questionaire, elected to leave off question 1, which was “What time did you start this quiz?”. In its place, I propose the following question 39:

39. What should question one have been and how would you answer it?: “What do you consider the single most important thing about you?” My answer? I’m alive due to the kindness and infinite generosity of strangers.