The Proust Questionnaire

A reader sent me the Proust Questionnaire. Below are SB's answers, if anyone gives a damn. I just love questionnaires!

The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature.
[Note: This is some SCARY shit to SB. I feel so damn naked!]

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness? Having a nice glass of cabernet at home in Savannah, Georgia, (in the fall) at the bar downstairs at the 17hundred90. How's that for specific?

2. What is your greatest fear? The death of my parents.

3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Lack of self-discipline.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Conservative republicanism.

5. Which living person do you most admire? Wendell Berry.

6. What is your greatest extravagance? Wine and books.

7. What is your current state of mind? Peaceful.

8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Cheerfulness.

9. On what occasion do you lie? Too many to count.

10. What do you most dislike about your appearance? My girth.

11. Which living person do you most despise? Tie: Cheney and George W.

12. What is the quality you most like in a man? Sense of humor/wit.

13. What is the quality you most like in a woman? Wisdom.

14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Motherfucker(s).

15. What or who is the greatest love of your life? Not a good idea to answer this. Someone is bound to be hurt.

16. When and where were you happiest? Savannah, Georgia (anytime, everytime).

17. Which talent would you most like to have? To sing well.

18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I would have a lot more self-discipline.

19. What do you consider your greatest achievement? My cat and dog.

20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? I think I would be Kurt Vonnegut. I would say Mark Twain, but his life was far too tragic.

21. Where would you most like to live? Savannah, of course.

22. What is your most treasured possession? I don't have one. I only treasure people. The new high-def TV with DVR is nice though.

23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Losing a child.

24. What is your favorite occupation? Wine taster/bartender.

25. What is your most marked characteristic? Anger at injustice or stupidity.

26. What do you most value in your friends? Honesty/ability to hold their liquor.

27. Who are your favorite writers? Kurt Vonnegut, Samuel Clemens, Wendell Berry, Jane Fishman, David Foster Wallace, Ms. Moon, and Carson McCullers.

28. Who is your favorite hero of fiction? The grandmother in Owen Meany.

29. Which historical figure do you most identify with? Nathan Bedford Forrest because of his hot temper and ability to get right to the point and cut through the shit. He greatly amused me because he was a force of nature.

30. Who are your heroes in real life? Bill Clinton, Paul Newman, Kurt Vonnegut.

31. What are your favorite names? Hannah and Bella.

32. What is it that you most dislike? Conservative republicans.

33. What is your greatest regret? Bede and Blackie.

34. How would you like to die? Quickly and painlessly.

35. What is your motto? Ignore shit. It will go away eventually.