Joanna's Random Dozen

1. I've always wondered why we were taught both printing and cursive. Do you prefer to print or write cursive? (Keyboard is not a choice.)

My script is a mixture of both. Straight cursive is out the window. Now that I’m teaching Ella cursive I’ve been practicing and it is NOT pretty.

2. Are you a dreamer or a realist?

realist

3. Billy Joel or Elton John?

Really? I mean if you have to pick then Billy Joel but can I just go completely off and say someone rational like Scribblepotemus.

4. What is the scariest movie you've ever seen? Not just horror flicks but also ones where the tension or suspense is killer, for example, Flightplan (2005): A bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet the child vanishes and nobody admits she was ever on that plan.

Misery was pretty darn freaky, probably because of its realism. Movies that have aliens, scary monsters, blobs and stuff like that I find completely out of the realm of reality and I don’t watch them. I can watch some sci-fi and fantasy stuff as long as it’s not meant to be a horror flick.

5. Now what is the scariest real-life moment you've had?

The day Lily was lost. We found her asleep under Ella’s bed but for many minutes we searched the house and yelled for her and she never answered. I thought she has escaped outside and was lost or dead or kidnapped or something equally horrible.

6. What word do you misspell without fail?

I’m a pretty good speller. I make mistakes like: it’s vs. its. Even though some very intelligent people have explained this dynamic to me before I still have to stop and think and often erase and re-write when it comes to its/it’s. I don’t know why I can’t get it.

7. Name something you like to do but are not really talented or good at?

Photography, piano (not good at at all)

8. Do you get your emotional/mental batteries recharged by being around people or by having alone time?

Neither. Well, maybe the first. Mainly being with Del recharges my emotional/mental batteries.

9. Have you ever been on TV?

Nope and I will die happy if I never make it on TV.

10. Apple or pumpkin pie? (Don't be greedy.)

Brownies. Seriously, if you have to eat the calories then why not make it worth it?

11. How many magazine subscriptions do you have?

One – Everyday Food

12. What lesson do you have to keep re-learning?

That absolutely nothing in this world satisfies like Jesus (No change needed here. Why can’t I learn this and keep it in my heart?)

Also, you know the whole aperture/f-stop thing in photography. Well no matter how many people explain it to me or how many books I read or how many lessons I take, when I pick up my very high speed camera to take pictures I am still at a loss for how to fix the stop to make the kind of photo I want. It’s very frustrating. I understand it totally when I read it but I can’t recall it when I’m actually taking pictures. I can't understand why I can memorize the map of any town/city and make my way around like I've lived there all my life in a matter of days, but study photography for years and still futz around like a beginner. I think if I could just understand what the learning curve or style is then I could work around it but I'm still clueless.