A Meme

[spicedogs]

stolen from boheme06 :

The problem with LJ: we all think we are so close, but really, we know nothing about each other.

So I want you to ask me something you think you should know about me. Something that should be obvious, but you have no idea about. Or something completely random. Ask away.

Then post this in your LJ and find out what people don't know about you!
 

 

Comments

[cdsdame.livejournal.com]

Do you color your hair? There's something random, and meaningless. :)

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do.

I used to have very dark brown, almost black, hair. As the grey started creeping up, I changed my color to a rich brown with some red in it. I love my new color, but hate the expense and the upkeep.

[cdsdame.livejournal.com]

I know. I've wanted highlights for months, but I just can't afford them, and I can't do it myself because the chemicals can't touch my scalp because it's so sensitive, so I have to sit in the salon for hours while they pull the hair up through one of those hair net thingys with holes in it...which is more than you needed/wanted to know..LOL!

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've had highlights done on my hair. Then it became so addictive that I almost turned into a blonde. That's when my clueless husband noticed that I've been dying my hair. He looked at me and said, "When did you become a blonde?"

[cdsdame.livejournal.com]

The cluelessness is stultifying.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

LOL

[greyrider.livejournal.com]

*snickers*

[divka.livejournal.com]

I know you've talked about this before, but I always get confused by the details, since I know you've lived several places--where were you born and where did you mostly grow up?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I was born in Norway, lived the first 12 years of my life in Brazil, lived as a teenager in NYC, and my parents are Hungarian.

[divka.livejournal.com]

There....no wonder I can never remember!

And your mom is from Norway originally, or Brazil?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Both of my parents are from Hungary. My father is Sephardim.

My heritage is very complicated, and my children also added on to our mix by marrying outside of race and faith. We are mutts and proud of it.

[divka.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's the best way to be I think. Mutts are always the healthiest breeds ;p

[galileah-galile.livejournal.com]

after LOST is over, do you think you will keep up the website and fan board?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I will definitely keep them up. I think the fan board is self-sustaining. We all know each other and have ways of entertaining ourselves. Hopefully, Michael will get other TV gigs and I'll be able to keep the site current. If not, I will need to get some info from him or his agent to keep up with his theatre work.

[leyosura.livejournal.com]

Something random, huh?
Ok .... what's your favourite cocktail?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I don't drink. I love virgin piña coladas.

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

I'll post the same as I posted to cdsdame: This isn't exactly a get to know you question, but it could lead to getting to know you. lol If a group of Ian fans plan a meetup in NYC, would you be able to attend? No idea when it would be, we are just looking for interest at the moment.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Depending on the date. I am scheduled to go to San Francisco in July. I would be interested.

[katje0711.livejournal.com]

It's in the very preliminary stages, but I'll keep you posted if anything developes.

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Cool.

[crazymaryt.livejournal.com]

So other than Michael and Ken Leung are there any other actors who you adore?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Yes, I love Meryl Streep and I was always enchanted by Jack Lemmon.

I am sure that there are others that I just can't remember off hand. In musical theatre, I love Bernadette Peters.

[boheme06.livejournal.com]

What was your biggest fascination on TV before Lost?

Is part of the thrill of your job having all those wonderful choices at the cafeteria?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I don't think that I had ever been enthralled with a television show as I am with LOST>

Is part of the thrill of your job having all those wonderful choices at the cafeteria?

LOL. I love the graphics part of my job. I love manipulating graphics and making charts. The cafeteria food is just there to feed me.

[greyrider.livejournal.com]

What sparked your interest in photography (and why)?

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

I have always been creative and I should have pursued a career in creative arts. I started off taking acting and art courses and then gravitated to speech and hearing science (a degree that I never pursued in life). I owned a film camera when my children were younger and hardly had time to take pictures. I also hated when my father took my pictures. It always had to be posed. Nothing he ever shot was impromptu. So I made a vow that my grandchildren's growth and development will be recorded and it would not be posed. As I started taking impromptu pictures of Meghan, I found out the joy of taking pictures of nature, birds, and anything that struck my fancy.

[mooncove.livejournal.com]

OK, this is probably a silly question and not exactly random ... What is "Sephardim"? And, non-random question #2: Can you still speak Portuguese after all those formative years in Brazil? And really silly question #2: With all that travelling you've done, what does your accent sound like? (I'm really into accents.) Thanks!

PS: Sorry this belated, but I hope you gave the hospital administration a piece of your mind (sorry, I still don't quite get "Twitters," but I won't burden you with yet another silly question!) and mom continues to be on the mend. Sounds like they're just trying to save money, hiring high school students to push wheelchairs around without thinking about how she's actually going to from the chair to the car. Good for you insisting that they dress her. How ridiculous they expect her to go outdoors in just a flimsy hospital gown. (Reminds me of how I got wheeled to the car and then dumped at the curb just an hour after my gallbladder surgery, when I couldn't even stand up, let alone get myself into a car! I guess American hospitals are the same all over.)

PPS: I hate winter too!

[spicedogs.livejournal.com]

Answer to Question # 1:

Sephardim are Jews from the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). Sephardim is the plural of Sephardi or as we know them in the United States, Sephardic Jews.Unlike other European Jews (Ashkenazic) who speak Yiddish (a mixture of German and Hebrew), Sephardim speak Ladino (a mixture of Spanish, Portuguese, and Hebrew). During the Inquisition, some Sephardim converted to Catholicism, but secretly worshiped Judaism; others dispersed throughout Europe (Diaspora). My family dispersed first to France and then to Eastern Europe.

Unlike the Ashkenazim, who are matriarchal, Sephardim are patriarchal. Hence, according to the Sephardim, if your father is Jewish, you are automatically Jewish. In my family, my mother (who was Calvinist) married into a Jewish family and I am considered Jewish (but don't practice it).

Answer to Question # 2:

Yes, I am still fluent in Portuguese. I need to be among Brazilians for about 15 to 20 minutes and I quickly go back to speaking the language. Unfortunately, my vocabulary is that of a 13 year old. I did take Portuguese in college, but I am still not able to hold a very adult intellectual or political conversation. My lexicon lacks those words.

Want to hear my voice? Here's a sample of a clip I made for a podcast:

http://michaelemerson.net/Storage/cliff.wav

Answers to Non-Questions:

1. I am making a formal complaint to the hospital. Their behavior was uncalled for.

2. They did not hire the high school student. He was a volunteer. In our area, students have to have a number of volunteering hours in order to graduate high school. This kid was forced to volunteer by the school department and then given a task that was difficult for him to perform.

3. What they did with you was horrible as well. Health care should never be a profit-making enterprise, but it is in our country. Therefore, the patients are treated horribly.

4. Twitter is a way of instant messaging with a number of people. I am involved with podcasters (I don't podcast, though), hence, I can keep up with them. Try it, it's another way of getting addicted to the Internet.