Five Questions

Here are five questions that my very cool friend Kendahl asked me. And for the record, she really is cool. I'm not making that up.


1. What are your top 5 books of all time?
Sadly, I'm not reading as much I would like to right now, but there are a few books that I absolutely love and that have changed me in one way or another.

In no particular order:

My Name is Asher Lev (Chaim Potok): This book was an immediate favorite the first time I read it my senior year of high school. Since then I've read it a few times on my own, have been required to read it for other classes during college, and simply love love love it. For anyone who hasn't read it, DO!

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen): I know! It's so girly.... but a good friend of mine who was moving away gave me a copy of this book (also during my senior year of high school) and wrote this on the inside cover:

"Robin, This book came to my mind the instant I thought about what to get you. You remind me so much of Elizabeth. Not really the party of you that you show most of the time, but the part that you keep hidden. See you again. Love, Cade."

So with an introduction like that I was immediately drawn into the characters of this book. I have read it several times, and it just has a lot of great memories for me.

Les Miserables (Victor Hugo): This book, despite it's length (I read the unabridged one) absolutely consumed me for five days. Any free moment I had I was reading... I love it. It's beautiful, captivating, and reminds of the good that really is inside of people.

Making Connections: Total Integration Through Bartenieff Fundamentals (Peggy Hackney): Okay, so this is a nerd text book, but I love it. I have read it over 8 times and would recommend it to anyone who wants to feel more "at home" within their body. And I must say, knowing the author personally makes me love this book even more because she is an absolutely amazing human being and lives what she writes about so beautifully.

The Book of Mormon: So this may be an obvious (and possibly cliche') choice, but no other book as touched and shaped my life the way this book has.


2. Is there any appendage of your body that is evil?
Kendahl, I have no idea what you are talking about. My hand is not evil. (shhhh...Peyt, not now.) I mean, so my hand tried to (did) kill a few (many) people once (Peyt, later....); does that mean it's evil? (What Peyt? Yes, Kendahl, I know... later, Peyt.) Sheesh, your hand becomes it's own identity and tries to suck the life and soul of innocent people and everyone is on your case. (Attack, Peyt, NOW!)


3. If you had to be in fairy tale, what character would you be?
I'm not sure why this question is so hard for me. I really like the idea of being a princess (because, after all, every girl is a princess), but somehow those fairy tales aren't very appealing to me. I guess I'd choose Belle (from the Disney Version) of Beauty and the Beast. She had a mind of her own, grew personally during the course of the story, saw beauty in something not socially acceptable, and still was able to live happily ever after without having to be "saved" by some prince while she stood around helpless asleep, poisoned, or trapped in a tower somewhere.


4. What is the best Modern piece you've ever seen (live or not)?
I've seen a lot of dance in my life--some good, some.... less than. But one dance that really touched me was a duet that I saw at the U of U Graduate Concert my first year of graduate school. It was performed by Pam and Eric Handman (both faculty members at the U) and it was Choreographed by David Dorfman (who, for the record, is the one person I would drop everyone in my life to go to NYC for the chance to perform with his company). The piece is called "Approaching No Calm" and this quote written about the work says a lot about it:
"Man and woman are equally athletic, equally subtle, equally vulnerable ... you follow them as if they were heroes of a story whose outcome you burn to know, even while you divine that there is no outcome." - Deborah Jowitt, The Village Voice
I went to the concert with my mom and after the dance she turned to me and said, "That is the way a marriage should be." It is a stunning piece of work that actually made me cry (which rarely happens). It was also a memorable experience because while I was sitting my in chair I could tell that the entire audience was experience something amazing together. We were all changed.

5. Name your 3 best qualities. (Not a question, AND I stole it from someone else, but still, list them.)
* I'm a lot of fun (some may insert the word "crazy")
* I am freakishly organized
* I get along well with pretty much everyone (except my hand every now and then).


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1. Leave me a comment saying, "I too am an egomaniac."
2. I'll respond by asking you up to five questions. You will answer them, because you like talking about yourself.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.