Title of your autobiography (if you had one)- “What was I thinking?”

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who? My paternal Grandfather whom I never really knew.

Favorite cartoon character- Dilbert – always right.

Favorite smell- Honeysuckle.

What you want to be when you grow up- Wise.

Most embarrassing moment- Asking without knowing who they were “Do you come to the ballet often?” to Maria Tallchief and George Balanchine -whilst sitting at a charity function table in the sixties.

Best book you’ve read in the last decade- Taipan by James Clavell. Old School.

Sneak Peek: “The school was in a beautiful english country estate with 100s of acres and a lake. If you could not swim you had to swim in the duck pool, naked. When you passed your swimming test you could then swim in the lake. Not being naked was a great incentive to learn to swim. Better than being thrown in.”

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who? I’d choose to meet my childhood hero Andy Kaufman and definitively determine whether he is living or dead. Sure it’s been 30 years since he “died of lung cancer,” but what an amazing hoax that would be.

Favorite Dallas hangout- Dallas Comedy House is easily my favorite Dallas hangout. I’ve been training and doing improv there for over 3 years and have met some of the bestest people I’ve ever met. At DCH, I’ve learned a little about life and a lot about myself. Also the drinks are pretty cheap. 

What you want to be when you grow up- Not bound by the laws of gravity.

Favorite cartoon character- Garfield. A cat that eats lasagna?! Whaaaaaaaat?!

What do you miss about being a kid?- I miss being able to hold a plunger and immediately be whisked away to the Super Mario Bros.’ Mushroom Kingdom. Now when I hold a plunger, I’m not whisked away to the Mushroom Kingdom. Not even a tiny bit.

Sneak Peek: “Beyond that, I’ve never been a man of ambition. College? Whatever. Career? I can coast on charm, right?  When it came time to choose my alma mater, I did what any smart person would do. I decided to hang out with my best friends for four more years. I wasn’t worried. The future would take care of itself.”

Name of your autobiography (if you had one)- I am currently working on a memoir titled “Throw Away Girl.”

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who? My father because I never really got to know him.

Favorite smell- wood burning.

Favorite Dallas hangout-at my home with my husband and our girls.

What do you miss about being a kid?- Climbing coconut trees.

Name of your autobiography (if you had one)- “He Done His Damndest”

What inspired you to participate in Oral Fixation? I attended the 4/23 Oral Fix performance and thought, “Hell, I can do that.”

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who? William Shakespeare, to find out if he talked like that. My maternal great-grandfather, to ask him why he smirked in my grandparents’ wedding photos.

Favorite smell- The inside of a bicycle shop.

What you want to be when you grow up- A writer of good fiction.

Favorite cartoon character- Mr. Natural, who, when he didn’t get paid for some spiritual counseling, said, “I don’t mean to get worked up over gross material things, but this rankles my ass.”

Best book you’ve read in the last decade- Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth A novel set in 18th-century England, Africa, and Florida. Densely plotted and written. Each paragraph is a gorgeous little universe of description and explication. Penetrating view into the world of the slave and the slaver.  Exhilarating and heartbreaking. Found myself moving my lips as I read to savor the writing.

What do you miss about being a kid?- Playing barefoot outdoors all day and urinating wherever I want (!)

Anything else?- Sometimes I can’t remember the names of the members of my extended family.

Name of your autobiography (if you had one)- A Speckled Snail Shell Coiling its Fibonacci Spirals in extremis

If you could meet anyone dead or alive, who? I am inspired by Baba Hari Dass, who just turned 90 and says: “Don’t think that you are carrying the whole world; make it easy, make it play, make it a prayer.” He has practiced complete silence for over 50 years.

Favorite Dallas hangout- I love to ride my bike around White Rock Lake early in the morning when the egrets are blinking on the spillway.

Favorite smell- Jatamamsi

What you want to be when you grow up- I want to visit sacred sites around the world.

Favorite cartoon character- Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks, especially the way he sings “Witch Doctor.”

Best book you’ve read in the last decade- Fish Can Sing by Haldor Laxness, the only Icelandic Nobel laureate.   It illustrates the struggle of finding your own path while at the same time not trying to escape your heritage.  The main character’s name is Alfgrimur and he grows up in a turf cottage in Iceland with eccentric “grandparents.”  What could be better than that?

What do you miss about being a kid?- I miss tying a raft to a tree at the water’s edge and spending half a day in the raft reading.

What inspired you to participate in Oral Fixation?- I’ve always been a storyteller and thought it would be fun to do it for strangers.

Name of your autobiography (if you had one)- Fretting

Favorite Dallas hangout-Dallas Gamers Marathon, a once a month meeting for board game geeks.

Favorite smell-Mimeograph. Alas, it’s gone forever.

One thing you miss about being a kid- Baseball.

Favorite cartoon character- Charlie Brown–I started reading Peanuts in 3rd grade and never stopped. I love CB because he has to work for everything he gets.

Best book you’ve read in the last decade- Tie between:

Anything else?- I own a few hundred board games. None of them are Monopoly