Proust Questionnaire

Every few years, I like to answer Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and record the responses in a journal or a Word document. It's fun to compare answers from year to year, to see what's changed and how, and to realize in what ways you are still exactly the same. Here's the latest.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

An empty streetcar.

What is your greatest fear?

Dying young.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Narcissism.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Self-doubt.

What is your greatest extravagance?

A tall non-fat London Fog and a slice of lemon poppy seed loaf from Starbucks.

What is your current state of mind?

Frantic.

On what occasion do you lie?

To get out of things I don’t want to do.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

Genuineness.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?

Sense of humour.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what do you think it would be?

A palm-reader who winters in Florida.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“I don't know.”

What or who is the greatest love of you life?

My father.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

It’s still in the works (hopefully).

Where would you like to live?

San Francisco or Buenos Aires.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Hopelessness.

What is your most marked characteristic?

My nicety.

What do you most value in your friends?

Honesty. Loyalty.

Who are you favourite writers?

Margaret Laurence, Leonard Cohen, Virginia Woolf, William Faulkner, Tori Amos.

Who are your heroes in real life?

My mother.

What is your greatest regret?

That I was too chicken to write for my university newspaper.

What is your motto?

“I’ll still have a headache even if I don’t go for a run.”

How would you like to die?

With a featherweight heart.