No not of the Oxford nor Naval Academy sort, rather Mrs. PVE has tagged me to complete the “A-Z” questionnaire. So I carefully arranged my plate of madeleines and after revising my inital draft, present The Elegantologist… errr… post-mortum. This is me, more or less, tagged and bagged, for your perusal. Please wipe your feet before you come in and remember to turn out the lights on your way out.
A. Attached or Single – Attached to the most amusing polymath Mrs. E.
B. Best Friend – yes! Four, to include Mrs. E.
C. Cake or Pie – Pie, for breakfast.
D. Day of Choice – They sort of all run together. Memorial Day is nice.
E. Essential Item(s) – Sunglasses, a pocket knife, music, good shoes, great books.
F. Favorite Color – changes. Red, pink, grey foremost among them.
G. Gummy Bears or Worms – Gummy Bears, I suppose. No real sweet tooth.
H. Hometown – Army brat. Now, Richmond, VA.
I. Indulgence – My wardrobe, my library and those on my blogroll.
J. January or July – New Year’s Eve is my anniversary and the beach is always a treat.
K. Kids – Two, one of each!
L. Life isn’t complete without – Mrs. E. I can’t imagine anyone who would indulge me this much. And all that jazz.
M. Marriage date, December 31st, 1997.
N. Number of brothers and sisters, 0
O. Oranges or Apples – Can’t begin to compare the two.
P. Phobias – Fears – Phone-aphobic, if there is such a thing.
Q. Quote – “Living well is the best revenge.”
Or perhaps: “I chose the title because a flair for living is the ultimate goal. Learning how to really live, to cultivate a flair for living in all you do is a lifelong process. Now doesn’t that add a sense of urgency to what you are doing right now?” Charlotte Moss from an interview by All the Best.
Illegitimi non carborundum (incorrect, apparently.)
R. Reason to smile – I have a great life. In remission (again) for almost two years. Two beautiful children. One incredible wife. A fine dog.
S. Season of Choice – Vivaldi’s four.
T. Tag 3 – Hollister Hovey, Aesthete? HOBAC? Don’t hate the messenger, your public demands to know.
U. Unknown fact about me – I once authored a report on “Soviet Non- Compliance with Treaties.”
V. Vegetable – Artichokes. Fresh corn.
W. Worst Habit – Too numerous to mention.
X. X-ray or Ultrasound – PET scan. See “R” above.
Y. Fave Food – Meat. Roasted Chicken or Cheeseburgers. Fresh Fish.
Z. Zodiac – Gemini.
I will respectfully ask: The House of Beauty and Culture, An Aesthete’s Lament and Hollister Hovey for their lists.
Should you choose to accept this assignment, please post your answers to A through Z. As usual, should you be caught, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your existence.
A. Attached or Single – Attached, oh, so happily attached, to a well-traveled trilinguist who is one of those still-waters-run-deep types.
B. Best Friend – Yes, a New Zealander who is even more nuts about design than I am, if that is possible.
C. Cake or Pie – Pie … pecan, please.
D. Day of Choice – Sunday, especially early morning.
E. Essential Item(s) – 4711 eau de Cologne; my silver bamboo-motif wedding band; espadrilles with ankle laces.
F. Favorite Color – Pink, with orange as a close second, though am becoming more enamored of red lately.
G. Gummy Bears or Worms – Gummy Bears.
H. Hometown – Military brat, Virginia born, but no hometown, given all the moving to and fro and hither and yon.
I. Indulgence – Shoes.
J. January or July – January, because July anywhere seems to be ungodly hot or sticky or both.
K. Kids – One, a girl, who frightens me with her adult-child wit.
L. Life isn’t complete without – Café au lait.
M. Marriage date – 22 September.
N. Number of brothers and sisters: 1 brother
O. Oranges or Apples – Apples, the green, tart, supercrunchy ones, the Granny Smiths so tart they almost make you pucker.
P. Phobias – Fears – Phone-phobia. I hate a ringing phone. Such a disturbance. And, like a telegram, so often the bearer of bad tidings.
Q. Quote – I have far too many favorites, and not one of them is my own, alas.
R. Reason to smile – Seeing my child asleep, with her arm around a favorite baby doll.
S. Season of Choice – Winter, so much beauty, if the landscape is right.
T. Tag 3 – [I don’t understand this!]
U. Unknown fact about me – I know how to wring a chicken’s neck and then pluck the damned thing. Not that I ever want to do this again, mind you.
V. Vegetable – Sweet corn on the cob, roasted.
W. Worst Habit – Obliviousness (of course, this can be a virtue at times)
X. X-ray or Ultrasound – X-ray.
Y. Fave Food – Steak au poivre, oysters on the half shell, filet mignon (black and blue, thanks), roasted new potatoes with sea salt.
Z. Zodiac – Scorpio.
Mr. E-
Clever you and Aesthete-
wonderful getting to know you both.
PvE
A. Attached or Single – Attached.
B. Best Friend – Three, one female and two male.
C. Cake or Pie – Pie. Lemon Meringue.
D. Day of Choice – Sunday.
E. Essential Item(s) – ipod (it makes ignoring people easier, but you already knew that) and my driver, John. I don’t leave the house without either.
F. Favorite Color – Red, in all its permutations.
G. Gummy Bears or Worms – Gummy Bears. I like biting their heads off.
H. Hometown – Having felt, and been, a foreigner wherever I have lived, none. But, London has always felt like home.
I. Indulgence – Caprice. An entire life lived according to caprice.
J. January or July – July.
K. Kids – Two, of the furry kind.
L. Life isn’t complete without – My partner.
M. Marriage date – None
N. Number of brothers and sisters – Zero.
O. Oranges or Apples – Do tangerines count?
P. Phobias – Fears – Being, or going blind.
Q. Quote – You must surrender yourself to extravagance. Poverty is apt to strike like influenza, it is well to have a few memories of extravagance in store for bad times. – Graham Greene, Travels With My Aunt
R. Reason to smile – Does laughing at one’s self count?
S. Season of Choice – Winter.
T. Tag 3 – Pigtown* Design
U. Unknown fact about me – On very rare occasions, I wish I had become a lawyer.
V. Vegetable – Village Idiot.
W. Worst Habit – When irritated I can be very cruel.
X. X-ray or Ultrasound – Neither.
Y. Fave Food – Chinese. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Z. Zodiac – Leo/Wood Dragon