Ten questions that define me

Eleven drawings. More self knowledge. WRITTEN & ILLUSTRATED by PETER MOORE

I WAS ON A PODCAST CALLED STORY SAMURAI, being quizzed by an eleven-year old girl about the progress and regress of my lifetime. Yeah, it was a surprise for me, too. You can read all about that in Part One of this post. Now comes the lightning round, driven by Ten Questions from James Lipton’s Inside the Actors Studio. Naturally I choose to answer in drawings. My life is sketchy, I guess.

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1. What is your favorite word?

adj; kri-ˈpə-skyə-lər

1: of, relating to, or resembling twilight : dim

2: occurring or active during twilight

2. What is your least favorite word?

3. What turns you on?

Defined, here.

“What Is Flow?
Flow is a mental state of complete immersion in an activity. First described by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is characterized by:

• Intense, focused concentration

• A merging of action and awareness

• A loss of self-consciousness

• Distorted sense of time (e.g., hours feel like minutes)

• Intrinsic motivation and deep enjoyment”

4. What turns you off?

Actually, I do kind of like that drawing.

5. What sound do you love?

Here’s ten hours of that, if you like this sort of thing. But it might make you want to pee.

6. What sound do you hate?

Aren’t you glad I didn’t provide a sound link for this one?

7. What is your favorite curse word?

One of the great moments in cinema history.

8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

That is, I would have liked to be skilled enough to attempt this career. As is, I’ll stick with being whimsical.

9. What profession would you not like to do?

*Only because I would be terrible at it. Thank you, cpa/tax preparers who have repeatedly saved my numerically challenged ass!

10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates?

Not sure I’ll ever have the chance to accept God’s apology. But the devil has his fun aspects: pointy tail, horns, eternal hellfire. I’ll bring marshmallows.

“I fall, I stand still... I trudge on. I gain a little... I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory.” —Helen Keller

Last week my new pal Juliane Bergmann, a writing coach and book editor who writes The Unmentionables here on Substack, invited me to a cool event.

Here’s her writeup: “Side Quest – Turn your travel adventures into paid bylines with Dylan Thuras, NYT bestselling author and co-founder of award-winning travel brand, Atlas Obscura. Learn how to write awe-inspiring travel pieces editors will pay for and pitch yours live. Plus: recording & slides, list of paying pubs, pitch guide, and template. $37 with code PM10OFF”

I’ll be there. You?

Here endeth this autobiographical detour on the Road2Elsewhere. Next Wednesday I’ll be back to making fun of everyone else, instead.

But not you, gentle reader! You’re safe, here. I’d be much obliged if you’d hit the like button, or left a wee comment. Anything is better than the yawning silence of deep, lonely space!