Flowers in the Attic! OMG. That is all kinds of craziness that I haven't thought about in years. Thankfully I balanced that out with a lot of Anne of Green Gables😂 I can't think of a book I hid from my parents because I was always reading and they never were so they pretty much ignored it. I doubt it would have occurred to them that I could find something inappropriate in a book so I'm thankful for that.
I love "the more I think the less I know"! I will carry this with me. I also love Anne's audacious goal of enlightenment. Way to declare it Anne! Lead the way, we are right behind you.
It sounds like we were raised by the same parents! And I, too, despite having read it multiple times, had forgotten about Flowers. So much so, I had to google a summary...and WHOA...we were reading that, as kids?!
My delightful meditation teacher says that any human being who is meditating and even just has the GOAL of enlightenment is already 99.9% of the way there compared to to all the living beings in the universe. I love that idea. We are SO CLOSE.
One thing that captured me attention, then my heart, then my funny bone, was Anne's comment about the biography of Orwell and Churchill. I love that book and I've recommended it to a few people, so I sorta zeroed in when Anne mentioned it, and then I felt a sense of kindred (heart) because we're book buddies, which is a special bond. But then I had to laugh when Anne said she maybe it isn't that fascinating because she hasn't finished it yet :)
Now, the other questions.
Do I have a uniform? I think so. It's shorts & a t-shirt in the summer, jeans and a t-shirt in the winter. The constant is the t-shirt. I love a good soft t-shirt, especially if there's something funny written on the front.
Am I able to quiet my mind? Yes. It usually happens naturally when I do yoga. Other times it takes some work, but I can usually make it happen. But sometimes my mind is just noisy and there's not much I can do about it, even if I'm doing yoga.
Singing to animals? Hell yes! I sing to our dog, Mortimer. I also sing about Mortimer. I'm not a singer or a song writer, but I make up silly jingles, and at this point there are enough of them for a concept album our dog. Christina calls the concept album, which will probably never be produced, "Songs in the Key of Mortimer."
Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Michael! And I love that that book tickled your funny bone! It's interesting the different relationships we can have to the same thing!
Your uniform sounds a lot like mine! Except in the summer, for me, it's skirts. And there is never anything remotely funny on mine. They're plain black.
I'm envious of your yoga mind!
We must all sing to our babies on the next ConFab call!! I have songs. Anne has songs! You have songs! I'm guessing Alex has songs, as well. Also: When Anne sees your comment, I'm pretty sure she's going to ask you to join her dog song group!!
I finally finished the book, Michael! I embarrassed myself into it, actually, admitting in this post that it was taking me forever. According to my Goodreads, I started it last April. I usually polish off a book in a week.
In any case I had forgotten that it was YOU who recommended. Thank you for that. It really WAS a great read.
And you'll be getting a note from me soon about this pet-singing thing...
This was so beautifully enjoyable to read & settling to my nervous system. The giggles, the book recs, the quotes I’m writing down in my journal. Love this.
Loved this interview! I actually loved the quote toward the beginning that has stuck with Anne recently. It really hit something for me, and may be in a future essay about "mirrors." OooOOoh...
Always love Anne's style and personality over words! I'd love to meet her someday!
Singing to pets is a huge part of my identity. A special talent of mine is rewriting songs to be about my pets. When I had a Twitter years ago- I would take song requests and provide the written parody.
I do that, too! Especially as my babies sometimes share names with songs. So often, the lyrics are tragic so I make them happy. Whee. I wish I'd followed you on Twitter. That sounds wonderful!
I love this book! I’m off to his temple this week for his Thanksgiving Feast. I agree with the cover of the book….”I also love Michael Alan Singer's "The Untethered Soul," but the cover features a cheeseball photo of a wild horse running on the beach, which makes it super embarrassing to read on the subway.”
My uniform now is quite different from my former life prior to RA. Back then I was head to feet in office attire (although I often got in trouble because my skirts were a tad too short - hey I had very long legs back then! But every day dresses, suits and always heels. From pumps to boots always my own style
NOW? Anything from yoga pants to pajamas! I have become a sloth!! When it hurts to get dressed the more comfort I need from clothing!
I loved how she described the -12 step people.
Any woman who is as down to earth as Amran is okay in my book!
I’m glad I didn’t get that job as professor way back then when I made to the third interview. We wouldn’t have moved to the FL Keys where we lived on a houseboat for a while and then on an offshore off the grid Island gotten to only by boat. That decade was amazing and led me where I am today.
I was expecting a very Type A interview in the beginning, but I was pleasantly surprised. And I was obsessed with Virginia Andrews as a kid. I read every novel I could get my hands on. Dawn was my personal favourite. I even did a monologue from it for an acting exam!
I'm so glad you read the whole interview and enjoyed it! Anne's answers are pretty delightful and wise! Meanwhile: I have this clear memory of doing an elaborate school report on FITA: I think it included pictures I'd drawn and maybe writings from a character's perspective, all woven into a handmade book. But I just read the Wikipedia summary of the book as a refresher and I'm thinking, did I really do an elaborate school report on this for elementary school or possibly, at best, early junior high?? I'm going to have to search my parents' basement. They saved a lot of stuff!
I did a handmade book of poetry in grade school - so not as far fetched as you think- illustrations, a couple of my own poems S well- had not thought of that book in ages!!!
I really did! I'm glad I didn't stop reading, it was a really interesting article, and defo got me thinking about Virginia Andrews for the first time in awhile! I hadn't realised there had been so many screen adaptions of the books! I came across them on Paramount + I think it was, and I'm sorry, but I have to admit it - I've saved them in my watch playlist - for the nostalgia!
Haha! I was obsessed with the Cutler (Dawn) series as a kid. I took pretty much every single one Virginia Andrews wrote out of the library, then started collecting them, then when she passed and they started putting them out as V. C. Andrews is when it got REALLY bad, because they basically repeated the same formula with different characters, always around a theme, so like, with Dawn, you then had Secrets of the Morning, Twilight's Child, Midnight Whispers, etc. (I had to Google them to remember what came after Secrets, lol). Yep, they were my guilty pleasure!
Great interview! I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Anne in person just yesterday and I can confirm she's as lovely as her responses suggest.
Thank you, Amran! And lucky you!! I hope to do the same one day soon-ish!
Amran it was so fun to meet you! Please move to NYC!
Ditto! I would, but then I'd need to get a real job again. :-)
Flowers in the Attic! OMG. That is all kinds of craziness that I haven't thought about in years. Thankfully I balanced that out with a lot of Anne of Green Gables😂 I can't think of a book I hid from my parents because I was always reading and they never were so they pretty much ignored it. I doubt it would have occurred to them that I could find something inappropriate in a book so I'm thankful for that.
I love "the more I think the less I know"! I will carry this with me. I also love Anne's audacious goal of enlightenment. Way to declare it Anne! Lead the way, we are right behind you.
It sounds like we were raised by the same parents! And I, too, despite having read it multiple times, had forgotten about Flowers. So much so, I had to google a summary...and WHOA...we were reading that, as kids?!
Yes, I agree: I'm following, Anne!
My delightful meditation teacher says that any human being who is meditating and even just has the GOAL of enlightenment is already 99.9% of the way there compared to to all the living beings in the universe. I love that idea. We are SO CLOSE.
Love this Anne! I agree, we are closer than we think both individually and collectively.
Loved this, Jane!
One thing that captured me attention, then my heart, then my funny bone, was Anne's comment about the biography of Orwell and Churchill. I love that book and I've recommended it to a few people, so I sorta zeroed in when Anne mentioned it, and then I felt a sense of kindred (heart) because we're book buddies, which is a special bond. But then I had to laugh when Anne said she maybe it isn't that fascinating because she hasn't finished it yet :)
Now, the other questions.
Do I have a uniform? I think so. It's shorts & a t-shirt in the summer, jeans and a t-shirt in the winter. The constant is the t-shirt. I love a good soft t-shirt, especially if there's something funny written on the front.
Am I able to quiet my mind? Yes. It usually happens naturally when I do yoga. Other times it takes some work, but I can usually make it happen. But sometimes my mind is just noisy and there's not much I can do about it, even if I'm doing yoga.
Singing to animals? Hell yes! I sing to our dog, Mortimer. I also sing about Mortimer. I'm not a singer or a song writer, but I make up silly jingles, and at this point there are enough of them for a concept album our dog. Christina calls the concept album, which will probably never be produced, "Songs in the Key of Mortimer."
Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Michael! And I love that that book tickled your funny bone! It's interesting the different relationships we can have to the same thing!
Your uniform sounds a lot like mine! Except in the summer, for me, it's skirts. And there is never anything remotely funny on mine. They're plain black.
I'm envious of your yoga mind!
We must all sing to our babies on the next ConFab call!! I have songs. Anne has songs! You have songs! I'm guessing Alex has songs, as well. Also: When Anne sees your comment, I'm pretty sure she's going to ask you to join her dog song group!!
Yep!
I finally finished the book, Michael! I embarrassed myself into it, actually, admitting in this post that it was taking me forever. According to my Goodreads, I started it last April. I usually polish off a book in a week.
In any case I had forgotten that it was YOU who recommended. Thank you for that. It really WAS a great read.
And you'll be getting a note from me soon about this pet-singing thing...
This is hilarious. It’s like you solved a low-stakes literary mystery.
Anne rules the known universe. At least, I'm pretty sure she does.
Yes, indeed, she does!
Just FYI, my dog reports I've been completely insufferable ever since I read B.A.'s comment...
I love the effect “Call of the Wild” had on her as an eight year old. I loved that book.
I know, it's pretty wonderful! And explains a lot about Anne!
Haha!
This was so beautifully enjoyable to read & settling to my nervous system. The giggles, the book recs, the quotes I’m writing down in my journal. Love this.
Oh, I'm so glad, Zoe. And I love that it was settling to your nervous system!! We all need more of that, I think!!
I would absolutely agree with you on that.
Yay thank you Zoe!
Btw enlightenment is my goal too 😉 I’m calling it “permanent coherence”
LOVE THIS!
You’re welcome, Anne! & thank you!
Never thought to find such wisdom with so much lightness. Witty! I enjoyed it a lot. BTW, I’m a fan of uniforms. , too.
Oh, that's beautifully put, Anis: wisdom with lightness. Yes! Glad you enjoyed it. And yes to uniforms!
Loved this interview! I actually loved the quote toward the beginning that has stuck with Anne recently. It really hit something for me, and may be in a future essay about "mirrors." OooOOoh...
Always love Anne's style and personality over words! I'd love to meet her someday!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Cierra! I want to meet Anne in person some day, too!
THIS WILL DEFINITELY HAPPEN
I'd like to point out that the horse on the cover of The Untethered Soul is actually a unicorn! Even more embarrassing, but it's a great book!
WHAT????
Okay I am going to take another look the book on my shelf....
Oooooh noooos! You're right Marjorie. It's on the small side, but the horse for sure has a horn. OH SHIT!!!
Singing to pets is a huge part of my identity. A special talent of mine is rewriting songs to be about my pets. When I had a Twitter years ago- I would take song requests and provide the written parody.
I do that, too! Especially as my babies sometimes share names with songs. So often, the lyrics are tragic so I make them happy. Whee. I wish I'd followed you on Twitter. That sounds wonderful!
PET SINGERS UNITE!!!
I love this book! I’m off to his temple this week for his Thanksgiving Feast. I agree with the cover of the book….”I also love Michael Alan Singer's "The Untethered Soul," but the cover features a cheeseball photo of a wild horse running on the beach, which makes it super embarrassing to read on the subway.”
I hope you have a wonderful time!
And that same cringey pony is galloping across the cover of his 2022 followup, "Living Untethered"!
She seems like a very kind Real Person!
My uniform now is quite different from my former life prior to RA. Back then I was head to feet in office attire (although I often got in trouble because my skirts were a tad too short - hey I had very long legs back then! But every day dresses, suits and always heels. From pumps to boots always my own style
NOW? Anything from yoga pants to pajamas! I have become a sloth!! When it hurts to get dressed the more comfort I need from clothing!
I loved how she described the -12 step people.
Any woman who is as down to earth as Amran is okay in my book!
I would love to hang with her! ❤️
Anne is Very Kind! I want to hang with her, too! Sending much love for all the challenges you face. It's not easy. xx
Blessings to you for your kindness… some days are decent some days not so much - but they are days nonetheless!!
✌🏻 what a wonderful person you are! 🤗
We should all invite her to a party!! And then we can all hang!!
Friends of Amran unite!
Love this, thank you.
Oh, I'm so glad!
I’m glad I didn’t get that job as professor way back then when I made to the third interview. We wouldn’t have moved to the FL Keys where we lived on a houseboat for a while and then on an offshore off the grid Island gotten to only by boat. That decade was amazing and led me where I am today.
Oh, Bette, that sounds like an incredible life! I'm glad you didn't get the job either!!
I was expecting a very Type A interview in the beginning, but I was pleasantly surprised. And I was obsessed with Virginia Andrews as a kid. I read every novel I could get my hands on. Dawn was my personal favourite. I even did a monologue from it for an acting exam!
I'm so glad you read the whole interview and enjoyed it! Anne's answers are pretty delightful and wise! Meanwhile: I have this clear memory of doing an elaborate school report on FITA: I think it included pictures I'd drawn and maybe writings from a character's perspective, all woven into a handmade book. But I just read the Wikipedia summary of the book as a refresher and I'm thinking, did I really do an elaborate school report on this for elementary school or possibly, at best, early junior high?? I'm going to have to search my parents' basement. They saved a lot of stuff!
I did a handmade book of poetry in grade school - so not as far fetched as you think- illustrations, a couple of my own poems S well- had not thought of that book in ages!!!
I really did! I'm glad I didn't stop reading, it was a really interesting article, and defo got me thinking about Virginia Andrews for the first time in awhile! I hadn't realised there had been so many screen adaptions of the books! I came across them on Paramount + I think it was, and I'm sorry, but I have to admit it - I've saved them in my watch playlist - for the nostalgia!
I've never tried another one of her novels, Erica. It's hard to imagine topping FITA. Maybe I'll try reading Dawn!
Haha! I was obsessed with the Cutler (Dawn) series as a kid. I took pretty much every single one Virginia Andrews wrote out of the library, then started collecting them, then when she passed and they started putting them out as V. C. Andrews is when it got REALLY bad, because they basically repeated the same formula with different characters, always around a theme, so like, with Dawn, you then had Secrets of the Morning, Twilight's Child, Midnight Whispers, etc. (I had to Google them to remember what came after Secrets, lol). Yep, they were my guilty pleasure!
Love Anne and this interview. Thanks, Jane.
So happy you enjoyed it, Jolene!