The Contestants - Bios

[Harry R]

.
~~Alasdair
~~"To infinity, and beyond the corner store by the pub"

~~



Real name:
Alasdair

Location:
near Oxford, UK.

Sex:
Male

Age:
29

Occupation:
hmmm, I will answer that question in binary code: 01100100 10101110 01011011 10100100 11010011.

My favourite poem is:
Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen

My earliest memory is:
feeling vaguely hungover this morning

My favourite place is:
just there, past the trees and to the right of the pyramid

My pets' names are:
I don't name my pets, it makes it harder at Xmas when food is scarce

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris although for the under fives I do recommend Spot Goes to the Farm

The most recent album I bought was:
Probably Now that's what I call Morris Dancing

My favourite painting is:
The background-foreground contrast of Rembrandt's The Denial of Peter just beats off the amazing lighting in Vermeer's The Kitchen Maid. There, did I fake culture?

The dish I am best at cooking is:
a Dal curry.

I am afraid of:
permed mullets

My most embarrassing possession is:
it used to be an early Bryan Adam's CD but I'm not sure now

My most unusual talent is:
always being completely serious

My favourite drink is:
a Macallan 18 year-old whisky

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
A stereo (assuming a boat isn't allowed)

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Relaxing in the sunshine with a glass of champagne and strawberries


My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
a snuggle on the sofa while enjoying some homemade split pea soup, freshly baked bread and a good movie

My favourite bird is:
Beyonce, although Angelina Jolie comes a close second (note to editor: don't ask birdwatchers to interview)

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is: If you could be a make of carpet, which one would you be?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is: Don't ask such a silly question.

[Harry R]

.
~~Amaranthus
~~"That's screw-top poetics."

~~
~~click to see full image


Schooled at Berkeley, I now live in Silicon Valley. By day I'm an engineer, designing nuclear power plants (thus, one eye - unlike our Hazmat friend). By night I sing with a semi-professional chorus and do some solo work. The inability to find a piece of music I wanted to sing led me to try writing poetry.

Real name:
Carol

Location:
San Jose

Sex:
Female

Occupation:
Engineer

Age:
42

My earliest memory is:
Singing “Downtown” at the top of my lungs on the swingset

My favourite place is:
I can’t chose globally, so I’ll pick the lounge chair in my garden.

My pets' names are:
Goldie, the bear and Jackson, the moose

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Willa Cather’s 'My Antonia'

My favourite non-poetry website is:
http://zhongwen.com/ which describes the geneology of Chinese Characters (which also applies to Japanese) as well as pronunciation and useage (which doesn’t)

The most recent album I bought was:
Bach’s B Minor Mass, by the Baroque Choral Guild, Sanford Dole conducting and featuring – me.

My favourite painting is:
El Greco, “The Adoration of the Shepherds”

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Barbequed Turkey brined with Oranges, Ginger and Star Anise

I am afraid of:
bees

My favourite drink is:
Trentadue’s Merlot Port

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
a backyard party with friends

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
downhill skiing – but inactivity by a roaring fire with a book and pot of tea equally a favorite

My favourite bird is:
any of the several hummingbirds that frequent the morning glories in my back yard

The question I think Harry should have incuded on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
What’s your favorite flower?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have incuded on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Daffodils

[Harry R]

.
~~Andrea345
~~"Well, this is as good a hair day as it ever gets."

~~
~~click to see full image


I’m not dead yet. I haven’t killed anyone - yet. I consider those my two primary achievements in life. I live in Seattle. I am taking a summer break from the World’s Longest Remodel, after which, I gut the kitchen. I love poetry because of “One must have a mind of winter...”

Real name:
Andrea

Location:
Seattle

Sex:
I’m a gurl, dammit

Age:
Old enough, thank you

Occupation:
Network Systems engineer

My favourite poem is:
too many to list

My earliest memory is:
it involves bear poop & we don’t really want to go there

My favourite place is:
a cataract in a gorge up the Dosewallips

My pets' names are:
*not stated for security reasons – this is a common question used to recover lost & forgotten passwords. Yes, I’m paranoid.*

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels

My favourite non-poetry website is:
http://www.wordsmyth.net/

The most recent album I bought was:
“Great Days: The John Prine Anthology”

My favourite painting is:
really too many to list & many I’ve loved have been unnamed, just viewed in passing somewhere

The dish I am best at cooking is:
red wine or coffee

I am afraid of:
dropping dead at my desk

My most embarrassing possession is:
some of the paintings I’ve painted

My most unusual talent is:
making an “owl hoot” by curling my tongue

My favourite drink is:
Sapphire martini with 3 olives

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
paint box

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
painting outdoors

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
painting or writing indoors

My favourite bird is:
crow

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is: I’d never call Harry a fool b/c I have to suck up to him these days. But, one interesting question which could have been asked of me & wasn’t is: “If you had the opportunity to glaze 800 tiles, would you? Shipping is included.”

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is: Send me their names. I’m thinking of tile patterns for my kitchen remodel.

[Harry R]

.
~~cookala
~~"paints with words"

~~
~~click to see full image


Eileen began writing poetry in March of 2001, posted her first poem on the internet to PFFA in May 2001. She attended the Poetry Conference at West Chester University in Pennsylvania in June 2003 and took workshops with Tim Steele and Dana Gioia. A few of her favorite poets and writers are Seamus Heaney, Tim Steele, Phillip Larkin, Edna St. Vincent Millay, P.B. Shelley, Shakespeare, L.G. Carroll and J.R.R. Tolkein, though there are many more.

Real name:
Eileen Grobeck

Sex:
Female, the last time I looked

My favourite poem is:
it’s impossible to decide on just one!

My earliest memory is:
whacking our new black and white tv with my glass baby bottle (I was around 2 or 3 years old, I think)

My favourite places are:
ocean beaches and bayous, and arboretums

My pets' names are:
Baby

The one book I think everyone should read is:
“The Holy Bible” and “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” by John Bunyan (and, no, I’m not a religious fanatic in any way!

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Google, or Barnes and Noble

The most recent album I bought was:
Switchfoot, “The Beautiful Let Down”

My favourite painting is:
Edward Robert Hughes, “Midsummer Eve”

The dish I am best at cooking is:
eggplant parmagiana, but I’m really pretty good at cooking most things

I am afraid of:
spiders, guns, dentists, satan and angry moderators

My most unusual talent is:
having a knack for fixing things that are broken

My favourite drink is:
iced cappuchino, margaritas (on the rocks, with salt), mudslides or a good glass of wine (wet and sweet)

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
writing pad and pencil

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
hanging out at the beach

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
staying in bed, watching the snow fall as opposed to being in it

My favourite bird is:
my Nanday Conure, Baby

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
My favorite colors are: the greens and blues of the Caribbean Ocean, and shades of purple

[Harry R]

.
~~Empty Chairs
~~"PFFA Apprentice Contest, anyone?"

~~
~~click to see full image


Real name:
Laura Mary

Location:
England

Age:
16

Occupation:
Student

My favourite poem is:
I have many, but I'm particularly loving "The Laughter of Stafford Girls' High" by Carol Ann Duffy at the moment

My earliest memory is:
The family trip to Applebee when I was one

My favourite place is:
The old graveyard on the Common

My pets' names are:
Tabitha and Dorothy

The one book I think everyone should read is:
"Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli

My favourite non-poetry website is:
www.badgerbadgerbadger.com

The most recent album I bought was:
"Monty Python Sings"

My favourite painting is:
"Two Girls at a Piano," Renoir

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Spaghetti bolognaise

I am afraid of:
Wasps, spiders, heights, parties, people, failure

My most embarrassing possession is:
Some dreadful CDs: Aqua, Steps, Billie Piper, The Spice Girls... ah, youth.

My most unusual talent is:
I can turn my feet back to front

My favourite drink is:
Diet Coke. I live on the stuff.

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
CD player

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Long walks

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Writing poems, of course

My favourite bird is:
"A marvellous bird is the pelican. Its beak can hold more than it's belly can."

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Favourite flavour jelly bean. No jelly beans in this questionnaire at all - disgraceful.

[Harry R]

.
~~Jee Leong
~~"Raiding the inarticulate."

~~
~~click to see full image


I moved from Singapore to the USA in September 03. My poetic touchstones are Philip Larkin and T. S. Eliot. I am reading Hart Crane presently and welcome any exchange on him.

Real name:
Jee Leong Koh

Location:
Bronxville, New York

Sex:
Male

Age:
34

Occupation:
Graduate Student

My favourite poem is:
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

My earliest memory is:
An old-fashioned elevator (the clanging of its grille door!) in the hospital where my mother used to work as a cleaner.

My favourite places are:
Along a river. Any river.

My pets' names are:
I have not kept any pets since I stepped on my pet chick at the age of 7.

The one book I think everyone should read is:
E. M. Foster's 'Howard's End'

My favourite non-poetry website is:
BBC News

The most recent album I bought was:
Pavel Sporcl plays Dvorak and Tchaikovsky.

My favourite painting is:
Gericault's The Raft of The Medusa

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Spaghetti bolognaise (student style)

I am afraid of:
Going down steep slopes

My most unusual talent is:
Juggling

My favourite drink is:
coffee (with sugar and milk)

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
A king-sized bed

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Go for a walk

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Go for a walk

My favourite bird is:
Pelican, at the moment.

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
What do you want to be when you grow up?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Dancer. Hey, wait a minute, I have grown up.

[Harry R]

.
~~mindsweeper
~~"Poetry: the alchemy that transmutes base words to gold nuggets"

~~
~~click to see full image


A half-century young, half-educated, (left school at sixteen) mother of an embarrassingly large number of children living in Cornwall, England, who has recently taken up reading and writing poetry as an antidote to all things housewifely and maternal.


Real name:
Ruth

Location:
Cornwall England

Sex:
Female

Age:
Very nearly fifty - groan

Occupation:
Full time Mum

My favourite poem is:
The Eve of St Agnes

My earliest memory is:
squashing worms with my wellies

My favourite places are:
Lacken Strand, Co Mayo, Ireland

My pets' names are:
last remaining rabbit (Bouffles) has just pegged out - hooray, no more cleaning rabbit hutches.

The one book I think everyone should read is:
King James Bible

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Dictionary.com

The most recent album I bought was:
The World's Greatest Opera Album

My favourite painting is:
the ceiling of the Sistine chapel

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Roast beef and Yorkshire pud

I am afraid of:
rats

My most embarrassing possession is:
nine kids

My most unusual talent is:
standing on my head

My favourite drink is:
A bottle of St Emilion (or two)

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
an inflatable dinghy with an outboard motor or, if that's not allowed, perfume - Coco by Chanel

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
moaning about the lack of a decent summer in England.

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
moaning about the lack of snow in an English winter

My favourite bird is:
barn owl

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
My favourite animal is:

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
the Jaguar standing in the drive

[Harry R]

.
~~rachelb
~~"Some lust after wives; I lust after words."

~~


Rachel Bunting was born and bred in South Jersey, where she still lives with her husband and son. She is co-founder and president of the Quick and Dirty Poets and a dedicated fan of British bands from the 80s. Rachel is currently pursuing a degree in Education, and her favorite poets include Stephen Dunn, Sylvia Plath and e.e. cummings.

Real name:
Rachel Bunting

Location:
South Jersey

Sex:
yes, please

Age:
24

Occupation:
General Office Bitch

My favourite poem is:
“She Being Brand,” e.e. cummings

My earliest memory is:
my Strawberry Shortcake birthday party (age 5)

My favourite places are:
the Pine Barrens

My pets' names are:
Duncan and Cocoa (two cats)

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley

My favourite non-poetry website is:
www.milkandcookies.com

The most recent album I bought was:
Elvis Costello, When I was Cruel

My favourite painting is:
The Café Terrace, Van Gogh

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Macaroni and Cheese

I am afraid of:
the ocean, deep space

My favourite drink is:
Pinot Grigio or Kool-Aid

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
sleeping

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
whitewashing my husband

My favourite bird is:
Cedar Waxwing

[Harry R]

.
~~roetzheimw
~~"Poetry? I thought this was 'Get Rich Writing Software Manuals'!"

~~
~~click to see full image


William resides in San Diego, California with his wife of twenty-five years and three grown children. He recently sold his software company and is now in semi-retirement, spending time on things he never had time for before. Poetry is number one on that list.

Real name:
William Roetzheim

Location:
San Diego, California

Sex:
M

Age:
48

Occupation:
Poet in Training

My favourite poem is:
“The Road Not Taken” (Robert Frost)

My earliest memory is:
Floating, holding my breath in a wading pool (while Mom thought I had drowned)

My favourite places are:
San Diego, California

My pets' names are:
Acuna

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Atlas Shrugged

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Yahoo.com (Yahoo News)

The most recent album I bought was:
Smooth Jazz 98.1, CD Sampler 2004

The dish I am best at cooking is:
I’m best at cooking my goose.

I am afraid of:
The unknown in all variations

My most embarrassing possession is:
A pocket protector

My favourite drink is:
Root Beer

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
A typewriter

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Hiking

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Hiking

My favourite bird is:
Crow

[Harry R]

.
~~Saluda
~~"Poetry is the opiate of the maestros."

~~
~~click to see full image


Location:
Caracas, Venezuela

Occupation:
Teacher of economics, history, and literature

My favourite poem is:
impossible to choose! Can I name three out of many? Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” Bishop’s “Brazil, January 1, 1502,” Lowell’s “For the Union Dead”

My earliest memory is:
hula-hooping at age four

My favourite places are:
changes regularly—current favorites: Plaza de Armas in Havana; the beaches of Los Roques, a chain of tiny islands off the Venezuelan coast; the balcony of my apartment overlooking Caracas

My pets' names are:
Zoe (a male cat—don’t ask)

The one book I think everyone should read is:
The Brothers Karamazov

My favourite non-poetry website is:
CNN Money

The most recent album I bought was:
Cabo Verde by Cesaria Evora

My favourite painting is:
most anything by Cezanne

The dish I am best at cooking is:
a very rich and cheesy lasagne

I am afraid of:
a surfeit of words crowding out necessary spaces of silence

My most embarrassing possession is:
a copy of Sailing Alone Around the Room by Billy Collins (just kidding—I enjoy his work in small doses—but I knew some would appreciate this)

My most unusual talent is:
sneezing loudly enough to wake a small town

My favourite drink is:
Chilean red wine

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
a down pillow

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
reading, drinking iced coffee, on a screened porch

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
reading, drinking hot coffee, by a fire

My favourite bird is:
the pelican, a creature which truly strains credulity (have you ever looked at one closely?)

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Who’s your favorite mod?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Excuse me; what was the question?

[Harry R]

.
~~SarahJF
~~"Penguin in addition"

~~
~~click to see full image


Hello. I’m Sarah, and I live in the country, near apple orchards and cows. I first bought poetry books because old Everyman editions have pretty frontispieces. Then I started to read the contents, and was transfixed. The power and beauty of good poetry can stop me mid-breath.

Real name:
Sarah-Jane

Location:
Herefordshire, England

Sex:
Female

Age:
29

Occupation:
Appalling visual artist, rather better Mother.

My favourite poem is:
It varies by the day, the hour even. And even then I've many favorites. The one that is occupying my mind at the moment is 'Ariel's Song' (William Shakespeare). Then again, there's Graves 'Bird-catcher',and Donne's 'compasses, and 'The Wasteland’, John Clare, and, and. Ack. There's Pound and his 'petals, on a wet, black bough'. I like Hopkins, too. Wyatt, 'They flee from me that sometime did me seek'. If I had to choose, at this specific moment, it would be that. Perhaps. Or, more likely:
Gray goose and gander,
Waft your wings together
Carry the good king's daughter
Over the one strand river.

My earliest memory is:
A green gate

My favourite places are:
The Cats Back
http://members.aol.com/walkingpages/catsback.htm

My pets' names are:
Nope. No pets. Last two pets were called 'Poppy and
Cosmic'. I was at college.

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Whatever they want to read. The important thing is that its reading, and that they enjoy it. I'm not despotic.

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Google (does that count?). If not, then this: http://herefordbus.info/home.php

The most recent album I bought was:
The White Stripes

My favourite painting is:
Again, too many to count. Chagall's floating lovers I adore, as I love the slightly weirder Keith-haring esque textile picture embroidered wholly in dental floss by the lady whose name I can't remember. There's a gorgeous picture of a church in Edinburgh's Museum of Modern art which moves me, too. And then there's the doodlings of monks who weren't actually very good - the marginalia. I love, too, the line drawings of Samuel Palmer, the quirky wheels of Remedios Varo, and, probably, the bestest, Kandinsky. But then theres Modigliani. But they're all modernish, because I'm in a moderney mood at the moment. Bugger. What about the glories of Botticelli. I'm lost in it, to be honest. Please don't ask me to pick one. I can't.

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Bread. I make gorgeous Olive bread. I also make a mean dahl, but better the two should never meet. Oh, and Apple Pie. And cake. I am, actually, a damn good cook. Lousy artist, dunno poet, but good cook for sure.

I am afraid of:
ironing

My most embarrassing possession is:
Aged Knickers. And all the pairs of tights with holes in. And the over-the-knee socks I wore when I was 12, and still wear. And, if it comes to that, the rather elderly blue skirt I wore when I was 12, and still wear (this is scary).

My most unusual talent is:
Hedge-laying. I can lay a hedge, properly, if I so choose (which, by and large, I don't)

My favourite drink is:
White wine.

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
Food.

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Mooching. With wine, a comfortable chair, a garden and a good book.

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Going for a cold, not very
moochy walk with bright clothing, then back to stick my toes on the stove - eating a bowl of home-made Potato soup with fresh bread.

My favourite bird is:
It varies. At the moment it's the 'stupid pheasant' because they are so funny. But, for beauty it has to be the red kite. Perhaps for a kind of stunningness and immediate impact, the barn owl? And woodpeckers rock, as do puffins, as do gannets. Garden birds - the siskin, the blue-tit. Perhaps the answer would have to be the Swift. Huge wing-span. Dreaming kind of birds. Huge wings.

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
'So, Harry, what is your favorite poem'?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
'No idea. I dare Harry to answer'.

High Talk, by W. B. Yeats. Or at least, that seems as good an answer as any - Harry

[Harry R]

.
~~sarahkelley
~~"Poetry is like talking. More people do it than do it well."

~~
~~click to see full image

I was born raised and home-schooled in Savannah GA, USA. I've always loved words and since grade school I've loved the tricks poetry makes words do. My interests beyond poetry include anything to do with books, religion, travel, animals, beads and art.


Real name:
Sarah Susanne Kelley (Shocker, huh?)

Location:
Savannah, Georgia (Soon, anyway)

Sex:
Female

Age:
25

Occupation:
Gypsy.

My favourite poem is:
Don't have one, but I love Auden's The More Loving One.

My earliest memory is:
Bouncing on a rocking horse and staring out the window

My favourite places are:
My bedroom

My pets' names are:
Rip, Percival, Balthazar, Boba Fett

The one book I think everyone should read is:
The Bible and if that's cheating, LOTR

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Emode

The most recent album I bought was:
8 months ago before I came to Egypt, so I don't remember. It was something old by Cake.

My favourite painting is:
The Persistence of Memory or Starry Night. It's a toss up.

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Chicken-pot pie

I am afraid of:
Spiders and men

My most embarrassing possession is:
Timothy Zahn's reply to a fan letter a wrote him.

My most unusual talent is:
Bug-eating

My favourite drink is:
Beer

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
Toothbrush

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Reading

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Beading

My favourite bird is:
Toucan

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Would you rather ask questions or answer them?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Answer them, it takes less brain power.

[Harry R]

.
~~Scotty

~~
~~


Real name:
My nickname of 'Scotty' will do - haven't been called by my real name much since High School - it starts with an 'A'.

Location:
The Lucky Country - Australia

Sex:
Quite a while ago...

Age:
43

Occupation:
Firefighter.

My favourite poem is:
'At Last' by Elizabeth Akers Allen

My earliest memory is:
Playing in some old castle ruins in Scotland when I was about seven years old.

My favourite places are:
Next to my sweetheart.

My pets' names are:
Haven't had one for a while.

The one book I think everyone should read is:
The dictionary

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Giger.com (the guy who designed the 'xenomorph' for the Alien movies)

The most recent album I bought was:
'Thankful' by Kelly Clarkson

My favourite painting is:
Don't really have one.

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Spaghetti Bolognaise

I am afraid of:
Dying alone

My most embarrassing possession is:
Hmmm, some of my clothes maybe...(*grin*)

My most unusual talent is:
Wriggling my ears (that's the clean answer, anyway *smile*)

My favourite drink is:
Root Beer followed closely by Pepsi

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
A photo of my sweetheart

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
A picnic for two.

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Snuggling in front of an open fireplace.

My favourite bird is:
a pair of mated love-birds

[Harry R]

.
~~shadygrove
~~"When power corrupts, poetry cleanses."

~~
~~click to see full image

Shadygrove writes poetry as her hobby because describing a broken heart is easier than healing or understanding one (and understanding heartbreak is how she makes her living). In addition to keeping her job with bates, her summer plans include: asking college kids who cheat on their lovers if they feel guilty, learning to play guitar and drive a car, teaching her toddler to swear, and swimming under a waterfall in Maui.


Real name:
Grove, Shady (would I call myself that if it wasn't my real name? Of course not. )

Location:
immediately adjacent to: I35W, a foundry, a plastics manufacturer, and the Mississippi river .... in Minneapolis.

Sex:
Well, my toddler thinks my name is "milk," if that clears anything up for you.

Age:
A year and a day older than Harry.

Occupation:
This summer? Asking college students about the more sordid details of their love lives..

My favourite poem is:
Louis MacNeice, "Snow"

My earliest memory is:
of a chain link fence in San Diego. I was standing behind it at the airport, watching my father pre-flight his airplane so we could go home. He'd been doing active duty at the Navy base there; I suppose my mom and I had gone along for a vacation. I was about two, I think.

My favourite places are:
anywhere the people I love happen to be.

My pets' names are:
Rio, because she greeted us by crawling into our sleeping bags when she was a half-starved kitty on the banks of the Rio Grande; Ella, because Ella Fitzgerald was on the stereo when we came home from a party and found her in our living room.

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Without getting all canonical about it, I can point out that we'd be money ahead if we could get everyone to read any book at all.

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Here's two, reflecting my other interests: food and sex --http://www.landstewardshipproject.org/, and Annie Sprinkle's site, useful mainly for its links elsewhere.

The most recent album I bought was:
Prince's Musicology

My favourite painting is:
I like Lord Leighton's Flaming June.

The dish I am best at cooking is:
I'm a better baker than a cook -- I can do many lovely things with chocolate and butter and cream.

I am afraid of:
virtually everything.

My most embarrassing possession is:
a vintage copy of "How to Win Friends and Influence People," autographed by Dale Carnegie.

My most unusual talent is:
unprintable in a family forum such as this one?

My favourite drink is:
a Vermouth Cassis.

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
a bathtub.

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
flirting at a barbecue in the front yard, attended by scads of boys with guitars and banjos.

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
tea, cuddling, sleep.

My favourite bird is:
my mother?

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Why on earth would I be so impolitic as to call Harry a fool before the game's even started?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Of course, I wouldn't be so impolitic. I read Dale Carnegie, remember?

[Harry R]

.
~~Steph#2
~~"Poetry is the diffidence of penguins."

~~
~~click to see full image


Hello, I'm Steph#2, you may remember me from such poems as~ 'Wavering, not Drowning' and 'The Charge of the Slight Brigade' I am married to Harriet who works as a day-care nurse. I have three children; Rebecca, Christopher and Andrew. I own what I laughingly call a printing business.

Real name:
Stephen Foot

Location:
Churchdown, Gloucestershire, UK

Sex:
Boy

Age:
Forty Six

Occupation:
Owner/manager of commercial printing company.

My favourite poem is:
I have too many favourite poems to choose just one. The poem I most enjoy reading at the moment is “A Basket of Clams” by Michael Hulse. It resonates with me on so many different levels:

Me and my cousin Toby
are walking across the sands
one hand each on the handle
of a basket full of clams.

We’ve rolled our pants up to the knees
my cousin Toby and me
cos we’ve been down to fetch the clams
from down at the sea.

There’s boats here high up in the dry
and dead fish on the beach
my house is just a short way back
out of the ocean’s reach.

My pa says God’s in everything
he says we’re grains of sand
tickling sharp between God’s toes
or held in God’s great hand.

My pa says God’s in the biggest whale
and the smallest fish that swam
He’s in a dogfish and a cod
and even in a clam.

So me and my cousin Toby
are walking across the sands
one hand each on the handle
of a basket full of clams.

My earliest memory is:
I remember a discussion around the kitchen table when I was just four. The topic was our earliest memories and it occurred to me that I had none that came to mind. This always troubled me until one summer day I was leaning against my father’s broiler shed door with my arms spread out and eyes closed, soaking up the sun. I remember specifically deciding that moment would be my first real memory. Yikes! I’ve never told anyone that before!

My favourite places are:
Under the plane tree in the centre of Twyning village green.

My pets' names are:
Poppy: English Pointer.
Sparkle: tom cat.
The Budgie: budgie.

The one book I think everyone should read is:
Without a shadow of doubt: Ulysses

My favourite non-poetry website is:
Infidels.com (not sure if it’s still going as I’m not participating like I did).

The most recent album I bought was:
The Darkness (tell anyone, Hairy, and I’ll have to kill ya!).

My favourite painting is:
“Femme et au Bord de Lamer” Pablo Picasso.

The dish I am best at cooking is:
Mash potatoes, sausages and gravy.

I am afraid of:
David Dickinson.

My most embarrassing possession is:
A telescopic device for fishing golf balls out of a lake.

My most unusual talent is:
Tickling trout.

My favourite drink is:
Old Speckled Hen.

The one luxury item I would take to a desert island is:
Binoculars.

My favourite activity for a summer's day is:
Riding my Ducati motorcycle.

My favourite activity for a winter's day is:
Walking in the Cotwolds (and fixing my motorcycle)

My favourite bird is:
The male blackbird. “A mad puritan with a banana in his mouth” (I don’t know who said that... it may even come from a poem! )

The question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
Whose round is it?

The answer to the question I think Harry should have included on this questionnaire but didn't because he's a fool is:
It’s Harry’s, I do believe!