Lit*er*al*ly, Ororo #47
Questions #586-600
Welcome to the 47th issue of Lit*er*al*ly, Ororo, a weekly blog by me, Ororo Munroe, speaking my truth inspired by the 3000 Questions About Me journal. I mean, it’s a personal blog. And since I’ll be sharing all my personal bits, why not do so in the not-so-typical form of questions? Thanks for reading. Participation is encouraged.
586. Do you read other people’s body language, and if so, does it help?
I do and it determines whether or not I’m going to approach or avoid the person. I’m an introvert by nature and find myself being an observer. Now that I’m back in Writing Mode, I’ve become even more of a people watcher. Makes for interesting characters.
587. What is your favorite “takeout” place?
Flowerchild or True Food Kitchen. The first couple weeks I moved into my new place, I found myself getting takeout from one of these places. Mostly Flowerchild. I love their Mother Earth bowl with salmon and their tasty lemon avocado dressing.
588. How do you like your eggs?
Scrambled. Because sometimes I like mixing green onions, mushrooms and greens in it. Like an omelet.
589. What do you lose track of, besides time?
Earplugs. I started needing them when Sis and I shared a condo together and I could hear my neighbor in the next building over—behind closed windows and doors--cough her lungs out. It bugged THE SHIT out of me and honestly and I’m glad I didn’t live next door to her because I would’ve had to dial 1-800-JohnWick and take a hit out on this woman. The cough sounded chronic, and I always wonder if people get tired of constantly coughing.
It’s a pet peeve of mine, obvi, but I digress. I started using earplugs at the condo and have been using them ever since. Sometimes they fall out if I don’t tuck them in my ears just right (they’re the squishy ones) and by the time I wake up, I sometimes find one on the floor or underneath my body.
590. What strange thing would you like to happen at your funeral to make people laugh?
I don’t plan to have a typical funeral ceremony. I want my body to be given back to the earth (ashes to ashes and all that shit, y’know?), so I’ve been looking into this place. I think it would be hilare if someone let a fart rip. In the forest. Because then it would be like one of those does-a-bear-fart-in-the-woods kind of joke.
591. What is your favorite pancake or waffle topping?
A shit-ton of butter and throw-me-a-life-preserver-drowning in pure maple syrup. I get my sweet tooth from my Dad, who likes to drown his pancakes and waffles, too. With the waffles, if the squares are big enough, he’ll fill each one with syrup. LOL. That’s not me, but close.
592. What is your favorite decorative piece or artwork that you own?
My vintage black Royal typewriter. One of the few things I kept that Mr. Ex had bought me. He and I had checked out a small local art gallery in walking distance from our downtown apartment and he’d paid $80 for it. It doesn’t work, but it kicked off my interest in collecting them. So far, it’s my only one due to lack of space.
593. How much money would make you happy?
$10k a month for the rest of my life. I don’t need much. I don’t play the lottery so I’m not sure how this $10K a month would happen…
594. What famous person’s memoir would you love to read?
Jason Statham. That’s my secret boyfriend, my Hall Pass during my marriage.
595. Would you rather give your money or time to a charity?
I’d rather give my time. When I was getting my degree in Nonprofit Management (which I haven’t used), I was volunteering as a weekly mentor for Free Arts and was writing about that experience for one of my courses. If I actually HAD the time—and my current employer offered paid time off for volunteering like my previous employer—I would volunteer with them again.
I was going to start a nonprofit creative writing organization for youth with that nonprofit degree, and Free Arts was the closest organization that fit with my mission because they serve youth as well. I was partnered with another volunteer who’d been doing that for a while, and every Saturday morning for 12 weeks, we did art projects at a group home for girls. She came up with art projects and I came up with creative writing projects.
596. When you die, do you want to be buried or cremated?
See response to #590.
597. Are you a clean or messy person?
I definitely consider myself to be a clean person. Not OCD clean, just clean. I tend to leave my clean clothes in a basket for a while, but I got that Spring Cleaning gene from my mom. When I lived with Mr. Ex, he’d been raised by his grandmother. Which meant there was going to be hoarding involved. He was barely a Level One hoarder, but it drove me nuts that he would keep boxes, newspapers, or tubes “just in case.”
598. Where are you in your life right now? How is this different or similar to how you imagined your life would be at this particular age and stage?1
I’m still working in a Corporate Hell Job. I mentioned this in one of the above questions, but when I got my degree in Nonprofit Management, it was with the intent to start a nonprofit creative writing center for youth. I graduated in 2012 (after NOT being in school for over 17yrs prior) and when I was laid off from my Corp Hell Job the following year (they lost a government contract), I (naively) thought I’d start a nonprofit while living off my severance money. I thought I’d have an organization similar to 826 National, showcasing the amazeballs writing skills of elementary and high school kids in my hometown.
Looking back, I just want to pat my former self on the shoulder and say, “Bless your heart. You get an A for effort, girlfren’”. I maybe-probably should’ve started with a job at a nonprofit first before trying to go out on my own. I didn’t get a chance to intern while I was working on my degree, and therefore didn’t get the opportunity to put the skills I’d learned to work in a real setting. Instead, I just dreamed big and jumped in with both feet.
I got as far as building a board and getting the 501(c)(3) status before letting it go (Oh, that’s right. I’m married. Guess I should focus on that)2. I still believe an organization like/a chapter of 826 needs to be here. Writing stories changes live, no doubt. Especially when your work is published in book format, and you can hold it in your hands. Storytellers will ALWAYS rule the world.
599. What tensions or conflicting priorities are real for you right now? (Don’t judge, just write them down)3
Being a co-caregiver for a parent, but a parent with dementia. And the feeling that your life will never be your own—and be on hold--until they pass.
600. When should you reveal a secret that you promised you wouldn’t reveal?
Uhhhh, that would be the twelfth of never? I mean, like. Never. Hello! Because snitches get stitches, so I’m takin’ that shit to my grave.
It’s your turn. This inquiring mind wants to know your answers to these burning questions.
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This question is not from the 3000 Questions Journal, but from
’s #KOKOROWORK, the 36-day deep journalling adventure that started on 9/9. This was the Day One question.I’m fully aware that a wife can have a business and a marriage. But I had really been laser-focused while getting this degree, spending all my PTO days going to conferences, going through a start-up incubator program, attending a couple of workshops held by 826 National… it was crazy how deeply I had dived into the nonprofit world.
That typewriter is legit. Definite centerpiece.
OK, I LOVE your typewriter! I have several, all in various states, but the one I REALLY want is an Olivetti Valentine in red!
That Flowerchild Mother Earth bowl with salmon and tasty lemon avocado dressing sounds divine!
And a comedy funeral in the woods at the Flagstaff place??? People would die laughing. Seriously, they'd have so much fun. Acting out hilare sketches from your life, improv scenes of you with various saints & sinners, retellings of your fave jokes, an Ororo silly trivia panel with famed standups... Lordy, it could be a whole new twist on the celebration of life?