Two new quizzes: Book Quiz and Country Quiz. The results?

• You're The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. Though you're interested in war, what you really want to know is what causes war. You're out to expose imperialism, militarism, and nationalism for what they really are. Nevertheless, you're always living in the past and have a hard time dealing with what's going on today. You're also far more focused on Europe than anywhere else in the world. A fitting motto for you might be "Guns do kill, but so can diplomats." Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid


• You're Switzerland! While most people think you're sort of stuck up, it's really just that people don't interest you that much.  That's why you'd rather just stay out of everything and be as neutral as possible.  Somewhere in there is an ability to be a psychiatrist because you're so objective, but you might just be too cold for that. Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

Every few months I get this urge to move somewhere rural, somewhere small and quiet. Last year, at about this time, I was obsessed with buying an old church in Nova Scotia. Then I found out how much it could cost to drill a well. That killed off the dream, well that and the fact that when I called to get more info the realtor was drunk as a skunk.

At the moment I am yearning to make a permanent home here, in Brooklyn.

Everyone knows how much I hated NYC the first year I moved here, but what you may not know is how much I've grown to love it. My experiences of the city have slowed down. Gone are the nights spent watching the Lunachicks, drinking at Coney Island High on St. Mark's until 4 am, staggering to Leshko's for breakfast and endless coffee. I'd take an hour-long nap and then zip off to work. Coney Island High is now a grocery store, Leshko's closed for a year, then reopened as a fancy restaurant.

The city is always reinventing itself. Me too.

Instead I spend my time working, tutoring adult literacy students, and learning to be a photographer. I hang out at Film Forum anticipating their newest documentaries. Tomorrow I'm going to see The Lost Boys of Sudan. Last year it was My Architect and Power Trip. The summer before it was War Photographer, which moved me so much I ran off and bought a camera.

I feel nourished here, as a curious person, and as an artist. They should do a commercial for NYC... starring me!

This is the year I *must* get my driver's license. Why?

Road trips, of course:

• Miracle Cross Garden and Trailer Park: Prattville, Alabama


• Holy Land USA: Bedford, Virginia. Don't confuse with this other Holy Land, which by the way is what started this whole thing...


• Golgotha Biblical Mini Golf: Cave City, Kentucky


• The Holy Land Experience^TM: Orlando, Florida


• Enchanted Forest: Ellicott City, Maryland.... just for a change of pace...

Do you see a theme here? I seem to have forgotten to travel in the southern hemisphere. Well, I'll have to remedy that! But first, off for a year of Russian immersion...

[the map has gone away...]

Hooray. Another friday five:

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done? Gosh, people at work read this blog! Okay, okay. Daring. Hmmmmmm.... Well, I volunteered first for critique in my colour darkroom class in December. That was pretty scary. I recently did an interview with the CBC; also scary. I went to the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjarvi, by myself. I have a beautiful, large Celtic tattoo on my back - a 5 hour process, but well worth it. About 7 1/2 years ago I moved to NYC, alone. For a brief time I was into body piercing - the experience was at once joyful, painful, and frightening. (If you didn't get to see them you'll just have to guess: the exact geography lives on only in your imagination). I've been in love. That's probably the most daring thing I've ever done.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of? Move to Siberia for a year to learn Russian; travel around Russia taking photos of vanishing villages.

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle) - I'd have to say I'm about an "8" ... is that high?

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky? I learned that being scared won't stop me from following my dreams.

5. ... and what's the worst? The worst part is the vulnerability and the fear.