Interview meme

[rhu]

saxikath asks:

1. What's your favorite sort of puzzle, and why?
I like puzzles that make me laugh, or at least smile, and I like puzzles that play with form as well as content. My all-time favorite crossword puzzle is Patrick Merrill's "Ten Things...." In terms of traditional puzzle classifications, I'm quite fond of cryptics.

2. What do you think is most important for non-Jews like me to understand about Judaism?
That despite superficial similarities with Christianity, it's actually a quite different religious system: the emphasis is on deeds more than faith or prayer; these deeds include religiously influenced ways of doing even the most mundane and seemingly non-religious acts; and one performs these deeds motivated by love for God rather than to qualify for entrance into the next world.

3. What's your favorite G&S character, and why?
I think Don Alhambra del Bolero would be a lot of fun to play, with Roderic a close second. I admire Iolanthe's bravery and the strength of her love; she is (ironically) one of the most human characters Gilbert wrote. (And although you didn't ask this, I'll add that the show I most want to stage direct is Sorcerer; the show I most want to music direct is Gondoliers; and the show I most want to direct an animated film version of is Ruddigore.)

4. What's your idea of a great breakfast?
A mushroom, cheese, and scallion omelette; potato pancakes; stewed tomatoes; english muffins with orange marmalade; a glass of grapefruit-pineappple juice; and the Sunday Times.

5. Where would you most like to go on vacation, expenses and such notwithstanding?
I'll cheat and say a round-the-world trip, specifically: Great Britain, Israel, and Australia/New Zealand. We honeymooned in Great Britain; it's a delightful place and I'd love to go back. We really didn't get enough time in Edinburgh or Cardiff. We haven't been to Israel since '96; I would love to take the kids and show them around, and we have friends who have moved there whom I'd live to visit. I've never been to Australia or New Zealand and would love to see them; I have cousins in Australia whom I haven't seen since the big family reunion in the 1980s.

As I understand the rules, if any of you wants me to ask you five things, you're supposed to reply here.

Comments

[ricedog.livejournal.com]

New Zealand!

Twelve of us, several of whom you know, just got back from two weeks in New Zealand. It was very nice. We went on a whirlwind guided tour of the entire country, which was a bit exhausting.