Saturday, May 14, 2005

You're It

Ginger tagged me (she didn't think I'd notice!), and I think this meme is fun and potentially interesting. If you get tagged, you're supposed to pick 5 of the following questions (we teachers would call them "sentence starters") to answer, and also tag 3 other bloggers to pick up the meme.

If I could be a scientist...If I could be a farmer...If I could be a musician...If I could be a doctor...If I could be a painter...If I could be a gardener...If I could be a missionary...If I could be a chef...If I could be an architect...If I could be a linguist...If I could be a psychologist...If I could be a librarian...If I could be an athlete...If I could be a lawyer...If I could be an inn-keeper...If I could be a professor...If I could be a writer...If I could be a llama-rider...If I could be a bonnie pirate...If I could be an astronaut...If I could be a world famous blogger...If I could be a justice on any one court in the world...If I could be married to any current famous political figure...


It's hard to pick. At various times in my life I have aspired to be or fantasized about being a scientist, farmer, musician, painter, chef, architect, linguist, lawyer, inn-keeper, professor, writer, and supreme court justice. And who can resist the pull of the sea...

If I could be a farmer, I would have a small organic farm somewhere in New England or Northern California. I would market my fruits and vegetables locally and to CSA's in nearby cities. I would start my mornings by gathering fresh eggs from my hens, I would work outside every day, and I would develop an intuitive feel for the seasons, the weather, and the land. I would hire student interns to lead small tours of the farm to educate people about the value of local and organic produce. I'd go to bed tired and sleep really well.

If I could be an architect, I would design buildings in ways that would make them more in tune with the environment, while saving their owners money. I'd use passive solar for heating and maybe also active solar to provide energy. My houses would be full of sunlight, spacious but not ostentatious. They'd have good, useful kitchens where parents would teach their children how to cook. They'd have window seats for reading. They might have the kind of bedrooms kids dream of, like a tower-room for the young daughter, where she could sleep in a canopy bed. There would be plenty of window seats for sitting & reading books, and the living room would be designed to be about people, not TV or video games. The windows would be perfect for windowboxes and for hanging birdfeeders just outside.

If I could be a writer, I'd write lots of poems, and they'd be really good, not just pretty good, and I'd collect them in a book and publish them. I might write a novel or two, and some personal essays. I would live on after my death because my writing would continue to mean something to people generations later.

If I could be a musician, I'd be one of those musicians who is really good at the nuts & bolts of music. I'd play a bunch of instruments, including drums, guitar, fiddle, and trombone. Because I'd really know music, I would be able to play in many genres. I think I would have started my career playing folk music, garnered some popular praise as "the next Joni Mitchell," but then moved into indie rock with a dash of punk... I'd play some really, really loud concerts that would whip people up and get them moving and blast them awake and then hurl them back out into their lives seeing everything differently (or at least having let off some steam!). But I wouldn't neglect the quieter stuff. I'd also dabble in bluegrass and salsa.

If I could be a justice on any one court in the world, I'd be a justice on the United States Supreme Court. It would be a miracle that I got confirmed at all, because I wouldn't hide my views on things during the early stages of my career. I would be very fair, but I would be controversial and described pejoratively by folks on the right as an "activist judge." The folks on the left would criticize me for not going far enough, because I would write my decisions with a fine-point pen, not a broad brush, and I would refuse to play sleight-of-hand with the law. I'd be famous for asking really tough questions from the bench, to both sides. I would support abortion rights, enforce the separation of church & state in a way that is still respectful of people's right to practice their religion. I would do whatever was possible within the law to protect the environment and to protect the right of poor people to environmental justice (not bearing an unfair portion of our country's pollution burden). I'd support equality and civil rights, trying to do so in a way that recognizes the weight of history and the continuing reality of racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination, without creating new injustices. I'd support the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry.

This post alone probably killed my chances of ever becoming a justice, LOL!

There you go. Sort of a manifesto, isn't it? Whom to tag? That is the question. Corie, Nicole, and Jenny, you're it, but I'd also love to hear the if I were's of the good folks at a schoolyard blog, up the down staircase, The Education Wonks, Mr. Babylon, Assorted Stuff, and anyone else who wants to give it a shot. So, if you think this meme is interesting, consider yourself tagged!

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