Interview

So happy to have been chosen to be interviewed
by Willow, Life at Willow Manor. After I answer Willow's
questions, I invite you all to be interviewed as well.
Instructions at the end of this post will tell you how.


1. I see from your blog that you are a
breast cancer survivor. Which one piece of
advice can you give us from this experience?

I'm taking it for granted that women are looking
after themselves, that no foolish excuses, no
hiding one's head in the sand, is allowed to take place.
Go for that exam, follow through. Believe that you are a
survivor. For ages I've had this favorite phrase. If anyone
tells me I have something awful, I always say,
"I have the good version". Have faith in your good fate.
Is that more than one piece of advice?

2. Why is your blog called "Two Ghosts"?

I had a book of poetry published last year. The title
is "Two Ghosts". There are two short poems in it, connected
by theme. What else...ghosts! The ladies in the poems
are as scary as I could make them. My grandmother, from
the old country, brought a bounty of frightening tales
with her when she came here. Many times her stories had
me sleeping with the lights on. "Two Ghosts"? I like the
sound of it. Better than One.

3. Who is your favorite female actress and why?

It used to be the other one, but now it's definitely
Helen Mirren. She's sublime. Just when she seems to
be acting a hag, with the turn of her head she becomes
beautiful. She always seems transcendent, more than
inhabiting the role, more than anyone could wish for.
Who else could play the "Queen"? And Jane Tennyson?
There's no such thing as seeing "Prime Suspect" too
many times.

4. Apart from your loved ones, what
is your most treasured possession?

A very big box. My apartment. Lock me in and throw
away the key. Everything is here. Books on shelves,
on tables, on my nightstand. Paintings hung the way
they do at the Louvre. One on top of the other up to
the ceiling. My Puja, where I have a very ecumenical
group of saints and symbols that I invoke every morning.
Old pots and pans, two great new ones, that I really
use for the hundreds of recipes I've collected. Music at
all times, Mozart or The Beach Boys. And all
my art things are here in this box.

5. Before blogging, what, if any was

your main mode of personal expression?

Before blogging, like a month ago, (this stuff may be
too tech for me), I was gifted with a love for art and
was extremely privileged to be able to follow the path
of an artist. For the last five years or so I have been
totally wrapped up in the making of collages. What I
love about collage is that I am able to use parts of
other art that I've done, old sketches, pieces of etchings,
prints, cloth, nothing is thrown away, anything that
can be pasted, assembled. I like beauty, I try to make
my art beautiful. In order to take that love for beauty
to a logical place, I became a makeup artist.
I'm just a fool for beauty. I also like to write. Talk?
You can't shut me up.



Here's the instructions:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions.
(I get to pick the questions).

3. You will update your blog with the answers to
the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer
to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed,
you will ask them five questions.