The Proust Questionnaire was not invented by Marcel Proust, but it was a much loved game by the French author and many of his contemporaries. The idea behind the questionnaire is that the answers are supposed to reveal the respondent's "true" personality.
I'm going to try doing this now, then again in a few years so I can see what changed. It should be fun!
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What is your dream of happiness?
Exploring places - all kinds of places, all by myself. Getting a job at a graphic design studio and making posters and prints for musicians and concert venues, or running a magazine that makes interesting things available to as many people as possible. Falling in love. Walking on perfect spring and fall Technicolor afternoons.
What is your idea of misery?
Accounting.
Where would you like to live?
Someplace with lots of people and energy. A city preferably? Chicago is nice, but I haven't been to nearly enough places to be able to answer this properly. Right now, Chicago, or maybe London.
What qualities do you admire most in a man?
Manual dexterity; that sounds stupid, but I really admire people that can do things with their hands. Intelligence. Charm. Good manners. Convictions. Empathy. Curiosity. Competence. Mystery. A peculiar sort of energy and magnetism that is difficult to describe in words but which seems to result in part from a combination of the aforementioned qualities plus a little something extra.
What qualities do you admire most in a woman?
Same as above.
What is your chief characteristic?
People usualy say intelligence, so I suppose we'll go with that, though I don't think I'm nearly as smart as people make me out to be.
What is your principal fault?
Arrogance. Laziness. Procrastination. A tendency to shoot off my mouth when I should know better. Being too retiring. Swearing too much. Also, I overshare.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Late-night trips to Walmart.
What faults in others are you most tolerant of?
Being an asshole. Being a smartass. Promiscuity. Alcoholism and drug use. Flirting too much.
What do you value most about your friends?
They're smart and funny and sexy and interesting. Duh.
What characteristic do you dislike most in others?
Stupidity.
What characteristic do you dislike most in yourself?
I'm kind of a bitch and sometimes I don't know when to rein it in.
What is your favourite virtue?
Kindness, as long as it isn't saccharine.
What is your favourite occupation?
I'm gonna go with journalism, but I mean real journalism, not that school-concert-review bullshit.
What would you like to be?
A spy in the 1940s French Resistance. Failing that? Someone who uses her talents and accepts her limits.
What is your favourite colour?
Green, closely followed by everything except yellow.
What is your favourite flower?
Marigolds. Croci. Narcissi. Daffodils.
What is your favourite bird?
Sparrows.
What historical figure do you admire the most?
FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Kurt Vonnegut, though I'm not convinced he's historical quite yet. Anybody who did something noble and didn't pretend to be something he or she wasn't.
What character in history do you most dislike?
James Watson, closely followed by Frances Crick. Also anybody held up as a paragon who is revealed, upon closer examination, to be kind of a douchebag.
Who are your favourite prose authors?
Dorothy Sayers, Kurt Vonnegut, Jane Austen, Wilkie Collins, Joseph Heller, Neil Gaiman, Shakespeare of course though I'm not convinced the plays couldn't fall under poetry as well, and a number of others. And I'm throwing Roger Ebert in as well.
Who are your favourite poets?
Robert Pinsky, Bob Dylan, Seamus Heaney. I haven't read enough poetry to be able to answer this properly, though. I'm really much more of a prose girl.
Who are your favourite heroes in fiction?
The Doctor. John Constantine. Spike. Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane. Elizabeth Bennet. Yossarian. Jonathan Creek. Jake and Elwood Blues. Beatrice and Benedick.
Who are your heroes in real life?
My mom. Jane Goodall. Clea Koff. Anybody who sees a difficult or challenging task and runs into it head-on, knowing the consequences and acting anyway.
Who is your favourite painter?
Edward Hopper. Rembrandt. Anybody that can capture emotion.
Who is your favourite musician?
I absolutely cannot choose one, or even a few. It depends on too many factors.
What is your favourite food?
My mom's lentil soup.
What is your favourite drink?
Non-alcoholic...tea, limeade, orange juice or water.
Alcoholic...I'm still figuring that out, but I like screwdrivers and rum and rum-containing mixed drinks. Mojitos are good. I like some beer, but not cheap beer or really strong stuff.
What are your favourite names?
Some Greek, some Irish, some Welsh, some English. They are many and varied and are frequently associated with people I am or were fond of.
What is it you most dislike?
Stupidity, closely followed by wilful ignorance, closely followed by ignorance.
What natural talent would you most like to possess?
Remember that magnetism I mentioned earlier? It's more of a quality than a talent, but I really wish I had it. Failing that, some sort of musical talent.
How do you want to die?
Quickly and quietly.
What is your current state of mind?
At the moment? Calm and impatient and distracted all at once.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment?
Still working on this one.
What is your motto?
Love all, trust few, do harm to none.
(I sort of ripped it off.)
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