Lucy tagged me. Here are the questions she asked.

1. If you could change one part of your body, what would it be?
My mid-section. I hate it. I have these skinny little legs. I’m fine with my arms. I like my hair. My dad paid a small fortune for my smile. My mom gave me her fabulous green eyes. Lots of good stuff, but I hate the middle of me.

2. How much money do you think you need to make to be “really comfortable?” (Think annual salary).
First, it totally depends on where I’m living. And for me to be “really comfortable” that would mean living in a town of my choosing…today, that would be San Francisco. So, that said, I’m thinking around $300,000 a year. I know. I can hear the gasps. The thing is, this is dream land and I want to live in a normal sized home/apartment. Thus, $300,000 it is. Don’t you judge me!

3. What is your greatest God-given talent?
Talent…hmm. The truth is that I don’t think I have been exceptionally blessed in any area. I do feel that I have been relatively blessed in many areas. I am pretty smart, I can carry a tune well enough to have been able to get into a couple of choirs, I can bake, etc. Maybe my greatest talent is my ability to do most things I try well enough for me to really enjoy them.

4. Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics?
Summer. We are a family of summer people. I do love a good figure skating competition, but really, we were all about swimming, diving and gymnastics growing up.

5. My twist on the #5 question above – If you could have any career, and you were GUARANTEED success (no tests to get in, no auditions, no worrying about daycare, or money or time) what would you do?
This is a great question. A question I can’t limit to one thing. I would be a singing chef…pastry chef that is. That would be my dream. To bake and sing for a living.

Terri B. tagged me with this set of questions. This one is a bit more difficult because, while I love to read, I have not read a lot of classics and I do not retain a lot of information.

1. If you could host a party with 7 literary characters, who would they be and why?
Fanny Price – Because I think she is fabulous. The picture of propriety, with a head on her shoulders.
Edmund Bertram – Ask him why it took him so long to realize he was in love with Fanny Price.
Elizabeth Bennet – I think we would be great friends.
Mr. Darcy – Really, does this one need an explanation.
Jane Eyre – Same as above.
Edward Rochester – I want to see the appeal.
Harry Potter – Once again, I don’t know that this one needs an explanation.

2. Who is your literary role model?
Elizabeth Bennett. If I could have her wit, without my sharp tongue, that would be fantastic.

3. Which literary house would you like most to live in?
Pemberly.

4. Which literary couple would you like most for parents?
Interestingly, there are very few mothers that I really like in books. I think I would want Mr. Bennett and Margaret March (of Little Women). Hey, I can combine parents, right? Don’t you think they’d make a great couple.

5. Pick 3 literary characters you would like to have as siblings.
Jane Bennett
Hermione Granger
Jasper Hale

6. Who is your favorite literary villain?
I don’t generally like villains. At all. But as far as who I think is a great villain, I would have to say…well, I just can’t. That’s the truth. Generally, I have very little respect for villains, as they are often backhanded and conniving.

7. Name a character that most people dislike, but that you do not. Why do you like them?
I think I’m just that classic romantic. I generally dislike the same characters as everyone else. I can think of a character that most people like that I don’t. I don’t like Fritz Bhaer of Little Women. I just think it’s wrong that he and Jo end up together. But, maybe if I read it again now (not being 16 anymore) I would feel differently.

8. Which minor character deserves a book all to themselves, in your opinion?
Abbe Faria – the imprisoned Italian priest in the Count of Monte Cristo

9. Which character do you identify most with in literature?
Eleanor Dashwood…I’m the one who never thinks she will find love and pretends that nothing hurts her in the romance department.

10. If you could go into a novel, which one would it be and why?
Pride and Prejudice…so I could slap some sense into that Mrs. Bennett. Seriously…she drives me bonkers.

11. Name 3-7 books that you rarely see on people’s favorite book lists, that are high on your own.
The Road from Coorain – Jill Ker Conway
Enchantment – Orson Scott Card
Jemima J – Jane Green (not literature at all…in fact it’s a total beach read with just a bit of trash, but a personal favorite)

12. Which is your least favorite book of those that are considered “classics”?
Wuthering Heights. I hate it. I think it is a miserable little story. Horrible. Well, I guess I see a little value in it, but really, I think it’s lame.

Rather than tag anyone, I’d love it if, should you want to participate, you leave a comment and let me (and anyone else out there) know that you have done one of these. And, with Lucy’s, I’m supposed to come up with new questions, but I LOVED her questions…so, I’m leaving them as they are!