OK, I bit.
maevele gave me five words. If you want to give me five words, too, you can do so below.
1. Twins!With an exclamation point, for sure! Whenever anyone asks, I say that "I was planning for one, but I won the bonus round." Twins are a good reminder that you can only plan for so much, and it pays to be flexible. Right now, I am really pleased at the idea that they will never be lonely, and they will always have a playmate their age. It seems to have the potential to help balance out the isolating effects of the (semi-)nuclear family and our non-kid-oriented society. They will be each other's peers. It's also much fun to have such very different and individual daughters, growing up together.
2. PervertI waver on this one. I mean, if you talk to me, obviously I am one. But I think it was Steven who jokingly called me "post-leather" the other day, and he has a point. I may be a pervert, but I am not sure I am a member of "the leather community" any more. Don't get me wrong, they throw some nice parties and I'd like to meet their tailor. I do what I do, I am skilled at navigating issues of negotiation and consent, the images that delight me and turn me on are weird. Even sometimes to other perverts. Sometimes I think it's the laughing. But it's probably really the laughing combined with the hitting and poking and biting and...One thing that I am a little sad about is that I find it almost impossible to write down my actual turn-on stuff. Mostly it's disconnected images and things, see, and it just doesn't translate. So please don't read my writing looking for a key to my sexuality; you'll just get very confused.
3. CookingThis morning someone walked into my kitchen, admired the cookbooks, and asked, "so who's the chef?" I was standing next to someone who's actually gone to culinary school, so I should have pointed to him. I am not a chef. I am a cook. I cherish my amateur status. That said, cooking is obviously my most passionate hobby. It's the thing I do with my body and my senses that keeps me grounded and present in my body, to counterbalance the all-in-my-head aspects of writing. Plus its rewards are concrete, and relatively immediate. P.S. I have found, to my surprise, that I prefer cooking for other people. Left to my own devices, I won't do it.
4. WisConI have been going to WisCon for a decade officially as of this past May. My friend Bill, who lives in Minneapolis and whom I met at Clarion, suggested it. I fell in love immediately. Eventually, I became assimilated into the concom hive mind and first ran the writer's workshop for a couple years, and then graduated to co-chairing programming for two more. I really loved it. I'd do it again except for, you know, #1 above. And they won't prevent me from possibly doing it again someday.
5. Babydanceparty All one word! I have no idea how or why we started calling it Baby Dance Party. I just remember that, back in those already-hazy days of the first three months at home, G. and I would entertain ourselves and the babies by putting some music on -- usually a satellite radio station of some sort -- and wiggle the twins' arms and legs to the beat. It was a way of passing the time without going nutzo, and they seemed to like it. Now that they're older, they like to stand in their crib or playpen and 'dance," i.e. bounce up and down in time. I think that a room full of adults and kids dancing together would be utterly delightful for them, so that's the plan for their first birthday party: cake, balloons, and dancing in the living room. Baby Dance Party!