monalisa*

1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?

I don’t like to. I hate getting crap all over the pages.

2. What is your favorite drink while reading?

I’m not that hardcore, but why not. Gimme a glass of sangria.

3. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

It used to horrify me until I got into active reading. If it’s a reference book or really philosophical, I’ll usually add my notes or underline.

4. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?

Random scraps of paper. Or business cards & an NYC metro card. I don’t know why, but dog-earing irks me.

5. Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Both?

Both. Especially simultaneously. Good balance.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I’m slightly obsessed with finishing a chapter, especially with fiction.

7. Are you a person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

I’ve never experienced that type of response from a book. Maybe I need to break out my comfort zone.

8. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

If my ipod or dictionary is near me, I always try to. I love learning new words. If not, I use context or underline it for later.

book survey by way of seaponies

yesterday, i handed out keys to doors i had kept locked away for the past decade.

i confessed my love & acceptance for the one that got away. i admitted wrongs & leftover guilt to my right hand. i shared my fears & paranoia with a confidante.

i revealed my “number” to a lover along with a dozen stories from my past, and watched as he painfully absorbed years & years of heartache, naiveté, mistrust, shame & confusion. experiments in all types of conditional love - from self-serving to unrequited - on a quest for the unconditional.

instead of finally convincing him that i’m as fcked up as i’ve proclaimed to be, he finally understood my extremes of aversion & surrender, sympathizing over my misguidance. encouraging the type of forgiveness i’d never allowed myself or anyone else.

i admit it feels odd traveling without my emotional cargo, but peace-of-mind is the perfect carry-on.