First things first, sorry for the lack of posts this last week! I had quite a few things to do, places to be, people to meet (ugghhh the glamourous life I lead hehe) and somewhere along the way time seemed to pass me by at light speed, so before I knew it a new week had begun with a noticeable lack of posts on here. But today I'm putting my foot down (although ironically they're currently rested on the chair opposite to me) and re-entering the blogosphere with a little post about the wonderful Padgett Powell book 'The Interrogative Mood'. I picked up the book during one of my weekly visits to the absolutely brilliant Manchester Central Library, after stumbling across it and reading the blurb out of curiosity, as well as noting the commendable words of praise by Pulp's Jarvis Cocker on the back.... Padgett's book is written in one of the most unique formats I've ever come across, with the entire book comprising of a consistent sequence of questions that are proposed to you, the reader, one after the other from cover to cover. I've never read anything like it before, with the format being reminiscent of a highly inquisitive young child, an admirably persistent journalist or the owner of an incessantly curious mind, and the questions Padgett asks are incredibly random with some being seemingly light hearted (although deeper meanings could be easily contrived) whilst others very much require you to think about your response.
My favourite thing about The Interrogative Mood is how the questions steadily help to construct an idea and representation of just who you are as a person. By posing Padgett's vast array of questions to yourself, you really begin to find yourself thinking carefully about your answers and then exploring just why you'd respond to the question in that particular way. Some questions are rather fun to answer and will probably make you smile away to yourself, whilst others provoke you to stare off into the distance in a state of wonder and deep thought, but they both have the same purpose of helping you to start understanding just what kind of person you are. Of course you don't even have to answer the questions that are continuously thrown your way from the beginning of the book right through to the end, and yet somehow you find yourself doing so anyway. The questions are fuel to our inquisitive brains that are always sparkling away with electrical activity and hungry for new information and input to ponder, peruse and respond to. It's an automatic reaction for your inner voice to respond and wonder just how to answer the questions, and the more I think about it the more impressed I am with the psychological mechanics of Padgett's wonderful book, as well as the unique format and content. It's a truly fascinating read and a journey of self-discovery, particularly as in normal life we scarcely think to ask each other such diverse, telling and important questions in an attempt to both get to know each other better and figure out just who we are.
So to celebrate this eccentric and amazing book, I thought it would be a rather good idea to answer some of the questions myself on here, just so you can see the kinds of questions The Interrogative Mood contains, and also maybe learn something new about me in the process...
My favourite thing about The Interrogative Mood is how the questions steadily help to construct an idea and representation of just who you are as a person. By posing Padgett's vast array of questions to yourself, you really begin to find yourself thinking carefully about your answers and then exploring just why you'd respond to the question in that particular way. Some questions are rather fun to answer and will probably make you smile away to yourself, whilst others provoke you to stare off into the distance in a state of wonder and deep thought, but they both have the same purpose of helping you to start understanding just what kind of person you are. Of course you don't even have to answer the questions that are continuously thrown your way from the beginning of the book right through to the end, and yet somehow you find yourself doing so anyway. The questions are fuel to our inquisitive brains that are always sparkling away with electrical activity and hungry for new information and input to ponder, peruse and respond to. It's an automatic reaction for your inner voice to respond and wonder just how to answer the questions, and the more I think about it the more impressed I am with the psychological mechanics of Padgett's wonderful book, as well as the unique format and content. It's a truly fascinating read and a journey of self-discovery, particularly as in normal life we scarcely think to ask each other such diverse, telling and important questions in an attempt to both get to know each other better and figure out just who we are.
So to celebrate this eccentric and amazing book, I thought it would be a rather good idea to answer some of the questions myself on here, just so you can see the kinds of questions The Interrogative Mood contains, and also maybe learn something new about me in the process...
You can buy the book here.
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QUESTIONS...
1) If you are relegated to last place in every category, are you bothered enough to struggle up?
One of my most frustrating and yet oh so wonderful personality traits is my incessant, inextinguishable and sometimes exhausting optimism. Combine this with my absolute belief that everything happens for a reason and all I can do is positively react and respond to the events that occur in my life, whether they be good or bad. I accept that things have occurred for a reason, so all I can do is see the positive wherever I can and use that positivity to keep on going. So in response to the question, if I were to be relegated to last place in every category, it would be an impulsive response of mine to firstly try and see the positive in the situation, and secondly to get back up on my feet again and use and learn from the experience to help fuel an attempt to at least try to struggle back up as far as I can. And wherever that attempt takes me, if I can get no further than I'll accept that right now it's for a reason and try to understand why that may be, try to see the positives and then see where both take me.
2) If tennis courts could be but of one surface, which surface would that be?
They would have a see through plastic floor, and below that would be a massive array of glittery, sparkly things like glitter and gems, because how coooool would that be?!??!
3) If it might be fairly said that you have hopes and fears, would you say you have more hopes than fears, or more fears than hope?
I think that I have a lot of hopes and fear yes, however having thought about it, I believe that my hopes and fears are in equal proportion to each other and have a directly proportional relationship, unless I have a certain degree of certainty that my hope will come true. My hopes always arise and blossom first, and then from that the fear that attaches to it starts to stem. So say for example I find myself hoping that I get tickets to an Arctic Monkeys concert, my fear would be not getting tickets, however sometimes the hope is stronger than the fear or vice versa.
4) Were you a bird, would you like more to soar or flap?
I'd flap first to get soaring energy, which is the ultimate goal, because I imagine that it's a bit like life where you have to put in a bit of work in order to do what you want to do most of all. Then once I've got the energy to soar that's all I'd do, because soaring would be the most amazing thing, gliding through the skies and getting to see the beauty of the world from that perspective #reincarnationgoals
5) Is there enough time left?
Probably not because our bodies can only sustain us for so long, and life is finite for everyone and everything, and you just never know when it's going to all come to end. But in spite of that I like to believe that there is enough time, because if you don't then you won't do half the things you wanted to, and anyway it's just nice to believe that time is on your side in some shape or form when so many things in this world are against you, ironically including time itself.
6) Do you like to listen to weather broadcasts or do you just like to see, in uncoached anticipation, weather happen?
Living in the UK, where we are fortunate to have relatively neutral weather devoid of the extremes experienced in other countries, I like to just deal with whatever weather the world throws my way because I can deal with, and sometimes even enjoy the crappy weather, as can I appreciate the good. There's no point in complaining because there's not much you can do about it, so you should just get on with your life and don't ever put it on hold because of the weather.
7) Have you ever heard the saying 'life is a sandwich of activity between two periods of bed wetting'?
No but I like it a hell of a lot!
8) If you could emigrate to any country in the world and support yourself there, which country would it be?
Firstly it would be America, specifically New York City because living there would be an absolute dream come true. Then I'd move on to Sydney, Australia because it's so pretty and I think I could get used to Christmas on the beach. And finally I'd move to Spain, maybe Barcelona, with frequent trips over the border to Paris in France, because I adore Spain and its culture. Plus because I'm a quarter Spanish it would be wonderful being able to reconnect with my heritage.
9) If you had the opportunity to have a two-headed pet, would you seize it?
Of course, without hesitation, and I would love and celebrate both heads equally.
10) What is something blue?
The majority of things I own and me when I'm wearing said things
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How would you respond?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUESTIONS...
1) If you are relegated to last place in every category, are you bothered enough to struggle up?
One of my most frustrating and yet oh so wonderful personality traits is my incessant, inextinguishable and sometimes exhausting optimism. Combine this with my absolute belief that everything happens for a reason and all I can do is positively react and respond to the events that occur in my life, whether they be good or bad. I accept that things have occurred for a reason, so all I can do is see the positive wherever I can and use that positivity to keep on going. So in response to the question, if I were to be relegated to last place in every category, it would be an impulsive response of mine to firstly try and see the positive in the situation, and secondly to get back up on my feet again and use and learn from the experience to help fuel an attempt to at least try to struggle back up as far as I can. And wherever that attempt takes me, if I can get no further than I'll accept that right now it's for a reason and try to understand why that may be, try to see the positives and then see where both take me.
2) If tennis courts could be but of one surface, which surface would that be?
They would have a see through plastic floor, and below that would be a massive array of glittery, sparkly things like glitter and gems, because how coooool would that be?!??!
3) If it might be fairly said that you have hopes and fears, would you say you have more hopes than fears, or more fears than hope?
I think that I have a lot of hopes and fear yes, however having thought about it, I believe that my hopes and fears are in equal proportion to each other and have a directly proportional relationship, unless I have a certain degree of certainty that my hope will come true. My hopes always arise and blossom first, and then from that the fear that attaches to it starts to stem. So say for example I find myself hoping that I get tickets to an Arctic Monkeys concert, my fear would be not getting tickets, however sometimes the hope is stronger than the fear or vice versa.
4) Were you a bird, would you like more to soar or flap?
I'd flap first to get soaring energy, which is the ultimate goal, because I imagine that it's a bit like life where you have to put in a bit of work in order to do what you want to do most of all. Then once I've got the energy to soar that's all I'd do, because soaring would be the most amazing thing, gliding through the skies and getting to see the beauty of the world from that perspective #reincarnationgoals
5) Is there enough time left?
Probably not because our bodies can only sustain us for so long, and life is finite for everyone and everything, and you just never know when it's going to all come to end. But in spite of that I like to believe that there is enough time, because if you don't then you won't do half the things you wanted to, and anyway it's just nice to believe that time is on your side in some shape or form when so many things in this world are against you, ironically including time itself.
6) Do you like to listen to weather broadcasts or do you just like to see, in uncoached anticipation, weather happen?
Living in the UK, where we are fortunate to have relatively neutral weather devoid of the extremes experienced in other countries, I like to just deal with whatever weather the world throws my way because I can deal with, and sometimes even enjoy the crappy weather, as can I appreciate the good. There's no point in complaining because there's not much you can do about it, so you should just get on with your life and don't ever put it on hold because of the weather.
7) Have you ever heard the saying 'life is a sandwich of activity between two periods of bed wetting'?
No but I like it a hell of a lot!
8) If you could emigrate to any country in the world and support yourself there, which country would it be?
Firstly it would be America, specifically New York City because living there would be an absolute dream come true. Then I'd move on to Sydney, Australia because it's so pretty and I think I could get used to Christmas on the beach. And finally I'd move to Spain, maybe Barcelona, with frequent trips over the border to Paris in France, because I adore Spain and its culture. Plus because I'm a quarter Spanish it would be wonderful being able to reconnect with my heritage.
9) If you had the opportunity to have a two-headed pet, would you seize it?
Of course, without hesitation, and I would love and celebrate both heads equally.
10) What is something blue?
The majority of things I own and me when I'm wearing said things
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How would you respond?
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