One Monkey Don't Stop No Show: John Updike, 1932-2009

"Dreams come true; without that possibility, nature would not incite us to have them."

-John Updike

25 Things To Know About Me

1. I'm a freelance writer. I don't just write for my living. I write for my life.

2. I read constantly. I've learned more from books than I've learned in any classroom.

3. I love quotes.

4. Here’s one: “I love humanity but I hate people.”(Edna St. Vincent Millay)

5. Despite #4, I am a practicing Buddhist. Enlightenment is a long way off.

6. I’m vegan. I love animals. I don’t belong to PETA.

7. I’m straight-edge…and gay. Oh the irony!

8. I’m happily married to Vegan John. The theme of our wedding was monkeys.

9. I live in the Green Mountains of Vermont. I love it here, and I don't even know how to chop wood.

10. Poetry is the reason I get up in the morning.

11. Meryl Streep is God.

12. In my first memory, I am drowning.

13. I am entirely too sensitive. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

14. I hate parades.

15. I love hot tubs.

16. Big, warm, fluffy sweaters make me happy.

17. I’m worried about America. Very worried. But I have great faith in humanity in general and the Obama administration in particular.

18. Another quote: “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.” (Edward R. Murrow)

19. “Breaking the Waves” is my favorite film.

20. “The Golden Notebook” (Doris Lessing), “Diary of a Young Girl” (Anne Frank), and “Becoming A Man” (Paul Monette) are among my favorite books.

21. I sometimes love to read trashy romance novels of the historical variety. They just don't make big-pecked heroes like they used to.

22. “The Simpsons” is a work of genius.

23. Ditto “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”.

24. I believe I have a right to my opinion and the right to express it. I believe you do too.

25. A quote: “I don’t trust people who don’t laugh.” (Maya Angelou)

Tuesday, January 27, 2009