The Importance of Being Honest

There are few things more important to me than honesty, so I am delighted to announce that my lovely friend and brilliant blogger Bad Mom has awarded my blog the Honest Scrap Award. Thanks, Stephanie! I've wanted this one for a really long time.

Here are the rules:
*Say thank you and give a link to the presenter of the award
*Share “10 Honest Things” about yourself
*Present the award to 10 other bloggers whose blogs you find brilliant in content and/or design or to those who have encouraged you
*Be sure to tell the 10 bloggers chosen that you are giving them the Honest Scrap award and provide the guidelines for them


My parents always stressed the value of being truthful, and I believe they were honest with my brother and me. I well remember how touched my father was when one of his business associates described him as "an honorable man." My mother impressed upon me how essential honesty was when she explained that she left her first husband because he was dishonest in business dealings. In my adult relationships as a friend, a wife, and a parent, I practice and value honesty. I am sometimes disappointed regarding the honesty of other people.

It's the critical ingredient in building trust. That said, I don't believe in spilling my guts and volunteering certain things, especially if those things involve others who might not want them known. So you won't be reading any titillating revelations here. No offense, internets, but some things are just not yo bidness.

Still, you know I love to make you laugh. So I will share some tasty bits of truthiness about me in hopes it will make you giggle.

Here, for your consideration, are 10 honest things about me.

1. I was not the most popular girl in school. But I wasn't a slut. And I wasn't a mean girl.
The verb tense of those statements should not be interpreted as a confession that my status has changed, although I DO think I'm more popular now. I'm certainly more confident about letting my light shine than I was three decades ago.

2. I love quotations. Reading quotes that people like FDR or PG Wodehouse have said or written gives me the sort of joy that I imagine some people derive from reading the Bible. No disrespect intended, but I do not derive the same pleasure from the Bible, except for a few passages delivered like this or this. And those two are so beautiful they bring tears to my eyes.

3. Several years ago, I'd begun to think of myself as middle aged until I read that Johnny Depp and I were born within a few days of each other. I instantly became young and sexy, at least in my mind.

4. I didn't get my ears pierced until I was over 30. My folks had always regarded it as a slightly suspicious, bohemian thing to do, and I was a good girl. Then my father died, my mother met a very nice man who wanted to give her some pierced earrings, and she got her ears pierced. So I figured it was safe for me to do it too. I still feel slightly wild every time I insert a post through my earlobe.

5. When I was a young girl, I wanted to be an airline pilot or a police officer. Before I got married, I thought I would be a lawyer, though I didn't actually envision working in that profession. I loved The Paper Chase, and thought it would be awesome to be in law school.

6. I really wish I could time travel. I sometimes nag Professor X to get to work on a TARDIS.

7. I adore the language of Jane Austen's characters. Consider Elizabeth Bennet's rejoinder to Lady Catherine when she is confronted about her relationship with Mr. Darcy:

"I do not pretend to possess equal frankness with your ladyship. You may ask questions which I shall not choose to answer."

8. I believe in ghosts. And an afterlife. I don't know exactly what it looks like, and I don't believe that there is only one path to Heaven. I think Jesus was awesome, but people invoke him shamelessly to advance their own agendas. I believe that we are all children of God, whether we know it or not. But I don't think God looks like the Gary Larson cartoon version, or even that God is exclusively one gender or the other. I am attracted to the Disney Hercules animated depictions of the Gods, but I don't believe that God's voice is like Rip Torn's. I think it's like Alan Rickman's. And I believe in Hades. And his voice is precisely like James Woods'.

9. I wish I could sing and dance, but I am very self conscious. I should have taken my Mom up on her repeated offers of lessons when I was young. Stupid me. I tell myself it's never too late. Maybe I'll be like Susan Sarandon in Elizabethtown. Only I would like to dance like this. With that partner.

10. I am a strong person with a very tender heart. And I am easily moved to tears by movies, literature, plays, music, art, architecture, the warmth of friends... I balled like a baby once at a classical vocal concert because the singer's voice was so pure and beautiful.


And now, for the chosen ten. Each of these blogs enrich my life in a different way.

Drumroll, please....

1. From the Desk of Bee Drunken
2. Just A Plane Ride Away
3. Suburban Matron
4. An Explorer's View of Life
5. Coffeeyougurt
6. Miss Healthypants
7. Hometown Tourist
8. Box Elder
9. A Few Clowns Short
10. Thoughts from a Liberal Mom


Here's a song to commemorate this post: Honesty by Mister Billy Joel.