Patrick's Saturday Six

To play you can either answer the questions in a comment at Patrick's Place [see Other Journals], or put the answers in an entry on your journal. But either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit!  (And if you're playing for the first time, please be sure to say so in the comment!)  Enjoy!

1. What is your all-time favorite Christmas Carol or holiday song?

O HOLY NIGHT -- no matter what arrangement or who sings it, even Jim Nabors. I think it sounds best during a candlelight service in a cathedral on Christmas Eve sung by a children's choir.

2. What percentage of your Christmas shopping have you completed?

ZERO.  No snow. Not in the mood. I'm still celebrating Thanksgiving.

3. Other than yourself, which of the following would you most like your child to have as a role model and why:
    A) Doctor
    B) Politician
    C) Professional Athlete
    D) Businessman

It doesn't say which ONE of the following, so I would choose all WOMEN in any of these professions who have combined their careers with successful marriages and happy children. I think this requires such heroic effort that the number is in the single digits. 

4. What current television show would you most like to see disappear permanently?

I'd like to see Fox News disappear completely. Especially Bill O'Reilly and that bow-tied, tongue-tied babyfaced pundit whose mother dresses him funny. But I never watch, ya know.
 
5. Have you used any themed photo wall calendar in 2004?  Do you already have one ready for 2005, and if so, what is next year's theme of choice?

I use a calendar on my computer.  But I often give themed calendars that match the interests of various friends and family members as gifts. From Harley Davidsons to wolves to old barns to botanicals to paper airplanes to scantily clad firefighters.  And a couple that feature ME.

6. READER'S CHOICE QUESTION #35 from Armand:  Read this quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson recently posted in Armand's journal, "Uncommon Sense."  Given the context of the quote, how have you been most successful in your life?

I forgot about this lovely poem.  So I have reproduced it here. Thanks, Armand.   Like many other people, I'm sure, the first line sums up how I've been most successful.  When it comes to laughing often and loving much I've left it all on the field. I can walk away without looking back, knowing I always give it my best shot. 

Perhaps the area where success has meant the most to me personally is winning the affection of children. Although I think their trust is even more important.

Winning the respect of intelligent people is worth nothing to me. Some of the biggest assheads I've ever known were very intelligent. People of integrity are worth far more than anybody who only has smarts. 

Years ago, out of the blue, a friend sent this poem to me and said that she felt I had lived it. I was stunned by this compliment from someone who knew me so well. Reading it again, a piece of me still thinks she was hallucinating.   

SUCCESS

To laugh often and love much;
to win the respect of intelligent persons
and the affection of children;
to earn the approbation of honest citizens
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to give of one's self;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to have played and laughed with enthusiasm
and sung with exultation;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived
this is to have succeeded.

        -- Ralph Waldo Emerson