1. Who in your life is as blind as a bat?

Me! I have very bad vision and have needed glasses/contacts since I was eight. Every time I go in for an annual eye exam, my doctor remarks upon the imbalance of my imperfect vision (my right eye is much worse than my left) and tells me that if it had gone untreated for much longer, I probably would have ended up with a lazy eye.

2. Who in your life is as happy as a clam?

Happy as a clam? Hmm…My friend Alison is always very upbeat when I see her, even when I know she has difficult things going on in her life. She’s cheerful and enthusiastic, which is part of the reason why I always love seeing her.

3. Who in your life is as mad as a wet hen?

I’ve never heard this phrase before. Does it use “mad” in the angry or crazy sense? Okay, just found out that it’s used in the angry sense here. I don’t know. I tend to stay away from very angry people, as a general rule. It’s served me well.

4. Who in your life is as stubborn as a mule?

My brother is stubborn as a mule. He will insist until the day he dies that he’s right about something even when presented with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary. I’m about half as stubborn as him. And when we’re being stubborn at each other, my spouse very kindly describes us as “being such Cann kids.” We inevitably turn our ire towards him, which is fun.

5. Who in your life is as quiet as a mouse?

Ironically, my cat Luna is quiet as a mouse. When she meows, it comes out more like a dignified whisper. Very cute. But it can be a little scary in the mornings when she comes into my bedroom to wake me up and I open my eyes to see the jaws of a famished feline inches away from my face. She’s meowing for food, but all I see in my half-awake state are the fangs.

But here she is all wrapped up for a nap, not ferocious at all:

Have a good weekend!

Wow, déjà vu? I just wrote about this on Tuesday! The last three books I completed were A Thousand Years Over a Hot Stove by Laura Schenone; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver; and Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr.

2.    What are the titles of between three and five magazines you subscribe to or used to subscribe to?

Currently I subscribe to Writer’s Digest and Bitch Magazine. (Shout out to Bitch Magazine! It’s a must-read if you love feminist critiques of pop culture.) I used to subscribe to Jane Magazine before I realized that they had become a total parody of themselves. (They folded, anyway, and offered me Glamour or Marie Claire or something in their stead. See what I mean? I declined the offer and collected my whopping $9 check.)

3.    What’s on your night table? (we figured this one was borderline, since it involves the bedroom, but if the vibe is right and you preface the question with the background story I told above, you could make it work)

Oh, it’s a very tame question in my case. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (I told you I love reading about food, though I am having trouble getting through this book – I feel like it’s AVM but written in a less warm manner). There’s also a box of Kleenex, my face moisturizer, a couple bobby pins and ponytail holders, and the only necklace I own.

4.    What are the three best things that happened to you in the past seven days?

Well, the G20 summit began in my hometown, so I’ve been working from home, which is sweet. I blog for my day job, and one of our posts got picked up on the Wordpress homepage, so we got a ton of hits from that. And a huge box of garlic arrived from Seed Savers. I know that wouldn’t be on most people’s “best things” list, but I’m pretty excited, because it means we will be able to grow our own garlic next year! But it also means a whole lot of physical labor this weekend for my husband and me. Which, come to think of it, we’re desperately in need of, so…works out!

5.    What was your senior yearbook quote, and what would your yearbook quote be this year if there were such a thing?

We didn’t have senior yearbook quotes. In fact, I don’t even own a yearbook from the high school I graduated from. I was very jaded about the whole high school thing. Somewhat ironic, I suppose, since now I want to make a living writing about people who are living it.

(Questions via friday5.org.)