A- Available or Married: Married 40 years; together 43

B- Book: "Hamlet" or "King Lear"

C- Cake or Pie: Drake's Cakes

D- Drink: Seltzer waters with exotic flavors such as Metromint or Cucumber/Kiwi. No artificial sweeteners; no calories.

E- Essential Item: iPod which enables me to tolerate exercise

F- Favorite Color: blue--"cornflower blue" was my favorite Crayola crayon

H- Hometown: New Haven, CT

I- Indulgence: Europe

J- Job: I've done a lot of things from working in a screw factory (that was literal but I've worked in many metaphorical screw factories); waitress, professor, home health care aide, librarian. I've been teaching since 1985. The Screw Factory was really named HARMCO (the Harmon family owned it). A google search reveals that they have changed their name to the HARMCO Fastener Factory.

K- Kids: two boys now 38 and 36

L- Life is incomplete without: cats and poetry

M- Music group or singer: Metropolitan Opera; Maria Callas

N- Number of Siblings: 5

O- Oranges or Apples: Apples in general but I have a wintry annual romance with the Clementine tangerine even though recently people insist on calling them "cuties" or "smilies" or "L'il Darlin's". Why must they juvenalize my winter fruit?

P- Phobias/Fears: tofu, tempeh, yogurt, Little Debbie snack cakes, snakes, alligators, proselytizers.

Q- Favorite Quote: "There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow."

R- Reason to smile: cute cats; my husband

S- Season: Autumn

T- Tattoos: None--never

U- Unknown fact about me? I was locked up in a mental hospital from 1964-1967 and basically forgotten about. I read hundreds of books because I did not have to go to school. Got a bit pallid, however.

V- Vegetable you love: carrots

W- Worst habit: an impulse to tell very religious people that I am an atheist (it's true) and an impulse to bray loudly: "Cute, Cute Poot Poot" when I see a dog or cat walking down the street.

X- X-rays: Yes; for broken collar bone at age 3. The kid in front of me screamed and screamed and got two lollipops. I was very quiet and still hoping to score three or more lollipops. I learned the lesson that justice was not meted out impartially and it is the truth.

Y- Your favorite food: This has changed a lot over the years and evolved. Today I can honestly say a flavorful tomato baked for an hour and carmelized.

Z- Zodiac? Virgo; year of the tiger; moon and lots of other planets in scorpio.