Questions for you to answer over your favourite cuppa.

Have you ever learned to fight or taken self-defence lessons – why did you feel this was necessary or was this something that you wanted to know to feel safer?

I thought about it. I thought about it hard but never did it. Why not? I was busy. Working. Raising a kid, managing a house. I had a lot of friends in those olden golden days and our house tended to be where everyone landed, possibly because we were one of the few people who had a house. Most of our friends were single and lived in bachelor pads or were living with parents. We gathered them in.

Do you spell grey as gray and also is it colour or color? 

I tend to spell it both ways, though more often grey than gray. Almost always color rather than colour. Raised American, but English in Israel was more English-style than American-style, though sometimes it got a bit complicated.

I was not the only person who knew both spellings and swung between the two depending on what I was writing. For example, the Jerusalem Post usually used the English spelling — except when they didn’t. My manuals mostly used American spelling, but if they were aimed at a European audience, I would use English spelling.

Are you now or have you ever been afraid of the dark?

Not unless there was something of which I knew I should be wary. Unless you count when I was a very small child. Then, I wasn’t afraid of the dark, but I hated not being able to see. These days, I have nightlights. I still hate not being able to see and I particularly dislike barking my shins on furniture or crunching my toes on unseen boots, shoes, and/or dog toys. I also totally HATE stepping on small hard items. The sole of one’s foot is very sensitive! Nothing hurts quite like a Lego in the arch of a bare foot.

Where do you prefer to do most of your clothing shopping – online or in-store?

I used to prefer shopping in stores, but gradually the clothing in the stores was less and less to my liking. I hated the styles and the colors. Everything looked like it was aimed at teenagers or actual children. First, I used catalogues. L.L. Bean and Land’s End, then other places until eventually everything was available online. I don’t buy clothing, except for socks and sometimes underwear on Amazon. I like what I like and Amazon rarely has good quality clothing in styles I like.

I buy little clothing these days. My size has been unchanged for close to 20 years and I don’t wear things out. I get tired of clothing, so periodically I donate clothing that I’m not wearing. Then I buy a few new items. Just because.

One of the weird things about brick-and-mortar shopping are the missing shoe stores. This starting happening well before internet shopping — more than 30 years ago. There used to be several shoe stores in most malls, then suddenly, there were only sport shoe shops. You couldn’t find nice boots or something to wear for going out or even for work anywhere but online.

I discovered Zappos about 20 years ago — before they were part of Amazon — and I still buy my shoes there. They are the place to go if you have odd feet. Owen wears a size 14EEE, so for him it’s a blessing that they actually have his size! Also, they will take the shoes back if they don’t fit — no questions asked.

I don’t know where the shoe stores went or why they disappeared, but they are gone.

Categories: Anecdote, Q & A, questions

Tags: #Photography, Editing, Grammar, Marilyn Armstrong, words