St. Augustine and me -- we're good buddies

Blogger heartinsanfrancisco made an offer the other day in which five questions had been given to her and her objective was to respond to the five. I like things like this, and she stated in her blog that if anybody else wanted to try they should contact her and she would pose devise five custom-tailored questions for each individual responding.

I bit. I like being interviewed and, even though I’ve done a similar exercise to this in the past, I was game to try again. Therefore, here are my responses to the questions heart gave me. If you are interested, let me know and I’ll devise five questions just for you.

1. In a successful life of professional writing and many close relationships, what do you consider your greatest achievement to date, and why?

Interesting mix here of both professional and personal attainments. How to approach this? In the first place, I would wish I had been more persevering in my writing life. I think I could have gone much further. At the same time, I am pleased with the work I still turn out and I also think I write more effectively now at this age than I ever had before. Part of the reason for that, I believe, is that I’m not quite so ego-involved I know I’m a good writer, by any standard. So, if some bubblehead wants to reject a submission then, well, fuck him. It doesn’t detract from my skills, it would be his problem.

So, I think my most satisfying attainment with my writing was a series I did on the illicit drug scene in my community close to a decade ago. From that series I won a major provincial award, was the inspiration for establishing a community drug strategy committee, and made me decide to turn my hand to being part of the solution and become an accredited addictions counsellor, just so I might know more about the problem from another level.
That said, however, my most satisfying writing endeavor was my weekly newspaper column that ran from 1977 to 1996. My column was like a beguiling mistress and I never knew what she would bring me.

Now, at that personal level in terms of relationships. I think my greatest attainment in that regard, without question, has been and continues to be my marriage to Wendy. I think I finally got it right. I have had two marriages and sundry lovers over the years, but Wendy is the frosting on any cake. She is my comfort zone and that really has meaning.

2. If you were going to meditate in a cave for a year and could take only one book with you, what would it be?

I toss up in this one between the Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare. I’ll opt for Shakespeare, not because I’m a pagan, but because the Bard answers virtually all questions about everything. So does the Bible, but Shakespeare is a little more poetic, with the notable exception of the ‘Song of Songs.’ The Bible rules with that one.

3. Pretend you have a crystal ball and describe the circumstances of your life in five years.

Well, I hope I’ll still be on the upper side of the lawn because I kind of like life. I hope I’ll be healthy and dynamic, have all my marbles, still love being a lover, and be in the same relationship I am now. I’d like to have published a book, and to have traveled to a few more places, to have learned the answers to a few more questions, to have made some renovations to the house, and to have felt that the previous half decade had been a fruitful one.

4. Since you have traveled extensively, what is your absolute
favorite place on earth? Explain why.

This one is very difficult to narrow down. There are three places I’ve visited that I genuinely loved. One is the southwest of England – Devon, Cornwall and Somerset; another is the west coast of Ireland; but finally I have to opt for my beloved Island of Kauai. That is my ‘soul’ place. I know that deep within my heart. When I go to Kauai it is just like going home at all levels. Why? The climate, the zephyr-like air, the azure waters, the wonderful jungle of the Hanalei Valley, the reef fish and the fact that the dawn "comes up like thunder."

5. If you could go back in time and be the historic character you most admire, what might you do differently to produce another result? Example: If I were Marie Antoinette, I would give the peasants bread.)

This one is truly difficult because first I have to decide if there is any historical character I like and admire enough that I would want to be him. I assume, being male, I have to be a ‘him’. All that considered, I think I wouldn’t have minded being St. Augustine of Hippo. In the first place, I would ultimately get to be a saint. Also, I could be a tearaway in my youth, get thoroughly laid and often – Augustine once prayed to God to grant him chastity – “But not yet!” You have to like that in a guy. But, eventually, Augustine was able to categorize the conflict between the temporal and divine worlds and to create an agreeable compromise in which the goodly could enjoy the fruits of both. Eventually I would be named one of the great philosophers of all time. Not a bad acknowledgement. Something Don Quixote was unable to do a few hundred years later. At the end of the day, Augustine would have been more at home with Sancho Panza than Don Quixote. What would I do differently? I think I would have stolen a fruit I liked more than peaches when I was a kid and then my larceny would have offered an even greater bonus than just the sin of theft.

So there you have my meandering responses. If you want to do this, too, just ask me.