Interview meme

I've been mulling over this meme for the last month. The questions are from the lovely velvet.

1. What inspired you to start blogging? Do you share your blog with friends and family? Why or why not?
I did a lot of writing when I was younger and I just wasn't doing it anymore. I found I was reading a lot of blogs and thought it would be a good way to get back into writing. I'm also finding that it is a good way to help me process ideas and things that happen in my day. Quite a bit of the stuff I write never gets published, it seems to be enough that I write it. Some of my friends and family know that I blog, but none of them know what it is called. Having said that, I'm sure that if they fell across it by accident, they would be able to identify it as mine. I don't share it with them because I want everyone who reads it to read because they want to, not because they feel obliged to out of friendship or familial obligation.

2. You're granted the superpower of your choice. What do you choose and why?
The ability to shape the world to suit myself. Egocentric, moi? Seriously, there are just so many little things in everyday life that drive me nuts, and I see them driving other people nuts too. I'd be using the superpower to get rid of the little daily niggles that can build up, and just make things that little bit more smooth. Almost like being a super iron really.

3. If you could have one thing or time from your childhood again, what or when would it be and why?
The summer of 1982 - 3. I had just turned 9, and it was the last summer before my grandmother died, my parents separated, and my aunt and uncle separated. We spent the summer at my grandparents home, an old dairy a block from the beach. My grandmother spent most of her time in bed, and we were allowed to go and spend time with her in half hour blocks. I still treasure the book she gave me "Snow White and Rose Red" and we read through it together. I found it in a box of treasure recently and read through it and had a little cry. Otherwise my brother and I and our 2 cousins spent a lot of time on the beach and playing in the back yard. An old dairy has a lot of back yard, garages and sheds for 4 kids under 12 to play in. I've hardly seen my cousins since then.

4. If you had to give up your present career field, what would your fantasy career be and why?
Easy - I would love to be a personal gift shopper. I enjoy shopping for other people and finding the perfect gift. They don't have to be expensive gifts, just gifts that are appreciated for the thought that has gone into it.

5. You can invite five living people to meet for dinner. Who would you choose?
I've been struggling with this one, and I think I might need to have this dinner in shifts. I am fascinated by Deborah Mailman, Paul Keating, Bill Clinton (yes, I know the link is probably redundant, but you never know...), JK Rowling and Jeff Kennett. I suspect this could quickly become a battle of egos though, and I would want to change it to people who just make me happy. So, the winners are my good friends the Fitters, Nay, my boy and my brother. I'd have to sneak my sister in too because she cracks me up. A group of people that can talk about anything, and the conversation can go from sublime to the extraordinarily ridiculous in under 5 seconds..

If you wish to do this meme, ...
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.