1. If you won lotto, what would you do?
I would quit my job, and buy a house for about average monies. I would try to have another baby, and I would have a nanny to help, cos I know now how hard kids are. I would do volunteer work, though I am not sure who for. But I would like to give to the community, not just think about me all the time which would be easy to do if rich, and cos I wasn't working two jobs (work and the Book) I would have time to give.
And I would travel. America to see my friend Annie and her nearly triplet girls (twins and a single all in one year), and the UK to see various people and also the ancestral home. France to see Isabelle, and to see France. The Netherlands to see Roos and Nico, and to see the Netherlands. And so forth through Europe. I'd like to go back to Japan. I'd like to see China, and bits of India, and also Large Chunks of Africa.
I'd like to have time to finish the damn thesis, then try and see if I could write fiction. Perhaps.
2. What are your thoughts on Prostitution Reform, and/or the lifting of the moratorium on Genetic Engineering?
Prostitution Reform: I am really pleased to see it made it. It seems a sign of the country growing up somehow, as it won't change the fact that some people pay other people to have sex with them, but it will make the fact it happens honest and out front. It will give the sex workers the opportunity to improve their working lives, when they are being taken advantage they could potentially call the police or union. So it re-humanises them, gives them a modicum of power and dignity. But the whole sex industry won't suddenly become a place where no-one is coerced into doing things they don't want to, so it is like the first essential step to helping. Cos you can't fix something you don't admit exists. I don't envy the Councils though that will be doing the administering...
3. If you had to give up sight or hearing, which would you choose?
Hearing. I am inspired by the things I see and read. Music uplifts me, but not as often. R wants to work as a translator for the deaf, so he will be keen to teach me sign, and I will have a handy translator when needed. I would still be able to read, which is the major thing I do, and write. I can still play on the net, and blog. If I became blind I wouldn't be able to read for ages while I learnt braille, and they are more into talking books these days as there is a market for them beyond the sight impaired, so there wouldn't be as many books as I need. Believe me on that one. I read fast and frequent. Also I don't like listening to spoken books. It is too slow, and the voice is not mine so it is all wrong. Besides, if i was deaf, I could carry on the Book and the job without much problem, so the changes to my life would be less than if I was blind. I would learn to communicate with people I'm sure!
4. Aotearoa is about to become a republic, and needs a new flag. You’ve been chosen to design it. What will it look like?
It will have the colours of the forest, the sea/sky and the tussock lands. It will have some kind of koru in it to reflect the indigenous people. The fact it is a flag is enough europeanising.
5. What is your favourite herb?
Basil. The taste, the colour, the way it goes with tomatoes, the crunch, the smell. The pesto. The salads. The sandwiches. The fact I can't seem to grow it...
(Notice how restrained I am being? I am not saying "if your breasts could talk, what would they say," thought that would be topical...)
Posted by Toni at June 26, 2003 06:02 PM