Josette Strauss:
CLASS OF 1967
Midwood High School 405Class of 1967
Brooklyn, NY
Marian High SchoolClass of 1971
Barre, VT
Marian High SchoolClass of 1971
Barre, VT
Caledonian Hospital - NursingClass of 1969
Brooklyn, NY
East Midwood Day SchoolClass of 1963
Brooklyn, NY
Josette's Story
Hmmm.....
Well, I choose to be a somewhat private person but the Q & A section leaves something to be desired, at least for me it does. So, I'll use that as a 'jumping-off' point.
Looking it over after I finished it, I am pleased.
I like the way this turned out.
The Q was:
What are your favorite INDOOR activities?
Getting together with & spending time with my family.
Besides reading and listening to music which are given as choices, I like watching a FEW GOOD TV shows and movies.
Spending time with my dogs.
Folk Dancing, esp. "Shtetl", Israeli, Greek, Turkish, Rumanian.
Dragon*Con (for People-Watching, getting together with friends, brain-storming workshops & panels, Hand-Drumming all night)
I also really enjoy Water Walking, just playing around in a nice, big, clean pool & some swimming.
AND yes, I mean an Indoor Pool & year-round!!!
The Q was:
What are your favorite outdoor activities?
The choices on "Classmates" don't even come close to mine, so here goes:
DRIVING......I love long distance driving. I define that as at least 10 hours straight driving (ok, stopping for gas/pit-stops). AND I love 24 hour drives, & yes, I drive them straight too!
Walking on the beach, by the Ocean.
(esp. New England Beaches like Gloucester, Duxbury, Plymouth, even East Beach & New York's Riis Park Beach of the 60s -I haven't seen it recently). Port St. Lucie isn't bad.
I do NOt mean tame inlets....or any Gulf Coast.
Standing in my yard, esp. at twilight & after dark, when there are LOTS & lots of stars out.
People-Watching.
Driving around & deliberately getting "lost" so that I/we can try to figure out "new" and/or different ways to get places.
Hand-Drumming in the park, in nice weather.
Going to a really good zoo.
Going to a really good aquarium.
Yard/Tag Sale-ing.
Going to Carson & Barnes Circus (& other GOOD small circuses, not Ringling et al)
Spending time with my horses.
Cooking out (on the grill)
Sitting on my porch, in all sorts of weather....summer, fall, winter, spring.
The Q was:
What would be on your ideal mix tape?
Considering that if I'm making a tape or burning a CD it would be to listen to when driving....esp. distance driving, that does not necessarily answer what I listen to when home.
When driving (that's long distance, straight thru driving)
I need/want "ENERGY" music....lively, bouncy, even sing-a-longy.
[Pat Benatar; Pat Benatar, & Pat Benatar, Peggy Lee, Alannis Morrisette, Bonnie Tyler, Frou-Frou,
the Scorpions, Full Blown Rose, Pete Yorn,
The Country Crows, kd lang, Roy Orbison,
Jennifer Saunders, Spiderbait, Jeff Buckley, Bonnie Raitt, Pink, Ian & Sylvia, Alvin & the Chipmunks, Survivor, Oranim Zabar Troupe esp."On the Road to Elat", Daughtry, Larry Mitchell, Carrie Underwood,
Enrique Iglesias;
Buffy the VampSlayer Musical: "Once More with Feeling";
Collection of songs from Broadway Musicals "the Best of Broadway" to sing-a-long with;
BOND;
Chicago the Musical; Mama Mia the Musical;
Hairspray; Gypsy; Pippin.
I'm much more eclectic (& possibly/probably more "sedate") when it doesn't relate to driving.
At home I don't often listen to the same things I'd listen to when driving.
At home my preferences are Classical - esp Barococo as DeKoven called it (Baroque/Rococ...Expand for more
o)
Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, Beethoven, Mozart,
Old "Folk Music" of the 60s,
Real "FOLK"/traditional Folk Music,
Appalachian Mountain Music,
Matisyahu, Sephardic music, Mizrachi music,
Ofra Haza, Shoshana Damari, Boaz Sharabi,
Arik Einstein, Ehud Banai, Shlomo Artzi,
very occasionally Pop music,
Jazz, Golden Oldies,
Opera
(I'm a Placido Domingo, Ben Vereen, Bibi Newirth fan -
just to name a few),
Operetta, Gilbert & Sullivan,
R&B,
Musicals from the 20s through current (including "Forbidden Broadway),
Yitzchak Perlman, Barbra Streisand, Yo-Yo Ma, & some "World Music" esp. Sezen Akzu.
The Q was:
What type of person were you in high school?
Not among the choices given but, I was shy, & a bit of a scared rabbit. Throughout high school I pretty much thought I was ugly, untalented & stupid.
It took me about 5 yrs. to come out of my shell.....
& I've never gone back.
The Q was:
Your friends would describe you as ...
I am working on the assumption that this means how I'd be described today.
I have no certain idea, but probably (from what I've been told) as someone who tries hard to be & usually is there & available when needed/wanted;
generous (often to a fault).
A "survivor".
A "fighter" (& boy am I tired of the struggle).
A "justice" (esp. social justice) seeker, who tilts at windmills.
A negotiator. A researcher & a studier.
Someone who tries to see the other side of a question.
Someone who ALWAYS tries to find some good, (or at least something good to be learned) in a bad situation.
A dreamer. A hibernator.
I went through a period when I would have been described as 'tenacious', but I don't think I still would be.
Sometimes reclusive & sometimes out-going.
AND interestingly, some people think of me as always one or always the other.
The Q was:
You make the call ..... book or movie?
Me, I'd read the book & then see the movie,
and that would be any & all versions of the movie that I could find going back as far as possible.
AND then I'd compare/contrast the book & the movie(s) & all versions of the movie with each other.
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My favorite ways to relax:
walking on the shore next to the ocean;
a really good 1 1/2 to 2 hr. massage
followed by a good, filling relaxed meal,
that I didn't have to cook/prepare or serve.
listening (real is best, tape/cd if necessary)
to the ocean--surf & gulls;
go whale watching;
a good 'cook-out' in a peaceful place with gentleness & gentle people;
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I'd like to convert my current living room into a library because my current library just is nowhere near big enough for all our books, records, c/ds, vcr tapes,dvds.
Then I'd like to "add-on" a "great-room" (a LARGE living room/family room/eat-in dining room/kitchen combination) to my home.
Also, in our last home we had a very nice in-ground concrete pool. I really miss it, A LOT!!!
So, I'd like to get a pool again. I want it attached to the house so that in winter it can be enclosed (& a solar collector) & still be usable.
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I've had a hiatus, done other things, and now I think I'd like to get back into college teaching, at least part-time.
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