Well, it's official: I am anemic. I finally got so sick and tired of being tired, I went to the doctor. (I should say, Louise got so sick and tired of me being tired that she made me go. Thank heavens.) I got the results of the blood tests in the mail yesterday, and sure enough: I have iron-poor blood. Time to break out the Geritol. (And if you're old enough to know that reference, you're probably taking it yourself.)

It feels quite nice to know that there is a reason for this fatigue I've been feeling, and I'm very optimistic that it will be cured by taking some pills. Of course, I also anticipate a bunch of unpleasant, unwelcome tests so the doctor can determine the cause of the anemia, even though the cause seems pretty clear to me. I once read that a doctor said, "If you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras." But I expect that my doctor will want to rule out the possibility of zebras . . .

At any rate, I'm using the occasion as an excuse to go get a nifty cast-iron frying pan. And I'm giving those test results as a lame-oh excuse for why I haven't posted all week. Well, that, and the fact that as the week wore on we were getting closer and closer to February, and one of the things that I don't like about this blog software is that when the month turns over, the previous month's entry gets harder to find. (Not impossible. Just harder.)

At any rate, I've been wanting to post the answers to the "5 Questions Meme," and I didn't want the answers to drop immediately into obscurity, since my niece so very kindly took the time to think of them. So, first, here are the rules:

Rules of the meme: leave a comment asking me to be interviewed, and I'll ask you five questions; when you post the answers on your own blog, include these rules.

And here are the questions and answers:

1. If you could live anywhere in China for a year without having to worry about funding, where would it be?

I think I'd go back to Harbin (even though it's not what you'd call a scenic paradise), because that's where my friends are. But I would also like to go to Dalian, a seacoast town not far from Harbin, which is supposed to be very pretty. And I would definitely like to travel around the whole country, although I'm sure I would find the southern areas too hot for my liking.

2. What is your dream knitting project, the one you've been building up towards?

You know, I've been thinking about this question all week, and I have to conclude that I don't really have any dream knitting projects. I would have to say that my knitting goals are very modest, and that by and large, what I enjoy about knitting is the process. I love the feel of the wool under my fingers, and I love to watch the interplay of colors in the yarn, and to watch the fabric take shape. I always do knit with a goal in mind; some people are happy knitting fabric swatches, but I always am working on a garment of some kind. But as for a Big Goal, I don't have one. Some people have knit incredible stuff - like Debbie New's seaworthy coracle -



. . . but I am content with Just Another Pair of Socks. (Or maybe Just Another Shawl, as I seem to be going through a lace phase right now.)

3. If you had to name one thing about yourself that you think is most affected by your Austrian heritage, what would it be?

This is a tough one. I am going to waffle and say, "My worldview," and then lump a bunch of smaller things under it, because that seems like the truest truth to me. I also want to be clear that by "my Austrian heritage" I mean my mother, in that very particular way that parents shape us. "Heritage" sounds too far removed from the actual case to me.

But, my worldview. I can think of a myriad of things both large and small that came to me through my mother. I love the look of window-boxes full of flowers on buildings. The way I feel about public green space (that there should be plenty, and people should use it rather than having big yards), the way I feel about opera and art museums and classical music concerts (they should be for everybody, not just the Liberal Elite), the way I feel about physical activity (not just for jocks or good-looking people or even people who are adept at sports) - all these are bequests from my mother.

But maybe fundamentally, at the root, the biggest thing is that I have grown up knowing always that there is Another Way - that people all over the world live satisfying lives even though they don't speak my language, don't do things the way I do, live in very different circumstances from mine. I've never considered America to be the Best Country on Earth (I don't think any country is the best country on earth), nor have I ever accepted that the way we do things is, by default, the best way or the only way. Many people come to these ideas intellectually; I feel I was born knowing them, and could never have escaped the knowledge.

4. If you had to move anywhere in America, where would it be?

If I had to move? If I had to move, it would probably be because Emil wanted to move, and he would want to move somewhere warm. Lately he's been fantasizing about moving to Arizona, but if we went there it would really be under my protest - my preference would be to move to a place by the ocean. So I would lobby for Florida or someplace on the southern Atlantic coast - some place not too urban, but not too remote, and where there's decent public transportation or you can walk to things (like the beach. Oh, yeah, and the grocery store).

Left to my own devices, I'm not sure what I'd do. I've lived in Maine and can imagine going back; and I've been to San Francisco many times and I could imagine living there, too (although earthquakes do freak me out). I'd like to see the mid-Atlantic coast, and more of the Pacific Northwest.

Actually, when all is said and done, if I had to move, I'd probably just go to Ann Arbor. :) (And given the current state of my blood, just the thought of it makes me tired. How lame is that??)

5. If someone gave you $100,000 and told you that you had to spend it in a year, what would you do with it?

Ha, ha, ha. Let's see . . . I would decide to move to another city, and go buy a house in that city before I sell the house I now own, and - Never mind. I've already done that and it wasn't any fun.

Really, honestly, and truly, I would pre-pay as much as possible of my kids' college educations, because I know they're both gonna want them sooner or later. Actually, it's starting to look like sooner. Ulp. Or maybe I'd pay off the mortgage.

But if I have to blow the money, I'd travel, of course. I would go see the English Nephew, and I'd watch the Tour de France, and I'd go to the ice sculpture festival in Harbin, and I'd drag my family to spend Christmas in Austria, and New Year's in Australia.

* * *

Well, there you go - my wishy-washy, equivocal answers. It was fun to think about those questions, even if I don't have terrifically definitive answers. And if anyone else wants to play, leave a note in the comments . . .