Come back in next life as? A good novelist. A palm tree in Hawaii.

~ Live & Learn

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Being at home, watching a good movie with my husband. Dining out with good friends.

What is your greatest fear? Fear.

Which living person do you most admire? Both Obamas.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Bigotry. Narcissism.

What is your greatest extravagance? My Toto toilet.

What is your favorite journey? Coming home.

On what occasion do you lie? When it might hurt someone to tell the truth.

Which living person do you most despise? The one who thinks only of himself. (Fill in the blank.)

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? I’m so glad we had this time together.

What or who is the greatest love of your life? My husband.

Which talent would you most like to have? To play a mean piano. Also, to tap-dance like Eleanor Powell. (For those who are too young, check her out on YouTube.)

What is your current state of mind? Acceptance.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? My tendency to worry about the future if there’s nothing you can do about it.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Career-wise, it would be being the first woman allowed to host a comedy variety show.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be? Person: A good novelist. Thing: A palm tree in Hawaii.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be? My spoiled cat.

What is your most treasured possession? My late daughter’s cross necklace.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Hopelessness.

Where would you like to live? Right where I am.

What is your favorite occupation? Making people laugh.

What is your most marked characteristic? Optimism.

What is the quality you most like in a man? A sense of humor and kindness.

What is the quality you most like in a woman? A sense of humor and kindness.

What do you most value in your friends? A sense of humor and kindness.

Who are your favorite writers? John Steinbeck, Joan Didion, Stephen Sondheim, and lately, Randy Rainbow.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction? Atticus Finch.

Who are your heroes in real life? First responders. Caregivers.

What are your favorite names? Carrie, Jody, Erin, Kate, Zoey, Jack, Charlie.

What is it that you most dislike? Egotism and rudeness.

How would you like to die? In my sleep.

What is your motto? To be untouched by success and untroubled by failure.

~ Carol Burnett, from “Carol Burnett Answers the Proust Questionnaire” in Vanity Fair, June 17, 2020.

Portrait: Detroit Free Press. Carol Burnett @ The Golden Globes in 2016

28 thoughts on “Come back in next life as? A good novelist. A palm tree in Hawaii.”

  6. Round two scares me — not sure I have another recovery of belief in me, as they say in the writer’s 12 step program. I had a poet once. He died of AIDS. He taught me to write, to believe in my words. To tell the truth. I tried to honor him with a story. It was rejected, of course….not personal or sexy enough? too heady? He was gay, and I think I may have been writing to a gay magazine, a gay poet of mine suggested I do. Not much gay sex. Only a bunch of letters exchanged. I was rejected. I am a straight woman. WHat could I possibly know about gay sex? A lot, actually.
    I’m not a gay man. Or a Lesbian. Or a single woman on the chase. I can’t chase anyone
    or anything anymore. But I imagine…I found a like-minded soul who arrives in my INBOX thank god I didn’t fly away from WORDPRESS…in protestation of its form.
    I found a poet who writes. I found a poet who reads. Believes in things… sometimes?
    Is not crazy?
    I need to write the second half of the novel I started about madness. I wasn’t done. It was a love story, of course. It is still is, but the narrator has shifted… the narrative has shifted
    to the margin. not the center of the line. Trust the margins….it’s called stats and science. People are dying out there. I tip my hat to science. I tip my hand to Cuomo. I kiss the ground I walk on, it keeps me there. I dance in the street where the black man was hauled away because he was dancing in the street. I often dance in the street, when the spirit moves my feet. which it does.
    And I listen……….to words. and pick up my cues. which allows others to call me another mad woman. Played that part too.
    I play the role of writer. Sorry. I’m telling the truth. I need to finish my novel, called BOTH.
    you are writing to me. to us. and I respond. So sorry to fill in your INBOX with personal baggage…I can’t get on a plane these days and just carry it to England, where my daughter, Arden lives…the Forest of Arden. My daughter. My life’s blood. She is far far away. It is, however her birthday today. I have my priorities. Do you hear me? do you get it?
    this is not a chase line..I want nothing…nothing. and that’s the truth. Only an ear and some eyes…even if those are only metaphors. Sorry, sometimes I can’t help it
    live inside the metaphor. But people tell me I’m creative or mad. I’m sorry.

    for seeming so.

    Thank you for reading, that’s all I have right now.

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  7. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    Carol Burnett … amazing human being!! … “What is your motto? To be untouched by success and untroubled by failure.” ~ Carol Burnett, from “Carol Burnett Answers the Proust Questionnaire” in Vanity Fair, June 17, 2020.

    Liked by 2 people

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      1. love this…YOU are they comic I am led to…the poet doc? The doc poet? the doc poet who wants to be funny like the serious painter/poet who wants to write comic strips like Lichstestin. I’m sorry… words carry me away sometimes. Good thing travel is off limits… Limits are good. Limits are good.
        Take care

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