Friday, March 29, 2013

Proust Questionnaire

The Proust Questionnaire* is a questionnaire about one's personality; it's supposed to reveal a person's tastes and aspirations.  There are countless variations of the questionnaire, and apparently, around the turn of the 20th Century, answering such questions was popular among English families.  Contrary to popular belief, though, Proust did not create the questionnaire; he just happened to take a version of one and answer enthusiastically.

In the 1970's, -80's, and 90's, French television host Bernard Pivot asked his guests to answer the Proust Questionnaire, and James Lipton, creator of Inside the Actors Studio, one of my all-time favorite TV shows, followed suite.  He adapted the questionnaire for his celebrity guests and asks them the questions at the close of each interview.

I'll answer them now, and hopefully one day, when I interview my own guests (I might have somethin' in the works for this here blog . . .), I'll think of my own signature Proust Questionnaire.

  1. What is your favorite word? love
  2. What is your least-favorite word? my name, when it's spoken in a condescending way
  3. What turns you on? writing
  4. What turns you off? arrogance
  5. What sound or noise do you love? thunderstorms
  6. What sound or noise do you hate? yelling fights
  7. What is your favorite curse word? Don't have one.  (I'll probably skip this one in my version.)
  8. What profession other than yours would you like to attempt? surgery
  9. What profession would you absolutely not like to participate in? accounting and finance
  10. If heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the pearly gates? You did good, kid.  You did real good.

*Incidentally, I only recently learned that Proust is pronounced "proost."  I always thought "prowst" never sounded quite right.  :)


Thing I'm thankful for: hoodies

1 Comments:

Blogger Amy Stone said...

I'll be your first guest:
1) Bo (Lorrin's nickname and I feel very creative and comfortable everytime I use it. I has been a real challenge coming up with a nickname for Lorrin. He never had one growing up. This one is my keeper though.)
2) panties. pubic. or any p word dealing with that area
3) good design
4) useless policy
5) babies babbling
6) yelling fights, as well. and smacking.
7) effing. the substitute, not the real word.
8) Teaching - temporarily. Or Gardening/Landscaping
9) Finance in any form.
10) AMY! For some reason, my heart always kind of skips a bit when people use my name when they are overjoyed and happy.

I thought Proust was Prowst too. How did you find out differently?

1:55 AM  

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