mrstomquinn

Favourite…

1. Food? Real French bread, recently taken out of the oven.

2. Song? Tricky one. I can’t tell really, it has changed over the years, Norwegian Wood, by The Beatles, Nothing in the World Can Stop me from Worrying about that Girl by The Kinks, Hanging Garden by The Cure, Things Behind the Sun by Nick Drake, etc.)

3. Thing to do? Falling asleep.

4. Things to talk about? MM, books, movies, Russia.

5. Sports? I strictly apply the Winston Churchill’s philosophy when asked what the secret of his youth and energy were: “Sports? No sports!”

6. Drinks? Coffee, mate (from Argentina) and white wine (mostly from Argentina because it’s the only bottles I can afford here in Colombia), not all at the same time of course.

7. Clothes? My new breeches/Darcy’s style (very uncomfortable, by the way…)

8. Movies? I have more than a hundred DVDs. I particularly cherish my François Truffaut DVD. However, recently, only MM's DVD have been played…

9. Bands? The Beatles, The Cure.

10. Holiday? Summer holidays (for the sun).

11. Car? Nope, not one just for me (but I have a driver, how cool is that?)

12. Ever cried over a girl/boy? Of course, who hasn’t? Never over a girl though.

13. Ever lied to someone? Yes.

14. Ever been in a fight or arrested? Not yet.

What…

1. Shampoo do you use? A blue bottle. Nothing fancy.

2. Perfume? Eau d’Issey (Issey Miyake) the perfume I have beenwearing for over 10 years now.

3. Number of times I have had my heart broken? Good lord, do I have to count!!

4. Number of hearts I have broken? No idea. Not many, that I’m sure of.

5. a. Number of guys I have kissed? I am not going to count that.

5. b. Number of guys I have kissed in the last three days: Sorry it’s been a slow couple of days, my husband and two or three fathers when picking the children after school.

6. Number of drugs taken illegally? None. One time was legal, I ate a space cake in Utrecht (the Netherlands), Oh God, I though I was going to die, never tried again.

7. Number of people I consider my enemies? None in particular. Anyone trying to take my place when I’m queuing up IS my enemy.
8. Number of people from high school that I stayed in contact with: Oh God, after 12 years of catholic nuns, none, I’m afraid. It’s quite sad actually.

9. Number of CDs? I can’t count all of them, last time we did there were over 300.

10. Number of scars on my body? A little one above my left eyebrow (an unfortunate meeting between my forehead and a radiator when I was 2)

11. Number of things in my past that I regret? Who wants to think about that, too many.

With the opposite sex:

1. What do you notice first? I just take a general first look. There are some absolute and immediate turn off (moustache, goatee, bald with long hair, synthetic running outfit, gigantic sneakers, cap back to front, sandals with socks, thong bathing costume, horrendous fishnet tank top, lots of tattoos, lots of hair everywhere, lots of piercings, gigantic chain bracelet with the name of the guy on it, university ring, necklace), and turn on (MM look-alikes!!, big beard, Russian type beard -yeah, I know, never knew why-, nice hands, pulpous lips, gigantic forehead, nice English (John Lobb's type) worn boots like these ones)

2. Worst thing to say? Anything when you’re blind drunk that you can't remember in the morning.

Are you/ Do you/ Could you:

1. Obsessive: Yeah!!

2. Live without the computer? Nope.

3. Like watching sunrises or sunset? Sunrises? What sunrises? Sunsets (I have trouble to be up to see the other).

4. What hurts the most, physical pain or emotional pain? Emotional.

Final Questions:

What are you currently reading in bed?

I'm reading Atonement by Ian McEwan (in French, lazy me!).

Which book have you re-read most frequently?

I’m not much of a re-reader. I’m afraid to be disappointed at the second reading I guess. I want to re-read the whole In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust though (there is a rule that says you must read it every 10 years).

Is your mind an art gallery or a porn cinema? If neither, which civic building is it?

At the moment, my mind is a gallery of MM’s photos.

What are you listening to in the kitchen?

The 1392 songs of my iPod. I hate the radio, unless it’s blahblahblah (theatre on the radio is great).

And in the car?

My iPod as well (listen 5 mn of any Colombian radio and I bet you commit suicide).

What's the least disposable pop song?

Every pop song is disposable. Tricky question. Maybe Norwegian Wood, by The Beatles.

Who should play you in your Hollywood biopic?

Natalie Portman. Oh, come on, why not? She’s an amazing actress, very good looking and pretty witty. And has no boobs just like me! An alternative if Natalie Portman is busy, Audrey Tautou.

What is your ideal alternative job?

A professional harpsichord player. I’d play mostly the pieces I like (Bach, Scarlatti, Rameau…).

And the realistic alternative?

I'd love to open a concept-store (serious word indeed!) with cool children clothes, furniture and toys. As a matter of fact, my dream shop already exists in Paris (Bonton, http://www.bonton.fr/index-5.php4?cPath=21). I prefer the clothes by Bonpoint though (http://www.bonpoint.com/collection_bebe_br.htm). The majority of the clothes for children is so ugly, and the furniture and the toys, oh my God, the plastic toys with horrendous colours.

Which painting most corresponds with your vision of yourself?

Any female portrait by François Clouet, Anthony Van Dyck, Nicolas de Largillière, Jean-Baptiste Nattier, Jacques-Emile Blanche, Valentine Serov or Julian Opie.

What was your cultural passion at 14?

It may sound stymied but my passion for Russia start to grow and grow when I was 14, more or less, and I spent days and nights reading Russian literature. Dostoevsky, of course (who you must read as a teenager after, it’s just too much very excessive and frankly badly written), but also Gogol, Lermontov, Pushkin, Griboyedov, Tolstoy, Goncharov, Turgenev, Tchekhov, Bunin, Bulgakov, Pasternak and Nabokov. As you can see, I’m not so much into soviet authors (except for the poets: Akhmatova, Esenin, Mandelstam, Mayakovsky).

Which cultural item would you most like to steal?
Can it be more than one? So, I'll steal:

1) the Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione by Raphael (it’s in the Louvre Museum)

2) an original copy of a picture by Leonid Andreyev, a Russian writer who did one of the first colour photos at the beginning of the century. This one for example is a self portrait made in 1910.

This one is his son:

(All his photos are now in the archives of the University of Leeds (UK)).

3) This one I may not need to steal it but buying it one day. I love everything painted by
 Guillermo Kuitca (Argentina, born in 1961).

Corona de espinas, 1995

Untitled, 1988

He’s already in many Museums (including the Tate Gallery and the Art Institute of Chicago) and slightly expensive.

Do you like parties?

Not much. I get so embarrassed, I start drinking to get more confidence. And it’s not good. Oh, nooo.
Which building would you most like to tear down?

The Eiffel tower. It looks like a gigantic suppository. And it’s the only thing people know from Paris. Yuk. There are so many other beautiful things in Paris other than this enormous amount of iron. The worst is that it was meant to be destroyed after the 1889 World Fair for which it was build…

What's the most fashionable thing you own?

My Jaeger Lecoultre Reverso watch which I love but absolutely never wear…

And the least cool?

My Sponge Bob pyjamas. The negation of sexiness. Horrendous but very comfy.
Are you yourself cool?

Oh nooooooooooooo.

Your house is on fire. What object do you save?

We’re talking about objects right? This excluded human beings. So, I’ll say the photos of my children. There are not very well organised, not organised at all, as a matter of fact: there are all mixed up in an old and heavy Mexican box. I guess I’ll have to save that box from the fire.

What do you cling onto from childhood?

A childish sense of humour, a 10-year old sense of humour (Mr. Bean's type of humour).