How long have you been living at the place you're living at now? Where is it? I live in Santurce, a section of the city of San Juan, in the island of Puerto Rico. I've been living in my present address for about 5 years. This is a one time record, since I used to change frecuently, each one to two years, from apartment to apartment.
What do you want to "spill the beans" about, but haven't. My childhood was full of sadness. I witnessed much violence. I myself experienced much mental abuse - I was abandoned physically, emotionally and mentally - and also some physical abuse (was severely beaten up by my dad at 17). I was very troubled as a teenager and as a young adult, as a result of all that craziness. I did all, at very young age! I had to struggle through life pretty much alone: but I was able to pull through all by my own effort - with much difficulties! I have done many good and bad things. I'm sorry I hurt some people!
What is your favorite thing to do alone? I like travelling alone, wandering around foreign cities, nobody knowing who I am. To feel invisible gives me a thrill I cannot describe. Other things I like also: sleeping alone? (although not every night for the rest of eternity), and many others...
If you were stuck only having one feeling (e.g. happy, sad, glum, exuberant) for the rest of your life, which feeling would you choose to have? ...if I reaaaallyyyy have to choose I will pick: wonderfully healthy.
How do you wake up in the morning?
First is the light. I usually get up very early. I cannot see things around clearly, for I'm nearly blind. After I wash my face, brush teeth and put glasses or contact lenses, I'm like a tornado: wide awake and ready to take on the world! By three o'clock the energy starts slowing down...By nine o'clock my body and mind go into SHUTDOWN. I can party, though, but don't expect me to carry a conversation...
What do you do if you miss something?
If I cannot do anything about this feeling, I let it roll off; if I can make a difference, I act.
If you were forced to get a tattoo on your neck, but you could pick the design, what would it be/ look like?
I'd make the emblem of a rose-laberinth, which by the way is my life's logo... but it is quite unrealizable since I've been trying to draw that for a long time and it doesn't come out just right
What's the funniest name you've come across?
Tito Night! Itis the name of my niece's funny pug, also known as Tito Night "el Piratito" (meaning the Little Pirate). He's named this way because he lost an eye. Although he is black, his second name is Night because this is the name of a black metal (it is not to be understood as the evening hours.)
Come up with a tagline for yourself.
Ran away with the wolves all the way to the zoo
How many times do you think you wash your hands a day?
A lot, specially when I'm cooking... I get paranoid then...
What do you consider your best quality?
To rise way above the rest and synthetize? the experience to give it definite form
What was the first "illegal" thing you remember doing? Did you get caught?
When I was seven I took a pair of glasses from another child in class, but I didn't know that I've done something wrong. It turns out that I had a serious case of shortsightness and nobody had noticed. Those glasses were magic for me because I was able to see clearly for the first time in my life... Once I tried THAT, I just HAD to keep them for myself. My mother discovered them and spanked me. I was humilliated for desiring to SEE.
Approximately how much living space do you need to feel comfortable? ?(could be in sq. ft. or dimensions or something else) The most necessary space for me is a big studio-workshop-office. Without it, I feel like part of my body is missing. In a more real sense, I need at least to have my own, very own, bedroom! (right now, things are tight economically for me, so I live in 2 bedroom apt.; my son sleeps in one bedroom and my daughter in the other; me, in the sofa bed, in the living room.) So that's it: a studio and a bedroom, that's the least space I need!
What beverage do you normally drink on flights?
I'd drink anything, hard or soft alcoholic beverages, as long as get a big buzz.
What's the tallest building you've been in?
I don't like being high up in tall buildings. When I was in NYC I avoided the usual tall towers on purpose and kept close to the ground and the underground (metaphorically and physically speaking)
What's the most precious thing you own?
I have several works of art that different friends and lovers have given me which are very precious to me.?Then, there is the magic ring. This ring I found one day, in 1988, buried in the earth on the grounds of an ancient house (some parts are 300 years old) that belonged to my then boyfriend Marcos Irizarry (now deceased). This ring could be very ancient or might have been dropped by someone severals years or decades before, I don't know, but because of the ?incredible beauty that time, of that summer, of that year, of that place, I've invested it with magical powers (of a kind I can hardly understand). Might be the magic of recollection, or, perhaps, the power of making the visions of time past come alive.
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