Answers

 Answers.

1. Where were you born? - Neman, USSR. A very small town near Kaliningrad.
   
   
2. What languages do you speak? - Russian, English. I know a couple of words in German and Hebrew. I used to be able to speak a bit of Latvian but I can remember almost nothing except a few random words.
   
   
3. What was your favorite book growing up? - Karlson Who Lives on the Roof by Astrid Lindgren
   
   
4. Are you still friends with your elementary school best friends? Sort of - I am in touch with a few old friends but it's limited to occasional "Happy Birthday" or "Happy New Year" wishes. But if they happen to come to the US or if I go visit their countries, I would like to get together.
   
   
5. Why do you read blogs? I like learning about people: how they live and what their interests are.
   
   
6. Do you regularly blog, and if so, why? I like writing. I like having a record of day-to-day life that I can peruse at a later time. I like the opportunity to connect with others.
   
   
7. If you would write a book, would it be fiction or nonfiction? Is there a particular subject or theme you would write about? Both. The nonfiction book would be something science-related (how do cells communicate? how do they send and receive signals?) or something essay-like on growing up in the USSR (and how it may or may not be different from my children's childhoods in the USA). Fiction: probably science fiction (something about first contact and the idea that our definition of life has limitations).
   
   
8. If you could spend more time on a hobby, what would it be? Piano. Learning to identify trees, flowers, birds. Hiking. Art museums.
   
   
9. What is your favorite gift to give to friends? Books. 
   
   
10. If you had to sum up the meaning of life in 1 simple sentence, what would it be? Kafka said it well: The meaning of life is that it ends.