CaC: Small Dinner Party List...

Imagine you're going to organize a dinner party for yourself and seven guests. You can invite anyone who ever lived, whether they're world-famous or someone whose name only you would recognize. If you choose someone from the past, they will be magically alive and present for this one day. But here's the twist - in order for the magic to work, each chair will only hold a guest who fits into a certain category. Tell us who you would invite and, if you like, tell us a little about why. What do you admire about that person or what would you like to learn from him or her?

Dream Dinner Party

1. Guest one must be someone who is/was creative with words - a novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, journalist, etc. Who would you invite?

Without any doubt it would be Margaret Mitchell…author of Gone With The Wind. It would be so interesting to talk with her and see how she was capable of creating characters that intertwined so well throughout the novel and still kept a pulse on such a difficult time in American history. Besides, I’d have to thank her for giving me the name for my daughter – which, of course, is Tara and my best friend whose name is Scarlett.

2. Guest two must be someone who is/was creative with images - a painter, photographer, sculptor, fabric artist, collage artist, etc. Who would you invite?

Georgia O'Keeffe would have to be the one. Her art work just overwhelms me. This past year I was able to see her work and photos, documentaries or any other medium in which I had seen her work before could never compare to seeing her paintings live. The colors and size of some of her work just overtakes you…I could have sat for days just looking at her paintings. I had always enjoyed paintings and going to museums – but seeing her paintings gave me an entirely different outlook on going to a museum. I would love to know how she sees color and how she makes it work for her.

3. Guest three must be someone who is/was a performer - an actor, singer, musician, comedian, acrobat, etc. Who would you invite?

Cher! The woman is a legend! She has a body that does not quit – and the balls to wear clothes that are barely there…and the guts to live her life in and out of the spotlight. She is my most favorite singer and movie star…and I would have to know how she manages to keep such a trim body.

4. Guest four must be someone who is charting/charted new territory - either in the physical sense, like an explorer, adventurer, or astronaut, or someone like a groundbreaking scientist or inventor. Who would you invite?

I had to think about this one for a while…but, I finally came up with Brigham Young . Talk about charting new territory…He had to have been a man of great persuasion to take a band of people across this vast country and establish not only one of the most beautiful cities in our country, Salt Lake City, but the state of Utah. So many cities in Utah and other states like Arizona and Idaho (for example) were established under his guidance. And, we aren’t talking about traveling in nice air conditioned cars either…I would want to learn how he was able to believe enough to take a chance and step out on faith and move to into uncharted territory.

5. Guest five must be someone who is/was a leader of other people - perhaps in the area of politics, like the literal leader of a country, or perhaps a leader in the area of religion, military, business, or even a great philosopher or teacher, or an inspiring athlete. Who would you invite?

From the time I was seven years old, this woman has been the Queen…Queen Elizabeth II. Her coronation was 54 years ago…I’ve never known of another Royal Family since my childhood. She is the head of sixteen sovereign states...I admire her for the ability to be able to accept her role in life without backing out.

6. Guest six must be someone from any field who you believe is/was underrated and under-appreciated by most people, but whom you admire. Who would you invite?

The person that fits this category was the woman who took a twelve-year-old little girl whose feelings had been crushed by the glee club teacher when she, along with five other kids, was asked to leave because she could not sing well. She was my sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Davidson. She took it upon herself to go an buy supplies to teach the girls how to embroider and the boys how to carve soap…and when the glee club sang at open house, she showed our work to all the parents by displaying it in the classroom. She was truly a gem!!! The work that teachers do is so underrated and under paid and under appreciated, yet many are so like Mrs. Davidson.

7. Guest seven is a wild card - your choice! Is there someone you'd like to invite who didn't seem to quite fit into any category, or was there a category where you'd have really liked to invite two different people? Then this is your chance to add the person you missed to the table. Who would you invite?

This one was most difficult because I know two people who fit the fiber artist title – but, one of them I occasionally get to see and the other I’ve not had the pleasure of meeting. So, my choice would be Tristan Robin Blakeman. His work is bold, energetic, exciting, colorful…and whenever I need inspiration I head over to his website. Even if I look at the same quilt or quilts I always get something different. I would want him to teach me how to Seminole Quilt…and I probably would beg top learn from him that is how talented I think he is.

Bonus: Uh Oh! The dinner party is just about to end, and all your guests are about to disappear, and you realize that you've forgotten to ask one important question of one of your guests. You just barely have time to squeeze in that last question, so quick! - what was the question and who did you ask?

I would have to ask Margaret Mitchell – “Had she lived, would she have written a sequel to Gone with the Wind? and What the heck happened to Scarlett and Rhett”