1) When the song was written, "Surf City" was a fictitious town.* Tell us a song that is set in a real place.
"Little Old Lady From Pasadena"...also Rob Zombie's "Go to California." Husband and I used to really want to move to California and "Go to California" is our song. Who knows maybe we will have that ranch in California one day still.
2) In the song, Jan and Dean sing about riding around in a 1934 station wagon, which means the car was 29 years old when the song was recorded. How old is your vehicle?
Both are somewhere around a decade.
3) Are you good on a surf board?
I wish. I have not been to the ocean. I love photos of barrel and tube waves and I am fascinated with wave pools.
4) When you spend time out in the sun, are you careful about applying sunscreen?
Yes, me and my children burn easily. We have many different forms of sunscreen. I have lotion and makeup with sunscreen, too. Yet, I still get slightly sunburned often...sigh.
5) Dean's original partner was Arnie Ginsburg. When Dean was drafted into the Army, Arnie didn't feel like waiting so he abandoned show business and went back to college. Today he holds several patents. What is something you wish someone would invent?
A holodeck where can I persuade my (holograph of my)husband to dance.
6) Jan was a perpetual student who juggled college with recording. He not only graduated from UCLA, he completed two years of medical school at the UC Irvine School of Medicine. Have you ever considered going back to school?
Yes, often...I had always seen myself getting a Phd. but have not been able to due to circumstances beyond my control. When the kids get older, I may go for a scholarship that I am pretty certain to get if it is still available. Right now, I do take courses on philosophy and Biblical topics (like the rise and fall of Jerusalem) via Coursera.
7) In 1966, Jan was sidelined by a serious car accident. During the years that he was unable to perform, partner Dean became a graphic artist. He designed logos and album covers for Steve Martin, Diana Ross and others. Do you feel you respond most to words, pictures, or music?
Words...especially if there are new terms for me to learn within those words. There's never enough time to look up all references or vocab though. I hate reading without total comprehension.
8) In 1978, CBS made a TV movie about Jan and Dean. If they approached you about a made-for-TV movie of your life, who would you like to play you?
Well, I am pretty gentle (just an honest assesment)...so I guess an actress of the kind you don't see much anymore. A younger Melissa Gilbert with bolder hair or Ali McGraw in the "Love Story" years. Maybe a woman who has played Peter Pan since I am appalled by unfairness in the same way that Peter was. Perhaps Sophia Loren...but more conservative...because I try to ENJOY life like some of her characters do.
9) Random question: Growing up, how did you learn about the birds and the bees? (From books/the web, from parents, from your friends...)
My parents did not talk about this at all. I learned entirely from school, movies and oddly enough, the "historical romances" that my mother liked to read (apparently for the actual history). Now I have inherited a large amount of these books that are sometimes rather detailed and I am skimming them for the history tidbits I want to pick up...then putting them in the "Take and Leave" library or finding someone in a nursing home who likes that sort of thing. Our children are homeschooled and we have a friend who has taught Christian "Sex Ed" at a teacher-staffed homeschool co-op...we will consult her when the time comes for such learning.
