PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Courtside seats. Spike is on my left. My kids are in my lap. I'm wearing a green Morehouse sweatshirt. My wife is to my right...immaculate. It's game 1 of the NBA Finals pitting the Dallas Mavs and the New York Knicks. It's predicted to go 7 games.

What is the trait that you most deplore in yourself?
Fear.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Hypocrisy and lethargy.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Countless pints of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk Ice Cream and my weekly ration of steamed and seasoned crab legs from Publix.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Success. It can be achieved in so many b.s. and backwards ways.

On what occassion do you lie?
It used to be in December and May, but I've been going to class lately. Other than that, when I'm ready to move on in a conversation or discussion, and a little lie will keep us rolling.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
"I wish I was a little bit taller..." - Skee-Lo

What living person do you most despise?
There's not one person, but there are groups. You know like; supremacists, ultra-right wingers, Niner fans, etc.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
"I am impeccable in my use of language." - Deepak Chopra

What is your greatest regret?
In the fall of 1993, I was walking back from the Metro station at Howard University. I walked through campus and I saw a girl sitting on bench across from the Crampton Auditorium. I recognized her because she was part of the young ladies we referred to as the Pac-10. They were west coast girls who were absolutely beautiful in every sense of the word. I called her USC. Anyway, I saw USC sitting down, and as I walked by, me being in my pre-supposed station and she being in hers; mine of lowly first semester freshman and hers of freshwoman super star, I said hello. Surprisingly, in a total breach of etiquette, she spoke to me as well. Like a scared puppy, I walked away and never said anything else. I regret not speaking to her still this day.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Passing anything taught by Dr. Tobe Johnson.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
Joseph Morehouse Carlos...my future son

If you could choose what to come back as what would it be?
A Heisman trophy.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Possessing no hope.

What is your most marked characteristic?
The ease with which I say my name and extend my hand.

Who are your favorite writers?
Shakespeare, Jimmy Baldwin, Scott Fitzgerald, Laura Ingalls Wilder, W.E.B. DuBois

Who are your heroes in life?
Parents. Or at least mine are. They are the world's most surviving, splendid, intelligent, thoughtful, loving, understanding, caring and giving people the world has ever known.

What are your favorite names?
Joseph, Hazel, Jordan, Marjon, Carlos...Sasha

What is it that you most dislike?
Prejudice and bigotry.

How would you like to die?
Peacefully and quietly.

What is your motto?
"You've gotta love livin', cause dyin' is a pain in the ass!" - Francis Albert Sinatra