My interest in Los Angeles.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
When I ruin someone else’s story because I think mine is better, so butt in before they’ve finished theirs.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 252 →My personality.
Pauline McLynn
Irish character actress and author
I talk over people all the time.
Laziness and procrastination.
More from Dawn O’Porter
View profile →Hungry, hard-working, cats.
Clothes moths (and the imminent threat of world war three).
When they ruin my story because they think theirs is better, so butt in before I’ve finished mine.
Perimenopausal anxiety, the terrible feeling of impending doom, something awful happening to my children, writing deadlines. Apart from that, I’m quite chilled.
Not winning Celebrity MasterChef. I am still gutted, despite many months of pretending to be fine with it.
My Auntie Jane. She took me in, aged 10, and, after my mother died, healed my broken heart by filling our dining room with food and people. Still cooking at the grand old age of 89. My icon.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Nancy Pelosi, Julian Clary, Norman Lear, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jane Asher, Milton Jones
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject