Getting to Know Cassandra Smith

Cassandra Smith

What's your favorite Little Rock restaurant? I really like Sushi Cafe.

What's your favorite movie? Billy Elliot. It's an English film about a young boy who lost his mother. His coal miner father sends him to a boxing gym, where he stumbles onto a ballet class. He wants to learn ballet. It's about loving someone for what is their true nature. There's this moment at an audition when they ask him what he feels when he dances. He says, 'Like a bird, like I'm free, like electricity.' That's what yoga feels like.

Do you have favorite actors? Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Is there anything you'd like to learn how to do? Oh, yeah. Lots of things. I would like to learn to write ... to tell a story more poetically.

Where were you born? Beebe, Arkansas.

How long have you lived in Little Rock? Since 1998.

Where did you go to school? Beebe and then UCA.

Where do you live? West Little Rock.

Tell us about your family. My mother lives in Beebe with my stepdad, and my father lives in Hot Springs with his wife. (Both couples) have great relationships with the other. I'm very blessed with that.

What's your favorite city? Venice Beach, California. I love that area. I go and do my teacher training out there. The beach is right there. It's like my own little slice of heaven.

Do you have any pets? I have two dogs. Jager is a 12-year-old Weimaraner, and Frank is two years old. He's a mixed breed.

What do you like to do in your spare time? Walk my dog and cook. I walk Frank. Jager is too old to walk.

Do you have a favorite writer? Tom Robbins and David Sedaris.

What do you like to watch on the tube? I love anything on HBO. Their shows are just phenomenal. And I'm really into Terra Nova.

What would you do if you won a large lottery? Give it all away. Secure the future for any future child, and, then, build my mom a house. I'd invest in seeing my mom happy, and, then, laying it out for different causes.

What are your favorite charities? CARE for Animals and Our House.

Do you have a favorite book? The Autobiography of a Yogi, by Yogananda. It is really one of the most profound books I've ever read from the aspect of spirituality.

If you could have a dream dinner party and invite any three people, who would you choose? Yogananda. I would love to be in his presence. the Dalai Lama and the Buddha. I would have a dinner party surrounded by great spiritual thinkers.