The Interview Meme

[jwgh]

The Rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me" or something similar.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions of my choosing.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions and leave the answers as comments on my LJ
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

And so the cosmic cycle continues.

The questions I got from chikwithscourge and my answers to those questions follow.

1. you are given an infinite budget to create a pair of underwear completely out of jewels. what are they? why?

   I suppose I could make them out of diamonds, the hardest substance known to man! I think the real question is what I would do with them once I had them. Maybe sell them on eBay? There's probably a big underground market for jeweled underwear out there.

2. how do you feel when you see the ocean?

   If it is a nice day looking at the ocean and hearing the waves makes me happy, but I also worry about getting sunburned.

3. what are your strongest musical influences?

   Hmmm. I think my influences tend to be somewhat unconcious, so this is difficult to answer.

   On piano, Jimmy Yancey's someone I certainly listened to a lot when I was learning, and Otis Spann, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, and Professor Longhair are also some people I have listened to a lot, although I feel like I'm not really a good enough player to sound very much like any of them. To get a little closer to home, playing with my father's cousin David has certainly influenced my style.

   On guitar, my playing is a lot more rudimentary and I probably sound like any other three-chord picker out there ... I do have a few set pieces that I learned more or less by rote from recordings by Robert Johnson and Tommy Johnson, and my father's playing has probably been the biggest influence on the stuff I do that doesn't sound completely generic.d

   For singing, you probably couldn't really tell, but Muddy Waters is someone whose singing I've listened to a lot. Aretha Franklin is again someone who, in my wildest dreams, I might sound 5% as good as. I dunno. I listen to a lot of people.

   When I'm writing I probably tend to work in the modes of They Might Be Giants, Kibo, and plorkwort. I don't think I've really developed my own voice yet.

4. whats your fondest co-op memory?

   Watermyn Co-Op saved me from starving to death! I was taking summer courses so was stuck in Providence for the summer, but I had become angry at all of the Providence banks and refused to get accounts with any of them, so all my money was in a Massachusetts bank, and I had no ATM card, and I also wasn't on the meal plan. The Brown Bookstore would cash a single check for $150 every two weeks (or something like that -- I remember it came out to about $10 per day), so I could have about a meal and a half a day if I kept it cheap. Probably the low point was when I got a sandwich at D'Angelo's and it was so vile that I couldn't eat it, so I threw it out and went hungry for the day.

   I mentioned this to a friend of mine (who I happened to have a giant non-reciprocated crush on) and she suggested that I join the Watermyn food co-op, since they would take a check. I did so and the rest was history.

   After I moved to Watermyn Co-Op there are a lot of things I remember fondly, but they tend not to be tied to specific incidents. Vegging out on the waterbed in the living room watching old tapes of the Simpsons for hours on end; hanging out in the kitchen into the wee hours chatting with folks and writing in the house journal; chatting with my unrequited crush in the laundry room as she was doing her laundry; playing bridge on the third floor of the co-op during the naked party ... these are all things I think about from time to time which make me happy.

5. Whats your worst co-op memory?

   Urg. There are a few things that stand out. I will list them in ascending order of badness.

   1. The series of house meetings in which the topic of what kind of toaster we should get came up and refused to die, so that we ended up discussing the same stupid topic for three hours without resolution. (Eventually, someone went out and bought a random toaster, then asked at the next house meeting to be reimbursed, which was agreed to with very little discussion. This taught me a valuable lesson, but I'm not sure what it was.)
   2. Before I lived in Watermyn I lived in the house that later became Finlandia Co-Op. This was at a time when it wasn't yet officially a co-op, although it was owned by BACH ... it was being renovated to become fit to be a co-op. Those of us who lived there did try to function as a semi-official co-op, though, for a while at least.

      The big problem was the kitchen. We had an ant problem, and as someone who grew up in a house where ants were a problem I knew that the only solution to this was to never leave out food and to do the dishes as soon as they became dirty. My recollection is that eventually I became the only person who would do the dishes, although I am sure this is exaggerated. Eventually this annoyed me enough that I would only do my own dishes, because, what the hell. But things got worse.

      Things came to a head after Thanksgiving, when I arrived back at the house and ventured down into the kitchen, which was in the cellar (because the kitchens on the other floors were being renovated). There I discovered that somebody had left a turkey carcass on the counter. There was a house cat, though, and it had gone into the kitchen and pulled the carcass onto the floor. Ants were everywhere.

      I turned around, left the kitchen, and vowed never to enter that room again, a vow I successfully stuck to until the year was over and I could move to Watermyn.

      At one point I tried to incorporate this incident into a song I was writing, but I had to take it out because it was too over the top and unbelievable.

   3. The worst memory, though, came from when I moved out. I had got a job in New York and so was leaving in the middle of the semester. The rule was that I could find someone to sublet as long as they fit the rules of who could live in BACH (which I think was along the lines of: Brown student, staff, or faculty).

      As it happened, at around this time a friend of mine, who worked as a security guard at the CIT, was looking for a cheap place to live near campus. It didn't get much cheaper than the co-op back then and he was a cool guy who I thought everyone would get along with, so I suggested that he might want to sublet from me and he indicated interest.

      So I brought it up at house meeting and several people were very, very negative about the idea. They indicated that they would be very uncomfortable with a thirty year old guy living in the same house as them and insinuated that the only reason that my buddy would think about doing something like that was because he was a perv.

      This put me in a very bad situation. Of course I was not happy with my friends being insulted, and I thought that the people who opposed him moving in were being prejudiced. On the other hand I didn't want my last act as a member of BACH to be forcing someone into the house that the house didn't want, particularly since it seemed like it could be pretty divisive. Also, it didn't seem fair to my friend to have him move into this situation where people who didn't even know him already hated him.

      So I decided that I had to rescind the offer. That was not a very pleasant conversation, although I don't remember the details.

      It was a very bad situation and it caused a lot of agonizing on my part. I felt very bad about the whole thing. I'm still not sure what the right way to handle it was.

Comments

[paperclippy.livejournal.com]

That's crazy about the turkey carcass. Wow.

I love this meme, and I'm glad to see it again, so please interview me! :)

[jwgh]

Lessee.
1) In college, what was or is your favorite course that was not in your major?
2) What is the worst piece of advice you have ever followed?
3) What led you to start knitting?
4) What is your favorite of the places you've lived and why?
5) How many people that you knew in high school do you still keep in touch with?

[chikwithscourge.livejournal.com]

hey lets turn the knife counter clockwise shall we?

[jwgh]

Sure, I can keep this up all week! Or can I? There is only one way to find out.

1) I know that you are a member of snbprov but I'm not sure if I've seen you at any of the meetups. If you knit or crochet, what is the last project you worked on?
2) How did you find out about the co-ops, and what made you decide to give living there a whirl?
3) Name me someone who's ridiculous.
4) What's a painting or artist you find particularly inspiring or noteworthy and why?
5) If there's still a house journal at Watermyn, and if you ever write in it, what is the last thing you wrote in it?

Asking questions is hard.

It can't get much worse

[vardissakheli.livejournal.com]

than when my friend at the college newspaper insisted I had said that "being in a team of performing scientists on the Moon" was my life's ambition. Sure, I'll take an interview.

Re: It can't get much worse

[jwgh]

1) If you could get a super power, and your choices were invisibility or the ability to fly, which would you choose and why?
2) What are your strongest musical influences? (I had to answer it and so do you.)
3) What was the first musical instrument you studied?
4) How did you get into computers?
5) What is the last joke you heard that you thought was funny?

Failure to follow instructions.

[vardissakheli.livejournal.com]

Nobody needs two copies of all this! (http://www.livejournal.com/users/vardissakheli/57592.html) In fact, I think I'll actually change the rules in my post.

[cgoldfish.livejournal.com]

heck, i'll take an interview too.

i'm stuck at work all night, and an interview sounds like a fine way to spend some time.

[jwgh]

OK, hopefully these aren't too obvious.
1. How long have you lived in Rhode Island, and (if you didn't grow up here) why did you decide to move here?
2. What is your favorite hobby (other than knitting) and why?
3. Why did you decide to get tattoos, and why did you pick the particular ones you chose?
4. What's a favorite poem of yours?
5. What is the best show you've seen at AS220?

[plorkwort.livejournal.com]

I am flattered to be a lyrical influence!

[jwgh]

I flatter myself to think some of the sets of lyrics I've written have been fairly Plorkwortian. ;-)

[muffyjo]

Eventually, someone went out and bought a random toaster, then asked at the next house meeting to be reimbursed, which was agreed to with very little discussion. This taught me a valuable lesson, but I'm not sure what it was.

Walk quietly, carry a working toaster, and bill later? :) Just a thought.

So, yeah, i'm curious about this...I'd like to be interviewed.

[jwgh]

Hmmm.

1) How did you get into working in the theater?
2) If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead, and have a brief conversation with them, who would you pick?
3) What was your favorite class in college and why?
4) Why did you decide to start a livejournal?
5) Name a book or song that has particular meaning for you and explain why.

[muffyjo]

1) How did you get into working in the theater?
It depends on which time. When I was a very little girl, I sang on a television show in Manila called "Seeing Stars" with a friend of mine who played the guitar. I can't remember what it was I sang, but they asked me to come back and sing again, so I remember doing that, too. In High School I got involved in a lot of produtions and took a theatre class which got me hooked into the creation side of things. Mostly, I liked being able to use the powertool, I think. There's something really enabling about knowing that you CAN build something that's useful. Not a lot of young women get to try it. I acted in a community theatre production one summer when I was 17 (Pippin) and had a HUGE crush on the leads. The guy who played Pippin kissed me on the lips at the cast party...I was in heaven! Ok, so it was as he was leaving, and I never saw him again, but still...HE KISSED ME!!! Wheeeee!!!!

Then came college and I have to credit my continuing interest due to my Professor, Stephen Woody, who quietly smiled, handed me a powertool, gave me a general "I want you to make a 5x6x4 foot park bench" and showed me where the wood was located. I asked him what were the specifics...he asked me back...what did I think would work. I explained...he said "that sounds like one way of doing it. try it." and left me alone for a few hours. it was frustrating when he would occasionally point out an easier way, but it did force me to THINK instead of just following the crowd and not understanding WHY something worked. Probably one of the most valuable lessons I have ever learned.

As for my most recent foray, I hold lillibet entirely responsible. We had talked a great deal about the show she wanted to pull together and...damn if that woman doesn't have a way of making you think it was all your idea in the first place. I know I got suckered in, I just can't put my finger on it. And I can't imagine I struggled too mightly, either.

Theatre allows me to build things, organize things, make order out of a very convoluted universe, and then get rid of all the evidence in the end. It's quite cathartic, really.

2) If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead, and have a brief conversation with them, who would you pick?
Tough call...Galleleo sounds like an amazing guy...but I don't speak Italian, not to mention old italian...so that would be difficult. Oscar Wilde is a long time favorite, but I fear I would find him way too negative. So I would have to say Richard Feynman. He was charming, articulate and I would love any conversation he would have to offer on the things that swept through his head. From Physics to bongo drums, he has intrigued me.

3) What was your favorite class in college and why?
Professor Charles Bassett in his course about Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain. The man loved the topic, knew it inside and out and was simply damn good at his job of teaching us. You WANTED to learn from him. He made you think about what was politically relevant, what social statements were being made, how did this, one of the all time great american fictions, find itself so popular, even today? it's still one of my favorite stories.

[muffyjo]

4) Why did you decide to start a livejournal?
Because some days, you just want to share stuff with a lot of people all at once. And it gives me a chance to ask the people I care about, the ones I surround myself with, what's going on in their worlds. And it helps to get glimpses into the world around me in ways and with thoughts other than the ones I can come up with on my own. It's a bit like having everyone over to my house once a week to sit around on the couch, catch up, drink a glass of wine and stare into the fire and talk until all hours without the sleep deprivation, the hangover and the hard day at work the next day.

5) Name a book or song that has particular meaning for you and explain why.
"I don't know how to love him" from Jesus Christ Superstar. Mom had smuggled the LP into the Phillippines and we played it over and over again at home. (Ok, *I* played it over and over again, Mom was at work at the time). I loved that song. And at a dinner party, it's rather traditional to ask the kids to sing for your guests. She asked me to get up and sing, so I did. And everyone laughed in a really positive way. Here I was, 5 years old and a POP STAR! W00t! And the lyrics they liked the most were "and I've had so many men before and in so many ways, he's just one more..."