Thursday, January 31, 2008

my virtual dinner with Notfainthearted

A couple of weeks back, Neil Kramer of Citizen of the Month proposed The Great Interview Experiment, an interview daisy chain between fellow bloggers. By a fiendish arithmetic Neil came up with a list of interviewees and interviewers.

I was assigned the enjoyable task of forcibly detaining and interrogating interviewing Notfainthearted, a compulsive blogger and all-round interesting person from the Midwest. As you'll see from the answers below, Notfainthearted probably has a dog, leads a spiritual life, and saves candle ends for the purpose of making firestarters. Which suggests to me that she's trying to make a big wax sculpture of Drew Barrymore. And holy cow, she knows Grandpa Ken. That's a brimming ramikin of cool.

INTERVIEW!

Bloggers are an incredibly diverse bunch, but by and large we're all familiar and comfortable with the internet. Indeed, the internet has become so seamlessly integrated into our lives that it's hard to remember a time when it was strange and new. Tell me about your discovery of the internet.
In 1992 I was working as a temp for a wholesale drug company. They held the contract for pharmacies that were members of these new-fangled HMOs and state buying contracts. This company would send their catalog and prices out to the participating pharmacies on big floppy disks and the pharmacys would order via a BBS (or a bulletin board system). We had some email but it was text based only.

Around that same time, we got our second home computer (a MacSE) that included a modem and an email program. When my second son was born and I stayed home again, one of the things I tried was doing some research via this modem and libraries that had their catalogs available.

I remember being terribly disappointed that while I could determine that a library in Chicago or Paris had a book or (music) manuscript I was looking for, I couldn't read it. From home. I thought the whole idea would be a lot better if you could actually read the book or see the music from your own computer.

I spent a little bit of time on some early BBS groups (predecessor of chat rooms) but never really connected with any of the communities. Probably had something to do with the slow connection speeds coupled with two kids under three and at least two part-time jobs.

I see that you're part of Blog365. Blogging, even when you're writing short posts, requires a degree of concentration and creativity that can be draining and difficult to maintain. Share some of your strategies for blogging every day, without fail, for an entire year.

First, those who know me know that I am seldom at a loss for an opinion or the desire to express said opinion. Even at my darkest, bleakest, and most depressed I can always talk about how crappy I feel!

Second, despite my tending toward sucking up to people like Neil, and playing along with silly blog memes and scavenger hunts, my blog really is just for me.

I started this blog in November 2004 in a desperate attempt to succeed at keeping a journal. Partly because I was told repeatedly by my therapist to journal but mostly because I knew it would help me to have a way to process. I had tried repeatedly over the course of my life to keep a journal and to be consistent. And had failed repeatedly. Given up. The number of adolescent (and pre-adolescent) angst filled notebooks and "My Diaries" in my cedar chest is truly amazing. What's discouraging is how few of them have anything written past Valentine's day.

Internet journaling, blogging, has been a tool that for whatever reason has been successful for me. And I give consistent journaling a large amount of credit for dragging myself up from the bottom of the pit.

As I've come around the year from when I started to post regularly, I found it helpful (and interesting - from a self absorbed point of view, I suppose) to remember where I was "a year ago." Especially as I came up on the anniversaries related to my divorce and beginning to rebuild my life (not just the dating, but certainly not discounting that.) I found being able to look back to be a powerful motivator to keep writing for myself.

From a practical point of view, if I feel like I need to comment on something that happens, I write the post and date it for publication in the future. I can always change the publication date to fill in for a day I don't have a post written.

My cat likes to lick my laptop screen while I work and occasionally tries to eat the mouse pointer. Even though he'll never ever get to eat that pointer or even pin it down with a paw, he never gives up. Do you find that inspirational or creepy? I'm divided on this one and your input could really tip my judgment either way.
My dog likes to bark at the dogs on the TV and sometimes chases other animals around to the back of the set if they run off screen. That I find funny. I would laugh at your cat, too.

Ever notice how fish never do any of that weird stuff?

I used to be an interviewer for several television shows. I (almost) never appeared on camera, but whenever one of my shows came on, I was always aware that I was the off-camera end of the conversation. I was like a celebrity's shadow. What's your strange claim to fame?
You mean aside from playing the accordion on the Grandpa Ken TV show when I was 9?

Close your eyes and picture your favourite room in your house. Make a quick list of all the things you see in that room. Now tell me all the things in that room that you could throw away and not miss.
I'd love to say my favorite room was my bedroom. Sounds so much more sexy and self-actualized than "the kitchen." But the truth is, right now, my kitchen is my favorite room.

Quick list of what I see in my mind's eye.

    Antique farm table and mismatched chairs cookbooks dirty dishes in the sink from dinner cupboards with no doors on them - so I can see all the dishes and vases and glasses...and dust appliances phone dog (probably)


Stuff I could throw out and not miss:

    everything in the cupboards below the silverware drawer: (eleventy-three "silver" platters, cheesy Christmas candy dishes, Christmas plates I never remember I have, Santa cheese spreaders, hors d'oeuvre plate holders, boxes of plastic cutlery, and some stuff I probably would be surprised to find.) At least 1/3 of the cookbooks fondue pot and chafing dishes from my mom's kitchen plastic cups saved from the baseball games (these seem to mulitiply on their own) Probably more than half the stuff in the lazy susan cupboard (really old maraschino cherries, outdated baking mixes, that sort of stuff.) glass chip 'n' dip serving dishes punch bowls (Not really sure how I ended up with two of those...) probably a small box worth of "gadgets" that have been given to me over the years that I don't use but hang on to out of obligation candle ends (saved to make fire starters) files and files of recipes cut from magazines like Martha Stewart Living and several years worth of Every Day Food


sheesh! Thanks for reminding me of the de-clutter I need to do!

What role has the church/religion/the spirit played in your life? In an age when belief is not a given, how do you maintain your faith?
Wow. This is a biggie. Let me try to sum-up.

I would have to say that I don't maintain my faith. I am full of doubt and cynicism. Some days more than others. But the truth of my life is that I am continually drawn back into that relationship with the Divine. I guess I believe that God is a God of second chances (times infinity) and that no matter how balled up of a mess I (we) make of things, something good can be made of it.

I've attended church, been a member since infancy. I had parents who argued about double-predestination and the nature of God. (Vengeful and just waiting for you to screw up so He can blast you was the underlying feeling.) I got in trouble with them (and my grandparents) when as a first grader I voted for Hubert H. Humphrey for president. Their objection was that he was going to give all their money away to help "those people." They were not amused when I said "But I thought Jesus said we were supposed to help the poor?"

These same people sent me to conservative Lutheran schools where, in addition to pushing them on an answer about our social responsibility to one another as Christians, I argued with the religion teachers about the role of women in the church (this was in the mid 70's when other branches of the Church were starting to ordain women) and all sorts of other things. I was told that if I didn't straighten out my thinking (i.e. shut up and go along) I'd go to hell along with the Baptists and Catholics. Well, I knew I wasn't going to hell, so I figured they were wrong about the Baptists and Catholics too. And probably about the Buddhists and Muslims and maybe even about those godless atheists. (but don't tell them that!;-) )

It's at that point, I think that many many people throw up their hands and abandon "organized religion" completely. And I honestly don't know why I didn't. I certainly understand why anyone would. But it seems to me that the best part of a community of believers is also the worst part: It's full of people. It's a paradox.

Instead of giving up on church/religion/spirituality, the path of my life has been deeper and deeper immersion into the spiritual and theological (let's not split hairs here) within the Church. And what I found is that 20th century American "Christianity" ignored or actively hid a lot of what I was looking for and needed.

I'm wired as a mystic. Part of that comes through my music, part through my spiritual life. Most of both of those can't be separated from each other.

I think that one of the greatest gifts of the late 20th century has been the collapse of the "modern" lie: that spirit and body and mind are separate things, that you and I are separate, that the physical existence in and of itself is less "ideal" than the ethereal realm. The re-discovery of complimentary medicines, quantum physics and global climate change are all demanding that we abandon that compartmentalization and mechanization of the Industrial Age. These are all spiritual matters.

All I can tell you is that I can point to instances where I believe God has acted mercifully toward me through people. That my faith is a gift. That I don't maintain it, it maintains me. Those stories are the stories of my life. Some of them are written in my blog, some aren't, some will be.

What do you want to leave behind when you exit this world?
Everything.

Once I went to a bar and ordered the house wine. It came in a can. Have you ever had wine in a can? It was categorically wrong and it tasted like alcoholic metal. It made the concept of wine in a drinking box seem innovative instead of ridiculous. I know I had a question in here somewhere. Okay, it's a two-parter. Have you ever had wine in a can, and if so, how was the experience? And would you date someone if, on the first date, they brought over a six pack of sauvignon blanc? What if they brought over a six-pack of wine and said, "Baby, you're a Top Ten Washing Machine and I'm a load of dirty whites"? Would you date that person? Or call the police? I'd do both.
Ha! I'd probably do both, too. If nothing else just for the good story it would provide.

Wine from a can, huh? I have never had wine from a can. I've given up drinking canned beer, so I doubt I would try it. I have had wine from a box. In fact, there are a couple of nice Australian box wines that got me through several tough months of the divorce process.

I've never tried the individual drink box sizes. I suspect my inner 5 year old would emerge and I'd end up squirting most of it at my date, just because it would be funny.

If a spiderpig really does do whatever a spiderpig does, what does it do?
The only existing evidence suggests that they poop a lot and leave footprints on the ceiling. I suspect that further investigation would prove that they also make damn fine bacon. Not to mention chops, ribs and a tasty, tasty tenderloin.

16 comments:

Nate said...

You, sir, write some kickass questions.

I love her answer on religion, mostly because I'm going to use it to answer an e-mail I got yesterday.

Neil said...

Serious. I'm almost crying here in joy. Someone just nailed asking questions of a total stranger.

I'm done crushing on Schmutzie and moving on to you. I have a feeling you're a better dancer, too.

And NFH -- you didn't back down once!

palinode said...

nate - When it was my job to interview people, I would draw up my list of questions. In order to get a smooth creative flow going, I would write down all the silly questions that were crowding my mind in order to get to the serious ones. Then I'd throw out the silly stuff. What you see here is the intermediate stage of my process.

neil - I dance like Baryshnikov, if Baryshnikov had no training and back surgery. Or if by Baryshnikov I mean Freddy Baryshnikov, the one with the shakes and the missing leg.

You're right about NFH - she didn't back down at all. I thought the "you're a Top Ten washing machine" line would earn me a restraining order, but she was, as they say, a very good sport.

savia said...

Are you positive she didn't call the police? Because what with the time difference and all, they could still be on their way.s

Anonymous said...

Aw shucks, you guys. I'm blushing!

And the washing machine line didn't agitate me at all.

AscenderRisesAbove said...

I very (very) much enjoyed your interview. You could tell this is something you had done professionally as I found myself answering the questions at home.
And the layout of your blog, very nice.
My suggestion: get together with Neil and do his ad promotion - you two will make a killing. Just a thought!

Anonymous said...

That was an awesome interview. Yet another blog to add my bookmarks. Crap. I'll never get anything done at this rate.

i am the diva said...

mmmm tasty spiderpig.

great interview!!

palinode said...

savia - Hmmm. Yeah. You may be right.

notfainthearted - Blush away. Plus, good pun on washing machine.

ascenderrisesabove - I like your online name. It gets stuck in one's head. That's a good suggestion about teaming up with Neil - Neil, are you listening?

If you like the layout of my blog, be sure to compliment the designer, my wife and sparring partner Schmutzie.

'sir' - Thanks.

diva - Spiderbacon, spiderchops, spiderham.

Nate said...

Does that mean that spider isn't kosher?

t_cole said...

NFH inspires me - on many levels. You have done a fabulous job in capturing her wit, intelligence and Godliness.
Nice work to all!
t

Abigail Road said...

Those questions were bizonkers. Great interview!

Anonymous said...

I had wine in a can when I was in Argentina. It was called Pronto! and because I was 16 and it tasted a lot like grape juice I thought it was great. In fact, I later learned, it was marketed for the younger crowd, to get them started on adult drinks like vino.

palinode said...

nate - I was going to say half-kosher, but I doubt that spiders rate as kosher.

t cole - Thank you.

abigail road - Thizank you.

helvetica - Pronto! sounds better than what I had.

Theresa said...

This is just perfect. It made me go sign up on Neil's Great Interview Experiment and now I'm immersed in an orgy of interviews. Thanks for the inspiration, the education, the entertainamation and a host of other ations.

Anonymous said...

Boy, this was a match made in heaven! Good work, Palinode, as always.
Anonymom