If I Were a Stalker

P has been a mentor to me without even knowing it. I first discovered her back when she had a blog on MSN Spaces. I was new to blogging, and her wit and thoughtful meanderings made me want to write more and write better. After a few years and a switch to Blogger, I'm still reading everything she writes and hoping every day for something new. She was like the popular girl in high school that I always wanted to hang out with but never felt worthy of, despite her willingness to be friends. If I were a stalker, she'd be the one I obsessed over.

If you don't already read P, I highly recommend it. This interview will give you a taste of what you've been missing. (It's a little long, but well worth the read. I just couldn't bring myself to edit her answers any more.) And if you do already read her, well hopefully this will give you more insight into the inner workings of a Biped Sideways.

Let’s start with my favorite question. Where did the name of your blog, “biped sideways,” come from?

Long story (but I’ll make it shorter). Several years ago I was a bit of a lost soul, made several dumb dumb dumb choices, and yada yada yada wound up face down, drunk, and alone in the middle of a street. Very classy. I vividly recall being on the ground and considering the viewpoint, the feet of strangers coming to my aid, which I later described in a very bad poem called “Sideways and with Feet.” I have always remembered that moment as a metaphor for all the times I feel lost and the world goes sideways. I started the blog and the column more recently in a discombobulated period and out popped “Biped Sideways.”

When I first started reading your MSN Spaces blog, which no longer exists, you were working as a school psychologist. The decision to move on from that career and find something you could love doing wasn’t easy. What is your dream career?

School psychs are more involved with assessing learning disabilities and behavior problems and ... assessment feels very cold a lot of the time – like my job was to admonish teenagers for not being normal. That didn’t feel very good. The only thing that was hard about leaving it was that I was worried I wouldn’t have a title anymore. Stupid and totally ego-driven. But normal, I guess. Oh, and the paycheck. That hurt.

Dream career. Easy! Prolific, profound, paycheck-earning (but non-contracted) writer of novels and essays and chaptered thoughts, which later become Oscar-buzzing movies with killer soundtracks. I would like to have a non-career and still earn a living.

Well in my humble opinion, you’re well on your way. You’re an amazing writer, full of insight and thoughtful contemplation. Did you always write so well?

Ha! Thanks! I don’t know how to answer that without sounding like a jackass. I think my voice developed more confidence only just a few years ago, after I’d matured and had experiences. I’m still developing. Writing is how I think and make sense of things. It’s how I discover my opinions and concerns. So I think my style of writing and my voice just naturally evolved with my soul and my thoughts.

But my first stories were in 7^th grade when my friend, Tanya, and I wrote each other into romances with the boys we liked. They were horribly corny. Even beyond that, when I look back at all the stuff I wrote in college, even after I had decided I was a writer, it’s pretty horrible. I see it as really contrived and superficial pseudo-intellectual poo. I didn’t know who I was, and my voice reflected that. I feel better about what I write now because it’s more authentic.

I think that’s what I like so much about your writing. It’s clear that, just like the rest of us, you’re fumbling through this life and just doing the best you can, and you’re completely honest about that when you write. I have to ask, who are your favorite authors and what books have had the biggest impact on your life?

Favorite authors: Margaret Atwood, Toni Morrison, Anne Lamott, John Irving, Milan Kundera. The book with the biggest impact…hmm….It’s a total cliché, but Catcher in the Rye is one of only 2 books I have read more than once (the other is House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros). I’ve read it 3 or 4 times. It was the first time I felt a profound connection to a character.

I suppose clichés are clichés for a reason. I think Holden resonates with the type of people who tend to become writers and artists. I don’t see any poets in that list, but you’ve been writing a lot of poems lately. What prompted the switch from prose to poetry?

I don’t know. It’s just how my thoughts have been flowing lately. Wasn’t a conscious decision. Hmmm…

What is your favorite childhood memory?

I had a great childhood – lots of cool memories. The first memory of pure joy and delight that comes to mind is the first time I rode a bike without training wheels. Big sister’s purple bike with the black banana seat and multi-colored streamers, wobbly but upright on the sidewalk from the driveway to the front porch. I was 4 or 5 and we lived in Missouri at the time. I don’t remember anyone being around. I remember the thrill of accomplishing something independently.

You live in Iowa and the immigration issue seems to be hitting very close to home for you lately. What about this issue strikes a chord with you?

I think it’s marginalization. I think very bad, cosmically lopsided things happen to our humanity when we fail to recognize ourselves as brothers and sisters and we marginalize each other ... Marginalization etches very very very deep patterns/ruts into our foundations. With as much progress as we have made, all you have to do is look at the extreme overrepresentation of Black people in prisons, in poverty, and in special education, to understand that those patterns/ruts are very difficult to climb out of. Such obviously bad consequences, yet we keep doing it in one way or another. Some would argue that immigration and racism against Black Americans is not the same thing. But I would argue that it doesn’t matter whether the behavior looks the same if it boils down to the same root – Marginalization. Marginalization = Bad.

I spend a lot of time worrying about our (collective) future. And I don’t think we will EVER EVER EVER make any progress beyond the progress that is encouraged and supported within our marginalized populations. (Of course “progress” is a totally subjective term. I think of progress more in spiritual, humanitarian terms, because I think little else truly matters. I think others might think of “progress” as capitalism and paved streets.) I get angry when people insist on Us vs. Them mentalities, because I think that kind of thinking is short-sighted, inhibits progress and makes the world a craphole.

What other social issues are important to you?

Our punitive system worries me -- namely the rate of recidivism and lack of rehabilitation in correctional systems. It goes back to the idea of marginalization. A) Many people in prisons are from marginalized populations (further proof at the consequence of dividing ourselves); and B) Prison marginalizes them further – necessarily so, yes. But again, we’ll never make any progress beyond our margins. It’s not about going soft. It’s about recognizing the very deep deep deep roots of our broken communities and addressing those.

I also really wish people would stop treating the planet like it’s their own personal toilet. And stop cutting up natural resources to build new subdivisions. Enough already!

And be kind to the animals. They are pure and soulful and add much positive energy to the world.

Really, I just want people to go gently and with humility and stop being giant, thoughtless dicks.

Amen and A-Men! Finally, a few lighter questions. What’s your favorite color?

I like lots and lots of color. My favorite color COMBO is turquoise and red.

Where is your favorite place to write?

My comfy red chair in the front room.

What is your favorite song and why?

Alanis Morissette’s ‘So Called Chaos’ (of the same-titled album). Like most of her catalog of music, this song speaks exactly what I would speak if I’d spoken.

I love to use certain words, and tend to put them in everything I write, at least in the first draft. Do you have a favorite word?

Hmm… Cool question. My favorite word is “sphere” but I don’t think I’ve put it into anything. I’m sure there are words I overuse (and misuse), but it’s usually by accident due to my limited and childish vocabulary.

Thanks for sharing with us, P!

Head on over to Biped Sideways and see what else P has to say. You won't be disappointed.

Introducing...

As promised, here's the newest edition of True Blogsphere Story. In this episode, you'll meet nejyerf (Jen) from "calling dr. bombay." She's fun, snarky, and sometimes off-the-wall, and she's the best blogger friend you could ever ask for.

Introducing...nejyerf.

What's the inspiration behind the name of your blog, "calling dr. bombay"?

I always knew someone was going to ask me that, and I wish I had a good answer. It's a reference to "Bewitched". Samantha would call Dr. Bombay whenever one of her spells had gone wrong. I just liked the way it sounds. People can "call" me for silliness and lightheartedness. Pretty boring isn't it? Can you come up with a better story? That is what you do, after all.

That's right. I’d totally forgotten about that. Very clever. I wouldn't even try to come up with a better story…besides, this is your interview. No turning the focus on me. Back to you. Your favorite color is orange, but if orange were, let's say swallowed by
a black hole, what color would you choose as its replacement and why?

I checked in my closet to see of what color I have a lot, and it turns out, I’ve got a lot of blue… teal blue, baby blue, dark blue. Who knew I liked blue that much! I have no idea WHY I have that much blue. It must be an unconscious thing. I also like yellow. Yellow is so bright and sunshiny.

And what's up with your boobies? You haven't talked about them in a while.

My boobies thank you for the inquiry. They are doing fine. They are currently hibernating, but will come back in full force now that the weather is getting nicer.

And your Oreo addiction? How's that coming?

You probably won't believe this, but I've really cut back on my Oreo consumption. I limit myself to MAYBE three a day, when I even have them in the house. Shocking, isn't it?

Not so much shocking as encouraging. It gives me hope that I can battle my chocolate addiction after all.

You know…sometimes admitting you have a problem is half the battle. And I'm so not kidding when I tell you that too many Oreo's acts as a laxative and if you are also mildly lactose intolerant one injudicious binge has far-reaching and embarrassing intestinal ramifications and that's putting it delicately.

Your incredible sense of humor is something I really admire. You're funny in a very snarky way. Are you always a jokester or is this something that only comes out in your online persona?

I have an over-developed sense of humor. I would call it irreverent (it might even be a little perverse) All I know is that life seems so much easier if you are laughing. We all should try to find a little bit of humor in every situation.

I think you're right, although I have to admit it's easier said than done sometimes. What's one thing that always makes you laugh?

I like British humor and I like a good play on words. Here's my favorite joke....."How do you top a car? 'Tep on the brake 'tupid!"

On a more serious note, you live with MS. When were you diagnosed?

I was diagnosed in 2003. I think. I really don't remember. Seems like I've always had it.

Having MS certainly doesn't define you, but I wonder, how has living with MS shaped who you are?

It has made me slow down and really listen to my body. When my body says "Jen, I'm getting tired." I don't force it to continue. We sit down and rest. It has also made me less tolerant of people and their illnesses. So what if you are sick. So am I. But I'm still getting up and going to work everyday and trying to maintain and so should you. Don't succumb.

I suspected you’d say something like that. You seem like the type of person who would beat the &@!# out of anything or anyone that tried to keep you down. But has there ever been a time when you’ve just wanted to stop fighting and give into it?

Sometimes I do break down and cry and feel sorry for myself. Like the time I was at my FIL's house to take a shower and slipped getting out of the tub and fell down with a great thump that shook the house to its very foundations. I sat in a sodden, pink, naked lump and sobbed. When I finally gathered myself together and got dressed and went downstairs, tears still trickling down my face, Kathy, my FIL's girl-friend asked if I was alright. My husband, who was sitting at the kitchen table eating pot-roast, unconcernedly said "She'll be okay, she gets like this". That pretty much sums it up.

I think because people don't treat me or see me as an invalid really helps. If my husband coddled me I might get sucked into the whole "I have a disease" thing. Although I am not averse to reminding people that I am a cripple when I don't want to do something!

Tell me something that you've never told anyone (in the blogosphere or in the "real" world).

There was a guy I went to school with. I've known him since elementary school. I longed for this guy all through high school. Given the chance, I think I would totally sleep with him. Just the one time. To get it out of my system.

What's your favorite thing about blogging? In other words, why do you do it?

I like to talk. My mother has always said that I have diarrhea of the mouth so I guess blogging is the next best thing to talking. And I don't ever have to shut-up!

What's your least favorite thing about blogging?

It has been documented that I don't like the use of LOL and people giving virtual hugs. There are some seriously bad blogs out there. And I have real issues with people who say they want to write a book. People seem to think that just because they can write a coherent *POOF* they are a writer. But they never do anything about it. Then there are people like you, who are constantly writing and putting quality stuff out there.

There's a lot wrong with our world today. If you were Queen of the World, what's the first thing you'd fix?

I do find myself saying "what is WRONG with people" quite a bit. Then I have to remind myself that we can't be responsible for what other people do, we can only make sure what WE do is right and true and fair. Not to get all religious or anything, but the ten commandants are actually good rules to live by. We should all try abiding by them for a while and see where the world would be.

Wouldn't that be a nice change? Even if we just stuck with a few of the biggies, like "Thou shalt not kill."

And here's something else…I wish we could lose the whole political correctness thing. We have to be so careful not to offend anyone. It seems like people are walking around just waiting to be offended. It bores me to tears.

Who's your biggest inspiration in life and why?

You know, this is going to sound all kinds of cheesy and gay, but my friend Sanna is kinda my touchstone. Oftentimes I find myself wondering whether or not she would agree with what I'm buying, writing, etc. And when we disagree, and remember, this is all in my mind, I'm always a bit surprised by my audacity to defy her.

I have a friend like this, who kind of brings me back to center and reminds me to check myself, even when she’s not around. How did you and Sanna meet? How long have you been friends?

Ah, this is a good story, Sanna and I met when I moved to a new school just after I started 4th grade. At first I thought she was a boy. She had a bowl cut and a pair of cleats tied to her desk. We somehow gravitated to each other and found that we were “kindred spirits” when we discovered that we both loved Anne of Green Gables. We’ve been through so much together: wearing glasses and braces (at the same time!!!), bad hair-cuts, teen-aged crushes, field hockey, high school plays, parties (she gave me my first beer!), boyfriends, weight gain (mine) weight loss (hers) the list goes on and on. Our friendship has waxed and waned but through it all, I know if I needed her she would be there for me and vice versa.

It's My Turn

After completing two interviews for the Great Interview Experiment (with one more on its way), Sarah over at Pink Cereal and Raspberries did the interviewing this time. Go check it out and see if you can learn something new about your favorite Smtwngrl!

And don't be surprised if you get an email asking you to be my next interviewee. The True Blogosphere Story series is just getting started. Mwah-ha-ha-ha!

Meet a Woman With No Regrets

For my next Great Interview I met NoRegrets, a woman who takes chances, risks life and limb, and roars until her heart's content. She's "embracing the inner pink and living with intention and absurdity." Come along with me and learn more about her.

Q: Why did you start blogging when you did? What prompted you to take up residence in the blogosphere?

A: I actually had started a blog a year and half or so before this one, but stopped because I didn't know what I was doing with it. I started the old one and this new one because I felt I had so much in my head/heart that wanted to come out, and had no outlet. My best friends had moved away, I had yet to make close new ones, and I felt lonely around my husband. I always had kept diaries, and at first considered it partly an online diary, in part because no one was reading it. But then I met a real live actual blogger who shared a blog with me, and I realized I could also have fun with it. The biggest step was reaching out to others so people knew I was out there. That was HUGE. Luckily so far I've found a community that's as quirky (to put it mildly) as I am.

Q: Naming your blog Woman with No Regrets is a powerful statement. What in your life made you decide to commit to living your life after 40 as a woman with no regrets? How do you manage to live that way?

A: Growing up and into my 20's and 30's even, I had the tendency to analyze the hell out of everything I was going to do or did. I beat myself up for the smallest mistake because it meant I hadn't thought ahead well enough and anticipated that particular outcome. It was only relatively recently that I realized how exhausting it was to analyze every situation and try to determine responses.

To commit to living with no regrets is not an easy thing. It means listening to myself and taking myself seriously, and forgiving myself when I make mistakes. Very very difficult, but it really does help me to be known as NoRegrets, because it reminds me every day to try and live that way. Therapy helps too. As well as good friends who listen and accept you for who you are and what you do, even when you make mistakes.

Q: I know you have plans to blog more about your experience in Zimbabwe, but I'd love to know how you ended up there and what your favorite part of the experience was.

A: I had lived overseas during college (in Germany) and I knew when I graduated I wanted to spend more time overseas, this time with another person, my boyfriend at the time, instead of alone. We almost went to Japan, but at the last minute we found out about the opportunity in Zimbabwe (by meeting someone at a fair), applied, and got in. What radically different experiences they would have been. I'm so glad I went to Zimbabwe.

My favorite part of the experience, as with any time overseas, is being immersed in the culture and getting to know it and having pieces of it become part of me and keeping that forever.

Q: You ski, rock climb, and bike. Since the enjoyment of exercise is something I've only recently experienced, I'm wondering: has physical activity always been a part of your life? Are there other activities or sports that you enjoy?

A: Physical activity was only part of my life in very general terms up until I moved to the place I currently live. We had a field out back growing up so played in that a lot. I played basketball in grammar school and softball in high school – but only on intramural teams and only for one season. Really nothing in college.

I decided when I moved where I am now that I would try ultimate Frisbee, and talk about a sport that gets you in shape! Also a friend from my first job convinced me that it really was possible to bike to work, so I started doing that. Exercise really made me feel so good, I had to continue.

I love love love badminton. Do you consider that a sport? Also skiing. Volleyball is fun too. Almost anything actually.

Q: You once saved a turtle from traffic disaster. Are you an animal lover? Have you ever saved any other creatures from near-death?

A: I'm an animal lover but not a PETA-level animal lover. I've occasionally put a spider out the door instead of smashing it with my shoe, but that's about as close as I've come to saving other creatures from near death. I do adopt cats.

Q: What's the biggest risk you've ever taken? What did you learn from the experience?

A: Oh my. Perhaps the biggest risk to me is expressing my emotions knowing that I'm not sure what the response is going to be. The first time I did that was the biggest risk, but with practice it's getting easier and easier, because the world does not come to an end.

Q: How did you get started with quilting? What's the best quilt you ever made and who was it for?

A: I got started when a friend had a baby, and I decided to make a quilt for the baby. My sister was quilting, and she helped me buy the fabric, gave me a pattern, and was always a phone call away when I had issues, which was quite frequently in the beginning. That really helped, as did having this perfectionist sister tell me that there's always mistakes, and it's ok.

As for the best quilt, I wrote about it here.

Q: You've been hang gliding and skydiving, and you're an avid rock climber. Do you consider yourself a risk taker? Have you always been so adventurous?

A: I am a calculated risk taker. With each and every new and/or dangerous experience, I make sure I have researched it to the best of my ability and/or I trust the person I am with to help me get through the experience.

Of course, after writing that, I must admit that sometimes I just throw myself into situations and see what happens. I have trust enough in myself to throw myself into something new because I am able to persevere. I usually know when I should get myself out of a situation. I have a bit of luck too.

With respect to the word 'adventurous' everything is relative. I was the only person in my family to speak my mind bluntly when I was younger. I was the first and only person in my family to live overseas. I think these things in my younger years all added up to being called adventurous now. Kind of like how swimming in a freezing cold ocean is possible (for me at least) if I go in a little bit at a time, and a little bit more each time, until BOOM I'm in, swimming.

Q: I recently read an article about how women are hesitant to identify with the term "feminist." What does "feminist" mean to you and do you consider yourself one?

A: I equate the word 'feminist' with 'activist'. And I am not an activist in the broader sense of the word. But I am a feminist/activist in my own world, for sure. I like being strong and opinionated. Defying expectations for my gender. Making people get rid of their assumptions. Shoving it in their face even.

My type of feminist is expressed in the following story: Pat Schroeder recently talked about her experiences at Harvard Law School. The dean had all the admitted women (15 of them) over for dinner to tell them great things such as he didn't think any one of them would use the law degree since they were women. From the article:

"Well, he went around and asked each of us why we came [to Harvard]. Of course, everyone is shaking in their chair because this is the dean -- except for this wonderful young woman from California. She looks him straight in the eye and says, 'Well, I am only here because I could not get in at Yale.'"

Q: You've fought depression for a while now. How do you feel that it has shaped who you've become and how you choose to live your life?

A: I have had periods of depression since high school. For a long time depression made me feel helpless. I was ruled by the feelings, and struggled so much when I had them. But I made it through every time, and what didn't kill me made me stronger.

But then depression almost did kill me, and I realized how weak I could be. This forced me to adjust my attitude towards depression and towards life. I wrote about this in my blog, but really every day I am choosing life, and it makes it that much more special. And I can choose to be happy rather than depressed (for me, with the aid of medication, though that's not for everyone). And being happy means living with no regrets.

Now that you've discovered NoRegrets, get over there and find out more. You won't regret it!

Somebody You Should Know

The Great Interview Experiment introduced me to Jacob of Jacob's Land of Bliss and Blisters. Now I'd like to introduce him to you.

Jacob is a dreamer, a cynic, and an idealist all rolled into one thoughtful blogger. It took him a while to get the blog going, but once he did, there was no stopping him. His posts run the gamut from sports to politics to history to family to random and back again. When Neil said "Everyone is somebody," he knew there were "somebodies" like this out there blogging. Let's find out what's really running around in that brain of his.

Let's start with beer. You also blog at 5 Seasons Brewing and seem to really enjoy the brewing process. What draws you to beer brewing?

I think I'm drawn to it for the simple fact that it's another creative outlet for me and I'm also drawn to novelty. It's kind of cool to be able to say that you make your own beer, but I'm not sure what made me so obsessed with beer to start with. I think it may have been an issue of timing. I didn't start drinking beer until after I graduated from college and I think I turned beer into an academic subject to take the place the learning I had become used to. Plus, I tend to be obsessive with any interest. I'm either apathetic to something or I research and learn everything possible about it. I also write for Southern Brew News, a bi-monthly magazine about beer and brewing in the Southeastern United States.

Do you always drink what you brew or do you share with others?

I share, but where I live now, the only people to share with are at least 90 miles away. My tastes tend toward the bold, and that's how I brew. Most people just don't have the ability to appreciate that kind of beer. Since the locals stores don't even sell Sam Adam's beers, I drink a lot more of my own stuff than I used to.

What's your favorite beer and where can you get it?

My favorite local beer is Sweetwater IPA. There are actually several really good brewers in the Atlanta area now, but most of them are brewpubs and you can't get their stuff anywhere but the restaurant. One of my favorite beers when I want something a little more is Schneider Aventinus, a weizenbock (basically a very strong, dark, German wheat beer) and Oskar Blues Ten FIDY, an imperial stout from a brewery in Colorado is really nice. Both of those are available in the beer geek bars and better liquor stores in Atlanta now.

What are your favorite beers made from?

With the exception of Aventinus, those are all made exclusively from barley, water, hops, and yeast. All of the flavor differences come from the roast of the malt, the type and amount of hops, and yeast variety, and that goes for most beers. Aventinus and beers like hefeweizens and white beers (or witbiers) are usually made with at least half wheat and the rest barley, and there's always common additives like honey, coffee, chocolate, fruit, and spices. I've even had a beer that was made with chocolate-covered doughnuts once. Turned out to be my wife's favorite beer.

You seem like quite the dreamer. What's your favorite day dream? Do you have the same day dreams over and over again? Do they follow a similar theme, or are your day dreams a veritable smorgasbord?

My daydreams are quite varied. On the way back from a tennis match today I listened to a snippet from a Joanna Newsom song, watched my infant son making faces at me, pondered that brewpub in Augusta that I keep thinking about opening but will never find enough guts to go and get started, and turned over a few interesting phrases that I forgot before I ever got a chance to write them down. A few of the larger ones that repeat is what I'd do if I ever won the lottery (an interesting exercise), how I'd engineer my three wishes to get what I wanted and not get screwed over by an unscrupulous genie, and what I'd do if I were able to magically enable people to reach their potential just through speaking to them. There's a lot of half-formed ideas and music for the most part.

You’re really attached to your night dreams and equate them with the creativity you don't get to express. In fact, you say that you "fear not dreaming at all." Do you think that if you had more time to express your creativity in the "real world" you would lose your dreams?

I don't think so. I think they might lose some of their importance, but my mind is too active for me to lose the vividness of my dreams just because I'm expressing more creativity in real life. I've actually become less attached to my dreams since I started blogging on a regular basis, but they're still something I look forward to. I really liked this question, by the way.

I get the impression that you had a bad church experience based on some comments you’ve made regarding church and religion. What happened that caused you to distance yourself from church?

I've never had a bad experience with the church. I grew up in a denomination where evangelism wasn't a part of the church culture. They don't focus on the outside world and what needs to be fixed with it, but focusing on the self. There's no proselytizing, typically no bashing of others or preaching politics from the pulpit, and I still have a lot of respect for the church I grew up in. However, I have a very logical mind and those daydreams we discussed earlier aren't always so flippant. I spend a lot of time mulling over politics, religion, and philosophy in my head as well. I never understood why we have to assume that science and religion are conflicting approaches. I was raised to see the last book (Revelations) as not being literal, so I saw no reason to assume that the first book was literal too. After all, the last book is set long after anyone was alive, and the first one is set before anyone was alive, so it seems to be an obvious bit of parallelism. I've been critical of the forced dichotomy of church and science since high school and I really am disgusted with much of the evangelical style of Christianity with its membership-driven message of “we're good, everyone else needs to be saved.” I've also gradually drifted from not needing the church, but still being Christian, to being pretty much agnostic in the last two years, but I'm a little embarrassed that it's come across as my having something against religion. I actually typically take the side of religion in debates on the topic despite not actually being a believer anymore. I also tend to think on issues of morals and ethics from a Christian perspective, but more from the perspective of charity and benevolence and less the legal aspects. I think a lot of people benefit from the hope it can bring even if the institution itself is morally neutral.

You started blogging in 2001, but didn't really get rolling until mid-2007. What was the catalyst that got you going?

An audience. I started this up while at my first job after college. I didn't have a whole lot to do and I spent a lot of time at my computer goofing off. I didn't even think of e-mailing the URL to my friends and it was a mostly anonymous affair. It wasn't until my friend Courtney started blogging and sent me the link to her blog that I was re-inspired. Within a month or two, she'd gotten a large number of our old mutual college and newspaper friends blogging, and that came with a built-in audience. Then, National Blog Posting Month came around, and several of us took part, and I haven't been able to stop since. I think the more I blog, the easier it gets.

After working for a newspaper, you decided to become a teacher. What prompted this career change?

I'd love to be a brewer, but the job doesn't exactly come with great pay, benefits, or job security unless you work with one of the big mega breweries, and that would kill the fun of it, I think. I chose teaching because I'd always thought about it. There's a lot of cynicism expressed in my posts, but I'm a very idealistic person at heart and thought that I'd like to have a job where at least I'd know that just by doing my job I'd be making the world a better place, although I admit, I'm pretty jaded on that aspect currently and I'm hoping to head back to school to get out of classroom and move into the counselor's office. I actually like working with the kid's one-on-one and advising them on how to handle life in a more positive way, but I hate managing a classroom of kids who don't want to be there. There's also an intensely practical aspect to it. I get two months a year in the summer, and several large breaks during the year off, which gives me ample time for other hobbies and road trips. There's also the guaranteed pension (unless everything really falls to crap in the next couple of decades) that will keep me from depending on gambling on the stock market for my retirement.

You’re married, and it sounds like you and Kim make a great team. How did you meet? When did you know you were going to spend the rest of your life with her?

We went to Berry College and most students there have a job on-campus. We both worked in the Information Technology department working on the network. We had to attend a training boot camp two weeks before classes started. It was my freshman year and her sophomore and I had no car, so she offered me a ride on Tuesday of the first week. We had our first kiss that Friday and we got married six months after I graduated in the main chapel on campus. As for when I knew, I actually sent an e-mail to my best friend Hank on the Wednesday or Thursday of that week saying that I'd met the girl I was going to marry, but I don't think I really knew until a month or so later. We knew we were right for each other really early on, but didn't see any need to rush it, so we dated for four years before getting married and have been together for almost 10 years total.

What was your first thought when you found out you were having a child?

Evan was sitting on my lap the first time I read this and just as I finished reading the question, he yelled out a wordless Argggghaaaah! That's basically how I felt. I was honestly terrified. I was never really sure I wanted kids and I wasn't looking forward to the economic and lifestyle constrictions they create. I wasn't really worried about the quality of parenting I would offer, but I was worried about carrying resentment toward the child because of what having children takes away from you.

How has being a parent changed you?

I don't really think it's changed me a whole lot. I even asked Kim to make sure, but I didn't have much of a life to start with, and we've found out that Evan doesn't really cramp our style too much anyway. He's a really laid-back, good-natured baby, and we live near family who are always willing to take care of him, so we've been able to do the things we want to do by either taking him along with us, or dumping him off on the grandparents or aunts. We actually didn't spend a night away from him for the first six months of his life and that included a road trip to Cleveland when he was a month old to see his dying great-grandfather, another when he was three months old, and primitive camping on John's Mountain in Northwest Georgia when he was around five months. Kim's a little more willing to leave him with our parents now, but she still doesn't like it too much. The way he's changed me the most is by the fact that I actually start missing him and he enters into my thoughts on a regular basis. I may be a little more responsible now, but I was always a little more nurturing than normal for a man. My sense of humor may have degraded as well, as all he needs are a few weird sounds and funny faces and he's happy. He doesn't always get my jokes about foreign policy, though.

What do you like most about living in Georgia?

The winters are the best thing. It's quite pleasant to go through most of the winter when the weather's in the 60s and the cold snaps are more refreshing than painful. I like living in a rural area for a lot of the freedoms that come with it like not having to worry about if the blinds are open when you get out of the shower and realize the only towels are in the other bathroom down the hall or whether or not your dog is annoying the neighbors when it barks. It's also nice to be able to have a little garden, room for a few chickens, and lots of wildlife in the woods around my house.

How do you feel growing up in rural Georgia has influenced your life?

I think I have a better understanding of poverty and a lot of the influences. I grew up in a town where teachers are considered pretty wealthy. I make more by myself as a teacher than the average household earns in a year in this area. I think a lot of my interest in where my food comes from and how the animals are handled before they make it to my table come from a lot of the rural farming values that lingered in my family. My grandfather took better care of his cattle than he did his kids and my dad preached that a person is responsible for the animals he keeps.

On a more humorous aspect, it's also why my first obsession was chickens, and why I still keep a flock. Although, my own need for novelty and geeky tendencies ends up with me raising chickens who lay blue eggs and have no tail bone (Araucanas).

If you could live anywhere else in the world (other than Alaska, which would obviously be your answer), where would it be?

I'd love to live near Portland, OR. Maybe by a little plot of land about 45 miles from the city limits. It seems like a wonderful city. It's got a respected foodie movement and one that really has taken to sustainability, and local foodstuffs. Plus, there's a ton of beer brewed in the area, and it's a much cheaper cost of living than Seattle. Anywhere in the Pacific Northwest would be fine, though. Outside of the US, I'd love to move to New Zealand. It's the second most beautiful place I've ever been and there are a lot of little things I like about the place like some of their political policies and the fact that nowhere else on earth is it as easy to farm organically as it is there because they've done so well keeping out foreign pests and diseases.

Wanderlust is a trait that defines you. Where have you traveled?

I've been to nearly every state on the East Coast, many multiple times, and I'll be filling in the gaps this summer with Kim and Evan. I've also been to almost every state east of the Mississippi]. West of that, it's just Missouri, Louisiana, Colorado, Alaska (twice) and Hawaii. Outside of the US, I've been to the Bahamas, Montreal, New Zealand, and Australia.

Where have you never been that you'd like to visit?

I haven't made it to Europe yet, but my goal before I die is to hit every US state and every continent. Specifically, I want to go to the Maya and Olmec ruins of Mexico and Central American, the Inca and Moche ruins of Peru and Bolivia, the Amazonian rainforest, several parts of subsaharan Africa, China, Angkor Wat, Mount Everest (to see, not to climb), as much of Scotland as possible (descended from a Scottish immigrant who came over to the US in the 1600s.), Belgium (for the beer), southern Italy (for the food), Prague, and parts of Scandinavia. Actually, there's more, but that's the short list.

You've been on a lot of road trips, too. Which one was your favorite and why?

One is a trip I'm planning on recreating for my wife this summer. When I was in high school, my family and I camped up the Atlantic coast from Georgia to Maine, although my urban-phobic parents avoided New York City. We spent two weeks in a van and pop-up camper on the trip and even dipped over to Montreal for a day and night. It was just an amazing trip. When I take Kim this summer we're going to hit up New York City (I've never been, although I enjoyed Upstate New York).

You consider yourself an environmentalist and prefer natural foods/drinks. Are there any other causes you feel particularly strong about?

Honestly, I'm an armchair activist. I have a lot of strongly-held convictions that I do nothing to achieve. I try to be responsible environmentally and with my food choices, but that's about it. I admire activists who are willing to put their time, money, and pride on the line for their cause, but I can't even bring myself to do much volunteer work. I do tend to be quite liberal in social areas and more moderate economically, but I also refuse to trust corporations to act ethically or even think for their own long terms. Just take a look at the subprime mortgage catastrophe as an example…it was obvious it was going to fall apart eventually and now they want the tax payers to bail them out for being stupid while their executives take home millions of dollars in bonuses for being so rich. It makes me furious just thinking about it.

But I'll never do anything other than complain about it either.

There you have it, folks. Thoughtful and insightful answers from a new-to-you blogger. Now go visit Jacob and say hello!

Let the Interviews Begin

Back in January, I vaguely mentioned that I had some ideas floating around in my head for this blog. One of those ideas was to start interviewing some of my favorite bloggers and to post those interviews here so that you can all get to know them better. Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking about this.

Neil, over at Citizen of the Month, had a similar idea. Tired of seeing the "big bloggers" get all the attention, he decided to try something new. Why not do a little experiment where everyone gets to be someone? Thus, The Great Interview Experiment was born.

I'm currently in the process of finishing up my first interview for the big Experiment. I also volunteered to interview at least one other person whose interviewer is MIA. And you may get to see an interview of me at some point, although my own interviewer also seems to have disappeared. Then there are my own interview plans. I'm hoping to start interviewing those lovely bloggers that have inspired me, made me laugh, taught me lessons and shared their recipes with me. Each month I'd like to feature someone new, so that I can get to know my favorite people better and other people out there in the blogosphere can meet you, too.

So, if you get an email from me asking you to answer some questions, please don't start avoiding me. I won't go away and I won't give up. As Neil says, you deserve to be someone, too! In the meantime, you can still join in on The Great Interview Experiment to get your own interview on. (I don't think Neil ever expected it to get this big, and is probably wishing we'd all stop sending people his way, but you should join in anyway.) Or you can read the completed interviews and just wait for me to send those questions your way.

Stay tuned for my first True Blogosphere Story.