interview

Okay... this is a link in an ongoing chain of interviews, and is probably the first true 'blog-cultural' event that I've participated in. The rule is that Transience posted her answers to the questions posed to her by someone else, and I requested that she interview me. If you want your five dreaded questions from me, and ask, I'm supposed to make them up, and you're supposed to answer them and burden yourself with the same obligation to interview those who request it of you.

I want to thank Transience for the interview, and I want to curse anyone who I'm forced to interview in return.


1. your interests: participating in, demographic, profiling, questionnaires, regarding my, interests for, the purpose, of targeted, advertising. what's with all the commas?

I had never before seen a blog until the day that I started this one. Based on my prior experiences with filling out profile forms, especially those owned by Google, I was under the impression that their intention was to solicit me with ads that are specific to my tastes according to my race, gender, age, location, etc. I initially tried to enter the above statement without the commas, but it wouldn't take... I noticed that others' profiles consisted of interests of one to two words, separated by commas, so I formatted mine accordingly, and Blogger finally accepted it. I now know that the interests section isn't tied into targeted advertising, but forgot to change it; now that you bring it up, I think I will.


2. jason just met me. he is staring at my three-inch heels with a child's wide-eyed wonder. what's that he's saying?

Jason the infant would say, "..."
Jason the toddler would say, "Gaa."
Jason the three-year-old would say, "I can't see the TV... move!"
Jason the five-year-old would say, "Nice shoes - now stop blocking the fucking TV!"
Jason the seven-year-old would say, "Hey Bitch, what did I tell you when I was five?!"
Jason the adult probably wouldn't be looking at your shoes.


3. if we could do a literary duet, what would we write about? discuss.

This I'm not entirely sure on. It's my impression that your writing has the characteristic of using the environment to express your thoughts. We don't always get to read about you directly, but have to build you out of the well-described and carefully placed details of whatever scene we find you in. You're spread across the room, and we often unknowingly gather your pieces as we visualize the pictures you paint and the events that play out.

I don't think I'm able to write on that level. I do my best to pour my insides out, but I don't yet have the ability to give my intent any sort of application. My meaning is presented in a direct way, emerging in a form that can't as easily be visualized or related to. The reader steps inside your writing, finding himself in the pieces that he recognizes; my words come out as something distinct from the reader - something he can see in its entirety, and take or leave as he sees fit. Your writing far exceeds mine.

I can't imagine a literary duet between us that wouldn't come out lopsided. It'd be like Sting in a duet with Pavoratti.


4. randall, i know a recruiter who loves you. what is that one thing in your resumé that made her adore you so?

I'd assume that she'd be impressed with the fact that my prior corporate projects are a sort of blend between consulting and execution... I generally come up with ideas to improve things, communicate my ideas with all the necessary parties, gather whatever information I need, and follow through with putting my plans into motion. It'd either be that or my ability to use semicolons properly.


5. as a person whose musical tastes are not as eclectic, how would you explain to me the concept of uncreative music?

I wasn't aware that people actually look at my profile; I may have to give it some attention for once. Assuming that sometime soon, I'll improve what's in my profile, I'll give enough background to give your question its context, in case it should become outdated. I currently have the musical genre of "not uncreative" as one of my musical tastes. As much as I'm giving the writing thing a shot right now, for many, many years before this, it was always about music for me. I'm hoping to get this all sorted out soon, to figure out if I'm going to pursue both music and writing, just music, or just writing, but when I started this blog, I was solely a musician.

It's only been for about a year now that I've been 'listening' to music. I've never really been a music-lover, just a musician. When I hear a song, I have a tendency to pick the song apart, rather than simply enjoy it... I experience the creations of others for the purpose of inspiring and improving my own creations. Many take pleasure in being entertained - I take pleasure in active creative expression; this is the case with writing, just as it is with music.

So, I don't really have a particular genre of music that I'm a fan of, nor do I find my identity in my musical tastes. When I listen to a song, I'm looking for the creative things that the musicians put into it... I'm searching for good ideas and originality, and when I find those things, I'm inspired by them. In attempting to pigeonhole my musical tastes, I came up with the description of liking 'creativity' as the identifying quality in the music that I favor.