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2003-11-05 - 1:28 a.m. So these are long overdue. I asked 4 ppl to give me questions, 3 responded. at long last... First, the rules that you'll post somewhere in the entry with the answers to this interview: 1. Leave me a note if you want to be interviewed. I will respond; I'll ask you five questions. 2. You'll update your journal with my five questions and your five answers. 3. You'll include this explanation. 4. You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed. Now the questions: (from JavaBill) 1.) you talk a lot about spending time with your brothers. talk about your brothers & your relationship with them. Well, I only have one brother, Evan. He's 22 right now. We hang out together fairly frequently, since he also lives in Worcester. Evan has been a real pain in the rear in the past, when we lived together, but since we now have the ability to flirt in and out of each other's lives, our antipathy has died away, for the most part. Basically, he's my brother; we both share the same friends and some of the same interests. I help him out, he (occasionally) helps me out and I never fail to get a good-natured jab in at him. 2.) so, what’s up with all the buttons you wear? when did you start collecting them & why so many & how many do you have anyway & what is your favorite? There's a program called "Odyssey of the Mind," which helps students work in teams to generate creative answers and presentations. Think of it as a cerebral soap box derby. I was at an OM function when I was younger, like, way younger, when Bush I was in the office, I think, and I had to wear some convention badges that the organizers were cool enough to make look like buttons. Other people were wearing their badges and other buttons on their OM hats, so I bought an OM hat and did the same. These buttons slowly grew and eventually I switched them to a nice waffle-weave button down sweater my grandparents bought for me. When that thing finally feel apart, I moved them to their present home on my jacket. I presently have probably about 200 buttons I could wear, my jacket generally has between 70 and 100 buttons at any given time. I originally thought that wearing several pins across the breast would make me look like a counter-cultural general or something, but I had too many to pull this off and so many were good anyway that I just put them all on. My fav is probably one that says " 3.) you have a true affinity for music buy “grrl bands”. what is it about the music that interests you & who are your faves? Well, I developed this love of grrl bands when I was in high school and I would come home to Holden and listen to WCUW, which then (and probably still does) had a women's (perhaps "womyn's") music show called "Face the Music." CUW, (and ICN, back in the good old days of Fear of Music and Positive Noise) also plays a great number of diverse and really strange types of music. I hear Bikini Kill on CUW and I thought, "damn, these chicks can rock." I love how the riot grrl sound confronts the way I think. I'm not a chauvinist, but that doesn't mean I'm not affect by some prejudices and listening to Bratmobile reminds me of this. What's point of art if it does not challenge you? 4.) talk about your relationship with your folks & what do you think get from each of them? Yeah, so I have a mom and dad. They're my parents. That's a relationship, isn't it? My folks are pretty supporting of me, but then again, I am doing what they want me to do, going to school and working full time. These days, I try and pay them back for it. From my folks, I inherited a life-long love of learning a great sense of creativity and humor. With Dad being a doctor, I also have been raised with an appreciation for the physical sciences. I dunno. Weird question, Bill. 5.) you come to poetry readings on a regular basis, yet you rarely read. How often do you write & what to you get from readings? what poets have the biggest impression on you? Well, since September, I haven't found much time to write poetry, because I have been working hard at school and at work. My brain is taken up so much by work, when I have leisure time, I just want to kick back. Sure, poetry is fun, but it is also really, really hard, at least for me. I don't read much because I work so hard at my poetry. Tony says "do it like it is the last thing you will ever do," and I cannot bear to put anything but my very best up on stage. Furthermore, I rarely read at the Hut because I feel my poetry goes in a different direction than most of what people read there. I have a lot of criticisms about the poetry that is read at the Hut, which I will not go into here, but I don't feel that the pseudo-oriental introspective work I am doing these days is fully appreciated by all audience members there. In terms of what poets have had the biggest impression upon me, I'd have to say David Budbill, Li Po, Christina Rossetti for the "classics," Shane K for performance and Tony Brown as the token local poet. Sou, as person, has been a major influence in how I write as well. This last question segue ways well into Keltao's questions: 1. How did you start getting interested in all that poetry by Eastern Writers? Well, when I was in college in Vermont, I saw this poet, David Budbill, perform and his stuff was very psudeo-Eastern, making references to Li Po and Tu Fu and others. Later, I bought his book, Moment to Moment and looked up the poets he referenced therein. I started with Li Po, who's hedonistic, carefree outlook. From there I looked up his associate, Tu Fu and things kind of went downhill from there. 2. Who is your favorite poet and why? Can I name a group? How about the guys from Rancid, because their rock and roll poetry (very much poetry in their latest offering, Indestructible) on my sound system never fails to bring back up, yeah. If you don’t like that answer, how about Consumer Defense Poet, Rich Mackin because his work is so innovative. 3. What is your favorite poetry venue in Worcester (like me you get around a lot to a lot of them) I'd have to say the Frantic Rabbit at Cool Beans was my favorite because of the energy there with Sou's reading a the Hut and SPEAK also being up there because of their intimacy. 4. What is your opinion about Slam in general and Worcester in particular? Slam is a perfectly decent and acceptable way of bring more people, esp. young people, into poetry and encouraging people to write more poetry, but I don't think it necessarily encourages people to write great poetry. While slam is a good gimmick, it has dramatic flaws. Slam can create both a cult of personality around its stars and it limits the potential subjects the author can write about in many cases. Sure, you can slam with any piece, but a simple look at most slams will show that angry, political pieces and sharp, sexy pieces score best, most of the time. Furthermore, slam encourages readers to use and up the energy of the room, which places a disadvantage on people who read more introspective, quieter pieces. These limitations can be overcome, but it is difficult to do so, especially when the audience is expecting a slam "by the books." For the Worcester slam in particular, I assume you mean the Hut, it is certainly the most approachable major reading I have been to and it is really, really great, but it is a scene as much as any other reading. Certain people are known at this reading and are expected to the play the same roles week after week. As such, I feel a lot of people have stagnated and are resting on their laurels. I am sad that there is not enough improvement and change at that reading. 5. Describe your favorite place and why you like it. I dunno, my car, I guess, because it really feels like mine and can take me everywhere else. Elm park is nice too. Finally, Lia's questions: 1) I know that you play DND. Others may or may not know. Can you describe us your favorite character, and an event he was in recently? "DND" is Dungeons and Dragons, btw. My favorite character of late has been Zaizus, a hobbit wizard. He's bold, arrogant, powerful and three feet tall. Recently, he cast a flying spell upon himself and transformed into a 10 foot long shark, flying about, trying to eat bad guys. 2) I know you've been going to school on and off again. What are you majoring in, and what do you want to do when you graduate? I am majoring in Sociology at this time, I may switch to Poli Sci, probably not. When I graduate, I'd like to go on to law school and eventually work for an NGO such as the International Criminal Court and work to bring war caimans and despots to justice, or work for the state department, or the ACLU. 3) I'm actually going to steal this question from April who gave it to me, but I really enjoyed it, and want to know what you're gonna put. :) Finish this sentence "You haven't lived until...". Now finish it four more times. You have not lived until you learn to appreciate the delicacies of pain. You have not lived until you realize you are in command. You have not lived until you see it as what it truly is, one big game. You have not lived until you can laugh at yourself. 4) What is your greatest inspiration in your writing? When do you get it? (sleeping, drinking, in the middle of work or at class) I'd say my greatest inspiration is other writers. I get inspired when I hear or read really good art. 5) What is the nicest thing you've ever seen one person do for another person. Golly, I don't know. I went to the funeral of my great-uncle earlier this year and one of his granddaughters was performing a reading at the Mass, and she started to break down. She had her best friend from school up there with her who hugged her and helped to finish the reading. From Tony: FIRST First (paid) job: Delivering papers for the local paper in Newark First screen name: MadManCool First self purchased album: Beats me, No Doubt maybe? Or Bob Dylan? First pets: A parakeet who's name I have forgotten First funeral (I can recall): My Uncle John's father's funeral back in 2002 or so. First piercing/tattoo: Tongue First true love: Lindsey Newell First enemy: Lindsey Newell would be the first one I can recall the name of, my school-day foes' names have been lost in the mist of time. First big trip: Well, when I was two we went to South Carolina. I ended up having a door closed on my head. First concert: Uhm… ZZ Top maybe? Or the various 4th of July 1812 overture concerts we went to. First musician you remember hearing in your house: I dunno LAST: Last cigarette: Friday before last. Last KISS: I've never seen Simmons live. Last cry: I don't recall, possibly while watching Throne of Blood a week ago. Last library book checked out: The Bedford Reader, 6th edition Last movie seen: Kill Bill Last book read: Book on tape: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Last cuss word uttered: fecal matter Last beverage drank: Vanilla Pepsi Last food consumed: A slice of cake Last phone call: My mom, around 2 today Last time showered: About 8 am Last shoes worn: A pair of rockports Last cd played: Patti Smith, "Horses Last item bought: A sandwich from Burger King Last annoyance: My 87 on my sociology test Last key used: apartment key Last sleep: 'til 8 am today Last time scolded: A week ago, asked to remove feet from desk Last dancing: I dunno Last show attended: Audrey Ryan band in September 
"Newbie?" Right… I recall when the internet lacked friendly URLs and only had IP addresses.
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