That interview thingamabob
So yeah, that interview thing thatÂ’s going around. Mindy did it and I like Mindy a whole bunch (in the real world, even!) so I volunteered to be interviewed by her. Apparently there are rules involved. I donÂ’t get to just answer her questions and then dance off on my merry way. Now that IÂ’ve answered her questions and posted them here, you get to say, “Hey, Cari! Interview me!” in the comments below. And then IÂ’ll interview you… Oh yeah… and then you have to post the same rules when you answer my questions on your blog. (No blog therefore no place to post interview questions? The universe is an inherently unjust place. Welcome.)
The rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here. They will be different questions than the ones below.
3. You will update YOUR blog with the answers to the questions.
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 MindyÂ’s questions for me:
1. As a confirmed (and brilliantly colorful) yarnhead, which type of yarn would you say comes closest to embodying the essence of your personality, and why?
Thick and thin handspun, hand dyed wool in colors that shouldnÂ’t work together but somehow do. ItÂ’s a bit coarse to the touch in the skein, but knits up surprisingly well and forms an unusually water-repellent fabric. Rumored to have magical properties.
Why, you ask? Well, darling, if IÂ’ve done my job right, the why of it should be evident within the first part of the answer without my having to explain. Did I do my job right? Hunh? Hunh?
2. What was the best live performance that you’ve ever seen? Music, theater, clog dancing, whatever.
Theater: Avery Brooks in Paul Robeson. On Broadway sometime in the mid-nineties. It’s a one-man play. There was a line in there where Robeson goes to Africa and a woman there touches his face and says something like, “You’re one of the boys who went away” or something to that effect and I was bawling from that point on through to the end of the show. Avery Brooks is amazing, and I’m not just saying that because I love bald Star Trek captains (though I do).
Music: Nick Cave at The Ritz, 1992. I love Nick Cave. I have always loved Nick Cave. I will always love Nick Cave. His show at the Ritz that night, on the HenryÂ’s Dream tour, was fucking magical. One of those shows where the artist onstage is totally plugged in and you get swept right up into that energy and the entire show zips by in the space of a minute or two and leaves you dizzy and absolutely blissed out.
When I was nineteen (a month or so before the show) I interviewed him for a little goth mag and I read the article now and think, “Oh, I was so cute and young” but I also cringe a bit because I would do it very differently if I were to have that opportunity again today. Also, I was nineteen so the writing really sucks. Bonus interview material! Interview within an interview! Here’s the text of my interview with Nick Cave back in ’92, courtesy of my friend Scott’s website. (Your company might have a problem with the url if you’re viewing it from work, but the content is work-safe. His old site had a big black rooster at the header. I wish he’d put the rooster back because without the rooster it just isn’t funny.) For the record, despite the fact that Nick’s notoriously difficult with the press, he was very very kind to me. Maybe because it was painfully obvious that I wasn’t a real journalist.
3. You have just received a Soros Fiber Artist grant, giving you eight months to create an installation. In addition to yarn (and unspun fiber), you can incorporate any fiber-related tools and accessories, as well as any unconventional materials that can be spun, knit or crocheted. What do you make?
A room full of felted cocoons ranging in size from three feet long to seven feet long, which people can crawl inside.
4. Which contemporary writer (fiction or non) would you most like to smack upside the head?
LetÂ’s reword that as which contemporary writer whom I donÂ’t know would I most like to smack upside the head. ThereÂ’s one I DO know whom IÂ’d like to smack right now, for purely personal reasons. (ItÂ’s not a male or a new mother. ThatÂ’s all IÂ’m saying.)
So, which contemporary writer would I most like to smack upside the head for purely literary reasons? Nell “wunderkind” Freudenberger. I’m sure she’s perfectly lovely and I’m sure her mother thinks she’s terrific and she probably gives spare change to all the subway buskers, but based on the speed of her success, the nature of it, and the number of zeroes on the advance for her rather weak story collection, I must say I’d like to smack her. Figuratively, of course. (Nell, if you’re reading this, I’m just kidding, sweets. Call me.)
5. Describe — in loving, pornographic detail — what makes The Perfect Sock.
One can only imagine that Mindy (and the rest of you, you dirty birds!) was expecting some kind of response that attested to the fact that while length of a sock is certainly important, in fact width is much, much more important. And while I like a good long, wide sock as much as the next girl, what really makes The Perfect Sock is a well Kitchenered toe that cups your little piggies just so, and a sturdy heel flap that can stand up to lots of action without going all threadbare. And if itÂ’s a pretty color thatÂ’s always a plus.
# # #
Anyone out there want to play along? Pop on down to the comments and ask me to interview you and IÂ’ll post the questions for you on this very blog. Of course you can comment without volunteering to be interviewed. I just love to hear from you. Without you my inbox is a dreary place filled with offers for Viagra and questionable software from Eastern Europe and pleas for help from some guy named Floyd in Mauritius.
i think floyd’s cousin frank has been writing to me. 🙂
no don’t want to be interviewed just came to say that’s a great story about nick cave. and i loved the #1 and #5 answers as well.
Posted by: carolyn
Funny, but I knew a Floyd who moved to Jamaica. He used to taunt me with pics of the beach during snowstorms in NYC.
Posted by: Gina
i think floyd’s cousin frank has been writing to me. 🙂
no don’t want to be interviewed just came to say that’s a great story about nick cave. and i loved the #1 and #5 answers as well.
Posted by: carolyn
Funny, but I knew a Floyd who moved to Jamaica. He used to taunt me with pics of the beach during snowstorms in NYC.
Posted by: Gina
You are an extremely funny writer. hee hee…call me….hee hee
Posted by: claudia
I would love to be interviewed by you. I read your blog religiously, mostly because your dogs look like bigger versions of my little dog. And my dogs steal my yarn ALL the time. I recently found my Mariposa shawl out on the back lawn, fortunately all in one piece.
Posted by: Brooke
Been there, done that (the interview thang), but I can’t stop cracking up at this line in your interview with The Big Black, um, Rooster: “As a long-time fan, still harboring a bit of a crush dating back to my early teens…” There you were, at the ripe old age of 19, reminiscing ALL THE WAY BACK to your early teens…..heeeeeeheeeheeheheee . I just gotta give you a big “mwah” for that.
Posted by: Norma
The rooster will be back in its near-usual spot in a few weeks. The site’s under renovation right now, moved to a new host and a new publishing system. Oh, and the site was never funny. =)
Posted by: The owner of the rooster.
Miss Cari, I can attest you know all about sock porn and how to make a girl gasp. Now make me one of them felted cocoon thingy’s and I’ll be set.
Posted by: Alison
can we set up a fund so that the cocoon installation will happen? it must.
so i shouldn’t go with the software offers, huh? oh well.
Posted by: mrspilkington
love the answers to these questions. but you really have to stop with the freaky commonalities–i almost let out an audible squeal when you mentioned the bald star trek captains. and i’m at work. sheesh.
please interview me. i can tell by your hair that your questions will be challenging and creative!
Posted by: Jamie
I want to be in a cocoon like that. Right now, actually. Mmmm.
Posted by: Rachael
Ooooh, Soros Fiber Artist grant…
Your hair, dearest, is gorgeous.
Posted by: Em
You are an extremely funny writer. hee hee…call me….hee hee
Posted by: claudia
I would love to be interviewed by you. I read your blog religiously, mostly because your dogs look like bigger versions of my little dog. And my dogs steal my yarn ALL the time. I recently found my Mariposa shawl out on the back lawn, fortunately all in one piece.
Posted by: Brooke
Been there, done that (the interview thang), but I can’t stop cracking up at this line in your interview with The Big Black, um, Rooster: “As a long-time fan, still harboring a bit of a crush dating back to my early teens…” There you were, at the ripe old age of 19, reminiscing ALL THE WAY BACK to your early teens…..heeeeeeheeeheeheheee . I just gotta give you a big “mwah” for that.
Posted by: Norma
The rooster will be back in its near-usual spot in a few weeks. The site’s under renovation right now, moved to a new host and a new publishing system. Oh, and the site was never funny. =)
Posted by: The owner of the rooster.
Miss Cari, I can attest you know all about sock porn and how to make a girl gasp. Now make me one of them felted cocoon thingy’s and I’ll be set.
Posted by: Alison
can we set up a fund so that the cocoon installation will happen? it must.
so i shouldn’t go with the software offers, huh? oh well.
Posted by: mrspilkington
love the answers to these questions. but you really have to stop with the freaky commonalities–i almost let out an audible squeal when you mentioned the bald star trek captains. and i’m at work. sheesh.
please interview me. i can tell by your hair that your questions will be challenging and creative!
Posted by: Jamie
I want to be in a cocoon like that. Right now, actually. Mmmm.
Posted by: Rachael
Ooooh, Soros Fiber Artist grant…
Your hair, dearest, is gorgeous.
Posted by: Em
Ooh, dude! Interview me so I can have some actual interesting content on my blog!
Oh and I love anything involving roosters, but haven’t seen any recently..ahem big black ones or otherwise..ha
Posted by: Amy
Interview me! I think I’m brave enough…Your blog is great. I’m still in love with your Rosedale United and those luscious thigh high red striped socks you made!
Posted by: Meleah
my bad- I pluralized my blog address, this is the right one now.
Posted by: Meleah
whew! I just read over answer #3 a bit too quickly and thought “racoons that you crawl inside of? eiewww!” Thank goodness I re-read it or else I’d have that icky image in my mind all day!
Posted by: jena
I would SO go see your cocoons!
Love the sock porn too… very tastefully done!
Posted by: Petra
Ooh, dude! Interview me so I can have some actual interesting content on my blog!
Oh and I love anything involving roosters, but haven’t seen any recently..ahem big black ones or otherwise..ha
Posted by: Amy
Interview me! I think I’m brave enough…Your blog is great. I’m still in love with your Rosedale United and those luscious thigh high red striped socks you made!
Posted by: Meleah
my bad- I pluralized my blog address, this is the right one now.
Posted by: Meleah
whew! I just read over answer #3 a bit too quickly and thought “racoons that you crawl inside of? eiewww!” Thank goodness I re-read it or else I’d have that icky image in my mind all day!
Posted by: jena
I would SO go see your cocoons!
Love the sock porn too… very tastefully done!
Posted by: Petra