Because Miss Grace (aka Jennifer) is awesome, she speedily sent me her answers to my standard interview questions. And considering how below par my creativity is recently (hence, the not-so-creative questions), her answers are superb. I give her a thousand gold stars and a pat on the back!
This interview thing is fun. I may sign myself up to do it again.
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1.) Why did you start a blog?
I think my blog evolved out of my attempt to escape from mass emailings. After college, my friends were all in these far flung places, and I got really tired of writing 15 versions of the same email letting everyone know what was going on. Because of that, I started a blog on MySpace to keep friends abreast of what I was doing (this was when MySpace was shiny and new, and you could legitimately participate without being grouped amongst 14-year-old girls and child molesters). I moved over to this blog because I wanted a better format, and I had started to read blogs where I didn't directly know the writer, and wanted to start building on that community.
2.) Do you think that your blog is a decent representation of who you are in "real life"? Do you really care?
I write as myself, and I think that my blog is representative of who I am. However, there are things that I won't talk about online (current relationships, for example), and there are some general moods that I don't tend to write in; I'm not a very good writer when I'm depressed. So there are sides of my personality that don't necessarily come through on my blog; not because they're censored, but because I don't ever feel like writing when I'm in that place.
I do care how I come across in the sense that I want people who read my writing to feel like they are getting to know me, and not some persona I created for the benefit of the internet. I do not, however, care if you don't like me.
3.) Kind of a two-parter question: do you think everyone should keep a blog? And if so, do you think that blogging can be taught? It's kind of like the popular question in my creative writing classes of "can creative writing be taught?"
In short, no. Some people just aren't writers. Some people are great, fantastic, funny people, and it just doesn't translate well into the written word. Other people just aren't very smart or very funny, and I don't really want to read what they have to say. Did I mention that I'm not always very nice, or very diplomatic? Sorry.
I also think that if you're uncomfortable with blogging, and the whole "scary internet" thing, then you might not want to do it.
But anyone who thinks they might want to start a blog? Should definitely give it a try.
4.) What about blogging makes it enjoyable?
My favorite thing about blogging is the chance to write on my own time, without it ever feeling like work. Actually no--that's my second favorite thing. My FAVORITE thing is the community, and all of the wonderful writing and interesting lives I discover online.
5.) About BlogHer: I've never attended, but I read that you went this year. 1st - What can you tell newbies like myself to expect if/when we go? 2nd - Was it all it was cracked up to be?
1st - Everyone who's going is going there at least in part (if not in full) to meet people, so be prepared to introduce yourself A LOT. You can't be afraid to approach strangers, and I don't think there's room for being shy. Also, I'm tired of the posts I've been reading about how someone couldn't "talk to so-and-so because they're too BIG." There are more and less well known bloggers, but everyone at THAT conference is open to meeting everyone else (that's why they came), so if you want to say hi, you absolutely should.
2nd - Yes, it 100% is. I think that my writing has become tangibly better as a result of going, in ways that I can't begin to explain.
6.) I'm all about music; love it to infinity and beyond. What is your favorite band, type of music and so forth?
I always have a really hard time when people ask me this question. I honestly listen to everything. Like, EVERYTHING everything. You are equally likely to find Tom Waits or Nas or Johnny Cash or Counting Crows or Depeche Mode or Justin Timberlake in my CD player. I've lately been going through sort of a folk phase, which has featured Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, James McMurtry, and John Prine. But three months ago I was in an early-90's hip-hop sort of a mood, so it's hard to predict. Growing up, the family business was a nightclub, so I went to a wide variety of concerts and shows from a very young age, and was therefore exposed to a lot of different sounds, etc. I also learned that the ability to produce a good CD does not necessarily translate into the ability to put on a good show, and visa versa.
7.) In your spare time when you're not raising your son or blogging, what do you like to do when you get a quiet moment to yourself?
If I'm not otherwise occupied (and I'm not asleep) I: read, knit, walk/bike, or sit around on my couch and stare at the wall. Okay so staring at the wall is the most likely, but they're all equally satisfying.
8.) How long do you see yourself blogging for?
For as long as I'm getting something out of it and enjoying what I create, I see myself doing it.
9.) Have you ever received any negative comments and/or feedback about your blog? If so, how did you handle it?
I have an ongoing negative reaction from my son's father, mainly because HIS father is one of my regular readers, and I don't think he likes to be exposed as categorically insane. While I make a point to never use his name, he did notably comment on one of my entries. The main reason I published everything that we both wrote was because I wanted him to be less abusive to me in emails, and the fact that I have no qualms about publishing them has kept him pretty much in check since then. It doesn't really matter whether I write about him or not, as it's the simple fact that I blog that upsets him, and most of the time, my entries have absolutely nothing to do with him. Aside from that issue, which is ongoing, I haven't really had any negative feedback from readers. I've found a wonderfully supportive community.
10.) Do you think that the "blog hierarchy" is a load of wank?
I think that some bloggers are more well-known than others, and I think that as long as you have a community of people doing the same thing, some of them are going to invariably become more "famous" than others. However, I don't think it's quite the same as "real-life" fame in the sense that most bloggers are still very in touch with their communities.