For this installment of 20 Questions Tuesday I am interviewing the much sought after Riley from
. I started reading her blog about 3 years ago and have watched it transform a few times. Her irreverence knows few bounds, and her posts and comments smell distinctly of sarcasm. Riley is one of the few denizens of the net that I would really like to get to know more. She and I have never met, yet I think our paths have crossed rather closely a few times. I have always loved her questions that she has for me, and now I am looking forward to her answers. For the topic of this interview
(I decided to make it a recursive loop the kind of which only Star Trek excells)
I have chosen
"Interviews."
On to the questions:
1. How many interviews have you given since you started blo
gging?
In my incredibly busy 3-year blogging span, I've managed to get one other blogger interested in interviewing me. And now you. I'
m tak
ing the internet by storm, I tell you.
2. Two interviews in 3 years is not bad. So far, with 1 gigantic interview under your belt, what would you say is the best part about being interviewed?
Can I say that the comments to the interview were very exciting? I hate to sound like the kind of person who just REALLY wants other people to lik
e her, but I gotta be me.
3. Who would be your ultimate interviewee/interviewer?
Are we talking anyone anywhere, time period and lan
guage barriers notwithstanding? Genghis Kahn. Preferably over a meal of turkey legs, you know those big kinds that you can buy at carnivals and festivals that look like you can use them as a weapon once you're done eating them?
4. Is that choice because of Genghis or because of the turkey legs?
Genghis, of course. I just threw in the turkey legs for his benefit. I think if he visited the twenty-first century, he would really like this food option at fairs (a close second being the deep-fried Twinkie).
5. Why hasn't fried-food-on-a-stick become more of an American cul
tural mainstay beyond at fairs and carnivals?
Fairs and carnivals usually only come to an area once or twice a year, and that's really all a human body should sustain of fried food on a stick. Could yo
u imagine the obesity problem in this country if we had the fried food on a stick option ALL the time? I shudder to think. Or jiggle, as the case may be.
6. Speaking of the obesity problem in the US, what is your favorite decadent food? Mine is, as most faithful readers know (hello to the both
of you), Vanilla Bean Cheesecake.
I'm not much of a cheesecake person. That's the one decadent treat I could alway
s easily pass in. But pinpointing my favorite decadent food is really a difficult
thing to do. You may as well ask me what is the worst outift Tori Spelling ever wore in the entire span of 90210 -- TOO MANY CHOICES. Or, since you probably didn't watch 90210, asking me who was the best bad immortal to ever fight Duncan MacLeod. I just don't know if I could choose. I could definitely choose the most irritating immortal, though: Richie. I can't stand him! Although the episode with Joan Jett hitting on him was funny. Um, where we
r
e we? Decadent treats? Maybe Girl Scout Thin Mints.
7. and you are in the thick of the Girl Scout Season as well... Ac
kI hated the villain played by the lead singer from the
Fine Young Cannibals
. Anyhoo... what is your tv distraction du jour, since Highlander the series has been off the air for years now?
Thanks to the wonders of Netflix,
Highlander the Series
lives on. In fact, it is also through the wonders of Netflix that I can watch any TV
because I stopped getting TV service in 2005. I'm a season behind, but I currently wa
tch
Smallville,
Entourage
,
Lost
, and
Flight of the Conchords.
(editors note: You can Google these your damn selves)
8. What made you decide to stop "getting TV service in 2005?" Next to Mt Dew, TV is my opiate.
It seemed like a lot of extra money to watch things I can eventuall
y rent on DVD. The only thing I miss is the occasional football game, Saturday Night Live, and the Oscars, so I invite myself to other people's houses and watch
it on their TV.
9. Back to the subject matter. When giving interviews do you try to answer as truthfully as possible and damn the personal consequences or
do you hedge a bit to protect the feelings and thoughts of others?
I try to do a little of both, depending on the question, but really, how else am I to answer the question? "As truthfully as possible" is so subjective.
My feelings on truth could best be summed up by this excerpt from Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar:
Dimitri: So, Tasso, you seem to be one of those guys who thinks there is no absolute truth, that all truth is relative.
Tasso: Right.
Dimitri: Are you sure of that?
Tasso: Absolutely.
10. So do you think I am Hot? I am pretty sure I will have a better answer to the previous question by how you answer this one.
As I understand it, the temperature in Columbus is in th
e 40s today
(Friday the 20th -the editor)
, which is my idea of freezing, so I think you're cold.
Interesting answer. 11. So sometimes in an interview, you feel that obfuscation and avoidance are necessary?
I don't know what obfuscation means. Please use smaller words.
12. Well-played, Riley, well-played indeed.
Thank you.
13. I know from my experience that I get a great deal of satisfaction answering 20 Questions Tuesday questions in the most obtuse yet technically correct manner. What gives you the most satisfaction when answering a question?
I derive a lot of satisfaction from referencing movie quotes as part of my answer. I don't appear to have done that in this interview thus far, which leaves me no choice but to say I demand satisfaction! I love that lin
e. It's from Barry Lyndon.
14. In that case...
Do you feel lucky, punk? Do ya?
I was trying to think up some cheeky answer. but much like the villains being faced down by Clint Eastwood, my mind has gone blank.
15. I am sure you would have been super intimidated if you saw
my steely gaze as well. Favorite movie quote?
Didn't my answer to the favorite decadent food question make it obvious that I am incapable of pinpointing ultimate favorite things? I cannot choose. In a
ddition to every line in The Princess Bride, I'm rather fond of the way Mr. T growls out "Prediction? Pain." and I often say "I dig that about you!" a la Cuba Gooding Jr in Jerry Maguire and "It's a sweater!" from Three Amigos. I could go on (and on and on) but for the sake of post length and keeping things swear-free, I'll limit myself to these.
I was fairly sure that you would not be able to boil it down to one favorit
e quote, which leads me to... 16. Do you have a problem with decisiveness, such that you can not reduce a universe of options to one finite answer?
Um, I don't know... let me get back to you on that once I've had some time to think about it...
17. List 5 bloggers you would like to interview.
Again with the specifics!!!! Let's see, I just asked Edj at Planet Nomad if I could interview her, and I'm stoked she said yes. I think I could also have fun with Our Little Tonginnator, Steph at Red Clay Diaries, This Eclectic Life, and Whee! All the Way Home. I believe you can find them all on my sidebar.
(editors note: So visit her blog, already!)
18. What subjects (without going into the whys and hows and whos and such) are strictly off-limits in an interview... maybe this should have been my first question?
You could always lie and put this question first and pretend like you asked me that as question number one. I won't tell. As for the answer, n
o subject is always off limits (see my answer on absolutes), although I don't like having to defend my dislike of yogurt. Or Highlander.
19. Your love of Highlander, or dislike of Highlander? as a follow up: Duncan or Connor?
Sorry, I should have said "Or my love of Highlander." Duncan all the w
ay. Not to say that I don't like Connor, and was sad to see him die, but Duncan was by far more entertaining and ridiculous.
20. Will you be posting this on your blog as well and is there anything emblazoned in your memory from this interview?
I will be a posting a link to this on my blog so that people have to visit yours to read it, and hopefully enjoy other posts by you as well, such as your threats to the
and
. Emblazoned in my memory are the following things: 1) I like Highlander 2) Obfuscate and 3) I'm indecisive.
Thanks!
To Recap:
Thanks so much, Riley!
I have much to do tonight since I have been fighting off a nasty headache all day
Hello, Fluffy. Been a while, hasn’t it?
Listening to Joss Stone sing
Some Kind of Wonderful
Reading the
The Shepard Kings
by Judith Tarr