It is another Ten Ton Studios day up here in the 20 Questions Tuesday-ville. This week I get the pleasure of chatting with Scott St Pierre a Ten Tonner with a writing bent. His writing is quirky and loose. He is not afraid to break the fourth wall and bring the reader into story itself, but recently he has shifted his focus from writing to laser focusing in on photography. Now if he would only write about his photos and bring us into his pics.
Anyway, Scott is an awesome guy and I have had a few delightful conversations with him. He is definitely one of the denizens of the Internet that I would love to share a meal in real space.
Scott has recently moved from the east coast to L.A. (I assume to get his tan on), so question 1 will be interesting. I have my M.A. in geography and love the story of place. For example, I was born in Oklahoma City, OK. The fam moved to Montgomery, AL and then to Birmingham. I went to school in Kent, OH, and then moved down to Columbus, OH with my wife where I have been ever since. Question 1:What is your geographic story?
I just googled “”What is your geographic story?” and find it unsettling that in all of googledom you are the only person to ask that question that way before.
I find it more entertaining to view my geographic story as a Family Circus comic strip. Panel 1: As a little kid I say when I’m older I’ll move to California someday. Panel 2: the dotted line path where Scotty starts in Peabody, MA bounces to Long Island, NY for a couple stops, bounces back to Peabody, MA bounces to Malden, MA then to Bloomfield, NJ, then Morristown NJ, then back to Peabody, MA and currently here in Redondo Beach, CA. It’s weird feeling more at home in a town you’ve never been before than it was living in the town you grew up in. I know It’s only been two weeks but I seriously love it here.
Huh, I have never thought of googling “What is your geographic story?” That is odd. It seems that you need to have the “What is the” on the statement otherwise you get results concerning “National Geographic Story.” Anyhoo… Question 2:Why does SoCal feel so much like home, and why did it feel so naturally like home so quickly?
I think it’s because I know the snow will never get me here. It’s like a haven. It’s also been very welcoming. People will smile at you and say “Hi” while walking down the sidewalk. And there are just so many other transplants from other parts of the country here as well. When someone finds out you’ve just moved here there is a glint in their eyes like “Welcome, dude. We’ve been waiting for you.”
Well, I can honestly say that this is absolutely an awesome thing to hear. Usually I hear how stuffy and stand-offish the SoCal area is, especially the LA area. It really is nice to hear that it is more inclusive in some situations. Question 3: What exactly brought you finally to the west coast?
My wise-ass answer is “ What exactly brought me here was an airplane.” The answer you were fishing for has more to do with wanting to shut my wife up than anything. Feb 2012 we came out here for vacation, but didn’t want to do any touristy things on purpose. We wanted to get a sort of vibe of normalcy in the area. I was hoping to hate it so we wouldn’t have to move. Usually any trips I take, by day 3 I’m too tired and want to go home, but that just didn’t happen this time. Career wise, for my wife, she’s a stylist. She’s done work for magazines and theater, and music videos so getting into that out here is really the next big step up for her and really I’m just here supporting that. My boss lets me work from home so he’s cool enough to let me live anywhere we want.
I am sending positive energy your way for your wife’s stylist work out in La LA Land. Question 4: So what creative endeavors are you going to do now that you are in one of the hearts of the entertainment industry?
This is the part I’m jazzed about. Thousands of people come out to Los Angeles to make it happen. Plenty do. Plenty. They might not be famous, or even rich, or even well off but they make it happen. Every day. We decided that we’re going to be one of those people that make it happen. Wake up. Work. Laugh and smile all day and when you get home from work, work some more. Worrying yourself to death does you no good. There are some people that look at a happy successful person and say to themselves “Being successful must be great, look how happy that guy is,” whereas my new outlook is “Being happy is rad…that in itself is successful enough.” It really all harkens back to Douglas Adam’s argument about why Mankind and the Dolphins both thinking they’re the dominant species on Earth for the exact same reason. Have a good time. I don’t think anyone on their deathbed says, “I’m so glad I did all this worrying. It seems really worth it now.” As positive as all that shit sounds, every day my adopted belief system is challenged by my 4 year old son.
On the creative side, I have a photo project involving twinkies that really won’t seem relevant for another 10 years or so, and a lot of that potential success teeters on what actually happens with Hostess’ name and assets and that bajunk. But before that all happens I’m actually going to try my hand had developing my own film. I haven’t done it since High-School but I love still shooting on film whatever can make that more affordable I’m into.
Also, I’m still writing and revising my odd little fiction pieces which is very freeing. Of all the hobbies I’ve ever had it’s the only one I feel terrible about not doing every day. Writers write. If I think I’m a writer and I’m not writing…what am I? I tell myself “I’d be nothing” so that little ditty gets me to plink down some words into some sort of storyish blarb that hopefully will get read and enjoyed by somebody. But I get crazy ideas like joining an amature comedy group getting known as a good comedy writer and then working on a sitcom or something. Who knows. I’d like to have some creative input on some video game storyline or something that would be cool.
Also, Also, creatively I’m thinking of starting a food blog called “Fries of Los Angeles” where I review the french fries and or sweet potato fries of the gajillion restaurants out here. I have this whole thing mapped out in my head where I would wear a fancy white glove during the tasting portion and the last thing I do is delicately pull the glove off, finger by finger, and actually rub the fry with my thumb and forefinger to test it for greasiness. I’d review the long pieces, the short crunch pieces. Rate it on squishyness, dryness, seasoning.
I’ve seriously put way too much thought into it. I’ll probably end up making it just a quirky hobby of a character in a story of mine, but seriously. I don’t eat meat, only just started eating some chicken again so a lot of these places we go out to eat at I usually order Fish and Chips which means I’ve had a lot of fries. Most suck. Crab House on the pier of King Harbor in lower Redondo’s fries were spectacular. I’d give them a 8.9. A perfect 10 would probably have to be from a place Lady Galadriel would eat at.
I am pretty sure Lady Galadriel would not eat French Fries, but instead eat Pomme Frites or some other translation that is terrible and beautiful. Don’t get me wrong, about the creative thing. I ask that because I know you are a talented so-and-so. I love your polaroid work and think you have a real eye for the photos. I have also rather enjoyed your written work as well. I would have changed the lead up, but asked the exact same question had you stayed in Peabody.
I know this is stolen from a bit done by Paul F Tompkins, but still, everyone wants to know… Question 5: Cake or Pie? Which specific kind and why?
I’m lactose intolerant to the point where even some butter sets me running for the outhouse, so if I’m going to try pie, I’ll have to eat around the crust, which stinks because I remember how tasty the bottom of a Brooksby Farm Apple pie can be. Actually, pecan pie was my favorite back in my pie days. As for cake, my Mother-in-law makes this insane chocolate cake from a World War II recipe that has no eggs or milk in it. They were rationing that stuff for the war effort. (with that reasoning I assume there’s no steel, rubber or gasoline in it either?) It’s completely vegan and brain-crazy tasty. So moist you don’t even need frosting. Though recently I took to putting a dab of Peanut Butter on my fork before going into the cake. I capitalize Peanut Butter out of respect. It’s just the best. So the answer is WWII cake for dietary reasons. Are there any good pies that you can put peanut butter on?
It is interesting, you are the first person I have asked this question who has said cake and not say so because of frosting. Most cake-eaters eat said cake as a frosting delivery system. As to your level of lactose intolerance? Wow, that sucks. That is an extreme level of intolerance… that is a skinhead level of intolerance. That intolerance makes other people’s lactose intolerance say, “Damn, that is just too intolerant.” That really is the suckage. As to your question about peanut butter on a pie? There is a whole class of peanut butter pies, not to mention using a smooth and creamy peanut butter on a tart apple pie.
When our oldest was wee, he had some massive food allergies, so we learned how to make most foods without dairy, egg, and soy. It was rough. Question 6:What is the hardest part of being so significantly lactose intolerant? ummm.. I am asking for a friend…
A very hard part is going to house parties or family events and not being able to eat 95% of the stuff there. I love the shit out of homemade cookies and can’t eat them. The Trader Joe’s here have vegan chocolate chip cookies which are killer though. That’s something they didn’t offer in our local MA one. They remind me of the Keebler Softbatch from back in the day. Not sure they still make those. I pretty much just turn my eyes away from grocery store snack stuff with the exception of good ole fashioned Oreos, which are more vegan than most red blooded Americans care to admit.
Another hard part, emotionally, is I’m still the pizza maker for my family. My son prefers the pizza I make from the Trader Joe’s dough over every commercially available option we’ve tried, which is great because it saves us so much money, but spending all that time (Okay..so it’s not ALL that much time) making and baking a pizza and not being able to enjoy it stinks. Soy cheese sucks also. I tried rice cheese and though it claimed it was dairy free it had some kind of cheese protein or culture or some weird thing in it and my arms actually broke out in hives.
Also, the beginning of this year I finally made the switch to black coffee. So its been a lot easier when we’re out and about and some ma & pa coffee house doesn’t have soy or something. Soy creamer isn’t good either. The best alternate creamer I’ve tried and loved is So Delicious’s french vanilla coconut creamer, but I drink a lot of coffee so it was getting expensive. So I’m happy to save the money on that front too.
This is off topic, but I just woke up from a dream where I someone got to eat lunch with Adam Sandler and we talked straight up artistic vision type talk. It was a great mature talk and then I went up to go to the bathroom and all these bombs started going off all over downtown L.A. When I came back he was gone, but left a note saying he waited as long as he could, I wasn’t angry, I was gone a seriously long time. He recommended picking up Pearl Jam’s upcoming record, and he’d been catching their tour rehearsals. I wonder if he, in turn, recommended to any of those guys that they read my work or check out my photos.
I think it is interesting that your subconscious chose Adam Sandler as your spirit animal. That is just plain odd. You are an odd duck, Mr. StPierre… and odd duck.
The fam still makes you prep pizza as a severely lactose intolerant individual? Cold, man… cold.
Question 7: Fill in the blanks: I find that i am mostly _______. Others find that I am mostly _____ __.
I find that I am mostly indecisive. I hope that doesn’t translate to non-committal, but seriously, I wish I wasn’t into some things. Photography, writing music, writing fiction, I let my drawing fall a bit by the wayside these past few years but I still doodle and feel the pull to take art more seriously. One week I want to start a band and save rock and roll. Another I’m realizing I’m in my mid-thirties and The Machine doesn’t allow dudes in their mid-thirties to be new rock stars. The writing is something I have to do. The longer I go without writing the more and more I find I absolutely hate myself. So I try to write every day. Photography for me is different. I mean it’s my day job, but it’s so digital and over processed that after a while of doing it for work I needed an escape but I still wanted to shoot, which is why I got back into analog photography. You think it over more. Especially with the polaroid stuff. It’s about $3 a shot on the integral, so you have to make it count. Anyway, If I was a pro musician, I’d still be writing. if I was a pro writer, I’d still be making music. In high school I used to hope I’d lose a hand so I’d have less options. I’m sure if I could settle on just one thing I’d be Amazing at it rather than just good. And then, occasionally I think with my writing, my music, my photography…that I was giving these talents not to compete with each other for my time, but maybe I’m supposed to be making movies. Where those skills aren’t competing so much, but working together on some sort of production schedule for an end product greater than the individual parts. I’m watching 2001: A Space Odyssey right now and those three basic elements of image/sound/writing is tear jerkingly beautiful. Then I see something sparkly and want to chase parked cars.
Others find that I am mostly weird. I’ve been told that my whole life. Scott’s weird. My wife says she agrees with the indecisiveness. But she’s weird too, only she’s too strikingly beautiful for most people to notice.
Wow, it is clear that you are a writer because you very clearly painted the picture of how your indecisiveness manifests. You are a Renaissance Man trapped outside of a Renaissance… except this is the Renaissance, or at least one of them. You and I have had a few digital conversations over the years, so I feel that I am capable of lending my fill-in for your blank… that sounds vaguely dirty… I find you mostly hard to pin down. I have noticed that you flit around like a little butterfly from task to task. One moment you are writing the great American novel (something I think you should put more energy into, for you are very talented in the writing space), the next you are a Polaroid photog showing pieces in shows (something else I think you should follow, because you really have a great eye for it), and this was preceded by musical aptitude and other things. See, we are all seeing the same you, so at least that is something. It is nice when your image of yourself is congruous with others. If you want my opinion, and you prolly don’t, other than your fam, the first thought that you wake up with is most likely what you need to chase for the time being. But this is coming from a guy with a dead end job who wakes up thinking about drawing but goes to a cubicle to look at where holes have been dug in the past. Just warning you about the advice given. You should write more… I like reading what you write.
Question 8: So, since you have a pretty good idea of who you are, how can you push yourself to be where you want to be? I am in school trying to knowledge up and get out of my current job…
I had to reread that last question a couple times because something about it just didn’t jibe well with me, but then I realized it said “pretty good idea…” of who I am. Which I think is about right. And you’re right. Who I am is pretty much what I see in the mirror. Though right now I do think I’m a cancer patient due to the giant tumor like zit hanging off my neck. I can take a picture for the website if you like.
The best way to get my ass to that next level, which I’ve been talking with my wife about lately, is I think to really just do the work. Writers write. They sit down and do it on good days. They sit down and do it on bad days. I used to worry and say “What if it isn’t good?” but I don’t any more. It doesn’t matter if it’s good or not, because there are people out there who aren’t as good as you getting paid a professional rate to do what you love, and the reason that’s going on is because they’re the ones sitting down doing it. They’re making it happen.
It’s like the “talent” isn’t in the subject matter they’re writing about, or how many great influences you can pull from someone’s writing style. The “talent” is being able to cement your ass everyday somewhere and get the shit from your head onto some sort of thing that someone else can read and preferably enjoy, whether the end product is a photo-copied stapled short storybooklet (sold about 30 copies of my whale story that way) or 20+ seasons of an evening sitcom. My favorite Neil Gaiman quote is about writing, "This is how you do it: you sit down at your keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard." The “…and that hard,” part is the clincher for me.
The danger of hitting next level is,(okay, maybe this is like 5-10 levels above MY next level,) and I’ve thought a lot about this too and I hope I’m wrong with this theory, is that in order to be really successful a big part of you has to be saying, “Fuck everyone else,” about 90% of the time. I think there is a reason there are so many divorced rock-stars, movie stars and whatever. It’s as if the great way of thinking that has helped them to hyper-focus on their talent to get them to the level of success they’re enjoying is absolutely no help when it comes to having the ability to able to give yourself up for someone else’s happiness. When my wife and I were dating I came up with a saying, “I’ll always give you the new donut.” That means no matter how bad things get whatever money we have to scrape up to feed ourselves, I’d buy her the new donut and I’ll go fish something out of the garbage behind the donut shop. I think the level of thinking required to get me to that next level might be to think that the new donut is finishing what work I’ve started. Shipping it. Getting it done and in front of people and that maybe many more people than just my wife need that new donut. So it’s time to bust ass cuz there’s a lot of people hungry out there for the manna of St. Pierre.
What is it that people say? “Writers be writin.” So I know you from a comic book art website that has churned out many newly established heavy hitters in the comic book art community and many up and comers who are hitting comics hard. So, you clearly love yourself some comic books. Question 9:Who is your guy? What superhero do you consider your superhero? Growing up for me it was Captain America and then Cyclops from the X-Men. Who you got?
Ten Ton Studios is the second closest I’ve ever been to having real brothers. It’s a hit machine that has proven over and over if you work your ass off and don’t turn into a whiney bitch when someone critiques your work, you will get a job. My guy has always been Wolverine. I was always the short kid in class growing up. I’m 5’ 3” and remember those Impel Marvel trading cards from the late 80’s I think it was? I used to collect my paper route money on Saturdays and walk down to the Peabody Square Smoke Shop. (I know it sounds shady, and it probably was/is, but it was one of two places that sold comic books that weren’t all beat to crap on a spinner rack) and buy those trading cards. On the back they had the stats of the character and I loved that Wolverine was this short guy, but it totally didn’t define him. I wasn’t really made fun of, but when you’re one of the shortest you quickly realize the advantages of being a taller person. Now in my mid thirties I shave my head because of male pattern baldness. I’m not going to take pills for it because what use is having hair if my wang doesn’t work? But that’s also why I try to stay in shape, because being short bald and fat is a dealbreaker in 93% of any situation. It’s true. I did a survey. But yeah, Wolverine was short and he didn’t take shit from anybody. Batman was second. I just liked climbing and jumping off of things. Still do, but my knees…ya know. I like your choices. Those two guys are both leaderly Boy Scout types. I wonder what that says about us as people?
You cut me to the quick… gah. I hadn’t realized how milquetoast those 2 are until you mentioned it just now. I am not sure who would be my guy now if I were a kid. I loved the Wolverine of the Chris Clermont days… the days before he was in every Marvel book ever. He seems like a caricature of himself right now. He used to be the best there was at what he did, and what he did was not pretty. Anyhoo… I can see the identification with Wolverine. He had a nebulous past (that should have stayed nebulous) and was a classic anti-hero. He did the stuff others weren’t capable… nay willing to do! It was nice when he wasn’t overexposed.
Question 10:What character is your dream writing job, and what is the crazy plot-line that you would inject into his story? I would reboot Heros for Hire with Iron Fist and Powerman (none of this Luck Cage stuff) and have them sub-contract out to others as needed. Hilarity or deep stories ensue.
I never read any of that old team up stuff, but have been wanting to. Long ago I had this epic cross-over idea called Gene-shift. Basically, one day all the mutants in the marvel universe woke up with someone else’s powers. I thought it would be cool to see how it would change the character of those characters. Like, what if Wolverine’s got switched with Speedball’s or something. As far as dream writing gig for comics, I like taking a stab at Excalibur. I’ve always liked a lot of humor in my comics. I’ve been a huge Tick fan since 6th grade, which was before I was even into X-men comics. Not sure what I would bring to the table as far as fresh ideas but with the Tick it’s such a great concept. A jar of mustard could become sentient for no explainable reason and mate with giant redwood and I don’t know if redwood’s drop acorns or what, but there’s a rain of mustard seed redwood hybrids attacking Northern California. There’s your villain. That stuff writes itself.
Boy howdy, that does write itself. It seems that the humor books consistently run below the radar in the mainstream. Question 11: What needs to happen to get humorous books a la the Tick to really have staying power in the in the cultural zeitgeist? The Tick cartoon only lasted 2 seasons… and it was brilliant… Why is that, do you think?
I wish I knew. I think with comics, as fans, some people are coping with mainstream society already being against them, just because they’re reading comics in the first place that they at least want to be taken seriously doing it. Hopefully that’s shifting, I don’t know. I always loved the funnier stuff. Bloom County was a big one for me when I was way younger. I remember getting pissed off at this kid in 7th grade over it. I asked him if he read it and he said “No, I don’t read political cartoons.” and I was offended by that, being of a lower middle class (or were it upper lower class? Might be lower lower for all I know. I was a kid at the time and very busy having fun being one.) I took offense that anyone would think I was into something so intellectual as political cartoons. But from first finding the X-Men when I was younger I found John Byrne’s She-Hulk who was this amazing babe and I thought her book was hilarious. More recently Nextwave from Marvel was one of the best books they put out in my adult life and that got cancelled relatively quickly too. Which I don’t get because practically everyone I knew loved it.
I wish I knew as well. Sadly, the Tick live action show was really fun as well, but it did not even make it a season. I find it interesting that within the comic book community there are humorous titles that are lauded and loved by everyone, but they have no traction in the mainstream entertainment.
So, I am currently in the process of removing gluten from my diet to see if that helps me feel better, so I am seriously craving some glutenous food… especially donuts… Question 12: You have a dozen donuts to buy, what is your mix of donuts? I will reveal my favorite dozen after your answer.
I wish, for just this once I could give you a straight answer, but I actually have a story about my late grand-mother here. So, I don’t remember the occasion, but my grand-mother took my friend Christian and I out for dinner one night at this fancy hotel. We were teenagers, maybe 16 or 17. We got to talking about our first real jobs which were both at Dunkin Donuts. My grand-mother told me with the straightest not-a-hint-of-bullshit face that she too used to work at a donut shop and that when she was 14 she used to go to work after school and in the donut kitchen one day she…brace yourself, she invented the Boston Creme donut. Now in my relationship with my grand-parents my grand-father was the family bullshit artist, and as far as I’m concerned my the only lie my grand-mother ever told was when she was 15 she told an enlisted man she was 18…yadda yadda yadda. I absolutely refuse to research it for fear that she was untruthful, but yeah.
Okay, so I have a dozen to work with? Let’s pretend milk/whey isn’t a factor here. I’d take 2 Boston Creme. 2 Maple frosted. 3 Blueberry Cake, 1 Strawberry Frosted, and 4 Honey Glazed, but not Dunkin Donuts honey glazed, Krispy Kreme’s. I’ve not tried any of these other flavors from Krispy Kreme, but we just went last week and the girl checked with her boss and said the plain glazed don’t have milk and while I was still skeptical I had 0 issues and must have eaten at least 5 from the dozen we bought.
I am clearly torturing myself here, but my dozen goes as follows: 4 Krispy Kreme glazed, they must be “Hot Fresh Now” and immediately consumed. 2 Krispy Kreme cream-filled donuts. 2 Tim Horton’s crullers. 2 Maple Frosted and 2 vanilla frosted from Dunkin Donuts . There is my dozen…. of which I cannot partake right now. I am so flipping hungry. It is a great thing that you can have Krispy Kreme glazed donuts. If you have not gotten them from the store when the”Hot, Fresh, Now” light is on, you need to. It will change your world.
Unlucky Question 13: do you have any superstitions or rituals? Superstitions such as don’t put your hat on the bed, salt over the shoulder, etc… Rituals are more nebulous. For example, (and this is the example I always use) I used to get ready for soccer games with a very specific sequence of putting on the uniform… Not because I felt it lucky as much as it was a way to get me in the “right” state of mind for a game.
Is hats on the bed a real superstition? Jesus…no wonder my life’s in shambles. You want to hear a real superstition? A Bonafide guarantee? I don’t pay attention to sports much these days, but I am almost willing to put lots of money on this, the Red Sox will win the World Series this year. Why? Because every time I move away from home that’s what they do. 2004, moved to NY. Win. 2006 moved to NJ, we moved after the halfway point so it doesn’t count (Cuz I say it doesn’t) but in 2007, first full season away, Win. So a definite win this year. Anyone reading this who puts money down and wins, can you send me like, an apple store gift card or something? Thanks.
As for personal rituals for writing or other stuff…I don’t think I have any any more. When I was 18 I used to wear this certain terrible paper hat when I was drawing. Like a line cook hat or something. Also, had to start my inking sessions off with Side 2 of Abbey Road on Vinyl. And it wasn’t vinyl because I was trying to be cool and retro. It was Vinyl because I knew to stay the fuck away from my Dad’s then complicated 300 carousel CD player, there was no way to copy CD’s then and why buy my own copy on CD or cassette when I already had it on 12”? Still have that record.
When I was playing in a band I had this little wooden sea fisherman named Captain Bob who had to be on the left side of my guitar amp facing backwards. That way it looked like he was pissing. At first I started that because I like to see a pissing fisherman while I played music, but you know, you start getting better and the musical output gets better feeling you get so you depend on that pissing captain.
Maybe I need some good ones, but right now my ritual is, if I want to get anything useful/important done…wait till my 4 year old is not around. Anything accomplished while he is around is considered an act of God.
Amen, Brother. Getting shit done with kids in the house is nigh impossible. The “Hat on the bed” thing” has to do with country clergy coming to houses to give last rites. The padre enters the home and hat in hand proceeds to the bedroom where the dying lays on the bed. He places the hat at the foot of the bed and moves to the head of the bed to administer last rites. Ergo the bad tidings with a hat on the bed.
Sounds like Captain Bob needs to watch you write.
Someone once asked me what I would be most afraid of. I chose Vampire Bear (theursine variety, not a hairy gay dude). Question 14: What would you be most afraid of? especially in a dark alley…
Maybe being on the Andy Dufresne end of a murder trial or something. Maybe being on the wrong end of a gun pointed at me from a person who has absolutely nothing to lose. I’d hate to get to the pearly gates after a life of thinking I’ve been a pretty decent person and then not let in. That would blow. I once said I hope every member of the Foo-Fighters dies before me so that they can play my intro music when I get to Heaven. That’s how much I’m looking forward to that, and to lose it…fuck. That’d be terrible.
I’m also recently terrified of white rice. It does things to my throat where it like paralyzes my swallowing muscles and foot gets backed up in my throat…but past the point where my breathing hole thing is, so it’s like I’m choking but can still breath perfectly fine. My last episode was just the other night and by far the worst worst worst. Scared me off the stuff for good.
That rice thing is scary indeed. It is rare that you would have a reaction to rice. To tell the truth, I do not think I would like to meet anything/anyone in a dark alley, vampire bear or not. Number 1: I have already done something wrong if I am in a dark alley to begin with. Number 2: If something/someone is in that dark alley, they are up to no good.
Question 15: Are you going to be able to attend any conventions this year? If so, which ones?
No idea yet. WonderCon is in a few weeks in Anaheim, but I’m going to miss it. The last few times I’ve been to a convention I don’t think I bought anything. For me they started becoming all about “No that’s too expensive,” and then “where am I going to put this stuff?” and then eventually “why am I here?” It was always great seeing friends and meeting people in person that I’ve only ever talked to on some forum, but then the ones with real industry jobs got too busy doing their thing. And they’re amazing at their thing. And then it’s like dropping by a buddies office when they’re brilliantly busy. Starts feeling weird. I also hate long lines, so the uber stars aren’t a big draw for me.
Also, some of the smells at comic cons are terrible. Some cologne company would be smart to be a sponsor. Maybe Listerine as well.
I think that soap and shampoo would be better to sponsor than cologne, for there are many people there who are large and unwashed. There is a geek/nerd convention funk that is pretty strong for some of these. I go to a few local small cons and then to a gaming con, and there are some folk who have some hygienic issues to be sure. I completely agree about the long lines to see the big guns. I dislike lines, and I dislike people. Combine standing in line with people to see people and you have a non-starter for me.
Question 16: Do you have any absolute non-starters in your life? X + Y = no Scott St Pierre?
Cocaine + Orgy, cats + milk, cigarettes + star wars droids. I’m trying to think. I know like heroin and coke and meth and stuff is hopefully a given. Super duper hot sauces aren’t any fun for me and definitely fall into the “Awe, hell no” category. But seriously, a paycheck is a paycheck. You never know what you might have to do in life.
I think for me, other than people and lines, it would be peppers and now gluten. I ate some potato chips that did not reference any wheat products last night and I have felt horrid all day. I look at the website and the brand and type IS NOT considered gluten free just because of potential cross contamination. That being said, I went to a gluten-free bakery today and ate a delightful cupcake. I wish it were a donut… or even a doughnut (the donut’s uppity cousin).
Question 17: Is there something that you expected me to ask that I have not?
When Kim Kardashian announced she was pregnant I immediately went public saying I wasn’t the father. For those who missed my announcement, I want to reiterate that. Also, if Taylor Swift or Gaga or Jennifer Lawrence or Olivia Wilde or Kate Upton, really if any of those girls get pregnant I didn’t do that either. Really I’m just trying to feed this interview some good keywords to up it in a web search. Let me get obscure here and find some good random Japanese bikini model…Aki Hoshino. Wow. Japan rules. lol. For the record I didn’t take it off of moderate setting in my google image search, so buyer beware of some images from her. Who knows what she’s been up to. Hopefully good things. Seriously though, I know our friend Jason Baroody would be let down if I didn’t mention some kind of busty asian girl in this interview. I don’t know why he’d be let down, I just get the feeling he would be.
Good way to bump up the SEO on this site. I hadn’t thought of sprinkling in random buzz word celeb names. You, sir, are a genius and a bit of a cad.
Turnabout is fair play so… Question 18: Do you have any questions for me?
I’m watching “Up” with my son right now and it’s the beginning of the movie just after Mr Fredrickson’s wife, Ellie, passes away. I was surprised to find that it can still move me to tears. Just a few, but tears, nonetheless. What was the last movie that pushed you far enough to get some dancing down your face? And did you find yourself surprisingly more susceptible to that sort of thing after you became a father?
Hmmm… I am having trouble coming up with a recent movie that has brought me to tears. However, I was reduced to manly father tears when watching the opening scene of Up. I have found myself tearing up at the annoying moving poignant videos that people either post on the Facebooks and news sites. I can definitely say that the emotions have changed once we had the babies. Even in fictional stories, I recognize that all the characters in stories, both good and bad have family and most likely someone who loves them. Sadly, I have lost a bit of my stone heart. I miss the stone.
Question 19: What are you taking with you from these 20 Questions that you did not bring in with you?
I’m looking back at all my answers and realize I have short stories that have less words in them.
You were wonderfully thorough and fanciful in your answers, and I have to say that I am quite happy to have been able to spend this much time with you chatting. this has been great.
Question 20: What’s next? Be as concrete or as vague as you want to be. Focus as short term or as long term as you want.
Some readers may not know that these questions were answered (and asked!) over the course of a couple weeks now. My opinions can shift a bit in that amount of time. Reading back I can tell when I was being silly but truthful, and or serious but over-dramatic. Some of this might belong in question 19, but I think the real take-away is I want to work hard. It doesn’t mean I have been, or even will be, but the want part is there—No. I take that back. I will work hard. I came across a cool quote over this past weekend. I don’t think I’m saying it exactly as I saw it, but it does the job. “Talent without hard work is useless.” That pretty much sums up my entire life. I‘ve had more than a few friends whom I’ve wanted to scrawl that saying onto a baseball bat and beat them over the skull with it, but it’s really time to turn the bat on myself here.
We drove up to Cupertino this past weekend for a babyshower and to see some old friends of ours. My buddy works at Apple and took me over to the sprawling campus. I stood in the spot where Steve Jobs would park his car every morning. I’m a huge Apple fanboy, but I really didn’t think I’d geek out about it all that much, but I just felt a heaviness being in that area. I snapped some great shots of the front of 1 Infinite Loop, But just seeing all those buildings, a symbol of how something started by two dudes in a garage can escalate. It’s been several hours since I started this paragraph (work and life stuff) and I’ve lost the main jist of what the hell I was getting at. Feh.
Okay, back to the topic…What’s next for me? Immediately…eating Corned Beef and Cabbage (A day after St. Patrick’s day. We were travelling all day yesterday.) Which will be the first beef/cow anything I’ve had in probably over a year. I’m eating it more out of love for my wife than love for the actual meat. Long-term vagueness: I’m going to work hard at being me.
Follow Scott on the twitters, read his books,look at his pics, and go to his website. He is a wonderful guy and should be made into a god.
