The Great Interview Experiment

Welcome to the world’s longest post The Great Interview Experiment. Neil from Citizen of the Month (who is like a famous blogger/writer dude except no body told him that) put together a little prayer chain kinda thing-except it is a chain of interviews…So I was told who to interview, and soon someone else will interview me. Its all very complicated and I am convinced Neil was ordered by his Priest or Rabbi to do it as some kind of penance after making suggestive comments on Twitter….but nevertheless…here is THE INTERVIEW. I am like Barbara Walters around here lately huh?

So guess who I got?

The one and only SWEATPANTS MOM.  

1. So after researching er, browsing your blog I learn that you are a PROFESSIONAL INTERVIEWER and writer. No pressure on me or anything…But seriously…how did that part of your life happen? (Feel free to include emails of people you work for…I may or may not oh I totally am be looking for work)

You know how some things happen in your life and you have no idea how? Writing is one of those. I’ve only been writing for 4 years, and I would say only half of that ‘professionally.’ I’ve been a graphic designer/art director in the entertainment industry for most of my life. I got my first job in the industry at 18, and started my own business when I was 22. My studio grew until I had a staff of 8, and then this bizarre thing happened called pregnancy and I decided to scale down my business and eventually started working at home. Not surprisingly, the sweatpants soon followed.

Where was I? Oh yes – writing!

That came around four years ago, completely out of the blue. I had never written anything except for maybe a few witty emails and handful of nasty letters to cable companies and had certainly never considered it as a career option. I’ve always believed that I would have more than one career, and after entertainment design I figured I’d segueway into something related, like film or cocaine dealing. But I started reading a few blogs and like most people, thought to myself, “I can do that!” So I did. And to my shock and surprise people started reading it, and eventually a few of those actually offered to pay me to write for them. Although, come to think of it maybe they’re just hanging around for the cocaine.

2. Apparently, after going thru a mountain of business cards I see we have met before. No I am serious we have. What do you look like? And I guess the real question is…why do you have no photos of yourself on your site?

I’m actually a boil-ridden ogre with a large hump on my back – can you imagine what posting a picture of myself would do to my page views?

Just kidding – I don’t have a hump.

The honest answer is – I’m terribly unphotogenic and hate pictures of myself. But I’m thinking of emerging from the shadows soon and posting a photo – but I’m so insecure I’m going to totally retouch it to death first, and then only allow positive comments in a multiple choice format:

a) You are so hot my screen is melting,

b) I see the reason you never posted a picture of yourself before is because you didn’t want Heidi Klum to feel bad.

c) You’re not so bad looking, and your Photoshop skills are awesome

3. How has being an ‘anonymous’ blogger effected (or is it affected? whatever) your life. Do you fit the urge in crowed rooms to stand up and scream ‘I am sweatpants!’…(which could be fun just for the reaction factor actually)…of course if people follow your ‘portfolio’ link all is revealed…so let’s scratch that question and move on to something generic….’what is your motivation to blog?’

That’s something I ask myself all the time. I think there are a lot of answers to that; along with the usual, “to express myself,” and “to keep myself from laying on the couch all day,” I’m starting to think the most important purpose of my blog is to chronicle the events of my life and that of my husband and children’s.  I’ve never been good at keeping a diary, or scrapbooking, or any of those other crazy ways people make sense of their lives, and my blog is going to something I can look back on and see what was going on in our little world at specific times. 

That said, I haven’t been a very good blogger lately and there can be weeks between postings leaving huge gaps in my life, much like the Watergate tapes. So, in the future if my kids ask me about those times I’ll just have to make up something like, “Mom was off herding goats in Tanzania,” or “I was laying on the couch.”

4.What is your favorite cereal? And why? (I was just going crazy with that question…)

Why do you have to ask me these difficult, personal questions? Does Neil know about this?

I’m not really a cereal person, although if forced to answer I would have to say Great Grains. The trouble with cereal is it’s too difficult to get the milk/cereal ratio just right. I’m more of a bacon and eggs person when it comes to breakfast. Although, I know some people eat cereal for dinner. But we won’t talk about those kinds of people.

5. What does your Facebook/Twitter/Gravatar avatar say about you?

I have a really unnatural, unhealthy, deep-seated, maniacal, bordering-on-criminal, love for coffee.

6. And now a question from my Glamorous In Real Life interview series: If you could be a Care-Bear, which one would you be? In other words- what is the one trait people identify most with your personality?

Was this a trick to get me to go to the Care Bears site? Because it worked brilliantly.I had to look them each up individually, because I wasn’t sure of all of the Care Bears personalities. I was disappointed to learn there isn’t a Neurotic Bear, or a Procrastinating Bear, or a Compulsive Snacking Bear. Also, none of these bears drink coffee – what is up with that?

But if I have to choose one, it would be Funshine Bear. I especially like the part of his description that says, “His favorite things are his sunny belly badge and trusty red baseball cap!” because I think it’s amazing that they would know exactly what I’m wearing right now!