Because I Know You're All Chomping at the Bit...

Here are the rest of the interview questions my buddy Heinous gave me... I know you've all just put your lives on hold 'til you could read them and I didn't want to hold you up any longer... you know, 'cause I'm nice that way. You're welcome.

Oh, before I start, thanks for all the great comments about yesterday's post! For everyone who said it reminded them of A Christmas Story, you guys DO know I didn't grow up in the 40's, right? Funny thing, though... whenever I watch that movie, it totally reminds me of the neighborhood my dad grew up in (the same neighborhood I lived in 1972, in fact) and it's set in the same decade as his childhood. I think that's why I couldn't watch it for ten years after he died. I bought it for him 20 years ago because it made me think of the stories he told me about when he was a kid. Watching it made me think of him... and miss him too much. So maybe the fact that my story reminded you of that movie is a good thing after all. Maybe it proves I'm accessing my inherited storyteller gene. Just so long as you know I'll only be 44 on my next birthday and not 74 (not that there's anything wrong with 74, Billy!).

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program...

What one talent do you wish you had that you don't?

The ability to dance. And I don’t mean just the ‘boogie at a club’ sort (does anyone even say 'boogie' anymore?). I mean the Ginger Rogers sort… the ‘ballroom, swing, salsa, put your leg so high in the air you look like a pair of open scissors’ sort. I have no internal rhythm whatsoever. My completely deaf brother dances better than I do. I would so love the ability to just sail across the dance floor, looking all elegant and graceful, in the arms of Fred Astaire. OK, well, not Fred Astaire, ‘cause I’m pretty sure he’s dead, and if he isn’t, he’s, like, a year younger than Christ… but in the arms of some equally dashing-on-the-dance-floor fella. I can’t believe I just wrote ‘fella’… I need to get out more.

We all have our reasons for blogging but what would be your ultimate goal for your blog or as a blogger?

Oh, man, that’s certainly changed in the last few months. I started this just to keep family and friends updated but I had no idea what sort of community was out here in Bloggyland; no clue how many wonderful people I’d meet or how much I’d want to be a part of their lives and have them be a part of mine.

I guess my goal is twofold… first, I want to keep writing things that make people want to come back. I love watching my numbers rise – I am a complete and unashamed comment junkie! But it’s more than that, really… it’s about connecting with people. I love when I do my 100 Things posts and I get comments from loads of people, each of whom laughed at something different! That never ceases to blow me away and it’s just so cool. Or when someone tells me that I’ve touched them in some way or made them think… it’s an amazing feeling.

Second, my goal is to hone my writing skills; to develop my style into something that will, at some point, make me money. I’d love to write a human interest or humor column for a newspaper or magazine but I’ve always been worried that I just didn’t have enough – enough talent, enough material, enough skill. Blogging, and doing it every day, forces me to keep moving forward… to see what people like and what they don’t; to see what I’m good at and what needs work.

You can trade lives with any one person for a month. Who would it be and why?

My daughter. I would like to see the world from her perspective; to know what truly goes on in her head and her heart – all the things she can’t yet (or won’t) articulate. I want to know what’s going on inside when she has a colossal meltdown, or when she lies to me, or when she’s scared and I can’t understand why. I want to know how she really feels when her dad hasn’t called her in over a week or when I’ve had a bad day and snap at her for something insignificant. I think being Ryan for a little while would make me a better mother.

There's a fire and your family is safe but you have the chance to save any one item from your house. What would it be and why?

My computer. It’s my livelihood, my lifeline to many of the people I love, and it has, all tucked up inside its confoundedly complex and confusing workings, much of me, in the form of words and photos. I could live without it, certainly, but I wouldn’t want to.

You have the chance to go back in time and warn yourself before making a bad choice. What choice would it be and what would you tell yourself?

I would go back to the day I got my first credit card offer in the mail and tell myself that credit cards are the apron strings that will keep me forever tied to Hell. I’m not a money-oriented person at all… I’ve never wanted or strived for loads of it. However, when I think about all the money I’ve wasted on interest and late fees and general poor money-management skills and decisions, I feel sick. So much of my life would be different, I think, if I knew then what I know now.