Questions, Questions, and More Questions

 

Did I open a can of worms with this interview thing, or what? I have spent many hours of the last three days both answering questions and composing interviews for those that asked me to interview them. That would be Robin, Lisa, Cynthia, Dave, and Gayla. As of this posting, everyone but Gayla has bravely muddled through their questions from the Polish Pundit (well, I’m not really Polish, but my husband is…and "Polish Pundit" has a certain ring to it. Or not.)

I had intended to sneak one or two hideously creative entries in here between the two interviews of me, but I invested so much brainpower into writing questions and answers over the last three days that any previously formulated creative ideas I had were tamped down into the muddy bottom of my brain. Had to get this out before any of the other stuff will have room to float back up to the top.

This interview is from Cynthia. I have been reading "Sorting the Pieces" since, well, since Christ was a corporal. In Cynthia, I found my first soul sister among my online friends. Though we live vastly different lives, and our personalities might be as similar as crawfish and dungeness crab, there is a place inside her that touches what is inside me in a deeply personal way. And she wrote great questions!

Oh...and refer to my previous entry for "the rules..."

1. We know how muchyou love living in the beautiful state of Oregon. If you had to live somewhere else, where would it be and why there?

My first thought was that I would go back to the old homestead—Illinois. I was born there, and I’ve never quite gotten it out of my blood. I’ve had so much fun the times I’ve gone back to visit. But, that’s the thing. It’s a nice place to visit, but I really wouldn’t want to live there, not anymore. I think about the snow, and the traffic, and the mosquitoes, and the flat, and the sales tax, and I think, "Nah!"

So I guess I’ll have to cheat and say that if I absolutely couldn’t live in Oregon, I’d have to live in Washington. Along with having similar topography (could I live without the mountains beaming down on me while I’m driving down the I-5 Corridor, or the ocean just a few hours away?), the State of Washington appeals to me politically. After all, it’s the only state whose governor and both US Senators are women. A decent tradeoff for having to put up with a sales tax…

 

2. What do you think it will take for the Democrats to effectively mount a successful presidential campaign in 2008?

Let me first say that, though I think she’s a smart politician and has a great deal to offer this country, it wouldn’t be Hillary Rodham Clinton. I’m afraid her husband is still too much of a polarizing figure, and will be an albatross around her neck for some time to come. Plus, I just don’t think the country would be ready make the jump from what amounts to a far right-wing Christian administration, to a government headed by the first woman president. Which is a shame, because I think she’d probably do an amazing job.

If the Republicans can’t continue to keep the country in a heightened state of fear and paranoia, I think the pendulum will be swinging away from the right anyway. Power has gone to the heads of the GOP majority, and they are starting to take it for granted, and even misuse and abuse it. The American people are not going to put up with that forever.

Even so, the Democrats have to come up with a decent candidate. John Kerry was not it. He was chosen by party leaders and Democratic voters for the sole reason that they thought his military record could stand up against the (undeserved) reputation of the "War President." While Kerry is a decent senator, he had little else to recommend him. For the last three decades at least, the voting public has demonstrated a deep-seated distrust of people they think of as "Washington insiders." Of the last five presidents,only one—George HW Bush—had held national office before being elected president, and it could be said that he was elected because people were looking for him to simply extend the popular Reagan administration. The last two successful Democratic candidates have been governors of southern states. I suspect we’ll have to come up with another southerner, one who might possibly take a large block of the south back from the Republicans. The South was loyal Democratic territory dating back to the civil war, but it has, over the last few decades, slowly swung over to the Republican party …believing that the GOP better represents their conservative views. So, I’m not really sure if there’s a Democratic southern governor of sufficient charisma and stature to fit the bill. Anyone got any ideas?

3. What would be your perfect evening out?

First of all, I would have to be able to wear a spectacular outfit that would look sensational on me, make me look ten years younger, and would include incredibly sexy shoes that would not hurt my feet. All right, since we’ve already completely left the realm of the possible… You know the night clubs they show in all those old movies? The ones where there were tables for dining, and a band (like Ricky Ricardo’s) or a floor show (featuring an act that looked amazingly like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers), and a huge dance floor where all the patrons could float around in their couture and whisper steamy lines into their partners’ ears? That’s where I want to go. Okay, I’d have to brush up on my ballroom dancing (hey, we took disco lessons back in the seventies, but I’ll admit, I’m a little rusty…) A light meal, just enough champagne, and dance the night away. Wouldn’t that be perfect? Oh…and something chocolate.

4. Do you think you'll ever try to have your writing published? And why?

I actually did send one story away, once, back when I was still in high school. It was rejected, of course. I suppose it wasn’t even really very good. I have a hard time with the idea of being published. First of all, I have no idea if there’s a market for what I do, and where that market is, if there is one. And, I guess I’m not really sure what it is I do. I write a fairly decent political commentary…but I don’t think the media are exactly out recruiting morepolitical pundits. That market is kind of saturated, if you know what I mean…

Secondly, I’m not sure I have what it takes to knock on every door, again and again, until I see some piece of mine in print. I’m way too sensitive. At some point, and probably sooner than later, I would become convinced that I’m just not good enough, and give up. And then I would have lost something that is really valuable to me. As long as I don’t have people telling me I’m no good, I can believe I am good. I would hate to think that my self-opinion is that fragile, that it could be destroyed by a little public rejection. But I’m afraid it might be. Which makes me too chicken to put too much effort into getting my work published. But, by golly, I spend so much time writing, and enjoy it so much, I sure wish someone would pay me to do it.

 

5. If you could only accomplish one goal in the coming year, what would it be?

If we’re talking about things I wish I could do, but have a snowball’s chance in hell of happening, that would be opening my own restaurant. I have no money, only a vaguely formed concept of what I want it to be, and husband is not yet entirely on the bandwagon. But, still, I can dream…

Something I might actually be capable of accomplishing? I’d like to complete my journey of independence from my family. By the end of 2005 I’d like to feel that I’ve completely moved on and away from the garbage of the past, and that I have finally, for good or ill, made a life for myself and my husband here in Columbia County. And that’s why I need to have that restaurant…