N°15

What’s your relationship with God/some other spiritual entity/the Creator like? Do you have one?

My parents sent me to a private Christian school until second grade, when we moved further north out of San Jose. Every day had prayer and we said grace before lunch. There were plenty of bible lessons, but I don’t remember many of them, being too young to really grasp the concept of an omnipotent deity and I didn’t stay long enough for me to just accept what they told me. I then became a public school hooligan, playing spiteful rounds of foursquare and eating lunches literally, actually titled “mystery meat” on the menu.

What’s your favorite article of clothing you have and why?

This one unhemmed acrylic army surplus sweater. Durable as fuck and it pairs well with collared shirts and ties (i.e. 80% of my wardrobe).

What’s something that you wish you’d gotten into when you’d had the opportunity? (IE “I wish I’d joined frisbee club in highschool because the hole in my heart could probably have been filled by frisbee instead of heroin.”)

I wish I had actually paid more attention to my piano tutor during those five years of lessons. Sure maybe it ain’t too late, but…

Who’s your favorite person in all the land?

It ain’t me, that’s for sure.

Do you have a favorite composer?

One of the albums my dad used to play while driving me to school was a collection of Henry Mancini’s work. I know that damn CD by heart now.

Have you ever accidentally pooped your pants in a public place? Don’t lie to me.

I have not, barring, y’know, infancy and shit. You’ll get an embarrassing anecdote anyway, though – one time in the fourth grade I covered my mouth to sneezed, but then sneezed so hard that the snot ricoched off my hands and all over my face. It was a slow, painfully silent walk across the classroom to the sink.

Do you want me to send you a postcard?

Yes! I always mean to send random postcards out to friends when I travel, but I always forget to write down their addresses because really, who remembers shit anymore?

If you had to pick one dinosaur to ride through a prehistoric jungle scene, which would it be? Do some research.

Nothronychus mckinleyi, the late Cretaceous response to the Lazy Motherfucker Who Came to the Halloween Party with Palm Leaves Taped to his Sweatshirt and Claimed He was the Swamp Thing.

Do you have any weird music-centric habits? (IE Clapping to the offbeat, envisioning scenes to go with songs, etc)

I like to imagine amusing but not improbable cover or tribute versions of songs. “You Shook Me All Night Long” as by Modest Mouse; “Possum Kingdom” as by Spoon; “This Must Be the Place” as by Dr. Dog; Tom Waits with a fifth of whiskey reciting “I Sing the Body Electric.”

What was (has) your high school experience (been) like (so far)?

High school wasn’t terrible for me. The schoolwork was easy, but no one ever remembers high school for that. I had friends as well as acquaintances, and went to a school with a large enough campus that I could sort of wander in between groups of people I knew. I learned to not say so much about what I think. I stayed friends with people I didn’t think I’d stay friends with long after high school was over. I played football.

Is there one keepsake which you wish to always have in your life?

A jade pendant my grandmother gave to me after her first trip to Vietnam since she left in 1979. I put it on some time in 1995 and it’s been around my neck more or less constantly since then.

But if you absolutely must, do it with the bastards you call friends. It will be a sordid, terrible affair and after the last call at 2am and you’ve found your way home and you are lying in bed typing about it you will love them anyway.

It must be Fanime weekend.