Interview MeMe!
Ok, BellaCrow has given me these questions.
Want Questions? Comment: "Interview Me!" and I'll see if I can think of anything worth asking...
1. So, what's the attraction to Heather Alexander? I notice that like Jeff Buckley, she doesnt just have fans, but devotees.
The short answer: Talent and Charisma.
The long answer: Heather is a Bard, not just a performer. Yes, she's very talented. She plays more instruments than I can count offhand, and has written quite the collection of melodic, beautiful music, and touching, symbolic lyrics (though her husband Phil also writes lyrics for her). Her albums are great, but really, it's about the concerts. If you've never been to a Heather concert, I suspect you're only catching half the point.
The personal answer: It runs slightly deeper, because of the timing. I first saw Heather when I was maybe 12. If I had a digital photo of me to show you at the time, you'd think it was scary how much like Heather I used to look. People would ask me if she was my Mom, and later if we were sisters. I was already into singing and performing then.
I have never been very good at making crushes or heroes of people I've never met. I never plastered my walls with movie stars, or went starry-eyed over famous rock singers, but here was this woman right in front of me singing songs that made perfect sense to me, and she LOOKED like me, and I thought "That's me! I want to be THAT when I grow up!"
I've kept attending her concerts as I've grown up, and I've learned a bit more about her, and watched her grow, and change, and the contrast between the Hero that I made her out to be as a child - a role she still fills sometimes in dreamspace - and who she really is as a person has at times been painfully dramatic. Some of it seems to be that she likes and gets along with children, but didn't seem to much like me anymore once I became an adult, which, because she was my only childhood hero, was very hard to take.
There was also a while in there where she was very jaded with her Bay Area audience. She was frustrated with how hard an audience we were to control. She didn't seem to realize that as a Bard, not just an artist, she didn't just inspire us to listen, she inspired us to SING, and that's what we all loved about her so much. Lately, though, she's been very happy to have her new home, and has also come to realize that she has a home because of her cult following in the Bay Area, so she is rather contented with us these days. ;)
2. I know once we talked about the contrast between BayCon and PCon, has anything changed about how you feel about either Con?
Well, I'm currently looking forward to the next PantheaCon more than the next BayCon, because Paganism is currently closer to my heart than Fandom in general, but BayCon is and probably always will be like home to me, since I've been attending since I was 11ish (My life began when I was 11, culturally, if these questions are any indication).
Working with LWood so much has opened rather a lot of doors and windows for where I can go next with this Pagan stuff, and my involvement with the Pagan community.
I also enjoy working with CAT because it's still very much a learning experience, and that goes a long way towards making the weekend exciting. I'm currently in a fairly static position with BayCon. That said, I work for PentacleMoon either way, which rocks no matter how you look at it. ;)
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I wish I could answer that. I hope I would be just about finishing school, if not already done. A bachelors in Computer Science with a minor in something theological, preferably from UC Berkeley, but honestly, at the rate I'm going, I can't see that. I'd like to keep working on my Pagan studies, and develop my abilities to the point where I can help people, and I'd like to get my own life to a point where I can have a career that will support me, and later help to support a family. But my vague goals and my actual views aren't congruent, and I'm still at something of a loss for how to make them match up. I also don't know where I will be with regards to my romantic relationship(s), but I hope I will have met the future father of my children by then.
4. what's one of the biggest surpises Polyamory has given you?
The biggest shock of all has been how much it still hurts to lose somebody, even though I have a boyfriend at home to comfort me, and the assurance that I won't be lonely, despite the loss. It still hurts like hell, dammit, and that doesn't seem fair. This makes me worry for my boyfriend's future. We knew from the start that there's a limit to how far this can go since he doesn't want children. Someday I'll have to leave him, and his having other girlfriends won't make that hurt him any less. It hurts me to know that I simply cannot avoid hurting him, short of giving up my life goals, which I will not do. The only saving grace is that he believes as I do that no loving relationship can fail to be worth the price of the time spent in it, even at the cost of pain when it ends.
5. What do you like least about Livejournaling?
I run into trouble trying to figure out what to include in an entry. What is too much detail? What is too vague to be understood? What if I hurt somebody's feelings? What if I annoy everybody by complaining too much? Why doesn't anybody say anything about this, was it boring? Am I too wordy? What if...?
Also, I get annoyed when I can remember a dream when I wake up, but don't get a shot at the computer before the dream fades away throughout the day. The first reason for having this journal is to track my dreams as accurately as possible. I already discard those dreams which seem to be almost entirely "Wake up, you have to pee" dreams, or otherwise too pointless and/or embarassing to post, even though it seems neglectful of posterity. Leaving out dreams that are perfectly appropriate to post just because I couldn't get to a keyboard in time is frustrating. Similarly, I don't like leaving out any Pagan experiences I feel I should be tracking, but sometimes I just can't seem to remember to make an entry when there's a computer in front of me.
--Ember--
Want Questions? Comment: "Interview Me!" and I'll see if I can think of anything worth asking...
1. So, what's the attraction to Heather Alexander? I notice that like Jeff Buckley, she doesnt just have fans, but devotees.
The short answer: Talent and Charisma.
The long answer: Heather is a Bard, not just a performer. Yes, she's very talented. She plays more instruments than I can count offhand, and has written quite the collection of melodic, beautiful music, and touching, symbolic lyrics (though her husband Phil also writes lyrics for her). Her albums are great, but really, it's about the concerts. If you've never been to a Heather concert, I suspect you're only catching half the point.
The personal answer: It runs slightly deeper, because of the timing. I first saw Heather when I was maybe 12. If I had a digital photo of me to show you at the time, you'd think it was scary how much like Heather I used to look. People would ask me if she was my Mom, and later if we were sisters. I was already into singing and performing then.
I have never been very good at making crushes or heroes of people I've never met. I never plastered my walls with movie stars, or went starry-eyed over famous rock singers, but here was this woman right in front of me singing songs that made perfect sense to me, and she LOOKED like me, and I thought "That's me! I want to be THAT when I grow up!"
I've kept attending her concerts as I've grown up, and I've learned a bit more about her, and watched her grow, and change, and the contrast between the Hero that I made her out to be as a child - a role she still fills sometimes in dreamspace - and who she really is as a person has at times been painfully dramatic. Some of it seems to be that she likes and gets along with children, but didn't seem to much like me anymore once I became an adult, which, because she was my only childhood hero, was very hard to take.
There was also a while in there where she was very jaded with her Bay Area audience. She was frustrated with how hard an audience we were to control. She didn't seem to realize that as a Bard, not just an artist, she didn't just inspire us to listen, she inspired us to SING, and that's what we all loved about her so much. Lately, though, she's been very happy to have her new home, and has also come to realize that she has a home because of her cult following in the Bay Area, so she is rather contented with us these days. ;)
2. I know once we talked about the contrast between BayCon and PCon, has anything changed about how you feel about either Con?
Well, I'm currently looking forward to the next PantheaCon more than the next BayCon, because Paganism is currently closer to my heart than Fandom in general, but BayCon is and probably always will be like home to me, since I've been attending since I was 11ish (My life began when I was 11, culturally, if these questions are any indication).
Working with LWood so much has opened rather a lot of doors and windows for where I can go next with this Pagan stuff, and my involvement with the Pagan community.
I also enjoy working with CAT because it's still very much a learning experience, and that goes a long way towards making the weekend exciting. I'm currently in a fairly static position with BayCon. That said, I work for PentacleMoon either way, which rocks no matter how you look at it. ;)
3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I wish I could answer that. I hope I would be just about finishing school, if not already done. A bachelors in Computer Science with a minor in something theological, preferably from UC Berkeley, but honestly, at the rate I'm going, I can't see that. I'd like to keep working on my Pagan studies, and develop my abilities to the point where I can help people, and I'd like to get my own life to a point where I can have a career that will support me, and later help to support a family. But my vague goals and my actual views aren't congruent, and I'm still at something of a loss for how to make them match up. I also don't know where I will be with regards to my romantic relationship(s), but I hope I will have met the future father of my children by then.
4. what's one of the biggest surpises Polyamory has given you?
The biggest shock of all has been how much it still hurts to lose somebody, even though I have a boyfriend at home to comfort me, and the assurance that I won't be lonely, despite the loss. It still hurts like hell, dammit, and that doesn't seem fair. This makes me worry for my boyfriend's future. We knew from the start that there's a limit to how far this can go since he doesn't want children. Someday I'll have to leave him, and his having other girlfriends won't make that hurt him any less. It hurts me to know that I simply cannot avoid hurting him, short of giving up my life goals, which I will not do. The only saving grace is that he believes as I do that no loving relationship can fail to be worth the price of the time spent in it, even at the cost of pain when it ends.
5. What do you like least about Livejournaling?
I run into trouble trying to figure out what to include in an entry. What is too much detail? What is too vague to be understood? What if I hurt somebody's feelings? What if I annoy everybody by complaining too much? Why doesn't anybody say anything about this, was it boring? Am I too wordy? What if...?
Also, I get annoyed when I can remember a dream when I wake up, but don't get a shot at the computer before the dream fades away throughout the day. The first reason for having this journal is to track my dreams as accurately as possible. I already discard those dreams which seem to be almost entirely "Wake up, you have to pee" dreams, or otherwise too pointless and/or embarassing to post, even though it seems neglectful of posterity. Leaving out dreams that are perfectly appropriate to post just because I couldn't get to a keyboard in time is frustrating. Similarly, I don't like leaving out any Pagan experiences I feel I should be tracking, but sometimes I just can't seem to remember to make an entry when there's a computer in front of me.
--Ember--