1. Would you rather write a catchy one-hit-wonder that will be forever immortalized in the annals of pop culture or a beautifully complex novel that goes unnoticed for all time?
That’s a tough one. I have a deep, dark longing for the annals of pop culture but wouldn’t want to be immortalized for something inane. If it were a song like “Electric Blue” by Icehouse -- NO. However, if it were “Too Shy” by Kajagoogoo -- MAYBE. Part of me wonders what's the point of writing a "beautifully complex novel" if nobody ever reads it. However, the other part of me thinks about "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin that I read in college and have read many times since. It was never a commercial success, even in its time, but it's a book that hit me hard and changed the way I see the world. I don't know. It can't be answered as a black and white question, there are too many extenuating circumstances.
2) Have you ever met a celebrity?
Yes. Although the term "celebrity" may be entirely subjective in this case. I've met a few H-list rock stars. And an A-list rock star - Paul Westerberg --in the now-infamous "you smell good" meeting in the parking lot of the Somerville Theatre in 2002. Or as James called it the "Somerville Star Trek Convention of 2002." I didn't meet, but interviewed home improvement spaz Ty Pennington on the phone a few weeks ago. And last month, I met Tony Siragusa for my Man Caves story. He was a little miffed that I didn't know who he was and then said he was "impressed a 'broad' was writing this story." Yikes. But then we hung out in his trailer, shared some Goose Ribs and dissed decorative throw pillows together. I found that he wasn't quite the knuckle dragger that I'd pegged him for.
3) Name one thing you think people assume about you when they first meet you?
That I am neurotic and flaky. And they’re not wrong. I do experience moments of clarity and calm, however, but they’re not as apparent.
4) If you were given a free 30-second spot on the Superbowl to advertise anything you own, what would you advertise?
A giant trash bag of soiled Pampers. People will buy anything -- even a bag of shit -- if it’s marketed in the proper niche.
5)Are you watching the Superbowl tonight (or last night if you’re reading this Monday) ?
Yes. Right now, I’m watching the Superbowl on mute. A random Creeper Lagoon song just crept up on iTunes party shuffle (party shuffle never lets you down). I'm supposed to be working but I'm blogging Quizilla and trying to drown out Vito’s room-shaking snoring. James is playing hockey tonight and then watching the Tivo-ed Superbowl somewhere in Cambridge. Hence, the mute, the Creeper Lagoon, and Vito snoring on the couch next to me.
4 comments:
1) Got to go with the novel. Plus, Achey Breaky Heart's already been written.
2) Hell yes. I was 11 on the weekly Saturday run to Spag's with Dom-O to get some repair parts for something and there in all his glory giving away free samples was the Pepperidge Farm Guy. He was magnificent. A distant second was a short-term private security stint for Jenna Jameson.
3) People assume "DAAAMMNNN, he must be a model!!!... for Building 19 ads."
4) Most likely Uncrustables. Even without a financial stake involved, they would deserve it.
5) Watched last night with a bit of flipping back and forth to Old School.
"At all cost, avoid one thing: Success."-Thomas Merton.
I think if you do the pop thing, it'll become this Frankensteinian beast that appears for the rest of your life; weddings, on the treadmill at the gym, sampled in a Jay-Z tune.
If you do the novel that "nobody reads", you'll be out at the Thirsty Scholar of People's Republic in Cambridge-places filled with people who read such novels- and, across the bar in a Bukowski t-shirt- will be some struggling artist with great taste, who secretly admires you and buys you a beer.
Give me the latter. The beachview in Malibu, the disillusioned and heavily medicated kids, the volatile marriage to a person who becomes "what's his/her name?" and invite to Matt Leblanc's 40th Birthday party aren't worth the spirtual fall-out.
But then again, I would rather spend a night hanging out with the cast of "The White Shadow" than a minute with that of "Seinfeld."
Wow! WMD and anonymous...you raise an excellent point. The self-loathing that would accompany such success would far outweigh the benefits pop culture fame (ie, getting invited to Matt LeBlanc's 40th-heh). There's no way I'd be able to live with myself if The Electric Slide was my brainchild. Right on.
I'd rather someone buy me a hot dog at Bukowskis.
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