Interview Meme

MotherReader posted an interview meme that she had received from a wrung sponge. Here are the interview questions and my answers:

1)What is your favorite quote?

“Courage!” he said and pointed toward the land...
--Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Lotus-Eaters." It’s a line I tell myself when I need it (which is often).

2)How would you spend 1500 dollars you won in a radio contest?

Boring answer: I’d get the outside of our house repainted. Fun answer: I’d use it for the long-overdue weekend getaway. Really fun answer: Balloon rides for everyone!

3) Where do you like to go to get away from it all?

I like to walk by the edge of the water. I haven’t done this in a long time. I usually take out my guitar in order to get some rest from my nagging thoughts.

4) If you had the complete attention of everyone in the United States, but only for 30 seconds, what would you say?

I think I’d need a month to work on this one. I’d want to be both humorous and serious, to say something that mattered without people tuning me out. It would be something to the effect of, “Can we get a grip already, and deal with what’s important, instead of petty squabbles over ideological issues that don’t actually have any bearings on our lives?”

5) Why did you choose your blog name and signature name?

“Saints and Spinners” (not “Sinners” as is the common typo, though it's probably just as accurate!) comes from a conversation I had with a parent after a storytelling gig. I’d mentioned something about how many stories there were that involved sewing, spinning, and weaving. Somehow, we ended up talking about the lives of the saints and the interesting stories they had. I said, “I should do a program that’s entirely sewing stories and saints’ stories. I could call it ‘Saints and Spinners.’” My blog name, “Alkelda” is named after the saint whose commemoration day is my birthday. A few years ago, I was a guest-player in a Star Wars role-playing game. I chose "Alkelda" as the name of my character, a Twi’lek Jedi. I only played that one game, but the name stuck. “The Gleeful” refers to my tendency to play harmless tricks primarily to make the recipients laugh. I’m a melancholy person with a streak of optimism and silliness.

Dear Readers: If you would like to answer 5 of my questions on your own blog, let me know in the comments, and I’ll write up an interview for you.

Can you believe I'm still sick? I'm incredulous, myself. I haven't practiced guitar in 5 days. The cough and chills aren't as big a deal as the all-over body-ache that gets worse when I try to do something productive. As Monkey would say, "Please send bananas." In my case, please send muscle relaxants.