The Great Interview Experiment

About a week ago, I took the Great Interview Challenge on Citizen of the Month and signed up to interview another blogger.  Shortly thereafter, I learned I would be interviewing Jenny from Absolutely Bananas and I went to work.  I read through her About page, looked through her favorite posts, admired her awards, and had a good belly laugh reading her blog.  Wow, I got lucky with her.  She is a funny woman with a great writing style.  And not only does she write her blog, she formed and writes for Seattle Mom Blogs.  Plus, she put hyperlinks in her answers!  If that isn't just awesome, I don't know what it.  If I were you, after reading her interview, go check out her blog.  You will be glad you did.

 

I've been perusing your about page, reading your popular posts, and trying to get an idea about who Jenny Blackburn is. You have a great sense of humor, is there anything that is off limits as far as injecting humor is concerned?

I am hyper-cautious about what I post regarding family and friends and even acquaintances. Because I have an "open" blog, my policy is to EXPECT that the person I'm writing about will find and read it. I'm more cautious in what I write than I am about what I say in real life. It's one thing to rib someone verbally, when they can see the twinkle in your eye and make some smart-aleck remark back at you. But things that go over ok in real life can cause offense when written and published for everyone to see. So I tend to stay away from writing anything less than flattering about the people in my life.

Occasionally I'll write a post that walks the line and I'll make Jay read it. A couple of times he told me no, don't publish it, even though I thought it was ok. Later I went back and re-read it, and I was glad I didn't publish it.

As much as I enjoy blogging and telling a good story, I believe that maintaining relationships and respecting people's dignity is the most important thing. Unless it's MY dignity. That went out the window AGES ago.

You founded Seattle Mom blogs. What was the impetus for creating this new website?

After going to BlogHer last year I was struck by how well I connected with other bloggers. Finally I had found a whole bunch of people JUST LIKE ME! Unfortunately many of them were spread around the country and not exactly next door for hanging out after dinner. So me and Kathryn and Eve (while standing in line for the ferris wheel) got to talking about HOW COOL it would be to get to know bloggers in our area. And how we could support each other. And have fun parties. And so we did it.

Do you see yourself reentering the workforce when C.J. enters school? If you plan to work, what would you like to do? 

Someone else asked me this the other day and it was funny because I hadn't even thought about it. Even though it's coming up fast, it somehow still seems far away. Anything is possible.

I need to ask some cheesy questions too because I'm cheesy sometimes. If you could pick a theme song for your life, what would it be and why?

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, by Jefferson Starship. (you know, from the movie Mannequin. Talk about CHEESY!)
But seriously, I'm a big believer in the power of positive thinking. I believe that good things are just waiting to happen. AND I believe that I can do whatever I truly set my mind to. My life has been so rich and so full … I can't WAIT to see what's next!

Where is your favorite place to go on vacation and why?

Europe. Although I've seen relatively little of it, every time I go I am overwhelmed by the oldness of it. I love the European lifestyle – it always makes me come home committed to living my life more fully. Plus the shopping is to die for.

If you had to vote today in the presidential election, out of all of the candidates left in the primaries for whom would you vote?

Honestly I don't know.  Maybe I'll write in Bossy. I think she'd be good.

I love Seattle. There is so much stuff to do and it's damn pretty. What is your favorite thing about it?

There is nothing in this world like a sunny day in Seattle. This is one of the most beautiful places in the world, with the water and mountains and blue sky… I always say that one sunny day can make up for a month of rain, and it's true.

You wrote that when you were a kid, you filled up notebooks with stories. I have to admit I did the same thing but my stories were pretty silly. What types of themes did you have?

Now I'm going to have to dig up my stories and re-read them! I was very into fantasy as a kid… I wrote about children traveling to magical lands and meeting magical people and doing magical things. My very first story was called THE BLACK EASTER EGG. And now I'm totally going to dig it up and publish it on my blog. You've inspired me!

I'm sort of stealing from Red Red Whine and going to ask a battery of questions. What is your favorite:

FAVORITES ARE SO HARD!!! HOW DO YOU PICK JUST ONE?!?! It's mean to make me pick just one!
(a) restaurant; Daniel's Broiler. We went there for my birthday and I had the BEST STEAK EVER.
(b) author; Impossible to choose. I really like Jan Burke for your basic thrilling can't-put-the-book-down-till

-it's-finished type story.
(c) blog; http://www.iambossy.com/
(d) sandwich; egg salad with dill.
(e) color; green
(f) shoes; I'm torn between comfort and style. Oh, who am I kidding, I'll go with comfort any day. My new size eleven tennis shoes! YEAH!
(g) animal; CJ (obviously)
(h) television show; Lost
(i) style of interior decoration (i.e. modern, classic, whatever I can afford - that's me!); Hmmm, I don't know what you'd call it. Probably classically modern? HA!
(j) form of exercise; Is blogging a form of exercise? Ok, ok, I'll pick yoga.
(k) philosopher; CJ. Seriously… kids have such a great take on the world.

How did your friends and family react when they found out you started blogging?

You know, to be honest, most people kind of blew it off. Still it's only a handful of my friends and family who read my blog. I think they aren't sure what to make of it. Fortunately I DON'T CARE what anyone else thinks! When I'm wildly famous and popular and wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, THEY WILL RUE THE DAY they blew off my little "blopping" habit. (EVIL LAUGH) Ok I'm kidding. Really.

How did Jay propose (or how did you get engaged)?

It was Valentine's Day, if you can believe it. And he got all weird and sweaty and nervous and I just knew. And that made me weird and sweaty and nervous. And so we sweated and nervously were weird together until he gave me THE RING and then we went to dinner and ate away our nervousness. It was the beginning of a long, weird and sweaty marriage. But not nervous… we got over the nervous.

What are the most valuable things, tangible or intangible, that you gained from starting Absolutely Bananas?

PERSPECTIVE. Seriously, writing gives me perspective on life that running around like a chicken with it's head cut off just can't offer.

If you could give any advice to newish bloggers, what would it be?

Blogging is awesome. It's fun. It can be maddening. It can be inspiring. It's also addictive. No matter why you're blogging, be sure to keep it in its place. When it starts to take over your life (as it inevitably will), take a forced break for a few days or a week so you can get your balance back.

Finally, I've noticed a lot of mommy bloggers write about the birth of their first, second, fifteenth child. I hate to say that I didn't got through all of your archives to find it. Have you shared on your blog and if not, would you ever?

Hmmm… I typically do my HORROR STORIES at Halloween. Kidding… sort of. No, I haven't written up my birth story. But that doesn't mean I WON'T!