Introduction

1. What has been your favorite course of study in or out of school? Why?

My favorite course has to be Negotiating Rapture and the Transcendental Vision. It’s a film course taught by Phil Solomon, that studies the transcendental film style. We watched everything from experimental films, big Hollywood, small independents, and the films that truly define the style. (Films by Bresson, Ozu, and Dreyer). I understood it to be a film with a higher meaning than the literal that ends with an ascendance to the divine. It could be a direct result of a plot, or a glimmer of slight shot for half an hour (Like Brakhage). I left this class everyday with a million new ideas I could never find the time for.

2. How many pages was the longest paper you have written? Did it include endnotes and bibliography?

In high school I had to write a make up paper for my US history class in order to pass and avoid summer school. I chose to discuss the dropping of the atomic bomb in WWII. My Grandfather had fought in the Pacific and afterward gathered volumes of records dealing with the Pacific war and the Atomic Bomb. The records dated far back enough to be considered primary source documents, and I proudly cited them all. I didn’t have to include endnotes, but the paper ended up being twenty-five pages long. I got an A, but failed the final and had to attend summer school.

3. Which was your favorite paper? Please tell us about the topic in a couple of sentences.

I remember writing a paper on a short story I read, but the details are a little fuzzy. The story was called “The Yellow Wallpaper”, about a woman who is told she is sick, but is actually going through postpartum depression and is forced to stay bedridden. The bedroom walls have old, sickly yellow wallpaper that is peeling off that becomes one of her obsessions while slowly descending into madness. Writing about this story and issues with how to treat depression was fascinating for me, because I was being diagnosed with a type of depression at the time.

4. Is there a particular kind of writing you love to do?

I love writing stories. I’ve only written one on my own, but when they are assigned for class they are just too much fun. I always picture it as a film, so the writing starts out more like a screenplay, but that’s never been the assignment.

5. Which books have you read lately: art, fiction, non-fiction, sci-fi, poetry, environmental, film? Any comments are welcome.

I recently read the Hunger Games trilogy, and if you like an easy read it’s pretty fun. It doesn’t pretend to be anything deep and insightful.

6. Which artist or writer really impresses you? Why?

I’ve been reading Shakespeare recently and the beautiful, clever language always amazes me. I have to re-read lines over and over before truly understanding what they mean, and after reciting a few I find that my interpretations are slightly off. I’m constantly discovering more and more in a single line.

7. What is your main interest besides writing, art, music, (i.e., the humanities)?

Recently I’ve been obsessed with landscaping and gardening. I’m renting a house in South Boulder, and the neighborhood is beautiful, but our house is the obviously eye sore on the block. So I’ve been tearing it up all summer and making it look as best I can. But I worry about wasting water on just keeping the aesthetics of the property up. So native Colorado plants seem like the best move.

8. Please describe briefly an article in a newspaper or a magazine that got you thinking lately.

I was sent an article recently about an influx of missing cat reports in Lakewood Colorado. Just a week ago my friend living in Lousville lost his cat to a wild animal. The cat disappeared one day, and my friend looked and finally found a paw. So I was interested in what was being said about all this. There are some people who feel the predators should be hunted. And as hard as it is not to develop a Moby Dick complex after a tragedy such as this, but that’s all it would be if they killed any other animals for this reason.

9. Which recent cultural even has really impressed you? This can be a museum, a concert, or anything like that, but also a sports game (if you consider this a cultural event, for which there are good reasons).

I was taking photos for a friend at Red Rocks during a John Butler Trio concert. I had never heard of them at the time, but a free ticket and a photo pass are worth checking it out. Preforming between the openers and the headliner was a Native American dance troop, who was invited by John Butler. The dances were choreographed to utilize the extravagant traditional garb that flowed and changed color as their angles shifted. When John Butler came on, wasted, he thanked them enormously for a few minutes and then rambled on about something that probably made more sense in his head. It was when he asked the whole crowd to turn around, look at the moon and salute mother earth that I got tired and left. I’m sure the music sounded fine.

10. Is there another, non-cultural event that has affected you deeply.

I guess it’s the loss of my friend’s cat mentioned earlier. We had gotten the cat together when we were roommates though it was always understood that he would pay for everything, scoop, feed and get to keep him in the end. Almost two years ago, this same cat was attacked by a coyote in front of our house. I heard it so I got there in time, but it was a little traumatic at the time, so for him to die being eaten was even harder to learn. I always disagreed with him about letting the cat outside, but it was his decision. I found he’s much better at dealing with these things than I am.

11. Please share with us a thought or an idea that really widened your intellectual horizon. If possible, give a source for this idea so that those who are interested know where to go.

When I first read this question I decided I didn’t want my answer to sound stupid. So I consulted this website on how to sound intelligent.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2273276_sound-intelligent.html