GlossyVeneer

Bethany from Bethany Actually had an interview project posted on her site recently. I guess the origin is a meme that was started a while back by The Immoral Matriarch and it has, through various channels, found its way onto my site. Participants are asked questions by another blogger, post the answers on their own site and then open it up to some of their readers for the interviews to be carried on. So I threw my hat into the ring! Here are the questions that were asked of me and my responses!

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1. You live in Las Vegas, but like many people in that city, you’re not a native. Where did you grow up? What do you miss about where you grew up, and what do you love about living in Vegas?

My early years were in Illinois, but most of my life was spent in Cedar City, Utah. I kind of miss the way you would always run into people you know while out, since it was a small town. But then again, I also like that I can go to the store now and buy a massive pack of toilet paper and not run into people I know as frequently.

Cedar City had a real “community” feel to it; people only had so many stores, schools, restaurants, etc. to visit so there was some loyalty to those places. The town has grown quite a bit since my family moved there though, so it doesn’t have as much of the small town ambiance as it used to.

I really like living in Las Vegas though. I love having more options for places to go out, I love that it is more diverse than small town Utah and I love the people I’ve met here. And as strange as it may seem to admit, I have actually grown to love the heat. I am not sure I want to live in the snow ever again!

2. You are an avid runner. Let’s pretend you have some magical injury that prevents you from running, but will allow you to do any other kind of physical activity. If you couldn’t run, what would you do for exercise?

This is easy… yoga! I took my first yoga class in college when I was 18, so I’ve been doing that a lot longer than I’ve been running. My friends that took the class with me weren’t as impressed or taken with the practice as I was. And I will admit, my first yoga instructor was very much the stereotypical instructor, talking about “lotus flowers emerging from our scalps, reaching toward the sky” and several other hippy-dippy things like that. That kind of language can be very giggle-inducing to college freshmen (and probably other ages).

The thing I love about yoga is that you can use it to push your physical limits or you can use it to relax and unwind. Not that I’m very good at the “relaxing” aspect of anything in life… Having a consistent yoga practice can help so many areas: other cross-training endeavors, connecting with yourself, improving your posture, learning to breathe and focus…. It just really is fascinating to me how much of an impact it can have.

I haven’t taken a formal class in years. I have been doing a home practice for a long time, supplementing with DVDs and podcasts. But I have been thinking I should re-visit classes soon. It’s probably important to get your form checked by a professional every now and then to make sure you are not doing more harm than good.

3. You love movies and movie quotes like I do. Are there any movies you have always meant to see that you have not seen? Or movies that everyone assured you that you’d love that you, well, hated?

I keep meaning to see ‘The Godfather’ series and ‘Gone With The Wind‘, you know… the classics that are so highly acclaimed. I even had ‘The Godfather‘ at home from Netflix a while ago, but I wasn’t in the mood when it arrived so I sent it back to get more light flicks.

When the movie ‘Lost in Translation‘ came out, it received such rave reviews that I thought it had to be incredible… and I hated it. I felt like if I had spent that time poking myself in the eyeballs with a fork I would have had a more enjoyable experience. I’ve considered watching it again, to see if it was just my frame of mind on initial viewing, but it’s left such a vile memory behind about how irked I was that I’m not sure I can actually sit down for it another time.

4. What was your favorite class in high school or college? Why?

First, I was a band geek so I loved my band classes. I played the flute in the marching, pep and symphonic bands, as well as playing with the orchestra. I loved the music and how powerful a song can be. I connected with so much of our music on a deep level. But I also loved band because so many of my social connections were build upon that foundation. And we had the coolest teacher, he never made us feel like we were inferior to him because he was the teacher. He treated the students with respect and we respected him back because of that.

I also really enjoyed my Japanese classes. Partly because I felt like I was “special”, I was learning a language that wasn’t the norm for everyone else. I have always enjoyed learning about the Japanese culture, my grandmother hosted foreign exchange students from Japan several years and I always visited during that time. But the classes were fun too because we got to learn how to say things from movies and comic books. We didn’t have a formal text book, so there was a wide range of source material. We had some Japanese foreign exchange students in the class as well, they taught us all kinds of phrases. Some of those phrases were a little “questionable”, but we probably remember those more than any other lessons!

5. If you had to be famous, what would you want to be famous for?

A celebrity chef! I just would really like to have the skills to cook and bake REALLY REALLY well. Unfortunately I don’t practice a lot, so my skills don’t really develop. I am a little too health-conscious to make sweets much, I don’t want those around the house all the time. And since my husband works so much, I don’t really cook for the two of us that often either. I find it really unrewarding to cook a whole meal just for myself.

When I visit my parents they like it when I cook for them and they heap on the praise, that makes me feel good. But those days are too far spaced for me to really develop any kind of talent.

But really, I would love to be known for making really good breads. And being famous for something like that means you’re just famous in certain circles and you won’t run the risk of being stalked by paparazzi!

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Now if anyone else would like to participate, let me know in the comments. I’ll take the first 5 people that ask for an interview and send them questions. Then those people should post the questions & answers on their site, include a link to the original post, a link back to this post and pass it along to others!