Interview

Courtesy of happydog this time, five questions:

1) What is the one thing you would most like to do before you check out of Motel Earth?

I'd like to write a book.

Literature has been important to me all my life. My parents are both bibliophiles, and I grew up reading Watership Down, Hal Clement, Isaac Asimov (nonfiction, though I have read some of his short stories now), and everything else I could get my hands on. Even now, on the Internet, I spend much of my time reading. I think writing is the greatest invention advancing civilization in history.

Writing makes people think. And I want to be part of that.

2) If you, and you alone, were confronted with absolute and irrefutable knowledge that there was to be an alien invasion from outer space next week, who is the first person you would try to convince, and why?

My mother. I really don't know how to get to the important people, but she's pretty knowledgeable about local politics (library advocate), and knows a lot more about interpersonal tactics in general. She might be able to get me in contact with the county council, for instance, which would be a good start to convincing the state governor, state senators, and ultimately the people who can do something about it. (Or, more likely, she could think of a faster and more effective way of convincing the right people – could be that through the media would be better, for instance.)

3) Why engineering? What else did you consider?

Embarrassingly, my decision process could be summed up in two lines:

"You're good at math and stuff – you probably could get a good job as an engineer."

"Sure, okay."

That said, I've had a really good experience working towards an engineering degree at Montgomery College and here at UMD, and based on my bad reactions to research in the recent past, I'm probably better off avoiding the more theoretical disciplines. My only second thoughts are about working in computer science, seeing how I enjoyed BASIC coding so much as a kid – that said, I do hear that the CS guys are worked really hard, and I probably can study programming later and parley my engineering knowledge to good effect.

4) You have a chance to meet one, and only one, of the members of Monty Python, living or dead. Which one will it be, and why?

Good grief. I need research for that one. All I can think of are John Cleese and Eric Idle.

*opens Wikipedia*

Hey, Terry Gilliam is responsible for the animation? That would be pretty interesting to talk about – the style he pioneered there has had a legacy lasting to this day. And I quite enjoyed "Twelve Monkeys" – didn't know that was his.

5) Beatles or Stones?

Beatles, I think. The Stones did some really neat things, but I like a bigger section of the Beatles' discography – I'm more of a soft-rock type.


Oh, and here are the directions:
1. Leave a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I'll respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. Update your L.J. with the answers to the questions.
4. ...including this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, ask them five questions.

Edit: I say "this time" at the top because I did the intermeme awhile back as well.