1 - How did you come about this site and what makes you keep coming back?
Virgil introduced me to it. I have met some nice people on here that I enjoy talking to, and that is why I like coming back.
2 - Have you visited other countries than your own and what did you like about it or not like?
I lived in Cameroon for four months. It was wonderful and very stressful. It was wonderful because it’s a beautiful country – lots of very nice hills, green trees and plants, and yummy tropical fruit everywhere – also I met some great people and I learned so much about a totally different place. It was stressful because there is a lot of uncertainty or insecurity on a daily basis.
3 - What are your favorite hobbies ?
I like to swim, but I don’t do it nearly enough. I also play the flute on occasion. I bike for transportation, but I do sort of enjoy it also. I practice Iyengar yoga, and I really enjoy it.
4 - Do you have any pets?
No. I love cats and always had them growing up. But I really don’t have the patience or space to take care of a pet at the moment.
5 - What makes you happy?
My boyfriend’s jokes, new shoes, and autumn weather.
6. How can you get away with being online at work?
I’m a grad student! Enough said, right?
I teach 2 classes twice a week, but other than that my time is pretty much my own. There are billions of things I’m always supposed to be working on, but there isn’t anyone looking over my shoulder telling me to do them. It’s a curse and a blessing I guess.
8. If you had a long day of hard work ahead of you what music would you be playing on your mp3, while working?
I do have a long day of work ahead of me at the moment. I like lots and lots of music. But I’m having a phase where I’ve decided it’s probably safer to listen to instrumental music while I’m doing work so I don’t get too distracted by lyrics. So I’ll be listening to lots of Philip Glass I think.
9. If you could take one book, music album and one video with you to a desert island, what would they be?
Book: Italo Calvio’s
Invisible Cities – I know it’s very short, but it always makes me happy and I’m sure I could get weeks of entertainment out of it.
Album: Rasputina’s
How We Quit the Forest – it never stops entertaining me, no matter how many times I listen to it.
Video:
Touki Bouki - I have recently seen this film three times and I still don’t understand it. Maybe if I’m stuck with it on a desert island and see it a thousand more, I will finally figure out what is going on in it.
12. What were your favorite things to do the past? What about now?
I am pretty much the same as I was at 9 or 10 years old, really. I have always loved reading and swimming, and those are still my two favorite activities. But I think I have expanded – I listen to music and go to concerts a lot more than I used to, and I love wandering around new cities and traveling to new places, which I didn’t have much option to do as a kid.
13. What activities make you lose track of time?
Going online! And talking on the phone to my mom. Time just flies.
14. What makes you feel great about yourself?
When I give someone advice and it actually helps them. And when people tell me that I’ve written something well or given a good talk.
15. Who inspires you most? (Anyone you know or not. Family, friends, authors, artists, leaders, etc.) Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
Mostly professors at the moment. Since I want to be a professor, I look towards the professors I know and think about how I want to be like them. R, my adviser, because he always gets back to email right away and gives good and honest advice. I hope I can help my students the way that he is able to help me. O, because she is so caring and open, and she always sees the best in everyone. I hope to develop an outlook on life as positive as hers. B, because she is such an impressive scholar and yet is so incredibly humble and down to earth.
16. What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)
Apparently, I can write things and people understand them (I write analytical papers, not fiction or poetry). Professors seem to give me compliments on the writing in my papers. I still don’t believe them
17. What do people typically ask you for help in?
My boyfriend asks me for help deciding what to eat for dinner every night even though he lives on the opposite side of the country. My students ask me for help with their papers, but only because I am the one giving them grades!
18. If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
I teach composition at the moment, but it’s not very fun. I taught some literature classes, and that has the potential to be good but I feel like I still don’t have enough credibility to do it well. But I seem to have done the best when I was teaching elementary french classes. So maybe I will be able to teach more french language and literature courses in the future.
19. What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?
I would regret not having been able to become fully independent from my father (emotionally more than financially, but financially is good too). It took me much too long to get to the point where I wasn’t always turning to him at every decision, problem, or difficulty. It was no good because he never had anything positive or helpful to say to me. I really value my independence. Don’t worry, I still talk to him, but he doesn’t intrude on the way I live my life as much as he used to.
20. What song is in your head at the moment?
none, actually, which is a rarity.
21. The last book you bought/borrowed from the library?
I think it’s the first
Gossip Girl book.
22. Which book are you reading at the moment?
Nothing really – just a bunch of stuff for school that isn’t really going anywhere. I hope in the spring semester I will have more time to actually read stuff for fun and also get my work done.
23. The last book you finished reading?
The last book I finished reading was probably Orhan Pamuk’s
The Black Book.
24. Favorite food?/ Comfort food?
I really like olives, and I also love bread with brie on it. I’m not sure if I differentiate between food and comfort food.
25. Favorite outfit?
I have a pink corduroy blazer that is simultaneously fun and professional. So whenever I put it on, what I’m wearing becomes my favorite outfit.
26. What are you wearing at the moment?
junky lounging-around-the house clothes -- socks, knee-length shorts made out of sweatpant-type material, and a t-shirt I acquired for free that is from Motorola.
27. Favorite poem?
Is it cheating to say Derek Walcott’s
Omeros? It’s a poem! Just really long.
28. First novel you remember reading on your own?
I think E.B. White’s
Stewart Little.
29. Favorite TV shows?
currently on tv:
The Soup,
Gossip Girl; others:
Firefly,
Veronica Mars,
Star Trek: The Next Generation, and
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Yes, my tv tastes run the gamut from geeky to teen drama, but I don't care.
30. Which LitNet members would you like to meet in person if you could?
I would like to meet Virgil sometime. I’d also really like to meet Sleepywitch and Petrarch’s Love. I think we’d have plenty to talk about in person, as we have on the forum.
33. Last food did you have?
I had some animal crackers.
34. Last words you said out loud?
Probably I said “bye” to my boyfriend when I hung up the phone.
35. Last person you hugged/kissed?
My mom, she was just visiting a few days ago. She won’t let me escape without a hug and a kiss!
36. What do you do (for a living) to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going?
I’m a graduate student in comparative literature, so I teach and research at the moment. If you can consider the absurdly small amount of money I make each year a living. Thank goodness I do plan to acquire a real job eventually.
37. Are you happy with your chosen profession?
I am very happy with my chosen profession. Although I’m not quite there yet – still have to finish my dissertation and get an actual job as a professor first!
38. What would you like to be if you could change your profession?
Lots of things. At the top of my list is a stage manager for theater productions. I did a lot of theater stuff in high school and even had an internship with a professional theater for a summer. I really loved it. Maybe one day I will get involved with community theater. I would also probably enjoy being a librarian.
39. Least favorite book/song/movie?
Hmm. I don’t usually spend much time dwelling on things I don’t like. So I can’t really say for song or book. But I was really quite horrified by the movie
Groundhog Day when I was younger. And I think if I watched it now, it would still really disturb me. I really found it quite painful to watch that poor guy have to relive the same day over and over again.
40. The most generous thing you have done?
I’m not sure really. The most gratifying community service I’ve been involved with was regularly visiting a young Senegalese man in detention here in New Jersey because he was seeking asylum in the US.
42. If you could change one thing about the way you look, what would that be?
I’d like to look less regular or somehow be more memorable. People always think I’m someone else, or don’t remember me, or they tell me I look just like someone they know. I guess that’s better than looking totally strange. But sometimes I think I should dye my hair some kind of insane color just so people will actually remember me.
44. What is your favorite book cover?
I like the cover of Edward Said’s
Orientalism because the cover is the perfect representation of what the book is about.
47. What should you be doing at the moment instead of answering these questions?
Grading papers!!
49. The most embarrassing moment in your life?
I have a growing list of embarrassing moments that have occurred while teaching. The most humiliating was when a student had the gall to tell me, in front of the whole class, that my “pants were falling down” when, in fact, they actually weren’t at all. I guess if they were, that would embarrassing in a whole other way. But the fact that she could say something so insulting and obnoxious in front of all the other students really made me embarrassed because it felt like she didn’t take me seriously as an instructor at all.
50. Which literary character (s) have you been told to resemble the most?
The only character I’ve ever been told I resemble is Hermione from
Harry Potter. Hermione in the earlier novels is definitely a pretty good match for the way I was in high school. And I was in high school when I was told that. Otherwise, I apparently don’t resemble any characters.
51. List some of the things that annoy you immensely.
My students text messaging in class annoys me immensely. Text messaging in general in the middle of lectures, talks, and conversations is pretty bad, but in class is the worst. Racial prejudice also annoys me immensely. Well, I guess that would be stronger than “annoy,” but I’m having trouble thinking of things. I really don’t like when people are passive-aggressive. If there is a problem, it is so much better to just confront it, instead of just acting all weird like I’m supposed to figure out what’s wrong.
52. Anything that you want to forget but you never can?
Yes. But I won’t elaborate.
53. One final word of wisdom for LitNet users?
Always leave time to relax. Probably most people are pretty good at that, but sometimes I forget to leave extra time for myself, and it’s some of the most valuable advice I’ve been given.
54. What would you like to ask to the person to be interviewed after you?
If you could live somewhere different from where you live now, where would it be and why?
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