Still More Questions

From Talia at Collecting Shards.

1. Who is the best living playwright?

Tough one. For me, it’s either Mamet or Albee. Of the two, Albee wrote the best play (Virginia Wolff), but I think Mamet’s overall body of work is both more impressive and shows a wider range of ability. So I’ll go with Mamet.

2. You will lose one of your senses, but you may select the one you will do without. Which one is it and, of course, why that one?

Smell, by the process of elimination. Sight and sound are the two most important to me – I wouldn’t want to go the rest of my life without being able to see or hear my family. Taste is the second tier. I love food too much, the diversity that can be found within food, to lose it. Which leaves touch and smell, and of those, feeling the warmth of another person, or the fur of a dog, or the feel of grass beneath bare feet, trumps the value from smell.

3. Underwear has suddenly disappeared from the universe. How are you affected?

Less laundry. More chafing.

4. Why does the Iowa caucus matter? (For all you voyeurs, this is a conversation I wish I could spend 6 hours having with the weasel. Feel free to move along.)

This is also a conversation I could spend six hours writing about. If you don’t mind, I’m going to do a whole post on this one. Look for it early next week.

5. Outside of your family, who most influenced the parts of you that you like?
Perhaps the toughest of the questions for me. I don’t have that one teacher many people seem to have, that person who was inspirational, who showed me things within me that I didn’t know were there, who believed in me, etc. Those people were my family. Generally speaking, I got “Why don’t you work harder” speeches from teachers.

So to answer, I’ll think about the parts of me I like the most. And one of those is my writing. I’m pretty proud of my writing talent. I’d like to think that some of personal voice is present in everything I write. Even the work stuff, the dry stuff, I think you can see me in it. And for that I owe all credit to Hunter S. Thompson. HST showed that you can put yourself into what you write, no matter what you are writing. He showed that ultimately it was all personal, and that wasn’t a bad thing. He’s been the greatest influence on me as a writer, and I owe him tons for that.