Working on the Chain Gang

Rachel, A Comedienne's Sidekick, answered 5 questions posed by Mielikki, of What It's Like to be Me.

After that, I asked Rachel to interview me. Below are her questions and my answers.

Below that are rules --- if you too would like to be interviewed. To be interviewed, you must have a blog where we can all see the answers. For further rules, look at the stuff in italics after the Q&A.

1. You are very well read and informed about a lot of different subjects. What would you say that you are the most passionate about and why?

Repairing the world. In small ways like trying to make sure Monkeyboy in DC's generation is just slightly less screwed up than his parents'. And in bigger ways, like trying to elect folks and agitating for policies that will halt the widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Here and in the rest of the world.

Blackjack, rock-and-roll (especially Springsteen), and baseball are other topics I can get passionate about. So is the decline of decent customer service and the fact that all the baseball players and centerfolds are younger than me these days.

2. You have blogged about your struggles with depression. [Answerer's note: I broke this question into two.]

A)What do you think the most devastating part of depression is?

The most devastating part of depression is the hopelessness. The feelings of sadness are multiplied many times over by the illness-borne sense that there's no getting better, no lighter days ahead.

B)What have you learned about yourself from dealing with it?

That, aided by competent therapy, the right meds, and the support of loved ones, the hopelessness is an artifact of my illness, and not objectively realistic. That I can persevere. But that I cannot do it alone. Alone, my illness will kill me.

3. If you, RFB and Monkeyboy were in a movie together, what movie would it be and why?

The first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie. Monkeyboy could be Charlie Bucket, RFB could play the Jack Albertson role (as a cool grandma instead of a cool grandpa). As for me, I'd love to be Willie Wonka.

I'm a great fan of both Johnny Depp and Tim Burton, but I've never been able to bring myself to see their adaptation.

4. What is the most embarrassing thing that you ever did when you were single and had a crush on someone?

I spent months mooning over an undergraduate when I was finishing law school and starting my career as a Legal Aid lawyer. I stopped by a reception desk she worked at --- for no good reason other than to see her. I left phone messages, desperate for a call back. I sat home by the phone hoping she'd call.

I continued helping to lead the Reform Friday night minyan at GWU Hillel, after graduating law school, in large measure so I'd keep running into her. (She was Hillel President.)

We shared a couple of kisses early on (on a movie date, at a sleep-in at the Hillel house, and one time when she came back to DC after a school break.)

I was spending my working day beating up on middle-aged slumlords and their mouthpieces. I was spending my nights obsessing over a girl who couldn't figure out how to send me packing. I spent the better part of half-a-year pitching woo before she finally did.

5. If there is one pearl of wisdom that you can pass on to people, what would it be?

It's not original. It's an attitude I try to affect most of the time. It comes from Elvis Costello's (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes, on his album My Aim is True.

"I used to be disgusted, but now I try to be amused."

Ok, the rules:
1. If you want to be interviewed by me, (and I encourage perfect strangers to take me up on this, it will be fun) leave me a comment saying "Interview Me".
2. I will respond by asking you five questions of my choice.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to my questions.
4. You will include these rules, and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.