First Time.

Zhu, from the blog Correr es Mi Destino, is very awesome (and she's French too, that probably explains her awesomeness! :). She sent me an interview... basically, there's a list of things, and I'm supposed to explain my first experience of each thing... I think you'll understand when you read...

1- First memory

Most of my first memories are from the time period I lived in Germany. At the time, I was in pre-pre school or something of that nature. So, I was in class, and I was passing my bottle back and forth with some other little kid. The teacher lady wasn't happy that me and this kid were throwing my bottle around, and without warning she swooped down upon us and confiscated my bottle. I was utterly horrified and shocked. I needed that bottle for inner peace and happiness, and to have it taken away, and to have it taken away with such brute force, well, that was tough. I still haven't gotten over that incident. I suffer to this day.

2- First injury

My first major injury occurred when I was 5 years old. We were in France at the time, and I can't remember all the details, but for some reason I ran across the street without really paying attention. A car ended up hitting me and running over and breaking my leg. It was painful, that much I remember.

I spent a great portion of my recovery period playing with tiny model cars, racing them around, crashing them together, facing them off in death matches, it was really quite awesome and fun. Ironic too, I suppose...

The picture under this paragraph is a of a scar I have on my right elbow. It's my favorite scar. Back when I lived in Chicago, I took a tumble down the rickety back stairwell of my apartment building, and my arm broke through a window (thank God it wasn't my head!). The glass broke, and cut a huge jagged gash on my elbow. I also got cut on my hand and wrist. Luckily the glass didn't cut any major tendons or veins, but I was bleeding like crazy, almost passed out... Cooooooll!

3- First lie

When I was younger, I messed with my sister a lot. One time, I convinced her that mom and dad had been eaten by spiders. I told her that under no circumstances should she leave our room because the spiders were all over the house, and they would eat her as well. My sister was freaked out beyond belief, it was hilarious (my poor little sister, I was really awful back then!)! Unfortunately, my plan backfired... my sister ran out of our room and burst into my parents' room and woke them up (it was early morning).

In the end, there were no spiders. There was no death. But there was punishment for me.

4- First person you admired in your life

Hmmm, hard to say, I remember admiring lots of my family... I also really admired Bugs Bunny, I thought he was pretty great.

5- First time drunk

Many, many years ago!!!!

6- First failure
Has to be centered around sports. Playing on a soccer team and losing at a young age, that was my first dose of failure I suppose.

7- First success
I remember winning some swim competition when I was young. It wasn't my first success, nor was it anything major, but I thought it was pretty damn cool for some reason. I still have the medal somewhere.

8- First trip abroad
I was moving to different countries pretty much since I was born, so in that sense I'm lucky, I've always gotten to travel!

9- First concert
Seeing Sebadoh in concert! That was an awesome awesome concert. They played very loud.

10- First thing you do when you get up...
Eat some toast. Skim the paper. Most importantly, I check the celebrity gossip section :)

The Interview!

My buddy Sonja, from the blog Quantum Leaps (a wonderful blog by the way, you should totally check it out if you haven't already!), sent me these great questions to answer. I will do my best!

1. You mentioned in one of your posts that you were born in Belgium. What sequence of events brought you to the US?

It's true, I was born in Belgium (giant sob). After that, my family moved to Germany, then Puerto Rico, and then Indianapolis. We did more moving after that too... even lived in Japan. The reason is simple, everyone in my family is a dinosaurologist. And as dinasaurologists, our goal was to find and catch the mythical dinosaur, Stegasaurus Rapsalot. Unfortunately, catching the creature proved impossible, so we all decided to move to Phoenix and become ghost story writers and UFO experts.

2. In the art world, isn't the School of Impressionism really just a club for painters with bad eyesight?

Hmmm, it's very true that Monet lost a lot of vision later in his career... but I must admit, there are some great impressionist painters who could really 'see,' and Monet, in spite of all the hype surrounding his work, was truly amazing and very consistent in his excellence... and Van Gogh is one of my favorites, he's one of the best drawers in the history of art, in my opinion...

3. Before your illness, in what ways did you use your artistic talents to make a living?

I haven't posted any of my older artwork from before I got sick, it makes me too sad... I still can't draw very often, and when I can, all's I can do is simple cartoony stuff (but that's better than nothing, that's for sure!), I can't do anything that takes a great deal of concentration and detail... Previously, my work was usually based on observation and extreme detail...

The main reason I had moved back home was so I could have more time to devote to working on my art, and also finally have some time to seriously focus on selling my art. Unfortunately, I fell sick a couple months after returning home!!! I avoided galleries for the longest time, the commissions they take, especially from young artists, are ridiculous, but nonetheless, I figure, whenever I'm better, and I can get a good series of paintings done, I will go out to LA and find a gallery. Also, I will set up a website to sell work from there. I also do commission work when healthy.

4. How have you evolved personally through having this illness?

I'm not sure how I've evolved, I think I'm a stronger person mentally because of this illness. And I think I've come to appreciate life a lot more, all the little things and all the big things too. I feel lucky to be alive. I'm grateful, grateful for life, for family, for friends, for my dog... and I hope that over the course of my illness, I can become a better person to others, more considerate, helpful, compassionate...

5. Koala bears-cuddly forest denizens, or mad, hissing nocturnal beasts?

These creatures are sweet during the day, but at night, they have what I'd call were-wolf syndrome. They turn into vicious creatures and they grow wings and fly into peoples' houses and they tear apart the furniture and they eat the drapes. It's all very sad really, and there's so much housework to be done the morning after a nightime koala bear invasion.

So, I 'd love to interview people, so here's what you do if you want me to interview you...

• Leave a comment at my blog saying, “Interview me.” Include your blog URL.

• I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.

• You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.

• You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

• When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

• Have fun!