Interview meme

[resonant]

So skuf interviewed me, and now I'll interview you, if you like.

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview Me!" (or something of that ilk)
2. I will respond by asking you five questions.
3. Update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.



1) Muaha, I have been wanting to ask you this for ages, but there never seemed a good time for it (or a good way to phrase it): if I were feeling brave and wanting to read outside HP fandom, judging by reader-response, which of your non-HP fics should I tackle first?

Going strictly by reader response? Higher Education. It's from the movie "The Breakfast Club," but some people have told me they enjoyed it even though they either haven't seen the movie or don't remember it. Everybody in the movie was a type, anyway, so all you need to know is that Brian's a brain and Bender's a delinquent.

The drawback there is that that's my one and only Breakfast Club story; I mean, it's nice and long, but when it's over, it's over. If you wanted to fall into a new universe and stay there for a while, I'd suggest either Abstain (Stargate Atlantis) or American Way (Due South).

2) I remember you talking about being Episcopalian in the 10 things meme: how does that differ from generic Christian to you?

American Protestants don't argue about dogma all that much. If you searched the creeds of various denominations, you'd find things to disagree on, but you really don't get, say, Lutherans and Presbyterians in passionate arguments about predestination these days.

But it seems to me that the difference between one denomination and another is that each one is filling a different role in the greater world of religious people. (Different religions may be doing the same thing; I'm only familiar with Protestantism, so I can't really say.)

Presbyterians are here to model civilized, orderly, respectful processes and ways of disagreeing. Methodists are here to keep broadening the definition of "us" until it includes everyone. Black Baptists are the passion and compassion of Christianity. (I don't have anything nice to say about white Baptists at the moment, so I'm going to keep my mouth shut about them. Present company excluded, of course.)

And Episcopalians? We're here to praise the creation.

There's the most amazing, gorgeous music in the hymnal. There are beautiful words in the Book of Common Prayer. We like our pleasures, large and small; we like good food and good wine and pretty churches in pretty gardens.

Where that goes wrong, it goes wrong in smugness and self-satisfaction (and also occasionally in reducing the social life of the church to alcohol and adultery).

But when we do it the way we're supposed to do it, we do like God in the creation story: We're here to look at the world and say that it's good.

(Actually I've been told that in the Hebrew, God looks at the world and says that it's delicious. Better still.)

3) What, if any, are your expectations for Book 7?

I'm really, really hoping that we're going to get an acknowledgement that the Gryffindor-Slytherin Light-Dark thing is insanely oversimplified.

I want to know what's up with the centaurs, and I hope they'll be more than just a sidelight.

It seems to me that we still don't have the whole story on the Marauders and Snape. At least, I hope we don't; I'm looking forward to more of those puzzle pieces.

I'd like a more detailed picture of Grimmauld Place.

Snape's going to die, of course; I hope he gets a chance to explain himself first.

4) What is the most overrated piece of canonical/popular literature (i.e. not fanfiction) today, do you think?

With the current hype, I'm tempted to say The DaVinci Code, but I haven't read it, so that wouldn't really be fair.

Actually I don't often read highly hyped things; eventually I did read The Bridges of Madison County but not until years later when a co-worker forced it on me. (It was worse than any badfic I've ever read.) Most of what I read is either just as good as one could reasonably expect, or so obscure that I have no expectations at all.

5) So, if you were to be reincarnated as an animal, what would you choose :o) ?

Ooh. Otters seem to have a lot of fun. But I don't know; I'd be inclined to fall back on the good old housecat. Now that's a good life.

Comments

[birdsflying]

Oooh, I'm up for another round of this meme. (anything that will prevent me from murdering the students cluttering up my lab has to be a good thing, really. :g:)

Would you like five in return?

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

I always like this meme, and will happily field questions if you've got 'em.

[rodneyscat.livejournal.com]

Ask away!

(I bet you already regret not making this friendslocked...)

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

Hey, groovy. Interview me.

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

Oooh, *I'm* bored. *G* Interview me!

[etben.livejournal.com]

I'll take questions, if you've got them, but I'm really commenting to say that your response to the second question is making me ridiculously happy. You are right on so many levels, and you've expressed it beautifully.

And the world is delicious, even when Chicago is being cold and rainy.

[myalexandria.livejournal.com]

you could interview me!

also, what role do you think Catholics are serving in the broader Christian spectrum? I liked your episcopalian answer and got curious ;)

[alex-s9.livejournal.com]

Me too! Me too!

Pretty please please.

[wordwitch.livejournal.com]

*waves arm* I'll bite!

Methodists

[jenna-thorn.livejournal.com]

Methodists are here to keep broadening the definition of "us" until it includes everyone.I, personally, love this definition and I'm betting our (Methodist) minister would like it just as much. 8-)

Also, if you still have questions and didn't intend to limit this to your flist, I'm game.

[reginagiraffe]

Ask me some ilk questions! Er... or something like that.

[font.livejournal.com]

You know, I think that's the nicest (and most accurate) thing anyone has said about us Presbyterians. And I did have a passionate (and distressed) discussion about predestination with my minister fairly recently; he's of the opinion that everyone is among the Elect. Which is sweet, I think, but intellectually shaky; the whole concept of Election still feels flawed to me.

I wouldn't mind being interviewed.

[lomedet.livejournal.com]

ooooh...do you remember where you got that Genesis 1 translation? I'm kind of a Biblical Hebrew geek, and I've never heard that interpretation of tov me'od/very good' before.

and I'd ask you to interview me, but we don't really know each other (or more accurately, I've been fangirling you from a distance *g*), so it doesn't seem quite fair.

[springwoof.livejournal.com]

i love your answers to the Religious Question. if i say anything else, my foot will end up in my mouth, so i'll just sit here quietly & fangirl you.

[norah.livejournal.com]

Interview me if you like. Or not, if you are regretting the offer...

[volari.livejournal.com]

Love your answers. You aren't missing anything with the Da Vinci code--as a book I thought it was fun and I was interested by all the little details and clues that were thrown in, one of my friends thought it was too dry and rather boring. We both agree it was only as popular as it is because of the controversy.

I also liked your definitions of the different Protestant denominations. That's them in a nutshell.

Interview me?

[skuf.livejournal.com]

1) Higher Education is the one I did brave, and it was great :o)

2) There's the most amazing, gorgeous music in the hymnal
Would I know any Episcopalian hymns - any of them "mainstream"?

3) I'm hoping for more on the centaurs, too - and not just that they decide to fight for the side of light, and so are extras on the battlefield.

4) With the current hype, I'm tempted to say The DaVinci Code, but I haven't read it, so that wouldn't really be fair.
Heh. It's ok good, I thought, but not brilliant, and it certainly had parts that made me cringe.

5) Otters and housecats, mmm.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

Isn't it hard to come up with five questions for anyone asking?

Did you choose your church or did it choose you or was it in your family/your husband's family?

Do you see underlying or structural or emotional similarities in the kind of hyms you like to the rock/pop songs you like?


Is there anything you want to know from/about me?

Do you groan in annoyance or just frown/sigh/eyeroll when I seem to completely misunderstand this meme? Don't - I even bought some asparagus and eggplant in your honour.

[neery.livejournal.com]

But I don't know; I'd be inclined to fall back on the good old housecat. Now that's a good life.

But the food! Not that the appeal of being able to laze around in the sun all day and getting petted isn't really huge, but I really wouldn't want to have to live off cat food and mice for the rest of my life.
Personally, I'm always surprised when people don't answer this question with "a bird", but then, it's probably a stupid assumption that everyone would want to be able to fly.

I'd love to be interviewed. Feel free to reuse questions, of course. They're all very interesting.