guenievre | Entries tagged with interview

I don't have *long* answers for either, so I'll do both.

1) "I once knew a guy that was soooo sweet that I decided to marry him;but I didn't marry him because he was sweet. What really made me say yes was..."

Why I married

soucyn? Picking ONE reason on that one is difficult. You see, we met when we were 16, and had just moved into the boarding school we graduated from. And when we met, it was more an instantaneous THING - I remember having to take a placement exam of some sort (chemistry, I think) an hour or so after we met, and we happened to be in the same room, and I could NOT take my eyes off him. (I must have, as I did well on the test, but I was certainly distracted.) I knew we would actually start dating (and what a, well, "sweet" guy he was) that evening, when we were standing talking on a campus sidewalk - I made some offhand comment about his height and my neck being sore from looking up (he's a foot taller than I am) so he stood on the pavement and left me on the sidewalk to fix it. It's a silly little story, I suppose, but at the time it was this hugely significant thing.

Anyway, we started dating 2 days later, and knew we'd end up married like 3 weeks after that. (He asked in this really cute hypothetical sort of way, I said yes without really thinking about it, then we both had this "Holy shit, I meant that!" sort of moment.) All these anecdotes, not so much with the coherence, I suppose, but there it is. (hey, what do you expect, I've been staring at spreadsheets and copier specifications all day).

or

2) "If there is ONE thing in the WORLD I hate more than being late it's this one tiny pet peeve which really drives me crazy..."

OK, this one I had to not answer for a while because I was too busy laughing. I am... not the world's most punctual person. To the point that when I changed my SCA name (from Generys to Guenièvre), the fact that "Guenièvre" somewhat rhymes with "Whenever" was a little of a running joke. So I almost ignored the question... but then I realized that I *do* have something that I hate MUCH more than being late, and in fact that's probably one of the reasons I *am* late so much.

See, most people say, "If you don't want to be late, aim to get places early." Which is fine, and well, and good... 'cept I *hate* waiting on things. Not so much waiting on people, because I'm late so much I certainly understand, but more waiting on... events. If I get to something that is supposed to start at 5 and I'm there at 4:45 or something (usually due to my husband's insistance on promptness) I get twitchy because I could have been doing something more interesting for 15 minutes, then left and got to wherever I need to be *exactly* when I needd to be there. Obviously some subconscious part of me thinks I live in a perfect world where there are NEVER delays...::rolls eyes at self::

Current Mood: ditzy
Current Location: spreadsheet hell, a division of cubeland

I've done this meme a lot, but I enjoy it, so there you go.

1. Leave me a comment saying, "I am shameless attention whore."
2. I'll then respond by asking you up to five questions. You will answer them, because you like talking about yourself.
3. You will 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.

Questions from Orla:
1) What got you interested in fighting?
I actually have been interested in fighting for as long as I've been in the SCA, since my "I'm new and I want to do *everything*" days. Not exactly sure what drew me to it in the first place - perhaps it's from seeing Sir Fern at my very-very-first event, she had exceptionally shiny armor and thus...
I do it now for a lot of reasons - to support my Barony, for one; because it's fun of course, and because it's something I'm not naturally good at. There are a lot of other things I *am* good at, forcing myself to actually *work* on something is a different experience (I've avoided such in the past...)

2) If you had to concentrate on one thing in the SCA what would it be?
Anything but that! Honestly, I'm not sure I *could* - or rather, by my standards, I *am* doing so. My research focus is 14th and 15th century French food, and that's what I do the bulk of my A&S "work" in. The thing is though, I still want pretty/accurate clothes, and accessories, etc etc - which is where the sewing research and what not comes in. Almost everything I do, though, is focused on the same persona - a noblewoman from France, living sometime between 1400 and 1420. If I hadn't decided that that was my focus *years* ago, I'd be WAY more all over the map - "Oooh, shiny!" would have been an even better motto than "Nothing by Halves", but didn't sound as good...

3) What inspired your device?
I wanted something simple, geometric, involving both "blue" and "ermine". So I spent quite a lot of time drawing varations on that - the one I registered was just the one that appealed the most. I know, not much of a story...

4) Are you planning on entering the Persona Pent again next year?
Yes - haven't decided what my projects will be yet, but that's very much my favorite A&S competition - in fact, it's really the only one I make a point of entering.

5) What was your favorite event ever?
There are a lot of answers to that question, all with different reasons. Probably most recently the Elvegast Pas d'Armes, for the pomp/circumstance/romance of it... but also KASF (any of them) for the ability to food geek without people's eyes glazing over...

Current Mood: busy

1. So you've known you're a nerd for a while. How did you know you were a Medieval nerd?
Really, I started out as a fantasy nerd. I was obsessed with Mercedes Lackey for a while -
and if you're familiar with some of her more obscure books (Children of the Night comes to mind) you know she was a SCAdian for a while (supposedly not playing anymore, but she's had stalkers, so I'd tell fans that too). So when a friend of mine at NCSSM told me he had been in the SCA for ages, I said "Oooooh! I wanna go to an event!" I didn't really get to play much at that point, lack of car/money/time will do that. But I got back in when I got to UNC, and... yeah. Really, I got in for the clothes, and then I realized that really doing stuff was much more fun than D&D...
2. If you could kill someone and sucessfully hide the body and not be caught, who would it be?
To be honest? I can't actually think of anyone. I don't think I COULD kill anyone. Besides, certain answers I'm thinking of would have the Secret Service breathing down my neck. I know, it's a cop out answer.
3. What's your all-time favorite recipie(besides stc)?
Heh, this one I've answered before. Roast turkey with fixings. The process I go through to make good roast turkey is kind of long, though, so ask me later if you'd like to know (comment is fine, I just don't want to type it all out if no one cares).
4. What was your favorite part of your wedding?
The spontanaeity of it! In case I hadn't told you,

soucyn and I eloped randomly on Valentine's Day in 2003. So.. the whole thing was something of a whirlwind...
5. If you woke up one morning as a guy, what would you do?
Um... censors X-rated comment regarding curiousity, anatomy and comparisons, involving activies reputed to result in blindness and/or hairy palms... I'd probably be rather unhappy. I am so stereotypically feminine in so many ways, being a guy would probably break my mind...

This has been a post brought to you by ye olde question meme™. If you would like to participate, please comment.

Current Mood: contemplative

Standard Question Meme - leave a comment if you want to be interviewed...

1. If you could have any career *outside the home*, what would it be?

I've actually struggled with this question a lot, ever since I realized that I was NOT cut out to be a research scientist (that particular career track requires a lot of passion and self-sacrifice that I didn't have and didn't want to give). I've dabbled with the ideas of several careers since then - various permutations on cooking for a living come to mind. But I was afraid I'd hate it if I did it that much, so I dropped that idea. About the only thing I'm flirting with now is the idea of going into marriage counseling - it seems like there's a lot of people out there that have these potentially good relationships and can't see how they're destroying them, who could be helped. So yeah, if/when I go back to school that'll probably be my goal.

2. What is one garment from *outside* the period of the SCA that you would like to make/wear (can be a movie costume, designer dress, whatever)?

Hmm, one garment is tricky. Civ war stuff (ball gowns, not really day wear) fascinates me, as do certain styles from the 30's and 40's (ie some of the vintage ball gowns that Vogue's re-releasing patterns for now). Oooh, or regency stuff... see, there's a reason I try not to think about this - it's similar to the reason I try not to get intrigued by pretty things outside my chosen SCA time-slot - because if I do, I'll go off in ten zillion directions (channelling my inner ermine here...)

3. What's with the no-veggies thing? Are there any veggies you like?

The no veggies thing pretty much stems from having a very Southern mother who cooked vegetables until they literally fell apart. So most veggies are associated with having no taste - combine that with having overactive tastebuds / olfactory receptors for certain things (the odor of cooking cruciferous veggies) and having textural issues with other popular fruits / vegetables (tomatoes, strawberries, etc), it's no wonder I don't like them. I *have* started trying to teach myself to like properly cooked vegetables - I like certain stirfried things - snow peas and green beans - and I like corn... I'm working on the rest...(I pretty much agree with

theferrett on all points here...)

4. In the past while we've had long-ish (and fruitful!) discussions on the peer/apprentice relationship. If time travel allowed for it, who in the Real Middle Ages would you have liked to be associated with, and why?

As a cook, I'd want to apprentice to Chiquart - as I've mentioned before, I really like his attitude towards food - he's so... fussy! it's fabulous. However, I'm not sure that's what I'd do if I had that time machine - I think I'd rather be a lady-in-waiting at the court of some powerful noblewoman - Isabella of Portugal, perhaps. She had an interesting life, and being a lady-in-waiting in her court/entourage/whatever would let me be part of it. Because, really, the thing that fascinates me about the Real Middle Ages is how the rich and powerful lived...

5. What is one thing (outside of SCA awards) that you would like to accomplish as an artisan that you could look back on as a crowning achievement, as it were?

Cooking wise, I'd like to be able to improvise a meal, using seasonal/appropriate ingredients and appropriate techniques (wood-fire, etc) that would be recognizeable to a person from 1400/France as "good food" - ie survive an "Iron Cook" type challenge. That, and I have vague plans for a medieval cooking wiki - that's more a research project than really an "artisan" project, though...

Clothing wise... I don't know what I'd choose for that - a lot of the projects I could do (ie a hand-sewn fur-lined gown) are more tedious than purely technically challenging, though an embroidered, hand-sewn, furred houppelande would be a lovely thing to do - and if I went that far, I'd of course want to do all the underlayers / hats / accessories (shoes, jewelry, belt, pouch, etc etc) to go with...ok, so maybe that is a project. :-)

Current Mood: bouncy

Y'all know the drill (5 questions, let me know if you want me to interview you...)
These are from

bunnyjadwiga.

( How would you describe your persona? )

( What's your favorite kind of bread? )

( If you could ask one cook from the past 3 questions, which cook would it be, and what questions? )

( What do you want to have achieved by the time you are 36? )

( What do you do for a living? )

Current Mood: lazy

And I'm chained to my desk waiting for some !@#$# thing to print...

The weekend looks to be interesting, though very little of it will be spent on A&S stuff . That's ok, I'm not entering pentathlon anyway. I'm just going to do royal baker, and display a bit... Tonight I'm going to Cody's Chinese Bistro, with Shelly and some other people I don't know - that's ok, last GNO was fun, this should be too...just can't have TOO much fun, as I'm driving. Tomorrow, I think we're going to go tour UNC's rare book library, and maybe go see a movie - I'd like to see Triplets of Belleville, it sounds just kooky enough to be good. I will NOT, however, see Miracle or The Passion, for very different reasons (though oddly enough they're both movies that try way too hard to be inspirational -shrug- go figure - maybe I'm too much of a cynic). And Sunday is string thing, while Nick goes to fighter practice... yay, though I keep saying I'm going to go watch him fight sometime, and still haven't.

So, to kill some time as I'm COMPLETELY unmotivated to work...

soucyn's ( Daily-Show Style Questions )

And of course, I still owe

immortaleve some ( answers..... )

Also from boredom, I took a quiz that purported to choose a book that matched my personality...
( It's a bit perplexing... )

And last but not least, ( LJ style questions ) from

soucyn

The usual disclaimers apply - if you want questions, of either sort, let me know...

Current Mood: really glad it's Friday...

1 - Name one relationship, romantic or otherwise, that you regret in your life and explain why?

Um, not going to do the parent thing for this one, it's too easy, so let's just say... my first BF, Charlie - not that he was that evil or anything, just that I was never attracted to him and was just kind of dating him b/c he was there and wanted to date me (I was second choice for him, too, actually) - so yeah, that's how I got my first kiss, which was not all that great kind of a pity, really...

2 - If you could change one thing about your childhood what would it be?

I wish I had had a CLUE about how to interact w/ people my own age. I could deal with adults just fine, but other people my age didn't understand me, and vice versa, which caused me no end of grief in elementary/middle school, and gave me a few complexes I still have, lol...

3 - Name the person that you would least like to live with and provide juicy explanatory details.

Anyone but my husband, really - and that's mostly just because I think I'd drive anyone else crazy, not necessarily because I have had evil roommate experiences. (I'm quite lazy...and not the world's most organized person... trust me, I'm a really BAD roommate...)

4 - If you could go back and fuck one person that you've had sex with in the past - who would it be and why?**
**Yes yes, for those in the audience with ridiculously low numbers I realize this question might not be appropriate - but make something up damnit.

My numbers are (surprisingly) not that high either - so I'll have to say Scott, the ex-boyfriend right before I met Nick - I never fucked him, mind you, but we did write each other a lot of (bad) erotic poetry before he dumped me... and I'm vaguely curious how all that built-up tension would have resolved itself. Probably badly, really, given that he was kind of, hmm, let's just say lacking in skills and confidence when it came to women.

5 - Name 5 things you must do before you die.

This is an interesting question to answer, as it's kind of hard to differentiate the "Hope I do, but it's kind of dependant on other people", the "Would be nice to do", and the "Things I can control and MUST do".... I *think* the following all fall under the last category...

1. Go to Paris.
2. Have sex on a beach (preferably at sunset).
3. Eat at the French Laundry in the Napa Valley...(Or some other restaurant owned/operated by Thomas Kellerman)
4. Learn to be organized... no, really...
5. Learn to cook efficiently - I'm a REALLY good cook, but it takes me forever... and ever... and ever... to cook anything, so.... people end up waiting for dinner a bit when they come over... oops! I know this seems silly, but it really bugs me...and is one of the reasons I don't cook that often...

Current Mood: busy

1. Back at you. What is the hardest thing you've ever had to do?

Probably telling my dad I quit UNC - I'm not good with disappointing people. And that, of course, was a very huge disappointment for him... one of the things that sealed our (lack of a) relationship.

2. Is romantic love or family duty more important?

This one I'm going to have to say is situational. If you've met the love of your life and your parents are refusing to speak to them or something b/c of something petty, then yes, romantic love is more important. On the other hand, if you're a parent who has children living with them, you have to put them first.

3. Do you think pet names are cute or disgusting? (Like honey, muffin, pookie, you know...those kinds of things)

Definitely cute. Though we don't have that many for each other - I usually stick to FAIRLY innocuous ones like "dearest".

4. Does bad grammar, or the total lack thereof, online bother you? And how much if it does? Why or why not?

Bad spelling (that isn't obviously just a typo from typing too fast or something) bothers me much more. I don't mind fractional sentences and such from people who I know know better, but if it's someone I don't know it can definitely shape my opinion of them. Also, I mind bad grammar/spelling much more in emails and livejournal much more than I mind it on IM - I mean, I barely capitalize on IM, but I usually try to stay fairly coherent in email.

5. Free speech or safety in America?

I would definitely choose free speech, because no one can guarantee safety even in the absence of free speech. I think the government tends to treat the American public like a bunch of children, which is total bullshit... In my ideal world, the government would be a lot more hands-off.... then again, my friends have accused me of being an anarchist before, so...

Standard offer applies;
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

1) What is your favorite thing to cook?

Thanksgiving dinner. It doesn't have to be on thanksgiving, mind you, just turkey and graving and stuffing and... yeah. It's not just that I like that food - it's that everyone tends to like that, and one of my favorite things about cooking is it makes people happy. Besides, there's just something... comforting about turkey and stuffing and gravy.

2) If you could live in any country and speak the language, why would you
live in France?

Mostly for the air of romance. There's just something about the place that seems both sophisticated and sexy... or at least Paris does. Also, there's just so much history just saturating the place...Really though I'd be happy living anywhere in Europe, living somewhere without the Puritan background just appeals to me, for obvious reasons...

3) Between cooking and sewing, if you could be truely great at one and
suck at the other, which woulld it be?

Cooking. It's much more enjoyable/rewarding than sewing. Though I suppose I would just have to start carrying around a basket of goodies at events, since I wouldn't look as good... No, really, it's mostly that like I said before cooking makes people happy, and is a bit more useful.

4) Any ideas on childrens names?

Not sure yet. I rather like the name Michael, but... at one time we had names picked out (back at science and math) but I've since forgotten them... so they can't have been THAT great . I know that the potential son will NOT be named Nicholas, nor will he have Dennis as a middle name (though the latter will disappoint the inlaws, they can bite me). Also Ann is right out.

5) What person do you most regret loosing touch with?

My parents of course. Not that the circumstances could be changed... but that doesn't mean I don't still miss them.

Standard offer applies;
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

1) Are you where you thought you'd be 5 years ago? Where do you expect to be in 5 years?

In some ways yes, in some ways no. Yes, that's a copout answer, but I'll elaborate. Anyway, in the important ways, yes, I am - I married Nick, after all, and we're happy. Of course, in terms of schooling/job etc, I'm not but that stuff isn't what makes me happy. In 5 years? I hope to be making a bit more money, maybe have a house, but mostly be where I am now. Actually, at that point we'll probably start thinking about a kid... isn't that scary?

2) If you could change things to have a better relationship with your parents, would you?

Yes - I would have already done it. Unfortunately, the things that would have fixed the problem probably would have also ended up with them not being my parents - my mom would have been MUCH better off had she just never married my father, and then she probably couldn't have adopted me...

3) Do you ever tire of there being so many Jennifers in the world? Is there a name you would rather have?

Yes, I do - it gets annoying to always have to clarify whether people mean me or someone else, and it's just WEIRD when, say, I have a customer named Jennifer and I have to call them... however, I wouldn't change it - I'd rather all the OTHER Jennifers changed... Though I suppose in some ways I already have, since so many people know me as Generys. And of course, I'm going to be changing that soon anyway - switching to Genuevre, (pronounced something like JUN-ev-rah, not very good at phonetic spelling - not sure of the name's final speling yet either, so that's ok).

4) Of the outfits you've made, which is your favorite?

Um, probably not even one I made for myself. I made Nikulai some Russian garb and it turned out REALLY well, better than anything else I've ever made.

5) What's the song for today, and why?
Better Than Ezra "A Lifetime", because it's stuck in my head. It's both really catchy and really sad, which is a bad combo, but oh well....

Standard offer applies;
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.