Interviewee

Thanks to RP for interviewing me. My questions and the rules are below--keep scrolling and you'll see my answers as well.

1. If you could pick one world affliction to end, which would it be and why? What bad effect on the world at large do you think your choice might have?
2. What is your biggest disappointment to date? How have you rebounded from it, assuming you have?
3. How is it to work in a traditionally male dominated profession? Do you find it different from other jobs you have held?
4. What is your favorite room in your house and why? How is it furnished?
5. What was the most unexpectedly great class you've ever taken?
6. Why do you blog? What do you get out of it?

Here are the rules:

Leave me a comment saying "interview me". The first five commenters will be the participants. I will respond by asking you five questions. You will update your blog/site 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. (Write your own questions or borrow some.)

Here are my answers:

1. If you could pick one world affliction to end, which would it be and why? What bad effect on the world at large do you think your choice might have?

I would choose to get rid of addiction. Unfortunately, if addiction were eliminated, I believe a lot of those individuals who are addicted would find another way to ease their emotional pain. Hopefully that new technique would be less destructive, but it might be worse.

2. What is your biggest disappointment to date? How have you rebounded from it, assuming you have?

I live a relatively charmed life, so all of my disappointments seem trivial. I could go with the trite breakup story, but I think I'll choose my discovery that my favorite adults (Aunt K and my elementary school teacher) were actually adults and not my playmates. While I had this realization a long time ago, it has far-reaching implications. It is still a little disappointing when I see that my aunt is imperfect like the rest of us or even when I am disappointed in one of my friends today.

3. How is it to work in a traditionally male dominated profession? Do you find it different from other jobs you have held?

Being an engineer is the only professional job I've held, so I have little room for comparison. For the most part I enjoy working in a male-dominated field, but more than working with men, I simply enjoy working with engineers. Engineers have an appreciation for little weird things that I share with them as well as being, for the most part, comfortably logical.

4. What is your favorite room in your house and why? How is it furnished?

I skipped this question because since I moved in January, I wouldn't really classify any of my rooms as furnished--at least, not in any kind of cohesive manner. :)

5. What was the most unexpectedly great class you've ever taken?

Women's Health Care in America. One of the books we read for this class was Midwives by Chris Bohajalian. In addition to introducing me to a great author, the book convinced me, as well as the majority of the students in the class, that we would be interested in giving birth at home with a midwife. To understand why that is so amazing, you have to know that book is about a midwife that is put on trial for murder because she performs a caesarian section delivery on a woman she believes has just had a stroke during labor while trapped by a Vermont ice storm. (Also read Trans-sister Radio. Wow.)

6. Why do you blog? What do you get out of it?

I'm sure this is a peculiar statement from an engineer, but I typically don't analyze my life or my feelings. By maintaining my blog, I commemorate fun moments and anecdotes but I also explore feelings that I wouldn't otherwise.