Velvet Girl Interviews Bernie

You have certainly seen interviews on television in which famous people provide scripted answers to often stupid questions about themselves, revealing glimpses of their highly unusual lives. The only “real people” interviews you see are with people who have done some extraordinary thing that suddenly makes them famous for fifteen minutes.

A few weeks ago I saw an interview meme on Velvet Girl’s blog, in which truly “real people” did the asking and answering. In this case another blogger asked her five questions. She offered to do the same for any of her readers.

What a cool idea. So here are the five questions she asked me and my responses:

1. What inspired you to start blogging? Do you share your blog with friends and family? Why or why not?

I love writing and story-telling but my usual outlet is a 30-second radio commercial. I wanted a venue where I could express opinions, make observations and see my poetry in print (my other blog) without any pressure to impress anyone or recoup an investment.

The first and only blog I read till just a month prior to starting this one was written by an old friend from New Orleans who gave up a cushy suburban teaching job for one in the inner city, and wrote of her experiences. Then Diner Girl, someone I do radio projects with, mentioned her blog and after reading it for a few weeks, I started mine.

I’ve mentioned my blog to some friends and family, but most are not that interested. My few regular readers are mostly total strangers or casual work friends.


2. You've been granted the superpower of your choice. What did you choose and why?

Invisibility … the power to go places completely undetected.

That would be the ultimate vehicle for observing the real world. To be able to see people in their most private moments, to learn how they really feel or act when being themselves, is a thrilling concept. Maybe I’m a voyeur at heart. To put that superpower to good use, I’d hang out in the Oval Office or a corporate boardroom, find out what’s really behind those high-level decisions and try to do something about righting the wrongs of the world.

3. If you could have one thing or time from your childhood again, what or when would it be and why?

My childhood was great, but I usually don’t think about returning to it. Two things do keep coming back to haunt me, however.

First, that day in elementary school when I tried to join the band and chickened out. If I had joined that day and learned to play saxophone, I might still be playing, and maybe it would have been part of how I make a living. I did learn to play trombone in high school, but quit playing after graduation. In my late 30s I finally took sax lessons but gave it up after a year. I still have the horn in case I want to tackle it again and I occasionally fool around on a bass guitar I bought in college.

The other childhood thing I might want to have again is language lessons. I took French in 3rd grade (must be a Louisiana thing) but didn’t continue. I studied Spanish in high school, but I didn’t stick with that either. Knowing more than one language would be such a great communication tool and cultural adventure.

This pattern of not sticking with things has affected other aspects of my life. Fortunately I learned to get past that. I’m 33 years into my career, 40-plus years into my love of photography and 50-plus years into a love of music.

Thanks for asking that question, VG. I feel good thinking about it. Hope the answer wasn’t too boring.

4. Since you work in a music related field, I would imagine that you have quite a lot of music. What are your favorites from your collection and (gulp!) what is the most embarrassing album that you own?

During my vinyl days, I had 2,000 albums and I currently have about 500 CDs. There are many favorites, but the CDs I keep playing over and over include: Montgomery Gentry “Greatest Hits,” Burning Sky “Music for Native American Flute, Guitar, Percussion,” Kenny Neal “Hoodoo Moon,” Bob Marley and the Wailers “Legend,” INXS “Kick,”, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers “Trouble Man,” U2 “Achtung Baby,” and Alabama “For The Record: 41 Number One Hits.”

The most embarrassing? Uhh, a CD with 7 versions of The Macarena is pretty embarrassing. And I still have the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack on vinyl. Hmm, I think my Frank Sinatra CD is in the truck right now.

5. You can invite five living people to meet for dinner. Who would you choose?

I’ve met some famous people and I’ve usually been disappointed; their public persona is often more interesting than their private reality. But I’ve included famous folks on this list because these five have highly-successful, multi-faceted lives and they’ve often overcoming incredible odds to live their dreams. Each has had and continues to have a positive impact on humanity. I’d like to learn something from them, one on one.

Bill Clinton – an ambitious kid with a dysfunctional childhood who played saxophone, became a lawyer, writer and President of the United States, and survived completely stupid personal behavior to become a respected “elder statesman” Boomer.

John Glenn – a test pilot and the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, whose second career was a 25-year gig as a U.S. Senator. Much of my love of spaceflight came from observing his work as an astronaut. And his 1998 return to space at age 77 served as a great role model for creative aging.

Roy Clark – singer, songwriter, instrumental virtuoso, entertainer, TV and movie star, boxer, licensed pilot, horseman, humanitarian, story-teller. A down-to-earth guy with vision and staying power. And I actually have had dinner with him, twice. His stories about Hee Haw are amazing, as is the story behind his landmark 18-concert tour of the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

Annie Leibovitz – an amazing photographer whose subjects are people. She has photographed everyone from Bob Dylan to Queen Elizabeth to Carl Lewis. In a way, she has the “invisibility” superpower I mentioned in question 2. She is able to enter the lives of famous public people and capture split- second glimpses of their private selves and share those moments with the rest of us. I wouldn’t ask about her brand of camera or f-stop choices; I want to learn how she makes people comfortable.

Jodie Foster – child actress who becomes a successful adult actress and filmmaker without the bullshit usually associated with that kind of transition. She is smart (Yale grad, magna cum laude), beautiful and so damn private. Jodie, come to this dinner party and tell me something you’ve never said in the few interviews you’ve done. I promise I won’t repeat it.

What an incredible dinner that would be. Let’s have ribs at the Rendezvous in Memphis.

OK, so there you have it. (Velvet Girl, thanks for the interesting questions).

Now what?
"If you wish to do this meme ... 1) Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me." 2) I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions. 3) You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions. 4) You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. 5) When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions."