July 9th, 2010
Fridays are for… Answers! vol. 1
Thanks so much for your great questions! I realized that without meaning to I’ve definitely missed some major points- here’s the first round of answers to fill in the gaps…
Would you and Mister ever consider moving stateside? If so, to which state? from Nora &
If Im not mistaken, Mister is from Minnesota. Would you two ever consider leaving Canada for your southern neighbor? If so, what would it take to get you here? from Nilsa
Mister is actually a dual citizen because his mom is American, but he has never lived in the US. But being a dual citizen he has a social security number and could move over at any time, and when we started dating we seriously considered moving to Minneapolis.
We really love Canada, and it would take a lot for me to leave. But the main issue with immigrating is that if we did move it wouldn’t be like I was marrying an American who was already established, we would both be starting completely from scratch. Neither of us would have a credit score, credit history, employment history, drivers record, references from previous landlords, or anything.
We have a great life here, and if we moved it would take us many years to get our feet back under us. It’s just not right for us, but I’m fascinated by the US and I love visiting every year.
Do you cuss? from Steph Anne
Yep! Maybe not as much as I used to when I was hanging out with theatre people all the time, but I tend to use the word “like” and any range of curses interchangeably a lot of the time without realizing it lol
What do you do for work? from Liz, Chanel & Skinny Dip
Up until last year I was working in entertainment marketing (music & theatre), but after working in entertainment since I was 16 I was really worn out from all the low pay and mandatory shows after long days. I decided to leave the industry and went back to school part time and started working part time. My part time job is as an administrative assistant in the financial / insurance industry.
My day job is dry, but I have amazing flexibility. I work mornings with a (generally) really positive team of people and in the afternoons and evenings I work on my creative projects and my freelance work. It means many very long days every week but I love being busy, and I feel like I’m really in my element. I was in school all last year & I’m currently deciding what to do about my courses for the next year – I’m undecided about how they fit into my life right now that I’m not scrambling for a job & direction like I was last summer.
When I’m not at work I’m working on my dream of having my design work & (eventually) my etsy shop become my full time job. It’s going to take time and planning, but I’m really excited to make it happen. It’s my biggest dream :)
What’s your stance on true love & soul mates? from Nora
I really don’t like the idea that there’s only one person out there for you, and if you don’t meet them you’re out of luck. My experience of the world isn’t nearly so straight forward, and I don’t like the idea that we’re all on one narrative track. The world is full of so much mystery, I think it has much more interesting stories up its sleeves for us than that.
(Yes, the universe definitely has sleeves.)
To me, a more exciting and grounded idea is that there are a whole range of people out there, scores of them even, who would make all of us happy. The idea is to narrow that down to the person you’re most fascinated by, and who you can really help and grow with. That puts the romance in the choice to be together and in making a happy life together, that sounds like much more fun to me!
What’s your favourite band or musician? What’s on your workout playlist? from Diana
Such a tough question! Some of my favourites are The Hold Steady, The Weakerthans, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sleigh Bells, Tilly & The Wall, The Mars Volta, Air, Caribou, Jimmy Eat World, The Decemberists, Bon Iver, She & Him, Johnny Lang, Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Morrissey & Otis Redding… I’m kind of all over the place!
For working out right now I’m addicted to “Hurricane J” By The Hold Steady:
& “Kids” by Sleigh Bells:
I’ll keep answering questions until I’m out of them, but if you have any more add them in the comments :)
I just double checked our music on last.fm, and we are SUPER HIGH!
I love your taste in music! You answered everything so gracefully (yes, even the cussing one! ha)
Thanks so much sharing!
Thanks for taking the time to answer my question! I’m of the same school of thought that you are; that just ONE person out there? Well, just shoot me now :) (I kid.) Appreicate your honesty and love your answers to the other questions too :)
Great answers – I loved it when you talked about your favourite bands and you couldn’t pick which was your favourite, that would be my problem entirely!! Love all the bands you listed though and it gave me a great excuse to play Tell ‘Em yet again! :)
I completely agree with your ides on soul mates and romance. I think we have lots of soul mates that help guide us and shape us and help make us grow and that sometimes they’re in the shape of romantic partners and other times they’re in the same of mentors and friends and family members.
Great questions, great answers!
You are so talented and should really start selling at local craft fairs, or even organize your own. It’s so exhilarating :)
I love your answer about true love & soul mates. I couldn’t have explained that any better than you did.
i think i’ve said this before, but i totally have the mouth of a sailor sometimes. and a lot of the time i don’t even realize it until someone is staring at me going, “that word came out of YOU?!” haha. oops? ;)
i love what you had to say on true loves/soul mates. it was beautiful, and i totally resonate with it!
I agree with you about the nonexistence of the one. My husband and I both agreed that we could be happy with more than one person but it was more the matter of making the one we chose to be “the one”. Can’t wait to hear more!
I’m new to your blog, but I had to comment and say OMG, Weakerthans! They’re one of my all-time favorite bands and it seems like no one has ever heard of them.
Yes! There’s two of us now, strength in numbers! :)
They’re from the same city as I am and a lot of their early stuff references the streets and geography of Winnipeg, it always makes me happy to hear (One Great City always makes me laugh)
I grew up in Michigan and saw them when they played in Detroit a couple times in 2003 (or so). I also had the awesome opportunity to interview John for the zine I was doing at the time. He was so nice and interesting, and he is still one of my favorite lyricists ever.
YAY. I loved reading your answers. Looking forward to more. I agree with you about the soul mate thing. I also hope you get your dream career going soon :) Stay determined!!!
I love how you’ve been able to tailor your budget to fit your needs, where you can still pursue your interests, have a nice life, & not have to work 24/7. Very, very cool.
It took about four years for us to get to this point, but I’m a big fan of it :)
I loved this. love love love.
My question: What’s going on with you spiritually? Are you still pursuing Christianity? Tell me all the juicy details. :)
PS: I love this Q&A idea.
I definitely still am! I’m kind of in a lull right now, a “Wow I’ve read a lot, what now?” phase with my spirituality. While I figure it out I’m switching from Christian authors to read about other spiritual traditions I know a little about but not a lot about, so I understand the finer points of what a number of them have to say :)
It’s like a huge personal research project, I’m having a lot of fun.
Thanks for answering my question! :)
I think we have a very similar stance on soul mates. I also think there are many people out there & a lot of it comes down to who you choose.
Happy Friday! xo
Ooo love Sleigh Bells!
We’re going to go see The Hold Steady tomorrow! PRETTY EXCITING STUFF!!!
SO JEALOUS! When they played here last year they sold out in one day, it was dumb. I’m hoping they come back, or I can catch them when I’m traveling! Have an amazing time :)
Oh, Canada. :) I visited Winnipeg when we were younger, but I don’t remember a whole lot. We had family friends living there.
Any place that you have made your home is really hard to leave. And yes, getting credit, settling in, it would be very tough to move to the States without some help.
Loved learning more about you! :)
I enjoyed this! Best line: Yes, the universe definitely has sleeves.
I love reading your answers, and while I’m mildly disappointed that you have no major plans to move stateside, I’m so happy that you love where you are! It also gives me an excuse to come check out the prairies sometime.
I’ve told you this before but I love your stance on true love and soulmates. I feel the same way!
So glad to hear you’re not moving down south anytime soon, now if only you could come a bit closer to the west coast… ;)
Wow, so interesting. Well said on the soul mate thing! Such a great answer to that question!
I need to check out some of those bands that you listed that are not on my play list.
So Johnny Lang – he is actually my cousin’s cousin. Random, huh? So I saw him at family stuff when we were growing up. I think our birthday are like a day apart. He was always the kid sort of ‘putting on a show’ for others so we were not surprised when he because a popular performing artist. He is very talented. It’s kind of cool that I can way “I knew Johnny Lang when…”
Johnny went to my high school, along with Richard Dean Myers and Greg Mortensen (the author of Three Cups of Tea)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseville_area_high_school
…and I love your response to the idea of soul mates. I think there are many out there, and you never know when you’ll find one. I’d be down for soon, if you have any power in that department :)
lol! Everyone knows Johnny Lang! This it hilarious! :D
I’ll try to sneak in a good word with the universe for you on the soul mates issue ;)
That’s so crazy Lisa! He’s extremely talented- I saw him on tour with Buddy Guy about five or six years ago and he was so cool to watch :)
I enjoyed this little Q&A session. Nice to learn a little more about you!
I’ve been to hundreds of concerts and The Mars Volta is hands down the coolest show I’ve ever been to. minus the fact that it was in LA and half the people there had no idea who they were.
lol Oh that kills me to hear! I drove eight hours to see them when I was in university and it was so worth it :)
Your music taste makes me so happy because we like the same things <3
I definitely have a job that I love, but I wouldn’t mind having more time for the things that I love (crafting, letter-writing, reading, photography, etc.)
Unfortunately, live in California is expensive and a part-time job just wouldn’t cut it. I am glad you’re able to dedicate time to the things you love.
Great answers, Friend. I always enjoy reading what sort of musical interests other people have.
Love these answers! Of course now that I’m trying to think of a question I can’t!
I adore your ambition and all your creativity. You truly are an inspiration and I wish I had time to devote my life to things that interest me more. But wait… I guess school is my main interest! ;)
Exactly! You ARE doing this, it just looks a little different :)
I always knew I liked that Nora girl … we seem to be on the same wavelength. =)
If we could swing it financially (which we definitely can’t right now), I’d love to work part time and devote the rest of my time to things that interest me … photography, volunteering in the community, and possibly motherhood (TBD). I love that you’ve figured out a way to make that work for you and Mister – commendable!
Above everything else, the affordability is why we stayed here. Our mortgage payment is less than it cost us to pay rent, and we’ve been diligent about not gathering up any consumer debt and paying off our big purchases before making our next ones. We’re married to our budget and are really careful, and it’s 110% worth it when it means I can pursue this :)
Also that you list your Motherhood as TBD interest cracks me up ;)