i has been interviewed

Jen of worldwidewatercooler fame recently offered up the chance to answer 5 interview questions and since I’ve been in a serious blog rut lately I emailed her to see what questions she would come up with for me. We don’t really know each other very well (though plans are in the works to rectify that!) so I was really curious to see what she was curious about. Of course, me being me, it’s taken a few days to actually get this written up and it contains, of course, way too many words but here you go!

1. I know before BC you lived in Calgary – how’d you end up here, and what do you think of us crazy LeftCoasters?

I first visited Vancouver when I was 18 and absolutely fell in love with it. I visited a bunch more times after that and came to the realization that when I did finally move from Calgary, it would be to Vancouver – I just had no idea when, how, or under what circumstances. Fast forward to 2006 and I’m living with a guy who’s fairly nomadic by nature and loves the idea of moving to Vancouver. Then three things happen that seem to push us west: 1) in May I decide to cancel a trip I’d been planning to New York because even though I’d saved some money for it I didn’t have enough to do it the way I wanted to. Which means I’ve still got a bunch of savings. 2) I find out in the summer that I’ll be losing my job at the end of the year when my department is moved from Calgary to Cambridge and that if I stick around until the end I’ll be receiving a generous severance package well into 2007, and 3) in September the house Josh and I had been renting gets put up for sale which means that at any time after that we could be given 3 months notice to get the hell out. Plus, the company Josh worked for at the time has an office in Vancouver and was willing to let him move into a position here. So, what it really came down to was, I was losing my house, I was losing my job, I wouldn’t need to stress out too much about finding a new job when the time came, and I had enough savings to pay for a big move. So we did!

The crazy leftcoasters are different than Calgary folk! When I first moved here, the vibe I felt downtown once I started working was a lot different than what I was used to when working in Calgary. It felt quite a bit more… superficial I guess. I still feel that way a bit when I’m out and about downtown during the week but I’ve definitely gotten used to it, and on the other hand the people that I’ve really gotten to know since coming here are fantastic. I haven’t made a lot of friends, but those I have made are really wonderful and have added so much to my life. Everything is all good!

2. If you had a million dollars (if you had a million dollars…) what would you do with it, if you HAD  to spend it on something entirely frivolous (ie. no paying off loans or buying houses).

TRAVEL! Seeing some more of the world would be my first priority, probably something European to start.

3. If you hit play on your iPod  rightthissecond, what would start playing? Would you be embarrassed by that?

Marching Bands of Manhattan by Death Cab for Cutie – woot! No embarassment here!

4. Favourite food to cook? Favourite food to have someone else cook for you?

Pasta dishes are easily my favourite food to cook and I usually end up with some sort of pasta/vegetable/meat stirfry-esque type dish. I don’t follow recipes and tend to just make it up as I go along. I also make a mean chicken parmesan. For home cooking not prepared by moi, I’ll never get tired of my mom’s beef stroganoff – it’s been my birthday meal for as long as I can remember… mmm. For restaurant type stuff, my taste is all over the board though curry is high on the list (Indian and Thai). Too hard to choose! I like food too much for picking!

5. If you had to lose one of the five senses (smell, touch, taste, hearing, sight) which would it be?

I’ve been thinking about this one quite a bit and I think I would choose smell. I would hate to lose it because it’s such a potent sense but at the same time I think it would be the easiest one to lose without messing with my way of life too much (ie, I would still be able to cross the street safely). The same could be said for losing taste, but I just love food and though I realize that without smell taste cannot work as well I’d still rather have something than nothing in that area. If that made sense. Lots to consider!

So yeah. Interviewed. Thanks Jen! You have successfully get my ass in gear with a new blog post