Interview with ANP

Occasionally I want to feature interviews with some of my fellow bloggers. My first interview features my friend, Anittah. Anittah and I went to high school together. It was a residential high school and we lived either next door or across the hall from one another both years. She was the perfect antithesis of me: tall, outgoing, athletic, confident. To top it off, she's also beautiful and an excellent jello wrestler. Her blog is called xoxoANP.

Why did you start your blog?

A deep need for external validation. Also, I like to write. At the
risk of seeming like a black turtleneck wearing jackalack, Nietzsche
once wrote, "Writing for me is an embarrassing need." When I read
that, I thought, "True dat."

What's your favorite thing about blogging? Least favorite?

I like that it allows me to express a smidge of creativity in fairly
easy way, and even while I am sitting at my desk at work (until they
firewall it of course; knock on wood). It's also fun to see the
different search terms that people punch into Google to find my
website, and it's great to read the comments. It's nice to know that
some of the wacky idears bouncin' around my brain make others think.
This, I think, is the most rewarding part of blogging. To know that
others are out there listening. And maybe -- maybe! -- being exposed
to a POV that they hadn't yet considered.

My least favorite part is that sometimes I worry that it makes me seem
a bit needy. It's weird to get comments from people that I no longer
wish in my life. And I hate the idea of people assuming that they
know who I am simply because they've scanned a few entries of my blog.
But, I guess this is all because I'm a touch self-obsessed. Duh, I
blog. ;)

The good thing is that when I say stuff like, "Oh this is totally
blogworthy!" I'm saying it sarcastically. There was a point in my
life when I would have actually meant that, and I would have sought
out experiences no matter how unhealthy simply because it would make
for a good story. (Eek!)

How has your blog inspired you?

Since I've been doing it more frequently (I started in 2000 but have
really hit my stride when I finally moved to WordPress and hosted it
myself last fall) I've decided to get more serious about my writing.
(Or maybe I'm confusing cause n correlation; hmmmm.) But I've also
harnessed some of the power that comes from being candid and sincere
with the world. I truly believe, possibly narcissistically, that
people in my life who read my blog and are ready to hear some of the
deeper thoughts that I drop are mulling it over in the back of their
minds, whether it's me sharing my experiences cutting emotional cords
with ex-lovers, or me sharing one-off thoughts about experiences as an
outsider.

This sense that others are watching and listening has made me want to
live my life that much more honestly, to be unafraid of being
vulnerable. So that perhaps I can, in turn, inspire others to risk
doing the same.

What are your favorite blogs to read?

I only read the blogs of people I know. ALO {another friend of ours from
high school} tried to get me to read
political blogs but they just make me angry. There are a couple that
I read from people that I don't know, generally comedians and writers.
Yours is a favorite, as well as my coworker Rachel's
(http://nycbabylon.blogspot.com/), my college friend Priscilla's
(http://urbanrhetoric.multiply.com/). I also read the blog of a woman
in Denver (http://www.sweetandbitter.com/inside/). The last one is
truly an example of the wired web and gives new meaning to 'online
dating': Although I've never met her, we discovered each other's
blogs because she was the ex girlfriend of my ex boyfriend. Ha!

Describe your typical day.

6:00 a.m. - The lights plugged into my timers turn on.
7:00 a.m. - My white noise machine turns off.
8:00 a.m. - My cell phone alarm clock goes off.
9:00 a.m. - I get out of bed.

I usually make a cuppa joe with my yuppie Keurig, adoringly sipped
from a Lomonosov porcelain tea cup. (I used to want to save all the
nice stuff I own for "a rainy day" or "guests", but screw that!) My
favorite breakfast these days is toasted raisin bread slathered in
peanut butter, with a cup of greek yogurt mixed with honey and grape
nuts. (Is all this detail way too dorky? Please edit !!!)

10:00 a.m. - I get in my car and drive several miles to my office.
Although I get in later than most, I made my own dorkmobile timesheet
to ensure I work 40-45 hours a week. I used to work 60-70 all the
time so I like the timesheet to keep myself in line. I work at Citi
in the domestic credit card division running a big chunk of the online
acquisitions. It's rewarding work. Every day there are highjinks and
comedy; we've grown in to a happy quirky family -- each with our own
neuroses and talents. I love the guys on my team, I have a great
reporting line, the vendors and partners with whom I work are all
solid people that I hope to maintain relationships with far after I
leave this role.

At least once at the office I'll log into my esprsso.net account and
get updated on all my RSS feeds for the blogs I read, flickr, etc.
(http://www.esprsso.net/people/anp/). It also helps to walk around
the office floor a few times, with Really Serious Strides and Whilst
Looking Busy.

1:15 p.m. - Sometimes I go to a yoga class at our onsite gym.
Otherwise, after work I'll either have an evening basketball game or
writing class (Wednesday, 6-8p) or a meeting with my "personal coach".
I've also been spending time recently with a very funny man that I'll
admit I'm into. (We met when he crashed my company's Christmas
party.) He's taken me to a soup kitchen where he volunteers and I
want to start joining him more often; it's so rewarding to be able to
give back, even in a small way, and community service has always held
a dear place in my heart. Who knew that the way to my heart was by
making me do volunteer work!

Once a month I jello wrestle, and I'm trying to submit a piece of
writing to a different publication once a month too. I just sent out
my first submission today to a magazine called 'The Sun'. !!!!

And of course, up to once a day (I try to limit myself so I can stay
focused on everything else!) I blog.

Ah -- 11:00 p.m. I just heard my white noise machine tick on. I
better go blog something before the day is over.