EH&Q

bigreddee asks:

Who has inspired you in some way within the last week?

Today I talked to my old Violin teacher Kosha. We had a good long talk and I realized actually how well she understands me. Left to my own devices I am all strife and angst... so complicated! Then a 72 year old woman reminds me that I am basically just a big softie. And reduces me to a bashful grimace that I can't deny because what she says is true.

Within the last year?

I like to think that I take inspiration from a lot of sources frequently over time. So I don't think there is any one particular 'Who' for an entire year. Those sorts of people are special and rare.

Within the past ten years?

Funny you'd ask that question today. Because today the answer to the first question is the same as this one. Kosha is something special, I can't begin to sum her up in words.

Do you think inspiration is fleeting, as something that fades away over time (in a 'strike while the iron is hot' kind of way), or something that lasts throughout the ages?

When I was younger I used to think that if I didn't act on my ideas they were likely to dry up. As if I didn't put everything into action I would never make any action. I had some pretty lofty goals as a kid. I remember resolving in the 4th grade that I was going to be single, live in an apartment with like ALL the pets I wanted including a bulldog I'd name Eddie. Then we tried to start our own comic publishing company in the 7th grade that I attempted to mastermind. Later in high school was the dot-com boom and my IPO was imminent.

I guess what I mean to say that inspiration, when you look for it, is always there. And it is important to strike the iron hot. But it's also important to learn the processes and techniques creative people need. I know that sounds backwards... to get inspired first and learn second.

bearinatlanta asks:

What song has influenced your life the most?

There have been quite a few. The songs and artists that are really important to me, that become a sort of touchstone are as follows.

• IMpossible by Figurine - A song about long distance love.
  
• Heart by Stars - The record I listened to driving around the south of France. I bought it before I left Ontario on a lark at the local HMV. I was depressed and sad, unsure I'd ever find love or be happy. I thought I was destine to be a failure in life... that everything was hopeless. Then I went to the UK and started something new for a while. This record was a sort of lighthouse from home and a message of optimism.
  
• 4 by Aphex Twin - I used to crank this and the rest of the record when I'd skip class to play Quake 2, jerk off and rock out. I skipped high school a lot.
  
• Gordon by The Barenaked Ladies - I was never a Nirvana kid really, at the time. I thought they were kinda dramatic and cool. Being a big fat nerd I related to Steven Page in a big way, to be brutally honest. Also when I shave we look uncannily similar. So much so that when walking in Toronto I'd sometimes be asked if I were him or told that I look like him.
  
  Now BNL makes circus music for adult children. "Another Postcard of Chimpanzees"? It's true when people become parents they kinda lose it.
  
  isitandlookout wonders:
  
  You are just so adorable - what is your beauty secret?
  
  I'm flattered, truly. Exfoliate AND moisturize.
  
  daninca bleeps:
  
  *vkww====bleep..????
  
  

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  deafguy has tough ones:
  
  What is the Ultimate Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?
  
  42
  
  I ask this to the various gay men that I've met because I find their answers to be fascinating. You don't have to answer this if you don't feel comfortable. When did you find out that you were gay? Were you ever interested in girls, or was it all about the men?
  
  I spent considerable time masturbating in the shower, to which my older brother can attest given we lived in a home with but one bathroom. I used to try and think of boobs and stuff... but the equipment just wouldn't respond to it. But fantasizing about the WWF, bodybuilders or super heroes? Bingo.
  
  The earliest possible homo-erotic recollection of mine was at a grocery store actually. Some brand of peanut butter had Superman on the label and I found myself fascinated with it. The prominent square jaw, exaggerated pectorals? I became fixated and a bit disturbed myself as to why this happened.
  
  Anonymous asks:
  
  What do you consider the most valuable truth you've learned about the universe (so far) which might elude others?
  
  I don't think I have any particularly universe smashing insights, to be honest. I have a few ideas about the world at large that fascinate me however. For instance I'm a firm believer in perception altering reality. Not in some fantastic Sci-Fi way, but in more subtle ways. If you believe in a beautiful world you will indeed create one.
  
  profundis queries:
  
  Give one example politically speaking where you were disappointed in a person or group whom you are usually pleased by, and one where you were pleased when you expected to be disappointed.
  
  Like national politics? I have been pleased and displeased by a variety of politicians on many occasions. Picking one would be arbitrary. If this is some way of determining if I subscribe to a partisanship view I would say no. I am usually pretty willing to look at other perspectives, but I have my sacred cows, for sure.