E! True Rogers Park Story
These are my answers to bdar's questions from his interview meme. For the time being, I'm going to refrain from posting the meme myself as I know I won't get around to making up questions for people. Okay, here goes...not sure why it makes me nervous:
1) Was it one particular thing or a small collection of things that led to your ideological/political turnaround? Explain.
I think it was somewhat one particular thing. As I've mentioned before, my hometown is in an area which is religiously very hegemonic (if I'm using that word correctly). You're assumed to be Christian, and it often matters very much what denomination you are (my mom's boss was upset when he heard my brother didn't mention that he grew up Baptist in a job interview). The people of West Texas are also very politically conservative. These are some of the Red base that was galvanized in the late-80s and early-90s by Rove and Limbaugh and their ilk. When I was a kid, I didn't think it was possible to be a Democrat and a Christian at the same time. And being Christian was very important. I didn't know the "weird" kids who didn't believe in God in high school. There were only jocks and preps who sort of believed in God, I guess, and us "weird" kids who were both nerds and Jesus freaks. Going against the church would mean going against my social group.
In college, in theatre, I was finally socializing more with the weirdos and less with the church crowd, and I changed. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in God, though I'm working on finding a belief truer to myself than a Christian Right ideology. And I have friends and family who are both Christian and conservative and are among the most compassionate and loving people I know. But it didn't work for me anymore. I saw the hate and fear that was being sold and I turned the other way. I also realized that there were places where people took religion less seriously and didn't feel awful about it. I don't know if I can explain it better than that.
2) Name one writer whose career you'd like to have, and why.
I think I'd go Joss Whedon. I'm not going by what their writing is like because that's not what you asked, although Joss would be near the top of that list, too. But Joss has a career that I think I would love to have. I've long been interested in TV writing primarily because of the chance of extended character development. Joss has headed no less than 3 outstanding TV series with phenomenal characterization (although one of them is famously and tragically short-lived). His series are beloved to full-on cult status. His writing staff have been consistently picked up by other great shows as Joss's shows have ended. To me, that suggests a great culture and a lot of fun in the process. I'd like to work on something like that.
Otherwise, any writer of The Office. Seriously. How much fun would that be?
3) How has the assault, earlier last year, affected the way you go about your life? How did it affect your mindset?
I don't know that it affects the way I go about my life anymore. Obviously, when I'm in the vicinity of the attack (which isn't that often...I had to park quite a way from the apartment that night), it's a little creepy. I don't think about it that often, but when I'm around there, I acknowledge it in sort of a detached way. Most of the time, when I consciously think about it, it feels sort of surreal, like a crazy story that happened a long time ago. Sometimes, though, when my mind drifts to "what could have happened" or "what I could have done", I still find my fists clenched and my stomach churning and, occasionally, adrenaline will shoot through me. That feels a bit scary.
I mentioned shortly after the attack that seeing African-American men walking toward me on the sidewalk was tough to handle. That, thankfully, is much less true. Now, it's only occasional, and it can be anyone walking toward me on the sidewalk at night. Especially in groups. That's still a little scary.
4) What superpower would you most like to have, and why?
The ability to jump back in time up to one day. Not necessarily to change big things, Early Edition-style. Mainly just to keep myself from making dumb mistakes. Selfish, I know.
5) Were there any places you considered moving besides Chicago? How do you imagine your life might be different if you'd gone there, instead? If you'd stayed in Texas?
I applied for grad school right out of college at NYU, so I imagined life in New York. I don't know that I ever really thought about it in realistic terms. I'm sure New York life is harder in quite a few ways (more people, more expensive), but I bet it's quite the same in some ways. At least, for anyone who grew up in a city of 100,000, living in any city of multiple-millions is going to be somewhat similar. I'm sure I wouldn't have had anywhere near the artistic opportunities in NYC outside of actually getting into school.
If I had stayed in Abilene, I shudder to think...I'd probably still be working with my mom at the County Clerk's office, doing community theatre and shows at my old college. Actually, shortly after we moved, the theatre department at school had to replace one of the professors. One of the professors told me his first thought was "It's too bad Brandon doesn't have a Masters degree." Which is very nice, but...I'm glad I didn't get stuck there. We're actually now considering moving to Austin inside a few years to be closer to family. We have very, very close friends there who are talented theatre artists, and I'm very much looking forward to doing theatre with them. I'll miss the hell out of New Leaf and Chicago, though. Chicago...seriously, I can't imagine a cooler town.
Oh! We lived in Paducah, Kentucky for a few months after graduation and Tanya worked as box office manager for a big community theatre. She was offered the job full-time, with a starting salary somewhere around $18,000. I probably would have had to work at Wal-Mart or some kind of shipping company. It's a cute little town, but we decided to get the hell out of there before we were trapped forever.
1) Was it one particular thing or a small collection of things that led to your ideological/political turnaround? Explain.
I think it was somewhat one particular thing. As I've mentioned before, my hometown is in an area which is religiously very hegemonic (if I'm using that word correctly). You're assumed to be Christian, and it often matters very much what denomination you are (my mom's boss was upset when he heard my brother didn't mention that he grew up Baptist in a job interview). The people of West Texas are also very politically conservative. These are some of the Red base that was galvanized in the late-80s and early-90s by Rove and Limbaugh and their ilk. When I was a kid, I didn't think it was possible to be a Democrat and a Christian at the same time. And being Christian was very important. I didn't know the "weird" kids who didn't believe in God in high school. There were only jocks and preps who sort of believed in God, I guess, and us "weird" kids who were both nerds and Jesus freaks. Going against the church would mean going against my social group.
In college, in theatre, I was finally socializing more with the weirdos and less with the church crowd, and I changed. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in God, though I'm working on finding a belief truer to myself than a Christian Right ideology. And I have friends and family who are both Christian and conservative and are among the most compassionate and loving people I know. But it didn't work for me anymore. I saw the hate and fear that was being sold and I turned the other way. I also realized that there were places where people took religion less seriously and didn't feel awful about it. I don't know if I can explain it better than that.
2) Name one writer whose career you'd like to have, and why.
I think I'd go Joss Whedon. I'm not going by what their writing is like because that's not what you asked, although Joss would be near the top of that list, too. But Joss has a career that I think I would love to have. I've long been interested in TV writing primarily because of the chance of extended character development. Joss has headed no less than 3 outstanding TV series with phenomenal characterization (although one of them is famously and tragically short-lived). His series are beloved to full-on cult status. His writing staff have been consistently picked up by other great shows as Joss's shows have ended. To me, that suggests a great culture and a lot of fun in the process. I'd like to work on something like that.
Otherwise, any writer of The Office. Seriously. How much fun would that be?
3) How has the assault, earlier last year, affected the way you go about your life? How did it affect your mindset?
I don't know that it affects the way I go about my life anymore. Obviously, when I'm in the vicinity of the attack (which isn't that often...I had to park quite a way from the apartment that night), it's a little creepy. I don't think about it that often, but when I'm around there, I acknowledge it in sort of a detached way. Most of the time, when I consciously think about it, it feels sort of surreal, like a crazy story that happened a long time ago. Sometimes, though, when my mind drifts to "what could have happened" or "what I could have done", I still find my fists clenched and my stomach churning and, occasionally, adrenaline will shoot through me. That feels a bit scary.
I mentioned shortly after the attack that seeing African-American men walking toward me on the sidewalk was tough to handle. That, thankfully, is much less true. Now, it's only occasional, and it can be anyone walking toward me on the sidewalk at night. Especially in groups. That's still a little scary.
4) What superpower would you most like to have, and why?
The ability to jump back in time up to one day. Not necessarily to change big things, Early Edition-style. Mainly just to keep myself from making dumb mistakes. Selfish, I know.
5) Were there any places you considered moving besides Chicago? How do you imagine your life might be different if you'd gone there, instead? If you'd stayed in Texas?
I applied for grad school right out of college at NYU, so I imagined life in New York. I don't know that I ever really thought about it in realistic terms. I'm sure New York life is harder in quite a few ways (more people, more expensive), but I bet it's quite the same in some ways. At least, for anyone who grew up in a city of 100,000, living in any city of multiple-millions is going to be somewhat similar. I'm sure I wouldn't have had anywhere near the artistic opportunities in NYC outside of actually getting into school.
If I had stayed in Abilene, I shudder to think...I'd probably still be working with my mom at the County Clerk's office, doing community theatre and shows at my old college. Actually, shortly after we moved, the theatre department at school had to replace one of the professors. One of the professors told me his first thought was "It's too bad Brandon doesn't have a Masters degree." Which is very nice, but...I'm glad I didn't get stuck there. We're actually now considering moving to Austin inside a few years to be closer to family. We have very, very close friends there who are talented theatre artists, and I'm very much looking forward to doing theatre with them. I'll miss the hell out of New Leaf and Chicago, though. Chicago...seriously, I can't imagine a cooler town.
Oh! We lived in Paducah, Kentucky for a few months after graduation and Tanya worked as box office manager for a big community theatre. She was offered the job full-time, with a starting salary somewhere around $18,000. I probably would have had to work at Wal-Mart or some kind of shipping company. It's a cute little town, but we decided to get the hell out of there before we were trapped forever.