Brief Interviews With Hideous Men

Q: I'm delighted to have with us here this evening ___________________. Thank you for being here.
A: (courteous smile) It's my pleasure.


Q: In less than a week's time they're going to sing and smile and say darling, we love you very very much. Is this a significant occasion for you?
A: To be honest I um feel a sense of trepidation somewhat. Like it's this thing looming over me and people are fussing over its importance and it's taking up more thought than it should.


Q: So you're dreading the significance of this particular ritual somewhat?
A: Well, it's not so much that I'm dreading it. I think it's more like there are so many things you think you want to do when you're young, and then as you get older you sort of run out of steam. When I was twelve, I had this romantic idea for a long time of writing a book by the time I was eighteen and now I feel I'm deferring it as the years go by, 19, 20, 21 (slight laughter)


Q: Lets talk about the year for you. Has it been a good one?
A:  (pauses for a bit and then exhales) Yeah, as a whole I think this year's been really good in terms of well, everything. Or at least the most important things. I think the last time I had this great a year was when I was 16, and that feels like a very long time ago now. For the same reasons though, 16 was a very secure time in terms of people and myself and this year really reminded me of that.


Q: So has the year been positive because of the people around you or do you think it's because you're a lot more at ease with yourself?
A: I think it's a bit of both really. This year's been a bit of a soul searching one in fact, re-examining and re-evaluating strands of history that have come to pass but ultimately moving forward. And the people intertwined in the year have been really great, really really comfortable in fact.


Q: You mentioned that you did a bit of soul-searching. Now in the past you've been notorious for having your fair share of depressive funks, do you still go through that?
A: (laughter, embarrassed and sincere) Well I am annoyed at how easily I fall into a rut sometimes but I'm definitely dealing with it better. Well, I hope. (mutual chuckling)


Q: I'm sure we're all very glad to hear that but what prompted this newly formed realization?
A: Um I think it's important that you don't internalize too much. I know this sounds ironic coming from me but you need to have a point at which you say stop, and focus your thought processes on something else. It definitely wasn't easy for me to snap out of certain habits but the people around me help me deal with it all the time. Not actively, it's more like I go home and I realize how patient they've been or how much of an idiot I was being at that time and then I feel really guilty. (sheepish grin)


Q: Now you once disagreed with the saying "No one is an island" and at that time you were very adamant about trashing life out on your own terms. That seems to have changed.
A: Well yes and no. I still think I have an extremely strong sense of self and I definitely know what I want (kittens) and don't want (bebbes) but at the same time I've started to relax a little, I used to think that I knew everything, now I realize how silly that little superiority complex was. I think instead of talking in terms of islands we should be discussing peninsulas instead. Happy and secure on your own terms but with important and affirming ties to other people.


Q: A more intimate friend would suggest that you sound a lot more grown up now. Is this a presumptuous statement on my part?
A: (laughter, sincere again which surprises him) I used to think that the music I listened to really said a lot about the places I was at in that particular point in time and I still do. I mean I love my sad, moodily introverted bands and I always will. But my tastes have branched out as well. Sad has been replaced with wistful and moody introversion has been replaced with this very bittersweet taste on my tongue. It's hard to describe feeling bittersweet isn't it? It's right there in the middle of these two great extremes. There's a lyric from one of my favorite songs which goes "You will miss me when I am gone, but the happy music will carry on". And I'm always left with a very whimsical feeling when that line plays and I loop the song over and over again.


Q: Alright, I think that's all the time we have left. I wish to thank our guest _________________ and we wish you all the best for the year ahead.
A: (smiles) Thank you.