The Great Interview Experiment: Banana slugs pop!

This is my interview with the fascinating Jess.


Me: Why is believing there is magic in this world so important to you?

Jess: I think, if i am honest with myself, i need to believe there is magic. You see, i have had a very tough three years, it hasn't been anything that many, many other people don't go through - it's just that they *keep* on happening. But, in between it all, in the middle days, i have had moments of great bliss. Large and small. I have seen the magic in my kids amazing resilience. I have seen the magic in a few kind words at the exact needed moment. I have felt love that hurts so much it makes me cry. I have seen my daughter light up when she visits her fairy house in the morning and there is a new and tiny note waiting for her. I need to believe that life will cut me a break soon, that i will magically have a wonderful future.

Me: What are your top 5 songs to sing in the car?

Jess: This is a tough one. I'm a bit of a music junkie. Five songs that have really carried me through the past year are:

1. "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver

2. "The Night Starts Here" by Stars

3. "Halfway Home" by TV On The Radio

4. "Weighty Ghost" by Wintersleep

5. "Milk Thistle" by Conner Oberst

And, everything by Band of Horses who are my musical super heroes.

Me: Now that all of your kids are in school, you said you have 5 free hours during the day (when they aren't sick with swine flu - yikes!) how do you spend that time; and how would you like to spend that time - in dream land?

Jess: Lately i've been spending that time doing the Mondo Beyondo course and learning how to use my Diana camera. The Diana is a vintage inspired plastic camera. I have several lenses for it and an Instant back which lets me take mini "polaroids." I love it, but it's simplicity has proved very difficult.

In dream land i would spend that time doing some kind of exercise that i actually enjoyed and working on my career as a photographer.

Me: Can you write a haiku (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables) about what it's like when your youngest claims into bed with you some nights?

Jess:
chubby hand face down
softly snoring kicking sheets
winter breeze kisses

Aren't they supposed to have a seasonal reference? I tried...

Me: From looking at your photos (and that one entry about your facebook photo), I can see you like arms and legs but rarely have photos of your face, why is that?

Jess: Honestly, i'm the only one who ever takes photos of me, especially since i've become a single mom and, more truthfully, i almost always look bad in pictures other people take of me. I lost my self-confidence in regards to photos. I suppose that part of it is getting older too. It's hard to get a picture of me where i actually look like me. My legs and feet though? They always look like me. I also like the feeling a picture of feet gives me. My kids feet have so many stories. All the places they have been and the places they will go.

I suppose the same can be said for my Facebook profile pics that have been a series of pictures of my legs and feet - dancing, jumping, running - going somewhere. It reminds me that i do have places to go and a future to embrace.

Me: I've been to British Columbia and I still have nightmares about those giant banana slugs, do you ever get over seeing them around your yard? Have you ever stepped on one? Do they make a yucky sound?

Jess: I kind of luck the slugs. They have a hole on the side of their head that they breathe out of, it's kind of cool. I hated them as a kid though. One horrible summer i stepped on one in bare feet and it squished between my toes. *shudder* I still remember exactly how that felt. I've stepped on them in shoes and they actually 'pop'. It's pretty gross, they pop right out of their slimy skin