Greta Interviews Basil

This weekend, we don't have any new blog interviews. However, for those that may have missed it, recently Greta (Hooah Wife)...

turned the tables on me and had her own interview ... of me! She posted it on her site last month, and has consented to allow its publication in its entirety here.

What book are you reading right now?


The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. It was a gift from my niece. Okay, I have more than one niece. But one of the nieces sent me that for Christmas.

It's a real nice book, too. Leather-bound. Gold-trimmed. Most of the books I own are paperback, cheap hardcover, or instruction manuals.

I've just started the book and am reading "The Tempest." I've never read that before, but I have seen "Forbidden Planet," which was actually based upon that play. Who knew?

It'll probably take me longer than it should for me to read the whole thing. The Complete Works, that is. So, if you start seeing quotes from Shakespeare in my writing, you'll know why.

 


You were a finalist for Best New Blog. What blog really was the Best New Blog?


Yeah, I had no business making the cut on that one. It was actually quite thrilling to make the list of finalists.

The voting went to Yellow Dog Blog. It's a lefty site. And it got a lot of votes from conservatives because of And it got a lot of votes from conservatives because of Steve H.'s efforts to p*** off the crew at Wizbang (who hosted the Blog Awards). Yeah, thanks, Steve. I won't go much into it, but that blog is definitely NOT the Best New Blog. Go read it for yourself. And no, it's not a joke. The guy really believes that way and suffers from extreme BDS.

But you asked about what was the Best New Blog.

Of the finalists, I thought WuzzaDem should have won. But there were lots of good blogs in that final cut. I thought 12 of the 15 finalists were deserving. My little blog was one of the three that didn't deserve to be there. And Yellow Dog was another one that didn't deserve to be there. You figure out the other one I didn't like. But, the other 12 were actually good blogs. Again, of those, WuzzaDem.

But here's the thing. There were lots of blogs that didn't make the cut that should have. I lean towards the funny blogs, which influences my decision on WuzzaDem. But it also influences my thoughts that The Therapist should have made the cut. And I hate mentioning any, because there's lots of other good new blogs out there. But that's the first one that came to my mind that would make the cut ... that didn't.

Let me suggest this: when you visit a blog, look at their blogroll. Find an entry that you're not familiar with and click on it. If it's a blog you've never seen, to you it's a new blog. And for a period of time, it just might be, to you, the Best New Blog.

 


What's your favorite passage of Scripture?


You've left a lot open by saying "passage." So, I'm not going to limit myself to a single verse. Instead, I'm going to say an entire chapter: 1 Corinthians 13.

 


Of Savannah's historic squares, which is your favorite and why?


This is embarrasing. But I grew up 60 miles from Savannah. And went to Savannah a lot. The first time I ever got in trouble for staying out late was when I went to Savannah by myself for the first time.

But growing up near there and visting the city a lot, I never gave thought to much of it. This might be off-topic, but next door to my parents' house (where I grew up) is a house that's over 150 years old. And someone lived in it. It wasn't a historic site or anything. To me, it was some great-aunt's house. Nothing more. But thinking about it now, that's pretty old for a house. And there's not a lot of those around where I grew up. Maybe not where you are, either. But it was just something that was there and we didn't think about it.

Same thing with Savannah and the Squares. To me, it was something that we'd look at from out the back window when we were little, because it was something to see other than a store building. And, later, when I drove in Savannah, the Squares were something to have to negotiate around and not get run over.

So I never had an appreciation of the Squares. Oh, we read about them in Georgia History class. But I never appreciated them. Until recently.

I want to visit Savannah as a tourist, not as a shopper (the Mall) or a patron of the arts (concerts at the Civic Center, etc). And I want to see the city through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. The Wife and I have already planned to do that. We just need to do it.

 


Carey Hilliard or Johnny Harris? (Turnabout is fair play.)


This is embarrassing, but I've never eaten at Johnny Harris. I don't know why. Unless it's because Carey Hillard's* was more convenient. You see, when I went to Savannah, we'd come in on US 17 or I-95. And, unless we were heading to the Civic Center, River Street, or that section of town, we'd take Abercorn (GA 204) in to the city. And there's a Carey Hillard's on Abercorn.

But, there are several restaurants in Savannah where I'd like to eat. Johnny Harris is one of them. After all, it's a Savannah tradition. I never ate at the Pirate's House*, either, and that's possibly the most famous restaurant in Savannah.

When we visit as a tourist, we're going to do it right.

 


Do you see yourself keeeping up your blog in 2 years, 3, 5?


Heck, I didn't see myself keeping up the blog for 2, 3, or 5 months.

Actually, I'd like to continue doing this. I enjoy it, which is why I actually contriubute to 5 different blogs on a (fairly) regular basis. But sometimes, it's a pain. But it's a good pain.

So, unless I get hit by a bus or something, I plan to keep blogging.

 


Are you as cute as your baby picture?


Cuter.

Well, maybe not. I'm a lot taller than I was when that picture was taken. And I have more hair, although I am experiencing what's called "natural highlights." And I've put on a few pounds.

Other than that, you can't tell the difference.

 


What do you do for "real" work?


Who ever said what I do at work is real? I guess since they pay me for it, it counts as "real" work, huh?

I'm a little hesitant here, because what I say and do on the blog is totally unrelated to work. From time to time, when I mention work, I have called it the Evil Corporation. That's not a slap at where I work, but rather at those that think that corporations are evil.

The company where I work does good work. We perform services, and not so much offer products. That is, we make nothing the individual consumer can buy.

But if today, we stopped offering our services, you'd probably feel the impact almost immediately. In fact, it would be felt world-wide.

We do important work. We do good work. Heck, we do excellent work.

My specific area offers training for not only our company's employees (yeah, they're called Team Members, which makes the CEO the Head Coach, I suppose), but also for our clients. And I help make some of that training available online.

I build Web sites, work with behind-the-scenes databases and LMS (learning management system) applications. I could go on about being the one that asks lots and lots of questions about ... well, anything our area is asked to do.

I'm also the resident smart-aleck, but I don't get paid extra for that.

 


Have you ever met a Yankee you liked?


Well, I'd certainly like to meet Joe Torre.

Or did you mean something else with that question?

Okay, I was in the military. The Army. I met people from all over. Every now and then, I'd run into someone who thought everything was right Up North and everything was wrong Down South. Those, I made their life a living hell.

Others, whether from Up North, from Down South, from Out West, from the Islands, from the Territories, or from other countries, were mostly great folks. But there were also idiots from those places ... including, of course, the South.

Everywhere you go, you'll find great people. You'll also find idiots. I try to remember the great people and forget about the idiots. Except I like to remember the idiots. To laugh at them. If the idiots are from Up North, I'll call them "stupid yankees." If they're from Down South, I'll call them "dumbass rednecks."

Gosh, it's a little different being on the receiving end of the questions. But I liked it. I really liked it.

Tomorrow, we return the favor to Greta and rerun her interview here. If you missed it earlier, you'll want to be here tomorrow.

Next weekend, we'll be back to our regular schedule, with Steve the Pirate and Holly Aho of Soldiers' Angel.