I hear 51 is the new 50!
An interview with Virgil:
*Why are we doing this interview thing?*
Because I was asked. I’ve done a number of them and have declined the last couple of years. What else did I have to say? But I relented this year.
*So, how old are you?*
It hurts me to say it, I just turned 51.
*What is the best birthday present you've ever received?*
I don’t know. Here’s a story. Not sure if I’ve said this before, so I may be repeating myself. When I was about nine or ten years old, sometime around the end of November I heard a car screech and a crash outside the house. I ran to look out the window and I saw the car that caused the accident take off. Then after five-ten minutes I saw that same car come back around. The guy got out of the car, looked at the ruckus and then got back in and took off. I wrote down that guy’s license plate and handed it to somebody. I never exactly heard what happened afterward but apparently the hit-and-run driver was located. A man, who apparently was the victim, came to my house just before Christmas and gave me an expensive toy train set as a gift. It was such a surprise. My parents could never afford expensive gifts for their children. I guess it was the best not because it was expensive but because there was a touch of virtue associated with it.
*If you had a personal theme song what would it be?*
Oh I guess that depends on the mood I’m in. On the one hand, “Young at Heart.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG7suS4YJWk
On the other hand, “Too Pooped to Pop.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1pSvAjKve8
*Are you male or female? *
Guess. :P
*If you could build an entire planet from scratch, what would it look, sound and smell like?*
LOL, it’s hard to top the planet Earth. All the others seem so non-conducive to your health.
*Would you like to join Maximilianus' Air Force?*
(?) As long as I’m a fighter pilot. Top Gun, baby!
*If you owned the site, what would you change?*
No politics, keep religious discussion to texts as the site claims is the rule, and get rid of that ghastly “Serious Discussion” forum.
*What was the inspiration for your LitNet username?*
The poet.
*Which countries did you visit?*
Italy, England, Scotland, and Aruba. Not many. Oh, and Kazakhstan where I adopted my little boy.
*Which languages do you speak?*
English, a bastardized Italian, and supposedly Spanish since I had a number of years of education. But really every time my sister-in-law who is from Peru talks to me I don’t have a clue as to what she’s saying.
*What is the last thing that you have done that you have been really proud of?*
Oh probably taught my three year old son something new that enlightened or filled him with awe. I love that in three year olds.
*If you could live somewhere different, where would it be and why?*
Some place warm and with lower cost of living and lower taxes. Either North or South Carolina or maybe Texas. Of course I can’t wait for global warming to make New York an island paradise. Hey we’re already getting hurricanes.
*Do you have any pets?*
A yellow Labrador retriever named Brandi.
*What makes you happy?*
A good book, a nice piece of music, beautiful work of art, and my family (though they drive me bonkers).
*What's your favorite song for singing in the shower?*
I don’t really sing in the shower, but how about “Hear Me Lord.” I find the shower to be a great place to speak with the almighty or say a morning prayer to orient my day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdxkvuogxGw
*Which actor should play you in a movie based on your life?*
How about a cross between Humphrey Bogart and Groucho Marx. Can you picture that? :P
*What's your signature dance move?*
Oh you have to see my dance moves. My hips go one way, shoulders go another, my arms flail, and my head shoots off my neck.
*How do you like your coffee? *
Cream and sugar. Used to always take three sugars, now down to two, and even one and a half at times.
*Given the option, what animal would you choose to be?*
A wolf, silly.
When you were younger, what did you want to be?
An astronaut.
*What makes you feel great about yourself?*
Accomplishing something. And spending time with my son. He gives me so much joy.
*How did you meet your significant other?*
We had mutual friends and met at some occasion where a number of their friends were invited.
*What was the best day of your life?*
Normally I would say the day I got married, but I think that got topped two years ago when the orphanage handed my little boy over to me and said he was all yours.
*What are you naturally good at? (Skills, abilities, gifts etc.)*
Understanding literature, writing, and I think I’m a decent project manager. And then there are my dance moves. :P
*What is the one thing you must do before you die?*
See my son grow up to be a handsome, virtuous, and accomplished young man.
What’s the geekiest thing about you?
Either my glasses or my mustache.
*If you had to teach something, what would you teach?*
Probably literature.
*What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?*
Write a novel.
*If you were to be stuck at a particular time in your life, which one would you choose and why?*
I think each part of my life has had something I would love to return to. I cannot see my life now without my son Matthew. I wish I were younger, but then I probably wouldn’t appreciate him as much as I do now.
Do you ever get tired of living your life?
Except for the hour commute to work each way, no.
*What one thing would you NEED to have on a deserted island if you didn't have to worry over food and water? *
Books, books, and more books. And pen and pencil.
*If you were a king/queen for a day, what would you do?*
Oh. Oh. Oh. Would I change this world, this country, this city. Oh. And I bet hardly a person here would want to live in my empire.
*What’s the stupidest forum argument you’ve ever had?*
I forget stupid arguments fairly easily.
*What song is in your head at the moment?*
“On Eagle’s Wings.” I was listening to this rendition by this wonderful relatively unknown soprano, Kitty Cleveland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sia__sKdHGw. You can read about here: http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Cleveland-Kitty.htm
*Which book are you reading at the moment?*
The Hobbit. I’ve never read it and the movie is coming out. So it has to be read first.
*What is your favorite quote?*
There are lots but I always keep returning to this one as the core of our modern condition. “Distracted from distraction by distraction.” By TS Eliot from “The Four Quartets.” And then there is the quote that can cure our modern condition, a quote with multiplicity of echoes and allusions, the very first words God speaks in the Old Testament, “Let there be light.”
*What’s your favorite word?*
Love. And no, not the silly superficial love that usually is talked about.
Which comedians or cabaret artists do you like?
Not much of a fan.
*Favorite avatar on the Forum?*
I looked around and to be honest I can’t find one I like better than mine.
*Favorite threads?*
I liked the poem of the week thread when I was on the forum, but I’m pretty much strictly on the blogs now. I wish more people would come by the blogs.
What's your favorite sandwich?
Eggplant Parmesan.
*What is your answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?*?
God.
What is the exact threshold of your credibility?
No clue. I don’t even know what the inexact threshold of my credibility would be.
*What are you wearing at the moment?*
Black jeans and a yellow button down shirt.
*Favorite poem?*
I hate these favorite questions because I love many and I don’t rank what I think is great. The one poem I keep returning to since it’s so mesmerizing and difficult to penetrate is Eliot’s “The Four Quartets.” But that’s kind of cheating as a single poem since it’s technically four poems with five parts each. But they intertwine.
*First novel you remember reading on your own?*I’m 51 years old. Do you think I can remember that far back? I can’t even remember what I read last year.
*What era do you find most of the books you read are from?*
I try to spread across all eras, from classical to contemporary. I wish to absorb the totality of western culture with a sampling into other cultures. But my master’s in English literature had an emphasis on the 20th century British novel.
*Favorite TV shows?*
I don’t watch much.
*Which Forum members would you like to meet in person?*
Other than the weirdoes I wish to avoid, I would say all. Of course you don’t know my definition of weirdo.
*Are you a winter or summer?*
Hmm. Summer.
*Last words you said out loud?*
“Go to sleep. Angels are watching you.”
*Last person you hugged/kissed?*
My son.
*What do you do to be able to keep your LitNet addiction going? And are you happy with your chosen profession?*
I’m a mechanical engineer (who doubled majored with English Literature – yes odd) who now manages R&D projects. Every day is a challenge either in engineering skills, in managing a team of headstrong experts who can be worse than children, in balancing budgets and keeping on schedule, and in communication of goals to the team, progress (or lack thereof) to management, and assurance to the customer. It’s a great job.
*What would you like to be if you could change your profession?*
Lately as I’ve watched the Freedom Tower (the replacement to the World Trade Center Twin Towers) go up here in New York City, I wondered if a more interesting choice would have been a civil engineer. It seems like there would be a large satisfaction in completing a building project.
*Which one of the seven dwarves are you and why?*
Smarty Pants. Because…well why not?
*What is your most outstanding feature?*
My sinuses. :P Actually I’ve had a chronic sinus infection now for three months.
*If you could change one thing about the way you look, what would that be?*
I want my dark hair back. It’s become salt and pepper and really mostly salt.
*Which book do you wish you had written?*
Here’s five: Melville’s Moby Dick, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, Dostoevsky’s The Brother’s Karamazov, Faulkner’s Light In August, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. And if you’ll allow me to add a play, Shakespeare’s King Lear.
*What book would you recommend to others of all types and ages as a must read?*
I just read Willa Cather’s My Antonia, and wow that is a strong novel for all ages. And there is always Dickens’ Great Expectations.
*What should you be doing at the moment instead of answering these questions?*
Sleeping.
*Describe your ideal day, please.*
Hmm. How about receiving a phone call from upper management telling me they will satisfy my request of an additional several million dollars to expand and fully execute my project? In 2011 I received not one, but two such phone calls spaced several months, and it blew the minds of everyone I worked with. However 2012 has not been a kind year.
*Favorite movie?*
I’m not much of a movie fan. I think it’s over rated as a medium for art. But I have a special place in my heart for “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
*Last movie you watched?
The Marvel comics movie, “The Avengers.”
*Favorite painting?*
Again, I don’t really have favorites. My preference is definitely Renaissance art. Someone turned me on recently to this painting by Rogier van der Weyden, “The Descent From the Cross”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:El...ogle_Earth.jpg. The parallel positioning of Christ and His mother is brilliant.
*Are you gellin'?*
No. Sinus infection is bothering me and keeping me up at night.
*Something you want to forget but you never can?*
My father’s last year or so of life. But then it really had a great impact on the person I am today. There are always reasons for suffering and it’s a part of life we should not shy away from.
*What is the wisest thing that has been said to you?*
I’m always surprised how wisdom just seems to pop up. I don’t know what the wisest thing would be. Someone wrote this recently: "Why do we feel so much more complete and fulfilled when we add a spiritual dimension to our lives? We become not only happier, but more HUMAN. I think we feel that way because we have recaptured a part of ourselves that we had forgotten, or put aside." From my world view, I would qualify that last part. It’s not a part that has been forgotten or put aside; it’s a part that’s been fragmented and which we are now trying to achieve wholeness. But yes, definitely more human.
If you could relive one moment in your life whenever you wanted to, what would it be?
My birth.Hard to believe I was actually a baby, but my mother has pictures to prove it. But will she swear under oath that’s really me?
What is the best thing that happened to you since your last birthday?
Nothing overwhelming, just a bunch of little joys.
*If you could send one thing to the Room 101, one would that be?*
An atomic bomb?
*Are you mostly happy with life or are you still in pursuit?*
Mostly happy. If I’m in pursuit it’s for that one great successful project at work.
Tell us something scandalous about yourself.
I’m really not an ogre.
*How long did it take you to answer all of these questions?*
A few hours over a few days.
*One final word of wisdom for LitNet users?*
Virtue is not corny; discipline shapes the mind and being; love is the reason we are alive.
*What question would you like to ask to the person to be interview after you?
What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
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