Recently I found the time to catch up with Rhonda, the winner of the snail mail interview contest. We met at Petticoat to share coffee and ideas, but I didn't bring the tape recorder along, so most of this is from notes and memory. Rhonda, don't hold it against me for misquoting you. Without further ado, here's the story:
So, Rhonda, to start this thing off, what do you think of coffee?
It's caffienated...
How do you take it?
Just one cream... I don't know.
Okay, how about you tell the people one thing that they don't know about you that they should.
I don't know... I guess I have an aspiration to work in a diner.
Like this?
Trashier, just a stereotypical dirty restaurant. I wanna live in a trailer and be happy and not have to think... And get really rich... I think it would be fabulous to go to a great college, get a Master's degree, and then pick up and move to a trailer and have no responsibilities.
In your letter you seemed to be eager to talk, and now you don't know what to say.
I never thought I'd get the interview.
Well, is there any other rumor about you that you might want to debunk?
People think I study all day, but the truth is I don't, not so much. I mean I study a lot, but not as much as some people make it seem.
What do you think of studying?
It sucks. Shouldn't you be asking me the questions istead of me rambling on?
Yeah, I'm sorry. What are you doing now with your writing?
Well, I got published in three literary magazines so far, I entered a contest and got into like an anthology of Michigan poetry, I think the book is out in September, so they're sending me a copy. We're just finalizing the biographical notes.
That's great. Where are the magazines at? Are they national?
Yeah, two are in New York and one is in Las Vegas.
That's really cool. Have you kept your four point Rhonda?
Yes, but I'm not so much concerned with a grade point... I'm more concerned about learning. Grades mean nothing in the real world, it's all about what you know.
Well, back to my first thing, the people want to know obscure facts about Rhonda Linn.
I'm obsessed with drawing eyes and reading Allen Ginsburg poetry. You can tell so much about a person from their eyes, like if a person has been smoking pot since they were young you can see that.
Yeah, they're permastoned.
What's your thoughts on Country music?
It sucks. I had some friends who liked it and tried to recruit me to the dark side, like some of the poppier country... but I escaped just in time.
Good to know you're on the path of light. Well, Rhonda, it's time to play a word association game. Ready?
Coffee:
Mug.
Poetry:
Slam
Cailaen:
Sex
Lunch Table:
sex
Forensics:
Gay boys.
Gay boys:
Fashion
Joe:
Boxer
Book:
I'm at a loss for words...
Creamer:
I don't know...
School:
Hell.
Studying:
Mental excitement.
Summer:
Aw yeah!
Friends:
The lunch table.
The circle is complete. Any thank yous, shout outs, final words?
Next time everyone, send in things so I won't have to be interviewed again. Also, Kay Cappasso, Kirsten Brodbeck and I are making a new Radiator CD... They're going to sell it for $5 a pop to raise money for a permanent web-site. So look for it in July.
Cool. Thanks for your time Rhonda.
I’ve realized lately that most everyone thinks that they’re messed up on some level. Now don’t get me wrong here, it might just be the people I’ve been talking to but I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that everyone secretly thinks they’re sort of messed up on some plane of their existence.
In my opinion (which I know no one asked for) the whole thing is a disease, a huge secret that no one talks about. I mean we’re all too busy talking about the weather or the movies this weekend to slow down and admit to somebody, that we have problems, big problems, little problems I don’t care-- we all have problems...
So lately I’ve been trying to initiate honest conversations, honest conversations to the point that it hurts, about what’s been going down in my life that no one really knows about. I’m finding that a lot of times other people are pretty honest that they’ve been there too as soon as I initiate the conversation.
Now I’m not trying to sound like the preacher’s daughter or a hippie here but maybe we should stop trying to convince everyone else that we’ve got it so together because, in truth, everyone else is trying to convince us of the same thing.
-rhonda