You Asked, Part 1
photo by bbaltimore
Before I give away the secrets of the universe (or, um, my life) I wanted to let you in on another secret: Iron Man 2 is not as surprisingly awesome as the first one. Even a bag of popcorn in all of its gazillion-calorie glory could not redeem it.
So, we’re going to do this in two parts since you asked a lot of good questions. Here we go with part one…
FoodFitnessFreshair said: I know you currently work for a diabetes publication, which is awesome! Do you have any future journalism aspirations or goals in mind?
You mean aside from winning a Pulitzer? Kidding. Sort of. When I first started at the magazine, my goal was to do some freelancing on the side. I did that for a (short) while until I came across this problem: I work from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. so I’m short on hours left to do interviews for other projects.
Sure, I could conduct interviews during work hours, but I’m too much of a Goody Two-shoes to do freelance work at my full-time job. It just seems wrong. Thus, I’d say my future aspiration is to find out a way to make freelancing work. Or to find out a way to increase the number of hours in a day. I might get a Nobel Prize for the latter, so I’m aiming for that.
Estela asks: I just wanted to know if you’re a freelance health writer or if you write for a publication.
I currently only work for a magazine, though in the past I’ve freelanced. Once I slow down the earth’s rotation around the sun—thus giving me a few non-work hours during which I can conduct interviews—I might start pitching freelance ideas.
Wei-Wei asks: How did you come up with your blog name? I love it, it was what attracted me to your blog in the first place!
I love that you love it. Here’s how it went: I was complaining to The Man about my ever-annoying knee pain. Then I started fantasizing about mad scientists creating a bionic woman with knees of steel that gave her the ability to do all sorts of crazy cool things. That woman, of course, would be me. I thought of this bionic me like Wonder Woman with more modesty (because I’d never wear that getup) and that’s where the name I’m (not) Wonder Woman came from.
Then I had thoughts about copyright infringement and lawsuits and all sorts of bad things, so I switched it to I’m (not) Superhuman. That is just as truthful. For now.
Melissa says: As a Canadian, please tell me what its like to live in DC.
Melissa, you know those birds and moose and other animals you have up in Canada? You know the trees and fields and mountains? And the fresh air? Yeah, we don’t have that. Here’s what we do have: Lots of traffic. More traffic than you could ever imagine unless you live in Los Angeles. We have traffic even at 3 a.m. because that’s how we roll in DC. Before I make you too jealous, I’ll be nice.
We also have a lot of history, which I think is really cool. I’m not sure if that makes me a dork or just patriotic or both. As much as I complain about DC (and Northern Virginia, where I live), it’s very cool to drive by Arlington cemetery or the Pentagon or the Washington Monument all of the time.
Nicole wonders: When did your love for writing begin?
I’m not exactly sure because my memory is a little fuzzy if I go back 20 years (unless something’s on video, in which case it’s crystal clear), but I’m pretty sure it was around the time I learned to read. Or write. I can’t remember in what order kids learn those things.
My mother read to me every night, and I know that early books like Stone Soup, Strega Nona, Charlotte’s Web, The Secret Garden, and about a million other books had something to do with my love of storytelling.
Ameena asks: When are you coming to L.A. so we can hang out properly? I think we’d be great friends.
I’m on the 12:03 from Reagan airport, so I should land at LAX by 6:47. Does that work for you?
OK, I’m joking. But I’m visiting LA as soon as flying across the country doesn’t make me want to physically rip my kneecaps out of my skin. (Or as soon as I make enough to fly first class in all of its lots-of-leg-room glory.) I can’t wait, though, because we’d have so much fun going to the cool restaurants you guys have, and making fun of typical LA moms at the park.
Stay tuned for Part Two tomorrow, where you guys throw some deep, hard-to-answer questions at me.
What were your favorite books as a child?
20 comments
Haha that story about how you got your name made me giggle. It’s awesome to imagine yourself as bionic woman… You GO, Supergirl!
Thanks for answering my question!
Wei-Wei
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When did I miss the memo that you work for a diabetes magazine? I am so tardy for the party!
My favorite childhood book? Frog and Toad Forever!
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Thanks for answering my question
As a fellow DC resident… I concur that this traffic is worse then LA!! I’ve never been so miserable as I have sitting in rush hour traffic on the beltway!
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Tracey Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Estela–The Beltway is a slice of hell on earth.
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Loved learning more about you!!! You are definitely a talented writer…I love reading your posts. I think you should consider writing a book…you writ and humor are AWESOME!
My favorite book as a kid was a series…Babysitters Club!!!
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Tracey Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 8:48 am
Kelly–Thanks for the compliment! And I too loved Babysitters Club. I always wanted to be as cool as Dawn.
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Go for the Pulitzer! And I didn’t know you lived in D.C. I love all of their free museums, but yes, the traffic down there is killer.
There are so many childhood books I loved, but one that my mom would read time and time again was “Goodnight Moon”.
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Hehe to your comparison of Canada and the States. So now the question is, when are you coming to Canada to see our awesome pristine nature so that WE can hang out, hmmm??
I’ve got a question for you: what advice do you have for someone (*cough* me *cough*) who wants to write/edit for a living? In terms of how to go about finding a newspaper/magazine/publishing company to work for? Unfortunately writing/editing the school paper (and blogging daily) doesn’t quite pay the bills!
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Tracey Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Sagan–Hm, maybe that should be a future post…
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Nice answers. I would love to write fulltime. Maybe in 20 years
Fave books? Babysitters club, Fear street, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High…
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Tracey Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Empty Nut Jar–Yes! I loved Nancy Drew so much. And I remember Fear Street!
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Tracey, thanks so much for your kind words and for sharing your sister’s story with me. I really appreciate it.
I also really love this q & a, I do love learning more about people. And some of these things I wondered myself…like the name of your blog. Very creative and unique.
I also loved Charlotte’s Web and The Secret Garden! Another favourite was the Wayside School series by Louis Sachar. They’re strange but I liked them because they were so different.
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Tracey Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 3:25 pm
Lauren–I loved the Wayside School ones, too. I can’t remember much about them right now except that they were really weird. I feel the need to go back and re-read them.
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I want to be a writer, but not with those hours! ICK! Strega Nona was hands down my favorite book growing up! I think we’d be good friends, too!
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Tracey Reply:
May 10th, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Nicole–Me too.
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I love hearing about your job Tracey…since I will unlikely ever find a job writing I can at least hear more about what you do.
I loved Sweet Valley High, the Babysitter’s Club, Nancy Drew. Basically anything and everything, even the forbidden VC Andrews that I hid under my mattress so my mom wouldn’t find them!
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Love hearing about all your answers! I love your answer to my question..lol..please come visit! Favorite books as a kid were Curious George, Black Beauty, and the Bernstein Bears!
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My favorite book as a child (…and still is one of my favorite) is “The Runaway Bunny.” Have you read it? It reminds me of my mommy and I, and I still cry when I read it!
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Oh Wonder Woman, she was totally one of my role models growing up (and probably still is if I stop to think about it). Favorite Childhod Books: Goodnight Moon; all Dr. Seuss and Curious George; Strega Nona; the Mrs. Nelson books; The Stupids; Taran Wanderer Series (Disney made a really bad movie adaptation of one – The Black Cauldron); the Madeline L’engle books (Wrinkle in Time, etc.) . . . ok, I’m going to stop now
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Thanks for sharing! We used to live in D.C. and I liked your answer to that question – very true!
You definitely write well enough to win a Pulitizer Prize!
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