feeling listless

Blogger Insider Martin of MysticSchism asks:

What do you think is better, stream of consiousness writing or editing?
I'm not entirely sure what that menaing but I'll have a go. In my weblog I try to include both. Sometimes I'll think of an idea for a piece and I'll do some research -- I'll look at the breadth of opinion on the subject, some of the history and find something on the web to link to. Other times (like my recent piece on the girl I saw on the bus who cuts herself) I'll have a gut reaction to something and I find I just have to get it out of myself. At times like these I don't have an answer ... I just find find myself looking outwards the electonic highway and shout 'Why?'

How do you find the time to write so damned much? What would you do with your spare time if you *weren't* blogging?
Oddly enough I don't write as much as I used to. Look back at my archives from the first few months and I was adding something new every day. But I think you find that with any hobby -- at first it's all you think about, it consumes you ... then you take a step back and realise there are other things you're interested in. I did think about giving up all together, but what little writing I do now focuses the mind. Also I've always been writing something and this allows me to keep the habit.

Hand writing vs. typing?
I've been using the keyboard as language tool for getting on for ten years now and I've found my handwriting has stopped developing. It isn't joined up for example. But its at least legible. In my job I have to inspect all kinds of handwriting and the scrawls I come across ...

List top 10 worst possible things you could lick in your home town.
The Liver Buildings, the Mersey Tunnel, the painted Penny Lane sign, my old school's gates, the John Lennon statue in Matthew Street, the trees, the sweat on a doorman's shoulder, the dusty shelves of the Central Library, the tables in the local MacDonalds, the rails at Lime Street Station (what an odd question...)

It is said amongst my circle of friends that everyone can do three things better than anyone else. What are your three?
My typing speed can be freakishly fast sometimes -- think Matthew Broderick in 'WarGames'. I'm also extremely good at finding myself in slightly odd situations -- mostly normal but with a centre of wierdness. I've also got a fantastic memory for useless information -- like I can remember what I was wearing on particular days in particular years or when I saw most films for the first time.

Why does your biography page spend more time talking about your 'ideal' woman than about yourself?
The whole plan with the biography page was to answer all of those email quizzes which seem to be bouncing around -- sadly the only ones whcih have bouced my way have predictably been about that kind of thing which makes that page make me look like a sex-crazed lunatic. Which is why I've bumped up the bottom with some old writing from within the weblog and from Metafilter. I'm going to look at build it up in the future.

You are clearly an avid movie watcher, and apparently a woman watcher, so what do you think about the prodominant 'male gaze' of most films? Is it merely a reflection of society, or does it needlessly perpetuate a problem that it could be working to dispell?
I think I really do need to have go at that 'about me' page -- who do you think I am? Anyway to answer the question, I think things are changing. There doesn't seem to be a move towards creating films for a general audience which feature female lead characters. 'Panic Room' isn't a classic film, but at least it allows Jodie Foster to be the hero without shedding all of her femininity. In the Eighties that character would automatically have been male (and no doubt played by Michael Douglas). Some of this is a result of the increase in the number of female producers in films and not just in Hollywood. Keep and eye on the credits and you'll see what I mean. I do think films only reflect society -- I think that people do put too much stall in trying to prove that films are perpetuating a status quo -- that they're that influencial. If films had the power to change society, how come no one is still prepared for a terrorist attack for example, the subject of a hundred action pictures. 'The Shawshank Redemption' is supposed to be one of the top three best films ever made and yet prison systems throughout the world are still in a mess. Film and film show that war is stupid -- and yet here we are again, two years into a new millenium and people are still blowing each other up. I think that if anything women seeing men get the upper hand all the time on the silver screen has actually inspired them to go out and prove their equality.

What is your favourite source of caffine?
Coca-cola. Coffee sends me to sleep.

What music do you hear right now, if any?
I'm actually listening to the NOW 36 compilation I bought today. I'm trying to collect the NOW albums, because they're an unwitting musical history. This piece from 1997 offers a glimpse into the abyss where indie would never again grace the charts to any great degree. It was a time when established act gave their last gasp and new talents were emerging. On the same compilation we have The Spice Girls, Texas, No Doubt, George Michael, Eternal, Boyzone, East 17 (yes they were in the charts at the same time), U2, Prodigy, Shery Crow, Blur, Cast, Cathy Dennis, Alisha's Attic and The Divine Comedy. A transitional period -- you can see old bands mixed with new groups who seem old fashioned now. How time flies.

Do you take your blogger questions from a pat list? (You repeated two questions in the list you sent me).
Oooop. Actually, I've been collecting all of the questions I've asked since I started this thing. I passed these questions on late at night in a hurry. Clumsy. But anyway I like getting different perspectives on the same questions...

11. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live, and why?
New York. I just love the metropolitan experience. I like the idea of turning a corner and not knowing were you might find yourself or who you might meet.