Featured Blogger: Laurie

Lisa: Hey!
Laurie: Hey, Lisa!
Lisa: I am catching up on reading your blog right now.
Lisa: Because I'm crazy behind in my reading.
Lisa: I am SO INTO IT.
Lisa: Okay, what do you want to talk about in the interview?
Laurie: haha
Laurie: Is that the first interview question?
Lisa: Yep.

[Pause.]

Lisa: Well. This interview seems about wrapped up then.
Laurie: I've already failed.
Laurie: Laurie: Most boring interviewee in the history of 20SB.
Lisa: Don't worry. I'll edit to make us both sound funny and interesting.



Laurie: So you're missing the 20SB meet-up!
Laurie: I learned via Twitter.
Lisa: Yes! I'm very disappointed.
Laurie: But for Kenya-- that sounds like a good trade.
Laurie: I'm just going to interview you now.
Laurie: Tell me about your childhood.
Lisa: Okay, this is so much easier!
Lisa: Are you going to the meetup?
Laurie: I haven't decided!
Laurie: I live a bus ride away from Chicago.
Lisa: Oh man, you should totally go.
Laurie: I know!
Laurie: I'm a bit nervous!
Laurie: What if I'm not as cool and funny in real life?
Laurie: I said that to some of my friends recently and they were like "... yeah."
Laurie: "Maybe you shouldn't."
Laurie: At first I thought the meet-up was a CONFERENCE.
Laurie: Like BlogHer.
Laurie: And I got really excited about that.
Laurie: Because I LOVE CONFERENCES.
Lisa: No, its more of a party, really.
Laurie: Right.
Laurie: I don't really do parties.
Lisa: Let's talk about your party life.
Lisa: Biggest party mistake ever was:
Laurie: Omg.
Lisa: I think mine is "skipping all parties to study"
Lisa: and also "continually avoiding the person I have a crush on".
Laurie: YES.
Laurie: I once threw a party specifically to invite my crush
Laurie: and by the end of the night he was sitting on my bed with my best friend.
Laurie: FML
Lisa: Next question.
Lisa: You started blogging the day after you ____
Laurie: I started blogging right after September 11th actually.
Lisa: 2001?
Laurie: Yeah.
Laurie: It hit me really hard and I think I had this really strong desire to reach out.
Laurie: I mean, I think we all did.
Lisa: How has your blogging style changed since then?
Laurie: It's changed a lot.
Laurie: I started out writing a lot of angsty poetry
Laurie: and talking about what I ate for lunch.
Laurie: It was more of an outlet for me.
Laurie: I don't think of my blog that way anymore, although it still is in some ways.
Laurie: It can be therapeutic for me, but that's not what drives me to write anymore.
Lisa: How long do you think you could go without blogging?
Lisa: Could you cold turkey quit?
Laurie: I went for awhile without blogging actually.
Laurie: When I was between blogs.
Lisa: "Between blogs" haha. That's a funny phrase. WE'RE ON THE INTERNET.
Laurie: hahaha
Lisa: What brought you back?
Laurie: I felt really out of touch with myself when I wasn't writing.
Laurie: I'm not one of those people who can write just for myself
Laurie: like sit at home and fill up spiral-bound notebooks that I never show anyone.
Laurie: So I just wasn't writing at all during that time.
Lisa: And then you forget to take that time to reflect, sort of.
Laurie: Right!
Lisa: Have you ever met up with bloggers IRL?
Laurie: I guess I did recently-- my New Year's Eve story was about a blogger hook-up!
Laurie: But I'm not telling who it was.
Lisa: Secrets!
Lisa: Is your blog a secret to family/friends?
Laurie: Not really.
Laurie: I mean, I don't really broadcast it at family reunions or anything.
Laurie: But I wouldn't say it's a secret.
Laurie: Most of my real life friends read it.
Lisa: Yeah, same.
Laurie: I'm amazed by anonymous bloggers.
Laurie: I don't know how they do it.
Laurie: It would make me a crazy person.
Lisa: I was at a party a few weeks ago and so many people were like "I read your blog!" which was funny. Because they don't comment? I didn't know they all read.
Laurie: Yeah isn't that wild??
Laurie: Every once in awhile an old friend from, like, middle school or something will send me a facebook message and be like, "I just wanted to let you know that I love your blog. I read it every day."
Laurie: And I'm like, "What?!"
Laurie: I mean, it's awesome.
Laurie: But it's kind of crazy.
Lisa: Exactly!
Laurie: I actually had a really funny experience a month or so ago--
Laurie: I wrote a piece for Design*Sponge awhile back about my city, so a lot of people here read my blog.
Laurie: Anyway I was sitting in a coffee shop, and a woman I'd never met saw me through the window and came inside to tell me that she recognized me from my blog!
Laurie: It was amazing.
Laurie: Now we're facebook friends!
Lisa: The best!
Lisa: Whats the blog you most recently added to your reader?
Laurie: I'm really into this new blog.
Laurie: It's written by two women who call themselves Harper & Beatrix.
Laurie: It reminds me of an American Bridget Jones' Diary.
Lisa: Cool! Sounds interesting.
Laurie: They're very smart and funny.
Lisa: I like both those adjectives!
Lisa: Say you had to describe yourself in three adjectives. What would they be?
Laurie: Oh man.
Laurie: I'm always awful at these ice-breaker questions.
Laurie: Like "If you could be any animal, what would you be?"
Laurie: I freeze up.
Laurie: I'm like, "... a penguin?"
Lisa: Oh yeah.
Lisa: Next up we'll play "Do Date Dump".
Lisa: Or "Who Would You Do".
Lisa: "Desert Island"
Laurie: hahaha
Laurie: "Would You Rather"
Lisa: This interview is going to turn into a slumber party.
Laurie: Let's just not go the "Truth or Dare" route.
Laurie: That was usually the point when I called my mom to pick me up.
Lisa: haha
Laurie: Well, Lisa!
Laurie: I better get back to this scintillating stack of work orders I'm supposed to enter.
Laurie: I lead a very glamorous life.
Lisa: Thanks for the interview!
Laurie: Thanks for the good questions!
Laurie: And for letting me off the hook on "Would You Rather".
Laurie: Talk to you soon!
Lisa: Yeah! Bye!