laramie

These questions are from chirosinger; I think she came up with some good ones. If you would like me to set some questions for you, just ask and I'll give it a shot.

1) How did you get involved with filk music?

When I first started attending Mnstf the music circles were a part of the meetings. At that time (1979) I wasn't aware of any big distinction between filk and the other music that was played in the circles. I loved the mix of different sorts of music, and still do. It was only after the more serious performers broke off to start their own circles that I started missing the music that emphasized f/sf themes and didn't demand strict performance standards. When Michelle Bottorff moved to Minneapolis in the late 1990s she started hosting more traditional filk circles where I found the old open-to-all atmosphere, and I was happy to take over hosting when she and her family moved again.

2) If you had your choice of moving anywhere in the world (secure job, no language barrier), where would you live?

Minneapolis, but overlooking one of the lakes, or along Minnehaha creek. I was born here, and feel deeply involved in the community. If Balrogs moved in and I were forced to flee: New Zealand.

3) How were you drawn to playing the mandolin? Do you play any other instruments?

This is incredibly silly, but when I was in college I had a huge crush on Kwai Chang Caine (of the show, Kung Fu) I became a vegetarian for a couple years; I studied the Tao te Ching. On one of the episodes Caine is drawn to a woman, a traveling performer who played mandolin. I found one on sale in town and the rest is history. It started out because of a crush, but I kept up with it because it enabled me to accompany myself when I wanted to sing, rather than feeling overly reliant on having some guitar-playing beau to back me up. Yes; my first instrument was an alto recorder and I play soprano recorder also; I played flute for a while but never became proficient, and I've built a folk harp that I ocassionally strum.

4) What is your favorite artistic medium to work with?

I'm so fickle. Whichever one I'm working with at the time. Some inspiration hits as a story, sometimes a vision, some comes to mind as poetry, or a song; sometimes art is a spontaneous, unexpected meeting with a lump or clay or bunch of beads. But that's because the artwork is a kind of side effect of inner work: seeking ways to understand different aspects of experience, of feeling, of relationships with people, and the world and myself.

5) Who is the person who's influenced your life the most and why?

So many people have influenced me in different ways; it doesn't seem right to single one out. Family, friends, fandom, teachers, coworkers, characters from books, tv and movies, my imaginary husband... My Junior High art teacher, Miss Young was a big influence for encouraging me in that direction, as was another art teacher named Pat Young, with whom I worked teaching art to adults with emotional disabilities and who got me to try my hand at teaching. (Funny how they're both named Young.) My bass-playing college friend who gave me my first joint, and introduced me to the first guy I kissed. Kwai Chang Caine. Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Frodo, Nancy Drew, the members of Mnstf and the Bozo Bus Building - the list goes on.