Stephanie and I met on twitter, and to be honest (because my memory is terrible), I am not sure if we’ve met in real life. Stephanie, do you recall? She now lives in Oklahoma, but we followed each other when she still lived in Phoenix. The Phoenix twitter community is pretty well connected supportive of each other, so it’s no surprise that she answered the call for interviewee volunteers!

 

Jamie: Tell us a little about yourself.

Stephanie: Things I love: winter, the smell of rain in Oklahoma, music, okra developing from beautiful blooms to edible perfection, fresh garden dirt, baseball at every level, patriots & soldiers, and pie.

Things I don’t: people that do the wave when the home team is up to bat, early leavers, bigots, inconsiderate drivers, money, liars and arguments.

I’m a country girl at heart and a city girl at heart. Seems contradictory, but my two favorite places in the world are rural  Green Country (Tulsa) and New York City. I love the quiet kindness and generosity that comes born in Okies, and I love everything about NYC.

I really mean it when I say I want the world to be a better place. I am a socially liberal Republican mostly because I can’t fathom that anyone can actually believe that every human being doesn’t deserve the same rights as everyone else.

Jamie: I know the rain here in Phoenix smells like an interesting mix between asphalt and mesquite. What does the rain smell like there? I’ve never been.

Stephanie: You’re right. I’ve always described the Phoenix rain smell as rust. It’s unpleasant. Here rain smells like spring, like things fresh and new. It smells slightly like the cold water out of the garden hose on a hot summer day.

Jamie: Tell me more about this love of NYC. I’ve only been there once as a girl; it was so brief. But I am fascinated by it. I love television and films set in the city. I have a friend living there now, and his instagram feed is so beautiful.

Stephanie: It’s hard to sum up what New York City feels like. It’s something different to everyone. The first time I went it was in the heat and humidity of summer, garbage bags on sidewalks everywhere, but beautiful tall buildings.  You’re surrounded by history and culture… There’s a little different something to be found every few city blocks. I’ve only been twice (once for NYE on Times Square, I highly recommend the experience) but after the second time I went, I came home and felt lost in the city I grew up in. But, I could have told you where to find anything in NYC. It’s just that comfortable to me.

Jamie: Explain “sports” to me. I’m afraid I lost my interest in playing them in sixth grade, and as an adult, I haven’t enjoyed going to professional games. What am I doing wrong?

Stephanie: For me I have the feeling that it makes you feel like the world is smaller, like there aren’t so many strangers in the world. There are these people, that you really don’t know anything about, that are similar to you in some way. They get excited about the same things you do.

While so many think baseball is the most boring of sports to watch, I find it to be fast paced and interesting. I like to keep score (on a scorecard I design, print and bind every year) so it keeps me constantly interacting with what’s happening on the field and helps remind me what’s happened earlier.

Jamie: Ahhh…that makes some sense to me. I think I have felt that in different ways through theatre and also as an entertainer at the Renaissance Festival. I used to work in the joust arena, and it was the heyday of rennie-led crowd cheering. I don’t think I have ever felt anything quite like it since. And confession, I do find baseball the least interesting to watch, although I will admit I have enjoyed a live hockey game or two!

Would you like to share an internet link? (or two?)

Stephanie: The only site I read daily, and the one that will give the most insight into my missing blog posts is I Wrote This For You. He published something I wrote on there once. I was honored.

Best writing by a dad / rockstar / tormented husband on the Internet

Funny correspondence from this guy to random people / companies / coworkers. This is one of our favorite sites to read at work.

And of course, I’m on twitter and flickr

I actually have been blogging since 2002, but semi-recently I had to begin to rebuild a corrupt database so almost all of my almost a thousand posts are in a text file that I lost when my OS crashed earlier this year.
Jamie: So are you a writer?

Stephanie: Actual writers might take offense to me saying I’m a writer, but I feel like I really could be. I’m pretty good at putting my thoughts in words, and I edit and re-edit constantly. My hurdle to jump is that I’ve always been hesitant to let people read what I write for fear of letting people in too close or being judged. I’m most passionate writing about relationships, but doing that (like giving advice to other people) is so much easier than putting my own issues out there. I think i have a lot to say and it might help me if it were heard. It’s therapeutic to write, just scary. Also, sometimes I’m too wordy (for example: now).