Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Q & A (personal)

You asked some nosey questions. I give answers.

* I am thirty-[muffle/grunt/scream]in order for you to better delineate the Nathaniel fandom timeline. People tell me i look 28 but they are lying to flatter me. it's more like 32. Pop-culturally speaking I am 34. my back (the bane of my physical existence) thinks that its 57 and wants me to join the AARP.

* BFA in Illustration. Thinking about going back for a masters but in another field.

* versatile.

* My New York is about possibility, diversity, progressive thinking, and an unending smorgasbord of arts to choose from. (this last bit is why i can't ever leave despite the financial sacrifices.)

1 Detroit.
2 Michigan and Utah.
3 not close to the biologicals.
4 Christine. We've been friends since I first started walking her home in the 8th grade when we were, what, 12? 11? Her first child is my goddaughter! We are still super close.
5 its the seven year itch.
6 Brooklyn to Harlem.

* Enchiladas & Margaritas (with salt)

* 5'10" ...weight ? I lost my scale some time ago. Though I did recently achieve my former svelteness on the South Beach Diet.

* my most vivid experience in the movie theater is probably seeing Madonna as Evita. I went with the largest group of friends I think I've ever seen a movie with and when she started addressing her minions from the balcony i totally started crying even though I am not a Webber fan, not an Evita fan, and don't usually cry at movies. I have always worshipped @ Madonna's feet and I knew this was a life-dream for her actualized. In the legit theater it was seeing Angels in America. In nature it was being in the waves in the ocean my first summer in New York... nothing special about the day. not even close to my favorite beach. But I just. i love the water and it felt like one of those pure bliss and nothingness feelings as I was tossed about mildly.

* Her name was Stephanie. We dated for a year and 1/2. I met her family. We talked about marriage. It ended in tears. I last saw her about 10 years ago (two years after breaking up). We cried. I hope she's very happy --great girl.

* the only internet people I've met in the for reals are my colleagues at Cinemarati. And a couple of people who posted there.

now, it's your turn readers. Tell us six things about yourselves.

19 comments:

adam k. said...

Wow, Nathaniel, I feel like I totally know you now... it's like a game of truth or truth...

I'd be happy to divulge personal information, but I'd like to offer someone else a chance first. I feel like I've kinda been monopolizing your comment boards lately.

Anonymous said...

One big Film Experience ice-breaker! Yay!

01. I'm a (nearly graduated) college kid. Just turned 22.

02. I live, well, used to live in Cheyenne, Wyoming, home to Frontier Days and the world's largest outdoor rodeo. I spend hardly any time there now, however; I attend school in Illinois, and I do what I can to avoid my parents in the summer. (Last summer, I lived in South America. This summer, I found an internship with a nonprofit in NYC.)

03. I can't handle cats. Never could, never will. Too much sneezing, wheezing, and eye-itching.

04. I am the last person in the world, I think, who doesn't have a cellphone.

05. I don't have an iPod either. If I did, however, I think only Aimee Mann tracks would make the "heavy rotation" list. I have what I consider a deeply personal relationship with all my CDs, but, for some reason or another, I've only had ears for Aimee lately.

06. Um...I am in desperate need of a haircut. Haphazard locks are chic in New York City, I've been told, but with all this damn humidity, they're just not practical.

P.S. Adam K. -- Keep "monopolizing" Nathaniel's boards. It makes me feel less shy about posting!

adam k. said...

Oy. Fine. In the interest of breaking the ice, I will go first. But what 6 questions do I answer? Or do I just start spilling my guts?
Also, why is no one else doing this? I know Nathaniel has more readers than me and darkcypherclad... maybe they all just have lives at the moment. Heh.

adam k. said...

Oops, Dusty beat me to it.

Anonymous said...

Nathaniel, I cast people on a pretty regular basis, and I say this with all truthfulness...you could easily play 28.

I, on the other hand, could easily play 62.

adam k. said...

OK.

1) I am also a (nearly graduated) college kid, also just turned 22. OK, actually, I'm trying to make it 2 more full years by splitting semesters, because the real world frightens me to no end.

2) One of my dirty secrets as a film experience patron is that I actually think I'm becoming an aspiring actor/singer now... I have pipedreams of the day I am lighting up the broadway stage or headlining some film, with a then-middle-aged Nathaniel singing my praises on TFE and giving me film bitch awards. No joke. But hey, we'll see how that works out...

3) I do have an iPod, and Rufus Wainwright and West Side Story have been alternating on it nonstop lately. But I am also an Aimee fan... she just hasn't been as close to my heart recently.

4) I have lived in Miami, FL my whole life (and my fair skin is now showing signs of having been destroyed by the Miami sun my whole life - damn!). Although now I go to school in a beautiful blue state up north. F**k florida. After the 2000 election, I promised myself that it would not remain my permanent place of residence.

5) My last name is Keller. It means "basement" (aka "cellar") in German. So glamorous, I know.

6) I have never had a faux-girlfriend (which I'm actually sad about because I feel like I kinda missed out on that whole experience... it's, like, part of gay mythology... but what can I say, I always knew I really liked the guys, even if I wasn't at all comfortable with it).

height: 6'3''
weight: I have no idea, but I could eat a house and still say pretty thin.

Yay for sharing! Who's next?

Anonymous said...

1. I am currently studying Professional Writing and Editing in my home town of Geelong in the very south of Australia's mainland (Geelong is the second largest city in the state donch'a know) and I am hoping it will help me get into the Screenwriting course at RMIT University in Melbourne - which is the only course in the state that is about screenwriting. Yes I am one of those movie freaks who truly does want to get into the movie making business.

2. I work as a checkout chick but am currently in the process of looking for a new job because I despise my current job because the lady who works the roster (and is my supervisor naturally) hates me and doesn't give me hours so I am terminally poor

3. I'm 19 (20 on October 13), 5'11", 60kg (approx) I eat absolute junk and never gain a pound (it will arrive post haste when I hit 40)

4. My top five musical sequences of all time are (in no order)
-"America" - West Side Story
-"Bye Bye Love/Goodbye" - All That Jazz
-"Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend" - Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
-"Cvalda" - Dancer In The Dark
-"El Tango de Roxanne" - Moulin Rouge!

5. I have had a massive crush on Hugh Jackman ever since I saw an Australian movie called "Erskinville Kings" in 98 (or roundabouts" - delicious.

6. Currently playing on my iPod as I type this is "Chinsagu no Hana" by Elizabeth Drake from the film 'Japanese Story' - everybody should try and locate this beautiful haunting song

6.5. Joan Chen doesn't make enough movies. I really want to see Saving Face though!

-Glenn

par3182 said...

1. a little older than everyone else here
2. had a faux boyfriend in high school but didn't realise it at the time (sigh...)
3. 5'11"
4. audiences destoyed my love for theatre
5. 'cabaret' is my favourite film
6. six is my favourite number

note to anonymous glenn - i did that course; pretty crappy. aftrs is a better bet.

adam k. said...

darkcypherlad: Theatre Arts and Literary Arts. Kinda your standard issue humanities package... with emphasis on theater. I unfortunately realized a bit into college that my school didn't have a real film dept. so I flocked to the theatre and have since become addicted. Anyway, I have Nathaniel as a film consultant, so it's all good.
Does anyone have an IM screenname they'd be willing to share? Sharing is fun.

NATHANIEL R said...

the most recent picture i had up was taken this year just in case anyone thinks i'm cheating to look younger ;)

Anonymous said...

Adam K.: I think we all dream secretly (or not so secretly) about someday winning our very own film bitch awards. Deep down, we're all Eve Harringtons. Too bad I never learned to act, dance, sing... (Now, my adolescent baseball years seem such a waste of time!)

I'm also a "literature" major. Funny how common that is!

Eventually, I'll probably cave and buy the cellphone and iPod. By then, they may have evolved into one unit. Anyway, I'm happy I'm not the only person here who listens to Aimee. I hate, hate, hate that 2/3 of my friends don't know there's music beyond the top 40.

adam k. said...

Seriously, Nathaniel, take heart. You don't look a day over 30. I'm 22 and I think I look at least as old as you do. Seriously.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. OK, I'm going to really stand out like a sore thumb here. (By the way I'm only anonymous because I can't get this cretinous piece of machinery to let me have a name)

1. I'm in my early 40s, married with a kid. Living in Yorkshire (outrageously beautiful and full of sheep). Studied History of Art, decided not to take an academic route, went into the Civil Service, left London and now make wedding cakes and pickles for a living.

2. Oh, I also teach drama. Act and sing for my own entertainmena and try to get Sondheim shows put on. I'm slowly, slowly dipping my toes into films having spent years avoiding cinemas.

3. Nathaniel has been a huge and wonderful education for me. I've used his awards to introduce myself to so much stuff I'd never seen or heard of before. My local DVD shop now goes pale and runs when I come in with lists of films I want them to get for me. Bless them, at least they try. I swear they've shortened their opening hours to avoid me.

4. I do have a cellphone. It lives in the bottom of the compost heap I call my handbag. It is never turned on and I keep it purely so I can call the AA when I end up snowed in on the A66. This hasn't happened yet, but one day it will and I will be ready.

5. That's quite enough tedious information. Except that I make a truly mean and gorgeous chocolate brownie.

adam k. said...

anonymous... you should subscribe to netflix! They're wonderful. They have everything.
Although I don't know how/if they work outside the U.S.

NATHANIEL R said...

anonymous
i can't tell you how happy that makes me to read that i've introduced people to films they love.

i guess i often feel like i'm just typing for myself ;)

Anonymous said...

I Have 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" on my iPod. Thrilling.

16 Dogs is crazy talk.

And Nat, I saw Hedwig & The Angry Inch and In The Mood For Love purely because of your filmbitch awards. And I ended up loving them immensely. If I hadn't of seen ItMfL I wouldn't have seen 2046, which I also loved.

-Glenn

ben said...

Hey, my name is Ben and i have been an religious reader of T.F.E. and Nathaniel's blog since 2002. Until now I have never really ventured to give input or any feedback on anything, much less personal information, but it seems like lots of people that are responding to this topic are in the same situation, so why not.

* The reason I discovered The Film Experience, and still my primary reason for loving it so faithfully, is the Oscar predictions/dialogue. I think the psychological root of my obsession with the Academy Awards has to do with the ceremony at the end of the Naked Gun series, which I should probably be embarrassed about, considering everyone here is some level of film critic... Honestly though, I think it's such a hilarious & accurate spoof on the real-life ridiculousness which the Oscars often have (and which I love). That and I like watching Pia Zadora fall into a tuba.

* I live (and was born) in Connecticut. I turned 22 in June. I spent one semester at NYU before figuring out that I should put college on hold for a while. I am not (very) close to my family. I am 6'0". 6 is my favorite number. I ALSO do not have a cell phone.

* My favorite movie is Being John Malkovich. I also like Drop Dead Gorgeous, Hedwig, The Neverending Story, E.T., Velvet Goldmine, etc. I also have an obsession with Strangers With Candy and Amy Sedaris.

* Movies that I saw BECAUSE (and just because) of Nathaniel and The Film Experience:
HEAVENLY CREATURES
PRIMER
DOGVILLE
MEAN GIRLS (honestly, wouldn't have seen it if not for N.'s appreciation of it)
SPIDER
SAFE
THE PIANO
...and several others.

...and now I think I have taken up far too much space in these comments with my highly unimportant and unnecessarily detailed ramblings. That was way more than 6 things. I apologize.

-Ben

adam k. said...

Movies I have seen primarily or entirely because of Nathaniel:
-Heavenly Creatures (love it)
-La Reine Margot (Margot's lover kind of eclipsed the rest of the film for me, but still like it a lot)
-Safe (LOVE it)
-Dead Man Walking (Love it)
-All About My Mother (Love it)
-Raising Victor Vargas (liked it a lot)
-gave Mean Girls second chance cause of Nathaniel, then liked it a lot
-Manhattan (LOVE it)

Also, Nate validated/shared my insane love of controversial masterpieces Moulin Rouge! and Dancer in the Dark, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Anonymous said...

Yorkshire Anonymous here ...

Adam K - Netflix seems not to work for the UK. This is very bad news - I made the error of looking at the list of things they have (yep, everything). Now I am green with envy. Great idea though. Can we have a petition for them to extend their service to Region 2? How else am I ever going to be able to watch Waiting for Guffman?

Nathaniel - you do not write in a void. Well, clearly not from the responses you're getting on this thread.

Amanda (but not sure Yorkshire Anonymous isn't better)