Saturday, April 14, 2007

I'll make you a celebrity overnight

Avi of Avitable posted his interview and asked for volunteers. Since it's the middle of final exams and I'm feeling less than creative, I thought I'd volunteer.

My interviewer is the lovely Maritza of Jump in the Ocean fame.

1. What has been the most important event in your life; the one that made you the person you are today?

I had to think long and hard about this one and it came to me as I was walking home one night. I'd probably have to say my watershed moment came about sometime around Passover my final year of high school. My relationship with my mother is/always has been on the rocky side. Primarily for reasons I don't really feel the need to go into in such a public forum but that weekend pretty much made me who I am today.

My relationship with my mom disintegrated to such a point that she cut me off financially and I stopped living with her entirely and moved into my father's house that weekend. The fact that it's a family-oriented holiday is not lost on me - and maybe that's part of the reason that I hate holidays.

We had a few more choice encounters in subsequent months and it became apparent that our relationship was broken beyond repair. The details of our falling out aren't terribly important anymore, it's over and done with, but the reaction of my immediate family following that weekend kind of put a damper on any thoughts of reconciliation I may have had.

The fact that half my family could turn their backs on my at the drop of a hat and based on erroneous directives from my mother still haunts me. The only thing that got me through those couple of years is my cousin T, who also spent a little time being excommunicated from the family and coached me through it.

Needless to say, that only brought my father and I closer together. I know my mom is ready to put all that business behind her (she's come to terms with the fact that she wasn't entirely blameless in this fiasco) but it's really hard for me to invest in a relationship knowing that any day now it could just blow up in my face.

That's pretty much a metaphor for my life right now, and I hate it but that's just the way it is. The old adage that time heals all wounds is complete and utter bullshit - it just makes you more bitter.

2. Your blog is mostly about day-to-day stuff about school or work. What's your family background? I've only read snippets about your mother.

My family background - well it's a long one. First, and foremost, I was adopted from Jamaica by my mom and dad (my birth parents are dead - but I was just a baby so my adoptive parents are the only ones I've known). My dad is an accountant who works for a brokerage and my mom is the VP of a market research firm in Ottawa - where I'm from.

I come from a long line of doctors and other professionals, I think pretty much everyone in my extended family has at least two degrees. My grandfather and uncle were pioneers in modern Canadian pathology and there's a building named after my mom's side of the family at McGill - so no pressure there, but that's definitely influenced my career path - well, that and my love of Saved by the Bell but that's another story entirely.

My parents are divorced and our relationship is rocky to say the least. My mother and I are at least on speaking terms now, and my father's remarried.


3. Marriage, kids, minivan - appealing or shoot me now?

Marriage? Yes, eventually. Kids, um maybe one - again, eventually. I'm in no rush. Minivan, definitely not, I'm more of a station wagon-type gal anyways, although that's pretty soccer mom-like anyways so I guess it falls under the same umbrella.

4. If you could snap your fingers and make one wish come true, what would it be? (No Miss America or in your case, Ms. Canada, answers please. World peace is not acceptable)

Well, I don't really think I'd want a time machine so I could rectify all the wrongs that I've done or anything - I still think that everything happens for a reason, but not in some schmaltzy way so I'm going to go with something that's for the greater good:

I'd wish for universal access to education. Education has always been super-important to me and I really don't think it's fair that people who want to learn are being held back by financial constraints. I really wish everyone had the opportunities I had when it came to education.

5. Do you really do as much shopping as you seem to do? Is there an unlimited Gingerbread wardrobe fund or are you just the hardest working girl in Blogland?

In a word, yes. I shop a lot, but I guess I'm pretty well-off compared to most students. I work a lot (basically full-time and go to school full-time as well so I've earned it). I work in retail so I get a pretty decent discount on clothes I'd be buying anyways, so it works out.

I guess it's a little from column A and a little from column B.

The rules from Avi:

Here are the rules if you want to keep it going:
Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
You will update your weblog with the answers to the questions.
You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

4 comments:

Maritza said...

Wow. Thanks for playing along and being so honest. Incredible how a couple of paragraphs has moved me and given me a peek into a completely different side of you. You are a multi-dimensional creature and I'm sure you have lots more to say than what you've shared here.

I'm a daughter, sister and a mother and I don't know which relationship is the most complicated. I guess they all are.

Nicoel said...

eh, it's no problem. Ask and ye shall receive...

Unknown said...

I'm bored and all that so......

think up some questions and interview me. No rush though.

Nicoel said...

Alright, well I'm in finals now but by the end of the week I should have something good for you...