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Pop Quiz by Melinda Nowikowski |
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"I have lived in Rantoul, Illinois; Alamogordo, New Mexico; Myrtle Beach,
South Carolina; Felicity, Amelia and Batavia, Ohio (all in the same 30-mile
diameter near Cincinnati). Soon I'll add Dayton, Ohio to the list, which is
about 50 miles north of Cincinnati. Each place I live provides me with rich
inspiration once I leave it, though I have to admit Alamogordo was a gold
mine like I never suspected it would be when I moved there. I can recommend
nothing more highly for inspiration than the desert Southwest of the U.S.A.
It makes everyone feel small -- for the unimaginative, that's a bad thing.
For everybody else, it's a revelation..."
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1. What is your name?
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(Melinda) Mindy Nowikowski
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2. How old are you?
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34
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3. Where do you live?
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Currently, in the eastern suburbs of Cincinnati, OH -- within six months it
will likely be Dayton.
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4. What do you do for a living?
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Clerical scutwork for a small computer cabling company.
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5. Do you drive?
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Oh, yes.
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6. What do you do for joy?
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Drive in the car singing harmony with Mr. Nowikowski
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7. What is your pet peeve? And how much does it weigh? Does it
sleep by the door? Is it housebroken?
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Arbitrarity. It weighs too much. It never sleeps, not even by the door.
If it didn't piss all over me constantly, it wouldn't be a peeve.
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8. Do you write, paint or play? All at the same time? (While
juggling a dozen eggs and riding a unicycle?)
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I write character fiction, the occasional poem. My mother is terribly
disappointed I never learned to paint, but I didn't. I'm not terribly
disappointed.
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9. Who is the most impressive character you've ever met?
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Are you kidding? I've met Bobby.
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10. Have you ever read, acted, performed, thrown up, etc. in public?
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School choir and elementary musicals, one high school class play, several
public readings of poetry and/or fiction.
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11. What piece of literature or art moved your soul to ecstatic waves
of bliss?
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My first true epiphany of reading was Madeline L'Engle's "A Wrinkle In
Time". I know it's not great literature, but it was the first thing I read that made me want to write.
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12. What was the first thing you ever encountered that made you realise
that art is important?
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"Alice In Wonderland", which I read when I was eight or nine the first time.
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13. Would you consider yourself an artist? A good one? Why or why
not?
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I'm a writer. Inasmuch as that's art, I'm an artist. I'm a good technician
-- however I've never been sure the inspiration makes it through the technique.
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14. What are your favorite things that have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do
with anything else?
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Watermelon flavored hard candy. The mandolin break in the Replacements' "I
Will Dare". The hundredth time I've driven a good, winding road.
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15. What are your favorite things that have ABSOLUTELY everything to do
with everything else?
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Mr. Nowikowski. Our cat, whose name, "Tink", derives from the word "stink",
not from "Tinkerbell" as the vet's secretary always assumes. The fact everybody in my family acts like a responsible adult.
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16. What's the meaning of life?
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"The love of money is the root of all evil."
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17. Why?
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Because greed is destroying the world.
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18. True or false: the Three Stooges represent the apex of American
cultural achievement.
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They represent the apes of American cultural achievement. I prefer the Marx
Brothers.
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19. True or False: Shemp was funnier than the original Curly.
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[...]
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20. Who's da man?
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Toni Morrison
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