Dan Wilson
Interviewing one’s self presents two challenges. The first is that the subject of the interview ought to be interesting. The second is, that the interviewer ought to have some talent at interviewing.
But, no matter.
There is also the choice of format. I could use the Donald Rumsfeld approach: pose your own question, then answer it. To wit: Am I The Best Secretary of Defense Ever? Some people might disagree, but I think so. And so on.
That approach turns me off. I would love to have a good interviewer. Dick Cavett. David Frost. Bill Moyers. Charles Kuralt. But, I fly too close to the sun with those names.
I’m stuck with me. Here goes. ”TJI” denotes the question from the blog editor, “DRW” denotes the response from moi.
TJI: What motivated you to start a blog?
DRW: I’ve started four blogs, actually. Each revealed a different facet of my interests and ambitions. One consisted of book reports, one was about Tucson, the third was about business and management, and the fourth is This Just In! My motivation was to find and define my voice. That’s a poetic turn of phrase, and a bit self-flattering, but that’s the best answer I can offer.
TJI: How is This Just In! going?
DRW: Most of the time I have fun with it. Sometimes I click the “publish” button and think, what the heck have I done? I do have a sense of satisfaction about the discipline of posting nearly every day.
TJI: Is the satisfaction similar to the satisfaction of, say, flossing every day?
DRW: I don’t floss daily, so the comparison is lost on me.
TJI: Why do you think anyone would read your blog?
DRW: Hardly anyone does. Michelle Yauger reads it, but she is unique for her sense of curiosity and her compassion. Most of my hits come from Google searches. I call them one-visit-wonders. They are not people who cherish my unique style, nor do they bookmark my blog anyplace that would draw a crowd. They are just “ships passing in the night” for the most part.
TJI: So, why do you keep on with it?
DRW: I hope to become interesting some day. I try to match the spirit of the struggling novelist. I have read a lot of books about writing, and the pain and anguish are part of the adventure. Just read Stephen King’s “On Writing”, or Natalie Goldberg’s “Monkey Mind” to get some sense of the aspiring writer’s angst. I’m big on angst. Those people inspire me. It’s all about polishing the jewel of who one is.
TJI: Sounds very mystical. You also insert a lot of photos in your blog, and some of them are good. What is your interest in photography?
DRW: I have some evidence that I do it well, and I enjoy it more than flossing. It’s amazing to me to look at something that essentially exists for the fraction of a second that the shutter is open and which can be viewed in a photograph indefinitely. I have published a picture of a bridge in the setting sun that I like a lot. Bridges last for centuries, sunsets last for a moment. With photographs I can, as singer Jim Croce said, put “time in a bottle“. That’s very Zen, you see. The eternal now, and all that.
TJI: Do you need a big audience to be satisfied with your blog?
DRW: No. I check my blog stats a couple times a week. I’m conditioned to like upward trends, but they also scare me. I’m afraid of getting careful about what I post. That is a challenge all successful people face. Success, I think, is just as scary as failure. That’s pretty Zen, don’t you think? I should go light some incense.
TJI: Do you have role model blogs that guide or inspire you?
DRW: Michelle’s blog is outstanding. She posts carefully, thoughtfully, with great sensitivity. She is an excellent writer, and much better than I am. I like Robert Reich’s blog. Those are two that I visit regularly.
TJI: What would you like to do next, or eventually, with This Just In!?
DRW: It would be very thrilling to have “another” Michelle, someone of great intelligence and wit who would comment on my posts. That would be the cat’s pajamas. Failing that, just the inspiration to keep posting would be quite wonderful. Thanks for asking.
TJI: You’re welcome. Best of luck to you.
What an interesting approach! While I was reading, I thought, “I could interview Dan but it’d be so hard to be objective…” I actually forgot you were your own interviewer here! Anyway, we should do that sometime — let me interview you and then you can blog it if you want.
Thanks for all the compliments, too.
~Michelle
And I LOVE the photo!
~Michelle
[...] is totally my friend Dan’s fault. He’s a blogster in his own right and in a recent post, he took the unusual approach of interviewing himself, to which I responded by offering to [...]
Very unique twist on an interview. I can’t even unbiasedly think about interviewing myself. Yet you captured a beautiful interview without even the slightest sense that the interviewer and interviewee were one in the same. You should interview yourself more often!