JHU_Stephanie: FAVORITES

This week, the students of Hopkins Interactive have decided to change things up a bit and all present a common blog topic.  Through the blogs and the message board, we really enjoy providing you with a glimpse of our lives at Hopkins while helping reveal to you what might lie in store for you in you decide to become a Hopkins student as well.  In addition to detailing life here at Hopkins, we also all enjoy getting to talk about totally random things that we love. Just like we've done with the Off-Topic Discussion Forum of the message boards, we're taking a break from Hopkins talk and discussing our FAVORITE things! So here we present out personal answers to a common survey of our favorite things about the worlds of books, movies, television, and much, much, more.

Who is your favorite author?
This is a tough question, and one that’s so heavily weighted for a Writing Sems major. I would say Hardy or Dickens or something but that’s just blatantly untrue. I have a very unpretentious taste in authors; if a writer can entrance me and pull me into his or her world, I will respect them. I have to say that I most consistently love Zadie Smith’s writing. She’s such an impressive young author, and she incorporates everything I wish I could incorporate into my own writing – honesty, zeal, a fresh and unflinching insight into human relations. Her novel On Beauty seriously changed the way I think about the subtle complexities of the ways people treat one another. On a slightly more pretentious note, I love Nabokov’s short stories.

What is your favorite website?
Though it’s unabashedly biased, Slate.com is my primary news source. It has the most lively writing of any news website I’ve come across, and it’s not afraid to make fun of itself or balance serious issues with hilarious comics. Yes, it caters solely to the liberal community … but eh, so be it. I also frequent the Wiki-sites quite often; it’s amazing how much time you can waste on Wikipedia if you set your mind to it.

What is your favorite item in your bedroom?
This is easy. I have fairly simple décor in my dorm room, but on the wall next to my bed there are 30 or so Polaroid pictures laid out in a square. Before I left for college, I sought out all the of the people who affected me in high school – my best friends, family members, certain teachers, fellow newspaper staffers – and took a snapshot of each of them, and had them all sign their names and write me a little note in the white part. These pictures mean so much to me, and the personal messages are really encouraging for when I’m feeling homesick – even if they’re just one-line inside jokes or “You’re my Jew.” (Thanks, Anna.)

What, in your opinion, is the greatest invention of your time?
This is sort of obvious, but the Internet. I don’t know enough about technology to list all the ways the Internet has made things more efficient, more convenient, more communicative, etc…but I think we can ALL agree that we’ve benefited from its existence. (And no, I’m not just talking about Facebook.)

What is your favorite news source?
Well, I already answered this with my favorite website – Slate.com – but I also try to read the New York Times, and the San Francisco Chronicle when I’m feeling nostalgic. Also, this might sound silly, but Vanity Fair is a seriously fantastic resource for world/political happenings – and it’s so well written.

What is your favorite movie series?
The only movie series that actually gets better with each sequel is the Harry Potter series. I’m sorry, it’s just true. The rest just go downhill with each new movie. Spiderman should have stopped after one.

What is your favorite time of day?
On the weekends, this has to be brunchtime – which can fall anywhere from 10 am until 2 pm. This is the wonderful time of day that my friends and I meet at the cafeteria and lounge around, piling our plates with omelets and hash browns, and lounge around for hours, catching up and discussing the weekend’s activities. On weekdays, I’m a fan of dinner, for the same reasons.

Who is your favorite one-hit wonder?
Mmmbop by Hanson, obviously. This song brought joy and sunshine into my 7-year-old life.

Which famous person, living or dead, would you like to have a cup of tea with?
Adam Brody. I would convince him that we’re perfect for each other. No, okay, on a more serious note – I would love to sit down with Nabokov. I wouldn’t bombard him with questions about how to improve my own writing (though if he had the urge to share, I wouldn’t object…) but I just think he’d be fantastically interesting. Nabokov had synesthesia, which means he associated colors with particular letters – this is part of what made his writing so vivid. I’d love to just hear him describe the composition of a room and the things in it.

What is your favorite quote?
Beauty is the splendor of truth. Plato.

Are you a dog person?  Cat person? An "other" person? Why?
Honestly, I’m sort of a “neither” person. I’ve never had a real attachment to pets – that sounds awful, but it’s true. I love kittens – I think they’re adorable – but I don’t think I have the patience for pets.

What is your favorite game?
Mmm tough question. I’m VERY into games. I do believe there are different games for different occasions, though. My family is deeply loyal to Scrabble. During Thanksgiving, the entire extended family has a massive Scrabble tournament – much like how other, less-nerdy families have football games in the backyard. I’m fiercely competitive with Monopoly, and I’ve been known to make my 27-year-old male cousin cry when he hits my Park Place hotels. Lately, though, I’ve been very into Apples to Apples – it’s just a great, social game to play with a lot of people.

Who is your favorite TV villain?
He’s not exactly a VILLIAN, but I love Red Foreman from That 70s Show. He’s pretty much the opposite of my own father, but I think his verbal abuse is hilarious.

Where is the one place in the world you would want to visit?
This is a mean question, because I have a million places on my wish list, and my top destination changes all the time. I go through phases – I had a major Icelandic phase, a Peruvian phase, even a Swiss phase. Right now, I would love to go to Israel. Several of my friends have recently returned from Birthright, the program that lets students of Jewish descent travel to Israel for free, and it has seriously changed their lives. I’ve never been religious at all, but I think it’s time for me to trace my roots and sort of embrace my Jewish cultural identity, even if I’m not completely sure of my religious identity.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure?
This is moderately embarrassing, but I’m addicted to reruns of Dawson’s Creek. It may be the cheesiest show that has ever aired, but it also captures such a pure, Americana sort of youthfulness. And the Pacey-Joey-Dawson love triangle never ceases to be entertaining.

To finish this survey, we will be stealing questions used at the end of every broadcast of Inside the Actor's Studio.  James Lipton, the host of the show, always finishes each interview with a questionnaire invented by the great Bernard Pebo.  Here goes:

-What is your favorite word?
Juxtaposition.

-What is your least favorite word?
Mucus

-What turns you on (creatively, spiritually, or emotionally)?
Really good, truthful, insightful conversation

-What turns you off?
People who don’t have any thirst to learn.

-What sound or noise do you love?
Acoustic guitar. It’s a nostalgic sound, because it reminds me of campfires at sleepaway camp and my dad playing music in our living room.

-What sound or noise do you hate?
Knuckle-cracking.

-What profession would you like to attempt?
Journalism, but I’m not yet sure which type. I’d like to work for a literary magazine…or a creative newspaper…or a travel magazine…we’ll see.

-What profession would you absolutely not like to attempt?
Anything involving mathematics.

-Finally, if Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
“It looks like you had a good time.”

To comment or debate any of my answers, or just to share your views and continue the discussion with me, be sure to head over to my message board thread! I look forward to hearing from my readers. And as always, if you have any Hopkins-related questions, don't hesitate to ask them there as well!

Comments

[Rob Auger]

MUCUS? hahaha. o Stephanie. And I think its funny how into games u and ur family get.... Sounds like fun.

[Allison Delman]

As your mom, every word of this rings so true! One question you all might want to pose (our family question to all new guests): what would your super power be?

[Jessica Kraus]

hahahaha when Jian Lan told me he had a friend from Redwood High School going to Hopkins, he said that she had a thing for Polarid pictures. I guess he was right.

AH...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!