Zona

Zona Boy interviews Michele of voix de Michele

Another great time where the answers were as fun to read as coming up with the questions. I know you kids will enjoy this one as much as the last one.

1. The Vikings fired Mike Tice after a tumultuous season. Do you agree with this move and who would you like to see as his replacement?

*I couldn't care less about football, the Vikings, and Mike Tice. People on the radio seemed to say that he was a knuckle head, though. Is Ditka available?

2. You posted that people see the French teacher as a woman of some romantic attraction. I had a crush on two of my English teachers. One in jr high and one in high school. Can you as a woman teacher sense any of this from students?

*Oh hell yeah. I have had boys turn into instant idiots around me and get all gooey and stupid in class. I've had "oggling" eyes on me when I've worn a fitted skirt. I've even had a female student with a crush on me. Kinda strange, but obviously as a professional you only address these things if they become a problem. A kid giving me eyes stopped bothering me after the first time. Why embarrass someone, especially a student? I'm flattered by the attention and I make absolutely no indication that I've even noticed it.

*In other realms, I am always pleased when a student feels comfortable enough around me to slip up in class and call me "mom" when they want to ask a question. I think it's really sweet.

3. I met a woman who's maiden name is the same as mine. So we agreed we're related. She is also very much into genealogy and told me that our family goes back to Lille, France. I was kinda bummed. Why shouldn't I be?

*Lille is a beautiful city, albeit in a not-so-beautiful climate. Elisabeth of As My World Turns is from Lille. And man, Lille is in France -- therefore, Lille is awesome.

4. Two famous French paintings come to my mind. One is of the saintly Joan Of Arc and the other is the bare breasted "Liberty Leading The People". What percentage of each woman are you?

*I lead a lot, but I don't tend to bare my breasts in public. Saintly? Well, Catholic anyway. Let's say half and half. Some of my favorite painters: Miro. Dali. Picasso.

5. The first post I can find on your blog doesn't seem to be a first post. Did you have another blog before voix?

*Nope, but I didn't write a "why I'm here" post. I wanted to just jump right in and start telling my story. I was in a Creative Non Fiction class and my teacher had a blog. I was jealous of hers, so I decided to go for it and pretend like I'd been doing it forever. That is what I do when I'm nervous or uncertain about something: I pretend like I know what I'm doing until I get my feet underneath me. Then I take bigger risks.

6. You are currently exploring the option of leaping into the dating scene to find a lasting relationship. The alleged norm in France is for the man to have a wife AND a mistress. Would this keep you from becoming involved with a French man?

*Oh, I've been dating. Nothing serious, though. It may "be a norm" with some French men to have a wife and a mistress, but I seriously doubt that is really the case with "All French Men" -- those generalizations are dangerous business. I would be involved with a French man if we found each other mutually interesting and attractive, but I've noticed that I tend to be too forward/assertive and high volume for European men. Russian guys, however, find me adorable. That can be kinda creepy. Go figure.

7. I HATE to read but I would gladly purchase any work you had published because you are my friend. Would you be mad at me if I might not read it?

*Heck no. Crack open that wallet, buster, and buy two copies. Use them to balance out a bookshelf, I don't care. But tell me you read it even if you didn't because that will make me happy.

8. You are the first blogger to add me as a link without me doing something for you first. Who was the first to link you and are you still "close"?

*Elisabeth of As My World Turns. She's the best. *mwah* to Elisabeth if she's reading this -- thoughtful, honest, sincere and one of my more brilliant readers. The fact that she likes my writing is an honor. She's got great taste, so I feel all special by association.

9. Who would you consider to be the French version of the amazing Mr. Neil Diamond?

*Hmmm. The torch song singers that first come to mind are Francis Cabrel and Jean Jacques Goldman. Cabrel's song "Je t'aimais, je t'aime et je t'aimerai" (I loved you, I love you, I will love you) is sappy and overstated and gooey romantic -- I LOVE THIS SONG. It's awesome. I belt it out in the car when I'm driving alone. It sometimes makes me cry when I'm feeling sentimental. I am such a dork. I've heard a few tracks from Neil's new album, by the way, and I'm still not convinced he's all that. Sorry, Zona Boy.

10. I am one of those Americans who used to think that you could see the Eiffel Tower from anywhere in Paris. In slightly over two years I will be traveling to Europe to celebrate my 50th birthday. Forget the obvious places that I want to go to in France. (Paris, Normandy, Lille) What place do you think I HAVE to go see to be amazed and why?

That kinda depends on what amazes you. I always recommend fortress castles, because they are what amaze me. Angers has a great fortress castle and their centre ville (downtown) has a lot of pedestrian streets that are fun to walk around. Within the castle is housed the "Tapestry of the Apocalypse" -- AMAZING. Huge. 12 meters high by 80 meters long or something like that. Dare you to find a link with photos. Great shopping in Angers, too, and the city looks "really French" -- like what we've been taught to expect from movies. I spent 6 weeks there in the summer of 03 and loved it. Musee Jean Lurcat also has some fantastic tapestries that are more modern (1950s) and something that you will never forget. Normandy: If you go to Caen, you can see the remnants of Wm the Conqueror's castle and the D-Day memorial museum. Rouen (also in Normandy) has an AMAZING flamboyant gothic cathedral -- look for the photo I posted next to me in the tiara last July. In Paris: God, what hasn't been said about Paris? My favorite museum is Musee Cluny, which is where you can find the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries. The museum of the Middle Ages. Right in the Latin Quarter, down the street from all the Gilbert Jeune stores. Can you tell that I'm in love with tapestries? Love them. Love Love Love.

11. I think you look great in a tiara but the ghosts of the Bastille stormers probably don't find it so sexy. Close your eyes and go back to that day. Who's side were you on?

*Hmmm. I would have been on the side of the revolutionaries. Louis was kind of a knuckle head. As an American, however, I appreciate the fact that France almost went broke by helping us out. Let's see: I'd most likely have been a servant girl who would secretly try on Marie Antoinette's jewels and tiaras when she wasn't looking. They didn't let women voice many opinions back then, and I wouldn't have been allowed to read or hang out with the politicians. I don't think I'd have made a very good servant girl, despite all that.

12. Anybody who reads all of your posts sees and extraordinary woman of many facets. You mention alcoholism, lesbianism, frustration, hope, humor, and deep sensitivities. Are there any facets you haven't shown us?

Yes, and for good reason. Private sides need to be kept private.

Thank you Michele. That was awesome.

That reference to being a servant girl struck home because one of my all time fave TV movies was an adaptation of Tale of Two Cities and I know that I would have done what the Brittish lawyer did and for him to meet that servant girl on the way to the guillotine......let's just say that movie tears me up every time.