Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Sunday, March 22, 2009

The Cool Observer Interview: Keir Neuringer

(All questions chosen by the regular visitors here, a.k.a. The Expendables)

1. What skill(s) would you teach a child to aid their passage through this world?

KN: Charm.

2. If you could have a new society tomorrow, how would you describe the relationship of its citizens in this new society?

KN: Skeptical.

3. What are you going to write a song about tomorrow?

KN: Drinkin’ and/or ex-girlfriends.

4. Have you heard of anyone yet having a satisfactory explanation for the success of P. Diddy (a.k.a. Puff Daddy or Sean Combs)?

KN: Dude proves the existence of a god with a cruel and shitty sense of humor.

5. It’s time to make a choice. Would you fight or flee, and why?

KN: It’s a coin toss whether either would work, so I’d probably end up doing both, like Wladyslaw Szpilman in The Pianist.

6. When did the first monkey go to hell?

KN: Seconds after the universe was breathed into existence in 4004BC.

7. If you were a stock character in a dystopian sci-fi film/novel which would it be: the overlord, the scientist, the ultimate warrior, the lone explorer, etc.?

KN: Odd-ball musician in the inevitable cantina scene.

8. What food/meal do you make that requires the most effort to prepare?

KN: Barszcz czerwony (Polish beetroot soup).

9. What was your last moment of clarity?

KN: Last fall. I had a difficult decision to make, so I reminded myself how the character Cincinatus saved himself in Nabokov’s Invitation to a Beheading, and then did the same thing.

10. Are we all fucked?

KN: At least twice.

If you want to tackle these questions in 25 words or less, please do so and e-mail me your answers