| What is your most memorable childhood experience? | When I was nine or ten my family took a vacation to California. We were flying home from LAX. I was excited because what boy isn't excited by jet planes? I had an aisle seat and was ready to watch the wing and the engine as we took off. I waited eagerly until the pilot told us we were cleared and then watched intently as the plane picked up speed. It began to lift off the ground just as the engine caught fire and exploded. The plane skidded down the runway and we all felt the force of the emergency breaks kicking in to slow us down. After the initial stunned silence, there was a murmur of anxiety in the cabin as sirens in the distance kicked in becoming louder and louder. Eventually the pilot came on and told us the engine had had an issue (really?) but that the cabin was safe. In the end the event seemed to be a very small deal to the airline; though it was a huge deal to each of the passengers. Later, as we were waiting in the airport, the local news was interviewing passengers, and being the adorable child I was, they asked me for an interview. I have no idea what I said to them, but I'm sure it was eloquent and incredibly informative. |
| What immediate family member do you closely identify with and why? | My father. Spend two minutes in a room with me and my dad and you'll see that our sense of humor isn't just similar, it’s almost exactly the same. I can't count the number of times we've been the only two laughing in a crowded room. On several occasions we've even come up with the same crack remark at the same time, given a certain bit of stimulus. A sense of humor has always been important to me in other people, and sharing my dad's sardonic, wry and witty sense of humor has always kept us close. |
| What character traits do you admire in an individual? | A sense of humor is of great importance to me.
I am a firm believer in using humor and comedy as a way to cope with more serious things.
I have never believed in taking myself too seriously and I love to laugh, so it's important that people I am around love to laugh, too.
If someone can laugh at themselves they are almost always alright by me. |
| What is the funniest thing ever to happen to you? | When I was in 5th grade I was involved in a class-wide performance. It's hard to explain what this performance was because it wasn't a play or a choir performance. Essentially, the music teacher had gotten all the fifth graders together to put on a little musical thing for all the parents one night. I guess the idea was to show them what we were doing in music class. Anyway, the theme was Classical Composers. The format was one kid from the class would stand up and say a line about one of these composer's lives and then the entire class would sing a bastardized version of their most famous piece complete with hokey biographical lyrics. I'd agreed to be one of the students to stand up and say the dialogue before the song. I wasn't particularly shy and I knew most of the people in the town so even at age eleven, standing up in front of a few thousand people and saying some words didn't seem too daunting. Besides it was one line. How bad could it be? I got assigned to Bach. He was somewhere in the middle of the show, which meant I wouldn't lead off or leave a lasting impression. Essentially there was no pressure at all. I can still remember the line: "Bach went to church every Sunday; church was where he had his fun day!” Easy, right? Well, as the previous song is coming to a close, My friend, sitting right behind me rips the loudest fart I have ever heard. Now this thing was loud, but the music drained enough of the noise so most people couldn't hear it. But we could. Oh we could. And oh was it the funniest thing that had ever happened. We were, after all, a group of eleven year olds. Have you ever found something funny when you're not supposed to be laughing? You know how it makes your laughter about a thousand times more difficult to control. That was this situation. Worse yet, in about thirty seconds I was going to have to get up and say my line in front of my entire class, their parents and siblings. And at the moment, I could barely breathe I was laughing so hard. As my moment approached, I thought sad thoughts to no avail until eventually the auditorium fell silent and I knew my time had come. The laughter not going away, I panicked and held my breath. Effective to stop the laugher, but not great for saying lines. I stood up, breath held, and I slowly began to speak. And to my surprise the words came. They came out perfectly. Beautifully. Until they didn't. About halfway through I burst into a fit of laughter which caused an eruption of laughter among my classmates. I composed myself, tried again, failed again and this time the audience was in stitches as well. After a third failed attempt the auditorium was consumed in some sort of delirium save for the teacher herself, who goaded me into succeeding on my fourth try with a few threatening gestures. It's always seemed juvenile to me that this moment of hilarity started from a bit of flatulence. But we were eleven. And when you're an eleven year old boy farts are funny. |
| If time and money were not an issue, where would you travel and why? | Sub-Saharan Africa. I have always felt that Africa has been our most neglected continent. Not just in geopolitical terms or humanitarian terms, but in almost all ways. Africa is the cradle of life and yet we in the West know almost nothing of it. We vacation to exotic places like South America or Indonesia, but how often does one go to Tanzania, Congo or Ghana? I would travel there simply for what I don't know about it. I would travel there for what it could teach me about its culture and its perspective on life. I would travel for the majesty of its rainforests and the beauty of its savannah. I believe that Africa is a place that has so much unknown and that is the best place to go to learn. |
| When and if you ever have children, what would you like to pass on to them? | A strong work ethic.
Too often I have met people of my generation who have no understanding of hard work. They grew up in privilege and believe things are given rather than earned.
Although I believe children are better off growing up in comfortable, loving environments, I would make sure to instill the idea that all things are earned. I would not douse my children in luxury, but instead in opportunity so that they would come to the understanding that a work ethic is very important. |
