wildcat

To begin, your full, unedited and unabridged name, please.
Benjamin Allan Rawluk. I often misspelled my middle name for many years, substituting an "e" for the second "a," suggesting that my keen intellect is often hampered by a questionable attention to detail.

On being introduced to your name, what was your reaction to it?
I will always be listed near the end of the alphabet, which flusters me as alphabetical filing is the standard and I write fiction more than non-fiction. At various points in my life I wanted to be named Matthew (Grade 4) and Franklin (Grade 5 - not Frank or Frankie. Franklin), but I've warmed considerably. The last name's spelling will always be a point of contention with other people.

Do you think God exists only in the mind?
Do you exist only in my mind?

And is therefore more real than the physical world?
"The material world is the part of Heaven that you can touch."

What is your chosen gender?
Bio-male, although I can't be certain what I was last time 'round. I've been both, I'd imagine. Several times.

If pressed, would you choose to wear boots or high heels on a first date?
I would not give into the Patriarchy of Sloping Feet. Boots. This has nothing to do with the fact that high heels would make me topple over, like certain Baltic economies.

Do you have a best friend?
Yes. She's very far away.

Do you look at all your friends and arrange them into a mental hierarchy?
No. Joy is my best friend, Michael is The Accomplice, then there's Christian. Actually, maybe I do have a hierarchy, but the vast majority are my friends, brilliant and shining each and every one of them.

How long would it take for you to realise that you are in love?
About three weeks, the last time it happened.

Could there ever be a sort of relationship that transcends love itself?
I have a sopping, questionable relationship with books, as it happens, but we're not at liberty to discuss that.

What is your favourite breed of dog?
Beagle.

Nutella:
I would not name my daughter Nutella, no.

Do you remember your first school friend?
His name was Mark, and his brother was named Adam and probably the subject of my very first, very nascent crush. I think. Mark and I used to play cars, and this was in William's Lake. There was a standing rule among all the boys that whoever's house we were at was the boss. This led to certain political crises.

Do you own a scarf of a colour other than black?
Samara crochetted me a lovely, rich green one. Very warm.

Do you like yourself? If not, do you like your house?
I'm extremely hard on myself, but I do like myself. My apartment, by contrast, is a lazy layabout although I love it very much.

Sometimes when I read, I read out loud. Do you?
Sometimes. Mostly when I read poetry, or a sentence whallops me on the forehead and says, "If only you could write this well."

Do you have some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder?
No.

Are mini-skirts the way to go?
Who like short-shorts?

Is red the new black?
Green.

Which animal would you rather be: a racoon or a panda?
Panda. More exotic.

Do you pity all the penguins who fall over when planes fly overhead?
Apparently penguins are quite the little drama queens.

Sugar or Salt?
Both.

Do you think that a monkey has more moral worth than a newly born baby?
Enh. Equal.

Is there a difference between men and women which is not just biological?
Biological and social programming.

'Velvet dresses are better than velvet coats'. Discuss.
Velvet smoking jackets, like Joy says.

Do you hate school?
In retrospect, no, but at the time it was rather distressing.I love writing workshops.

Does it sometimes annoy you that the Harry Potter films are so very bad?
A bit indifferent. They're pulp.