| cb: |
Hi, I’m writing a feature on local Dubuque bloggers and would love to chat about yours. Let me know if you’re interested and we can set up a short interview. Thanks! Courtney Blanchard, Staff Reporter, Telegraph Herald |
| me: |
Hi Courtney, Sorry for my slow reply. I have a job and small children, so it’s hard to do anything blog related until nighttime. Would it be possible to do the interview in an online chat session and then post the unedited transcript to the Dubuquer blog? Mike |
| cb: |
Sure, that sounds like a great idea! What kind of chat venue were you thinking? I have a g-mail account and often use the chat function there. |
| me: |
I think gmail will work. I could do this at noon today or tomorrow, or possibly after 6 pm. Noon would be better because I have dial up at home. Did you write the article about dial up being obsolete? Heh! |
| me: |
Sorry, Friday would have to be 1-2 pm. Today noon to 1. |
| cb: |
Noon will work! This is my gmail address, so I thought I’d send the reply through here. The interview shouldn’t take that long, maybe 15 minutes. And yes, I did write the article about outdated dial up! But I will shed my bias today. |
| me: |
Noon today it is. Thanks. |
| cb: |
I have one request. Would you be able to wait to post the interview until the day we publish the article? The story will run Nov. 2. Thanks! |
| me: |
Ok, Nov. 2 is good. |
|
… |
| cb: |
Hello! |
| me: |
Hi, Courtney. |
| cb: |
Thanks for agreeing to the interview! |
| me: |
Thanks for asking me |
| cb: |
That’s what I do. First question. Your blog says that you’ve been a Dubuque resident since 2005. Why did you move to the area? |
| me: |
I took a job as one of the adult services librarians at Carnegie-Stout Public Library. My dad worked for the Savanna Army Depot, and I grew up in the region, more or less. |
| cb: |
What would you consider your “hometown?” |
| me: |
Savanna. |
| cb: |
Tell me a little about your blog and what you write about. |
| me: |
the Dubuquer is sort of a play on The New Yorker magazine, which put Dubuque in the national spotlight in the 1920s when the founding editor Harold Ross said the New Yorker would not be edited for the old lady in Dubuque. I’m interested in this mystique or cliche of Dubuque in popular culture, Dubuque being the epitome of backwardness. I’m also interested recent Dubuque history, especially the Pack. |
| cb: |
Do you think people (elsewhere) still associate Dubuque with backwardness? And why? |
| me: |
Well, maybe backwardness isn’t the right way to state it, but yes, Dubuque is referenced in popular culture more so than, say, Kalamazoo or Paducah. In his recent novel, Lev Grossman refers to Dubuque. Also, in a recent review of a graphic novel, “The Beats: A Graphic History” by Harvey Pekar and Ed Piskor, noted rock music critic Richard Meltzer proclaims it to be “as shabby as a Wal-Mart in Dubuque.” |
| cb: |
So what is your favorite reference to Dubuque? Or one of the weirdest? |
| me: |
Politicians seem to think that Dubuque is where the grassroots are thickest. This view is informed, according to my theory, by Harold Ross, Mary Regina Hayford, Edward Albee, and national ads for Dubuque Ham. The politicos are right and wrong about Dubuque. Dubuque is unique, maybe even odd, but it cannot be pigeonholed as leaning right or left or even backwards. Everyone is a Dubuquer, regardless of their political beliefs, or even where they are from. And that’s the ultimate cliche! |
| me: |
My favorites . . . My favorite comic strip is Bloom County by Berke Breathed, and my favorite character is Bill the Cat. I recently learned that Bill the Cat is from the “gentle, green hills of Dubuque, Iowa.” I also love the story of Mary Regina Hayford who travled to New York in the 1960s to try to change the sterotype of Dubuque. I think she even appeared on Johnny Carson show: http://dubuquer.wordpress.com/2007/01/23/a-chic-and-vivacious-woman/ |
| cb: |
I think the lesson is that we can all achieve great things. |
| me: |
Or maybe that hairdo and glasses were a bad choice? |
| cb: |
I think Sarah Palin brought back the ‘do. What are some of your favorite blogs (Dubuque or non-Dubuque related)? |
| me: |
route1 by Erik Hogstrom. His consistency is amazing. I post to my blog once every six months, even joke about having a blog just so I can ignore it. It takes me several hours to compose one short paragraph. But Erik plugs away every day. I don’t know how he finds the time to listen to so much music, watch so much sports and movies, and then write so much about those things. |
| me: |
Erik asked me about an article like this about a year or two ago, and I turned him down. I hope he isn’t mad that I’m talking to you. Heh, heh! Sorry, erik! |
| cb: |
It’s a cutthroat job. No getting around it. Ha! |
| me: |
that’s what you do! |
| cb: |
So my last order of business is getting our info for the bio-box we run with these stories. I already know your hometown and profession. How old are you and tell me about your family (wife, kids, dog, millions of siblings, etc). |
| me: |
one thing about the Pack. It seems to me like the number of people in Dubuque who aren’t even aware that the Pack existed is growing. How many people who live in Dubuque were actually born and raised here? It’s interesting to think about how their views of Dubuque differ than those who call themselves Dubuquers |
| me: |
Lovely wife Maggie, who works harder than me, stays at home with Rebecca and Owen. They are the reason why I don’t blog until well into the night. I have to wait until everyone is asleep. Dog Scout and cat Zack |
| cb: |
How old are your kids? |
| me: |
[Deleted]. I tease Maggie, she is a genuine Dubuque soccer mom |
| cb: |
And the rude question, but how old are you? |
| me: |
Owen was born in Dubuque at Finley, there’s hope for him yet |
| cb: |
Tell him about the Pack! |
| me: |
I’ll be [deleted] |
| cb: |
You can always cut that line out when you post it on your blog. |
| me: |
If the blog is around, he can read about it . . . will it be in the paper, though? |
| cb: |
It depends on how much space we have. This is more of an “alternative story form” so it won’t follow our regular neighbor feature conventions. |
| me: |
ok |
| cb: |
But I have to ask in case the editors want it. Thank you again for the interview and granting me part of your noon hour! |
| me: |
Thank you very much. This was fun, and is good material for the Dubuquer |
| cb: |
Good bye! |
| me: |
bye |