interview #01: evan goetz

1) What's your full name (and preferred name, if you have one)?
My full name is Evan William Goetz. My family's last name used to be von Goetz, but when they moved to America then took out the von so their named sounded less German lulz. William was my father's first name (and his father's first name). My mom liked the name Evan, but she said the name Evan came from some Swedish king who raped young women. ...lulz my father wanted to name me something unbelievably black like Shaqina or something if I were a girl.

2) Date of birth?
I was born on July 8, 1991

3) Blood type (if you know it), if not, horoscope (lulz):
I am O-, and I am a Cancer. I don't check my horoscope too often, but I find it to be almost always right, which weirds me out. Somewhere I read that each astrological sign has a corresponding organ, and that Cancer's was the stomach. I feel like I have always been stomach-centered.

4) So, how long have you been a vegetarian?
Alright, here's the low down on the vegetarian scoop. I started taking meat out of my diet the beginning of freshman year, but since I've been home I have both been eating meat when it is made for me or on special occasions. However, I am going to the grocery store this weekend and getting a fuckton of tofu so I'll never have to eat meats againnn.

5) What's it like living without eating meat?
Not eating meat has actually been awesome. I feel like my whole body is super healthy all the time, I never feel bloated or suffer from uncomfortable digestive problems or unruly gas. I've actually noticed that if I do eat meat I feel noticeably worse than times that I hadn't.

6) What ultimately made you turn to vegetarianism?
the lulz

7) How would you describe your clothing style?
My clothing style, while influenced by the late 90s, early 2000s, and my own homosexuality is primarily composed of cheap shit. I really don't like shopping that much, and I love not having to drop a dime when I need new clothes. i love places like Ross or thrift stores (yesterdays rose in old fairfax is a gem) because you can get (dirt) cheap shit that I think has a lot more personality and style than stuff you find in the mall.
Since I've been home I have taken all of the color out of my wardrobe, so that nao I only wear black, white, and gray (denim too). It's not that I'm against color, I just really enjoy gray and feel that I look much more sleek in monochrome than I did without. I'm really loving it.

8) What's the most outrageous outfit you've worn or would like to wear without any inhibitions?
I really wish I had something interesting to say but the best I can think of is dressing up for Rocky Horror on Halloween.

9) What happened to you and college?
I got caught with the boozies, my mom flipped and pulled me out. Ironically I haven't even got a strike from school. What's worse, my mom then punished me by having my wisdom teeth removed 2 years early and taking a trip to Mexico without me. niceee.

10) Your take on the practice of yoga?
Yoga was the physical routine that went along with the spiritual teaching of Hinduism, right? anything that helps you reach moksha (right?) probably helps out on earth too. also, Madonna does yoga and nao that mj is dead she's the queen of pop.

11) The bucket list question--what are a few things you'd definitely want to do before you die?
Before I die, I would def like to travel more, my number one destination is Beirut Lebanon. I'm not sure why, but something about the city really draws me.
Other than that i have very few goal-oriented plans. I kind of like it that way.

12) Tell me something about you and Pokemon.
I am actually an experienced Pokemon trainer. As of this morning, I have seen 141/caught109 on my Pokemon Blue. I still have to train a few more Pokemons (and catch a krabby lulz) but I am getting pretty close to being a Pokemon mastah! gotta catch em all betch

13) You are given a camera that can only take one photograph. What would you shoot? Why (if there's a reason for it)?
With only one picture I would go to this one hill in Clifton and take a picture looking back towards nova. It's pretty high up, so when you look back home the light pollution surrounds nova like a bubble. It's really cool to see.

14) Describe your favorite hobby and how you got into it.
I love knitting, thank you Leah McGlone. At Leah's first meeting of her knitting club, she supplied me with yarn and needles then taught me the ropes. Been hooked ever since.

15) Describe your cooking expertise.
Ooooh, i love cooking! I'm always confused when people say they're bad at cooking, ecause I think it's so easy! I rely on a set number of painfully simple dishes including stir fry, carbonara, omigosh and acorn squash, so good.

16) You dream career is...
I dont have a dream career, because I would much rather just marry someone rich (preferably European) and then spending the rest of my life doing designer drugs. hooha.

17) What's been playing on your iPod/iTunes/mp3/music library/device lately?
Passion pit, armor for sleep, and dubstep. Just recently got a boner for dubstep thanks to Sarah Barakat.

18) Chinese food.
Chinese food is freakin delicious. My favorite Chinese (Hunan, I suppose) restaurant is Shiang Yu in the Franklin Farm shopping center. The food is amazing. The service is awesome. And they have these seasame vegetables that are really yummy.

19) What do you think of strangers?
I'm not big on new people. I'm not really opposed to them, but I just really enjoy being around friends and those that I'm comfortable with.

20) What's the newspaper industry's future?
Oooh, I wish I had a more original answer to the future of the newspaper industry than the internet. But print journalism really doesn't have a future in cheap tangible ditributables like newspapers. I think that the internet is a sweet place for newspapers though, it will really lulz things up.

21) What is something that you find overrated?
I find sooooo many things overrated, but I think that's because I find things that I'm not interested in to be unbearable. If I had to focus on one thing I find overrated I would have to say Lady Gaga. I find her voice, lyrics, and whole image to be irritating and cliché.

22) A cup half full or half empty?
I would say half empty, but I like to think of myself as a realist, not a pessimist.

23) Why did you name your blog "tip of the iceburg"? (and do you realize that iceburg is usually spelt "iceberg"?)
Eough man, rough. ;) and I gave it that name because it was in that one Owl City song that I really liked but surprisingly can't remember the name of.

24) Do you prefer to plan things out, or wing them, and why?
I feel like everyone's life should have a general plan, but I really enjoy taking life by the reigns and wingin it. I feel held down by routines and plans and would much rather go with the flow and let things happen on their own.

25) I'm probably going to interview another interesting person after you for my blog, so what's one question you'd want me to ask him/her?
If you haven't interviewed them already, I would say that you should ask them about what they think the next big social trend will be. I lunch out on hipsters, and I can't wait to see what's next.

--
That was Evan Goetz. It's strange how life works. When I met him, he was a senior at my high school, and I was a freshman. Under normal circumstances, I would've never hoped to ever encounter and get to know a senior as a freshman, but I did. Somehow, through the literary magazine. Although he rarely appeared at the meetings, I felt that he was a pretty chill guy on the occasion that he was actually around, and I guess things just rolled from there. I don't know how many times I smiled/grinned/laughed out loud at what he has said, especially in this interview, so that ought to say something!

One of the most adorable things about this whole interview process was that 1) I didn't really know him that well, so it was hard to think of suitable questions to ask him and 2) I sent these 25 questions out via e-mail on Feb. 13, 2010, 3:03 a.m., and I didn't get a response until March 30, 2010, 1:16 a.m. So that's approximately 45 days. I saw him in between that span of time once or twice, and although he did say he was sorry he hadn't responded yet, I wasn't too sure that he'd really respond to the interview. But he did. 45 days later. But that's what's awesome.

He has his own blog, called The Tip of the Iceburg which I encourage you to follow up on. It should give a better idea of what an awesome personality he is.