A wicky wicky wicky!

You guys know I love you right? Like, I looooooove you. No, more than that, I LURVE you. But today I am giggling with glee (and I most decidedly DO NOT giggle with glee) because I get to interview the one and only person I ever knew EYE ARE ELL before she started blogging. And not only that, but I actually lived with her for the better part of three years. And not only THAT! but we talked hockey and Buffalo and Canada and cooking and all that stuff I'm obsessed with YEARS before I met my big, strapping, handsome Buffalonian hocky player boyfriend. So. Because of me (and David, who you don't know) she's married to her husband, and because of her I'm not married to mine. Oh, wait.... Anywho, dear readers of the Collective (whom I love with all of my heart and soul and xoxo and all that), please welcome my dear, dear, dearly missed BFF, Alex.

1. You blog! When and how did you get started?

I do blog! Although not as often as I should. I started maybe sometime last year when I suddenly found out the internet was cool and wanted to immerse myself in it. Within a month I had two blogs (one of which I've stopped), a goodreads profile and had found the time suckage that is facebook. But the real reason I started blogging is because I cyber stalk all these people I knew from high school and thought I should just make my own internet presence.

Is the internet cool? Huh, I guess I have yet to learn that. (I kid, I kid. I lurve you.)

2. Man, I don't think I've been in a movie theater for more than a year. Remember when we used to go to movies, like, all the time? Those were the days, huh? What is the best movie you've seen recently, and why should I go see it?

Dude, remember the Palace? Ah good times. And sadly, I haven't gone to the movies in forever! The last movie I saw was Benjamin Buttons which I'm sure you've seen because of the Fitzgerald thing. Since that's the most recent thing I've seen I'm going to say instead you should netflix an old classic like Muppets from Space and watch it on a Saturday morning in your PJs with a package of Chips Ahoy.

Nope, never got around to Ben Buttons. And I even made Seth read the short story and everything!

3. I don't watch a whole lot of television, partly because every time I find a quirky little show I like it ends up getting canceled (see, Arrested Development and Pushing Daisies). You seem to have this problem too! Tell us about some of your favorites that were canceled far too soon so we all know what we missed.

I love this question! And I have two words -- Wonderfalls and Firefly. First off, Wonderfalls is set in Niagara Falls, New York (but in a cooler universe where Niagara Falls, New York is actually Canadian and has better bars). It's quirky and filled with snarkitude. Brilliant (and written by the same people who did Pushing Daisies! And Lee Pace is in it!) Firefly is inspirational to me. I'm so sucked in by the characters and the mythology, and just the concept of fighting for what is important to you in the most basic sense. Oh, and it's pretty damn funny. For these two reasons, I don't watch Fox. They are masterpiece-canceling ass hats.

Isn't Lee Pace dreamy? Le sigh.

4. One of the many things I love about your mother is how she made sure to take you (and me, to a far lesser extent) to all kinds of cool places, and that love of travel has obviously stuck with you over the years. What places on the globe have you NOT yet been to but would love to visit?

Awwww.... you're so cute! You know my mom would take you anyplace with us. Sadly she has not taken me to Egypt despite going with the rest of the family and telling me, "It's a family trip and you're not going." Then she came back from Egypt, telling me all the cool archaeology stuff she learned, even though she knows I frickin' majored in archaeology. I also really want to go to Angkor Wat and Vietnam -- interestingly enough inspired by your Mom and her stories of when she was little.

DUDE. We shall plan a trip to Vietnam! But, you know, probably not any time this year.

5. Another thing that I love about your mother is how I stole a whole bunch of her recipes and pass them off as my own. (Last time Seth's mom and step-dad came to visit I made her carbonara, and suffice it to say, it was a hit.) You love cooking and entertaining too; what is the best dish you make, and what would you like to perfect in the future?

Please! Before I met you the only spices I had ever heard of using were dill and sesame seeds! I totally started cooking because of you. My best recipe I think is my Cajun Mac and Cheese. I'll try to put the recipe up for you, but mostly I just make it however I feel like making it that day. Lately I've been fooling around with lots of pasta and made up this kick ass Lemon-Artichoke sauce that rocked. But I really need to learn how to bake better. I'm too much of an improver to bake correctly. Things come out of my oven all funky. (Oh, and I need an oven.)

I have the same problem with baking, which is funny because I always used to do so well in chem lab, remember? Baking sucks.

6. You're back in Buffalo! What's the best and worst parts about moving back to your hometown?

The best part of being in Buffalo is that you and Seth come here more often. And then we go and get chicken wings (that's Rob's favorite part of being back in Buffalo) -- so let's go to Duff's next time. I should also say I love being close to my family, but really it's the wings. And the hockey. The worst part is the damn roads! I don't think my car is going to make it. I started driving down Main St. today and heard at least 2 new rattles while being seriously concerned that 1 or 2 tires might fall off. This city needs some stimulus money.

And now that you've mentioned Duff's Seth is going to want to go RIGHT THIS MINUTE.

7. Speaking of worst parts, you're apartment is pretty ridiculous. What's the most horrible/hilarious thing about it?

It is pretty crap ass, isn't it? The really sad thing is, it's super pretty and it has a fireplace for crying out loud! The weirdest thing is that my bathroom can only be accessed through my bedroom -- so no company (or I have to make the bed). Also that I can't put a cookie sheet in the oven AND shut the oven door. OR that we can't use hot AND cold water in our shower at the same time. I could go on but you really only asked for one thing.

And the thin walls, and snooty neighbors, and . . . .

8. You're pregnant! So tell me, are you going to be one of those cool hockey moms that everyone seems to talk so much about, or are you going to be one of those crazy moms that lock her kids in a germ-proof bubble, thereby guaranteeing that they end up with every allergy known to humankind?

Man, Sarah Palin gave hockey moms such a bad rap. My kids are totally going to know how to skate as soon as they can walk. I don't think I could possibly be a germ-freak bubble-imposing mom. For one thing, I don't vacuum. I hope I'll be a cool mom, but I am scared I'll be a yeller. Or a "Oh let me tell you about my kids because that's all I ever talk about" Mom. Please police me in this. I hereby give you permission.

Yeah, that was one crazy bitch, eh? You know that Mites on Ice is my favorite part of hockey games, right? I am SO coming up to root for your babies. And, I don't think you have to worry about being a yeller; I can't even fathom such a possibility.

9. Also, how soon after birthing your baby can I come up to visit?

You can come visit me right away provided that we have a new apartment so if you stay with us you don't have to walk through our bedroom to go to the bathroom. As you well know, I am a big proponent of your moving to Buffalo. Move to Buffalo! We can even go see a movie together :)

You do realize that if I ever stayed with you (which would TOTALLY be my preference, by the way), thirty sets of Seth's parents would freak the fuck out, right? Wait a second, I have an idea!

10. The poor people who read this site seem to think that I'm all sweetness and light, but you actually lived with me in college. Can you please share one of the many anecdotes of my horribleness (which I have a PhD in, by the way) to dispel this regrettable misconception once and for all?

Is this a trick? You want me to make something up? Ok, fine... Remember that time you put post-it notes telling Kara to pick up her stuff and clean? That was awesome. And in my mind it was just Kara, but thinking back it was probably me too because I'm pretty messy. But seriously, Collective readers need to know that you were a pretty damn awesome roommate. Remember how we used to go grocery shopping with our Smoothie King Angel Foods? And how we used to cook for our whole floor? Those were the days. The people of the Collective just don't know how much you rock.

Oh man, you totally let me off the hook. I do love the Post-It story, though, because it was actually Melisa who told me to do it, but I get all the press :)

Thanks for letting me interview you, Alex!