Conversation with Hotwired...

WIRED interview at Hotwired.com in April 1998
	Geek of the Week
		Roberta Puma
	Membername: rkpuma Email: rk@rkpuma.com Occupation: Writer, Web Designer Location: Norfolk, VA
	When did you first get on the Net? What was your first impression?
		November '96 I signed on AOL: kewl place when you aren't certain how to turn your computer on. People you meet online are in the same boat/struggle with you, rather than spending the millennium holding for tech assist on some 800 number that Packard Hell or Steve Case has graciously provided. Of course, when you grow and BECOME the tech assist to others, it's time to consider a change.
	What does nobody know about you?
		Chuh, right! (Psst ... do Janet Reno, the FBI, the IRS, or local zoning authorities cruise this site?)
	What do you do compulsively?
		Uh, how much time do we have here?
	What do you never get around to?
		Writing the Great American Novel. But you can see one of my short fictions on the Web courtesy of Lance Arthur at glassdog.com. His publishing of "Jem's Trip" at Vacation Project is what I consider to be my greatest accomplishment online to date.
	What makes you a geek?
		My addictive tendencies I suppose.
	What makes you cool?
		My generosity. What makes me UNcool is getting pissed about getting zilch in return; feeling like the Girl Scout gone bad (with her box of broken cookies).
	Who is your hero?
		Why, Lance Arthur, of course, Peter Sellers, and Woody Allen BEFORE the Soon Yi apocalypse of his career/personal life. Is she the Yoko Ono of this decade or what? Apologies Yoko; I play your music all the time!
	Who is your arch nemesis?
		I wouldn't dignify or honor his name by mentioning it but he's an in-law of sorts.
	Who is your dream date?
		Let's see, I only get one here right? Woody before Soon Yi (nah). Uh, Lance AFTER Alex, Maggie, Leslie, and ... nah, you mean this lifetime right?. Uh, Peter Sellers is kinda booked lately. Uh, Jack Nicholson (geez am I a glutton for punishment or what?). Hey, I got it! What's your name and what time do you get off work?
	What matters in life?
		Homemade Chesapeake Bay crab cakes ^<*>^ and rockfish <)))))>< and mild Italian sausage >{IIIIIII}< and Miller Lite \~/ and uh, what other kinda' high-tech knowledge you can pick up online with AOL?
	What doesn't matter in life?
		Hu Tsu and Chang Tsu said it best (paraphrasing): "Walk around the world; cut away that area beyond your footfalls, and realize how useful the useless is." Or was that Simon and Garfunkel? Or Stiller and Meara? Or Sonny and Cher? Or Woodward and Bernstein? Or Cheech and Chong? Or the Brownings?
	What keeps you up nights?
		My addictive tendencies I suppose.
	What gets you up in the morning?
		Email. And I'm clueless as to why, since it's largely spam, moronic chain letters, and jokes you've seen for the Nth time.
	What do you like about the Net?
		Diversity: a kazillion sources and pages, no two alike, and the ceaseless awe I have at what people will publish.
	What do you hate about the Net?
		It's the time it takes to download the bulk of them. Bells and whistles are expensive time-wise.
	What's the best line you've ever used or read in a flame?
		Don't know where/when it started, but it's my signature: "OK kids, next time you're down in the dumps... pick me up a tire will ya?"
	Who in the high-tech world do you most admire?
		Those who produce pages not overly cumbersome to download.
	Who in the high-tech world would you most like to expire?
		Delete the word "not" in the aforementioned.
	What did you want to do when you were grown up?
		Oh, this is unique: Showbiz!
	What HTML tag best describes you?
		<title>New Page</title>
	With which fictional character do you identify?
		Madame (Emma) Bovary because Flaubert artfully made her so real.
	What's your poison?
		Miller Lite in a bottle, no glass.
	What's your antidote?
		Bloody Mary thus: glass filled with ice, Worcestershire, Tabasco, celery seed, pepper, fill two-thirds with vodka, color slightly with tomato juice (horseradish & Old Bay optional).
	What is your motto?
		Life is too important to take too seriously.
	What's the object of your technolust?
		Currently a Pentium II, 300 MHz motherboard. But by the time I can install it by relying on Upgrading and Repairing PCs (8th edition), I'm certain I will want something else. (ah, but that seems a long time ago-- 4/98)