Nick and I, thinking that maybe there were too many men-folk 'round here, decided to find some womens, you know, before people started asking questions. Also, after interviewing two bloggers who post absurdity and obscenity almost exclusively, we decided maybe we should broaden our focus to include someone whose blog is a bit more serious. Both Nick and I agreed that
Little Miss Knit would be a great choice for our next interview. And away we go...
VITAL STATISTICS
Name: Little Miss Knit/ Knitty Kitty
Age: 22, which is hanging on by a thread
Height: 5’5”
# of weeks since last Tim Horton's Coffee: Too many... I think 10
QaE: How long do you see yourself as a blogger?
LMK: I just hit my one year mark, and I still haven’t run out of things to write about... so I guess until that happens.
QaE: What is your real life friend to online friend ratio?
LMK: Hmm... real life friends 4-7 maybe? I seem to be making new online friends all the time, but right now, I would say 5-10.
QaE: Whose is your favorite blog to read?
LMK: It all depends...
When I’m feeling light and funny?
SacreliciousWhen I’m feeling artsy?
Anthony or
DiaWhen I miss my baby?
TorontoFilmGrad
When I want a funny picture?
UbieWhen I want to learn more about Australia?
LozWhen I want to hear stories from another teacher?
BrookeWhen I want to hear from my twin?
Miss HT PsychWhen I want to angry up my blood?
Angry Republican MomQaE:Mac or PC?
LMK: Sadly, PC.
QaE: What was the last song you listened too?
LMK: “The Littliest Birds” by The Be Good Tanyas off
the Weeds Soundtrack.
QaE: What kind of whip do you floss?
LMK: Magical Trevor’s---
QaE: You are one of the most overtly political bloggers in a group that mostly discusses personal, mundane and humourous topics. What do you feel is your position within the blog community to which you belong and what significant opportunities and difficulties does this position bring with it?
LMK: I think people assume when they come to my blog that I will be outrageous, because I talk about EVERYTHING. This can be nice because sometimes people are willing to engage in a discussion about things that they wouldn’t willingly talk about face to face. It can also be a little alienating, I’ve noticed that when I talk about things like vibrators people back off, which I find funny. I did the Vagina Monologues, and my mother was a labour and delivery nurse, so I’ve been talking about things surrounding sex for a long, long time.
The only difficulty I find is that when I do try to be funny or personal, people don’t really know what to do, and don’t comment.
QaE: What difficulties does feminism still need to overcome, particularly in the West, and what do you see as the future of the feminist movement into the 21st century?
LMK: There is still this assumption that the “Feminist Fight” has been won. Feminism was started to give women basic human rights and now that we have those (vote, work, divorce) there are some that assume we live in a world of equality. We have to watch TV in order to imagine a woman president, and even then it’s Geena Davis!?!
Feminism in the west still has to overcome that apathetic mentality, and start better representing those women that are being abused and mistreated under their own noses. I think with the growing issue of human trafficking, and the treatment of illegal immigrants, there is still a lot that the West needs to work on.
There are women that are being treated as sub-human in Canada, America and especially Mexico and they have no voice or advocate.
Maintaining our own rights in our own countries also seems to be a major concern right now. The Bush Administration prides itself on taking down the “rape rooms” of Iraq and bringing women’s rights to Afghanistan, yet we are watching them turn back the clock on the rights women fought for on our own soil.
QaE: What are the greatest strengths and weaknesses of the blog format?
LMK: The greatest strength about the blog format is that any nutjob with a reason to write can start a blog. The great weakness about the blog format is that any nutjob with a reason to write can start a blog.
I think that the blog format is great for creating discussion and for opening a dialogue with people you wouldn’t have the opportunity to do otherwise. I was recently in a debate with a
“pro-cell cluster” man on
Angry Republican Mom’s blog, and I would never have the ovaries to go into the debate in real life.
Blogging seems to give people this massive sense of self-worth and power. In “the real world” would people show up and call
Ubie awful names for making fun of David Soul? Would they arrive in rabid packs to call me and other women whores and disgusting pieces of human garbage on
Viceless in Left Field? There is no accountability since we are all anonymous. The blog world is only starting to find that liability with new ways of searching for who is creating links of your posts. I think this will be short lived though, since people will just stop linking to blogs.
QaE: You often use instant messaging with other bloggers, what different dimension does this add to the blogging experience?
LMK: When you talk to someone online it is in real-time, which can be a lot of pressure to be interesting. Online chatting also allows you to be more open since there isn’t this transcript for all to see, and that allows you to be more relaxed. The online chatting also provides you with inside jokes about each other, which when transported back into the blogger world can be very funny, but only for the two of you that are in on it.
QaE: Both the country you are from and the country you live in are in politically tumultuous times. What, in your opinion, are the greatest issues that Canadians and Americans must face today, and what, if anything, can the two countries learn from each other?
LMK: Canadians were described by Robin Williams as the loft apartment overtop of a great party going “Keep it down eh!” I think Canadians are like the grown up relatives of America (even if Canada is younger), sitting back, watching them make massive mistakes in the name of their ego. The American ego needs to find some humility, and they could learn that from Canada. America has lost a lot of its credibility because of its refusal to admit fault and its inability to have sensitivity to other cultures. I think it’s sad that when my American friends go to travel overseas they ask me for Canadian flag patches for their backpacks and pins for their coats to keep other countries from thinking they are American. If one person doesn’t like you, then you can say that it is a problem with that one person, but if millions of people don’t like you, then maybe you need to examine yourself.
Canada needs to learn to grow a pair. We are very compassionate and understanding, but are letting the Americans trample all over us with export issues. Canada could use a little more ego, a little more self-assuredness so that they could shake off this timid little old lady persona it has developed in the global community. What do people always say when they talk about Canada?
- Everyone there was so polite!
- It was so clean!
- They play football funny.
I want Americans to know more about Canada then just that, and that won’t happen until we become more of a global force. Canadians also need to learn to have more pride in ourselves. We are very happy to be distinguished from Americans, and hold our identity very close, yet are less willing to support Canadian television programming and films. We have to find a way to bridge that gap.
QUESTIONS FROM A CANADIAN; A NEARLY ALLITERATIVE TITLE
Anthony: Is there a Canadian identity?
LMK: I think Canada definitely has an identity, but it is based more on trying to find differences with Americans. I love the Canadian Content laws that force television, print and radio to dedicate a certain percentage of their content to Canadian actors, singers and writers; I just wish that they weren’t necessary.
A lot of my family and friends work in the “Hollywood North” film industry, helping to create American film about American lives, all the while pretending that Toronto or Vancouver are “AnyLargeTown, USA”. I think we need to provide better support for television shows and movies that actually portray the Canadian experience. We have an identity, we just don’t recognize it.
Anthony: What do you miss most/least about Canada?
LMK: I don’t miss the snow and the cold, nor do I miss Global News, the Fox of Canada.
I miss:
Health Care
Tim Horton’s
“The Hour”
“Corner Gas”
Canadian Concerts
Being able to get good food from any nationality.
From Toronto:
The Creperie Near TFG’s old apartment
Queen St.
Bloor St. – great used CD shopping
Kensington Market
Just generally being able to walk anywhere I want and not have to rely on a car.
Anthony: How do you keep up with Canadian news, and how do you feel about the portrayal of Canada in the American media?
LMK: I get a lot of my news online, through Canoe, and the CBC website, and from BBC America. We have a laptop set up in our kitchen with an FM tuner so that CBC radio is broadcast into our radio, which lets my family feel like we are in Canada. I get a lot of flagged articles by email from TFG and HT Psych, and we get MacLean’s and Canadian Living (not that it provides much news) magazine delivered to our house. People that come to visit know not to show up without a newspaper, preferably not the National Post or the Sun.
What portrayal of Canada in the American media?
Anthony: Touche. Do you see yourself as part of the "brain-drain" of bright young Canadians seeking even greater opportunity and milder weather in the US?
LMK: Hardly. I’m not all that smart, and I’m going to another country to get educated (Australia) just so I can turn around and use the skills I’ve learned to benefit Canadians, since that is where I plan on starting my career and family. I’m like brain-drain in reverse.
Anthony: What have been the greatest challenges and rewards of living as a Canadian in the United States?
LMK: When I first moved to the States I lived in Montgomery, Alabama. The challenges there were pretty massive, with firstly convincing everyone that although I did speak fluent French, I wasn’t actually from Montreal. Convincing everyone that in Canada we had McDonald’s, didn’t live in igloos, and ate pizza was a challenge. Trying to explain that while we didn’t have MTV we were perfectly happy without it, especially since MTV stole our music network’s format was also difficult.
When I first moved there I had this irrational need to constantly remind everyone that I was different, and was in my mind, better then them. That didn’t go over so well, thank goodness that passed quickly.
When I came to California I found people to be a little more accepting of the unknown, and less ignorant, which was kinda nice. The work I have been able to do with kids here in California has been worth it, and being able to see what life really is like outside of Toronto.
People from Toronto seem to have the same mentality as people from New York, that everything they could possibly want or need to know is right there. Toronto is not the be all end all, and I have a better appreciation of that having moved around a lot.
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Thank you to LMK for being the latest guinea pig in this experiment. It was a lot of fun for me to ask a Canadian some very Canadian questions. We'll be back next week, likely with a lot more input from Nick, and probably with a return to the general tone we've used thus far. Peace out.