News
Boredwalk Community: The Argentinian Tango & Milking Goats
1. What's your actual day job and what's your dream day job?
I'm a writer of novels and other randomness, having been a journalist, then PR maven. Among my sidetracking and checkered past, I studied animal husbandry at university with hopes of running a horse stable. But it doesn't pay, and it costs a lot to properly maintain horses. Lose-lose.
2. What keeps you up at night?
The current lack of civility and humanity and my dog's snoring.
3. What's a book you think the Boredwalk community should read?
Since I'm a writer, I'm going with two. First, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. Like Tolstoy, but Korean. It's epic, emotional, and excellent (note proper use of the Oxford Comma). Second, Neelie's Truth by Betsy Fitzgerald (that's moi), in the style of Harper Lee, is a novel about loss, revenge, and the decisions that forever change our lives. Set in rural 1950s New England. (Available at Amazon and by request to your fave indie store). For an autographed copy, message me!
4. What's the most useful piece of advice you've ever received?
"If you're afraid, that's the reason to do it." Truly. We get nowhere by staying safe.
5. What experience do you most want to cross off your bucket list?
Learning the Argentinian tango. (Ed. note: I fully realize I'm about to step in it, but I had no idea there were different versions of the tango depending on the country. See? I learn new stuff every day!)
6. Clear up a misconception (about your job, where you are from, some other topic you know a lot about).
Journalists and most of the news business is not fake. I worked early on for The New York Times and wish I had the guts to hold on, but having kids intervened. Journalists don't get rich; they work long hours, and most care deeply about what they do. If a reporter gets it wrong, they made a mistake. Career journalists deserve our gratitude. (Agreed!)
7. What's a surprising fact about you?
I know how to milk a goat (see dream job above).
8. Got an article from your social media feed this week that everyone should see?
I go backwards to manage today. In my blog, If Wishes Were.
9. Where can the rest of the Boredwalk community find you?
On Twitter: @betsyfitzgerald
On Instagram: @b_writer
On Facebook: Betsy Fitzgerald Author
Boredwalk Community: Viva the PNW, baby!
1. What's your actual day job and what's your dream day job?
My actual day job is a nursing student (one term left!) as well as a caregiver at an assisted living facility, which I've been doing for 7 years now. As for my dream job, does no job count? (Ed. note: it sure does, and that's my dream job, too!)
I would love to have the freedom and resources to travel the world and learn about/research whatever struck my fancy. If you're asking me to be halfway realistic , then I'd say nursing is a pretty good fit for me.
2. What's your biggest pet peeve?
I'm too picky to narrow this down to one. I'd say when people ask you a question and don't care to hear the answer. They either zone out or cut you off. Makes me yearn for blood... (They only want to hear you agree with what they just said. Jerks!)
3. What's a life pro tip the Boredwalk community needs to know?
Life pro tip - stop resisting. Resistance means there's an energy imbalance going on, you're either fighting something that should happen or you're fighting to create something that wasn't meant to be. Accept what is and listen to your soul. A close second: socially oblivious people, there's protocols you're supposed to follow, y'all. (This is the most poetic Borg assimilation sales pitch I've ever heard.)
4. If you could have any super power what would it be and why?
Easy: To forever remain fit and healthy, regardless of what I ate or drank or how infrequently I exercised. (Absolute perfection, that.) There's also a matching meme on my Pinterest board: women don't dream of finding the perfect guy, they dream of being able to eat whatever they want without getting fat. Soooooo true!
5. What experience do you most want to cross off your bucket list?
I don't know if I have a particular experience. I just want to experience life to the fullest. Cliché, I know.
6. If you drink: what's your go-to drink? If you don't drink: what's your go-to dessert or snack??
Piña coladas are my jam! Daiquiris are also a classic standby.
7. Where can the rest of the Boredwalk community find you?
I'm from the Portland metro area in Oregon. Viva the PNW, baby.
Boredwalk Community: Magic & Misophonia
1. What's your actual day job and what's your dream day job?
Actual: Independent Audio Engineer. Dream: Talk Show Host (which I was for a dozen years on SiriusXM).
2. What keeps you up at night?
Now? Covid-19. B.C. (Before Coronavirus)? Whether or not I’d keep getting freelance work.
3. What's a book you think the Boredwalk community should read?
Happy: Why More Or Less Everything Is Absolutely Fine, by Derren Brown. He’s primarily an illusionist and magician but much more than that. He’s written an easy-to-absorb, engaging guide to stoicism, and every page has insights into making it through tough times like now.
4. You can curse your nemesis with a minor annoyance for eternity; what do you choose?
My nemesis already has misophonia, so I can’t top that. (Ed. note: how convenient!)
5. What's a life pro tip the Boredwalk community needs to know?
No one's thinking about you half as much as you think they’re thinking about you. Most people are too busy thinking about themselves.
6. What experience do you most want to cross off your bucket list?
Owning a home in the Hollywood Hills...
7. What is a surprising fact about you?
I’ve met (and have autographs from) both Jeffrey Lebowskis: the actors David Huddleston (RIP) and Jeff Bridges. (How meta!)
8. Got an article from your social media feed this week that everyone should see?
An Opinion Piece from the New York Times: In Praise of Pessimism (Just read it, and I think a LOT of our subscribers will be able to identify with the writer's premise. I am *definitely* a Defensive Pessimist!)
9. Where can the rest of the Boredwalk community find you?
On my website ChrisTsakis.com, which also links to my Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, SoundCloud, and YouTube. Follow on any and all!