From Becky.

1. I’ve gleaned from your blog that you have musical aptitude. What instrument(s) do you play? How did you get started?

Well, I don’t call it ‘aptitude’ so much as ’sheer bloody-mindedness and an inability to hear my own mistakes,’ but yes, I do play some instruments. I’m vaguely competent at the guitar and computer programming, but I’ll have a go at just about anything, including drums and keyboards. I guess I don’t care about playing instruments as much as I enjoy making music, if you know what I mean.

I started learning the guitar in high school. My teacher was this woman with a mullet who lived with another woman. I didn’t realise she was a lesbian at the time, even though I guess I knew what one was. It was only later that I put two and two together. Anyhow, I just wanted to write my own songs and, despite having been the worst recorder player in the history of Bungaree Primary School, I managed to get the hang of it. The guitar is the best instrument to learn not just because it’s easy to get a basic rhythm going, but because it’s taught intuitively - being able to play ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ on the harmonica isn’t worth crap, but you can make a million awesome songs with just three chords. You’re given what you need to create music, rather than just play it off a page.

After that I was in a band with my mate Tomas Ford. We were pretty cool, but I had to quit to go away and study. I still write new songs, but it’s not as fun without someone to play them with.

2. I remember there being cake at one point, and now we’re talking stir fry. What sorts of things do you like to cook? What is your favorite dish(es) to eat?

Like I said, I mostly prefer anything that’s quick and doesn’t leave too much washing-up. I’m a big fan of those frozen flavoured crumbed fish fillets that come in the yellow box, for example. I would eat TV dinners all the time but they are never big enough. Maybe my biggest problem with more involved cooking is that I’m not good at following recipes. I mean, I can do it (I’m not retarded) but my brain is more able to cope when I know what each action is meant to accomplish than when I’m just following a procedure. Tonight, when I made Mexican meatballs, I made a conscious decision not to follow the recipe too closely and just think about how the ingredients related one another, and how each ingredient had its own necessary journey through the cooking process. The result was great.

My favourite foods, as made by people who are not me, are Turkish pizza and anything Japanese. That said, I don’t really ‘get’ sashimi. It’s just gooey and boring.

3. If you could have any magic/psychic/super power what would it be?

Wolverine is pretty much the greatest superhero, so I’ll have whatever he has.

4. How did you get interested in philosophy?

Philosophy isn’t the sort of thing you think about when you come out of high school. I guess I just wanted to take a few electives and see what it was all about while I concentrated on science. In that regard I was lucky to go to Murdoch University, which gives you plenty of scope for electives and minors. So I started double-majoring in environmental science and philosophy. When I realised that philosophy was more fun than science, and that science wouldn’t walk me into an interesting or well-paid job, I decided to go into honours philosophy.

Philosophy is a sweet deal for many reasons. You get to consider the big questions about life, the universe and everything and talk with people about them, and that’s fun. There are also some very pronounced rivalries that tend to suck you in - do you tend to agree with Plato, or are you more of an Aristotle person? Liberalism or communism? Realism or idealism? Is there one truth or is it all relative? And so on. There’s also the challenge of stretching your thinking to new limits. Any truly decent philosophy will change the way you see the world, and some of them are like putting your mind through a paper shredder and sticking it back together with sticky tape. Truly amazing. On the more practical side of things, you get to do your own work on any topic you like and, unlike other jobs, you don’t have to stand around in the sun, deal with customers or do anything that ruins the environment.

5. Tell me about one of your favorite vacations or trips.

Favourite vacations or trips? Maybe I should start with what this rules out.

a) Vacations with my mum. She doesn’t really like to travel, and the places we did go were either boring, like Broome, or involved me swimming in waterholes full of asbestos tailings, like Wittenoom.

b) Vacations with my dad. These would have been hilarious for passers-by, but not for me. Fully equipped to camp for three weeks, we would have the truck’s tray packed up to the top of the cab, plus a loaded trailer or caravan on the back. We looked like those people you see on tv, fleeing a war zone with all their possessions. Packing the whole thing usually took a week, and putting up the tent complex when we were there was a couple of day’s work. Then, of course, you’d have to survive the mosquitos, Christian groups, sunburn, fights between dad and his wife, et cetera.

That only leaves my own personal trips and vacations, and apart from the one that’s just passed, the only one worth mentioning is the New Zealand trip of 05. It was supposed to be a conference trip, but the university wouldn’t pony up the dough. Nonetheless, I made it into a three-week holiday in South Island and hired a car to get around. There were glaciers and picturesque mountain passes, as well as sleepy country towns and some cows. The secret to this being the best holiday ever was definitely having a car and being able to go wherever I wanted. It allowed me to avoid boring towns and expensive tourist activities, and see much more than I could have on a bus trip. I could also sleep on the back seat in the middle of nowhere, which I think is actually a pretty great form of camping. Plus, the mountain passes in New Zealand offer some well hairy driving with lots of blind corners and one-way bridges, which can be fun if you have a good car. So I can recommend New Zealand to anyone who is thinking of going there. Some great stuff to see, friendly locals, and if you go in summer it’s not even too cold.

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