Pop Quiz
by Melanie Haupt
 
1.   What is your name?         Melanie Kathryn Haupt
2.   How old are you?         26
3.   Where do you live?         Austin, Texas, for the moment; Houston (again) in about 2 weeks
4.   What do you do for a living?         Right now, I am a reader/scorer of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test...scintillating work. In two weeks, I will be an online "Content Producer."
5.   Do you drive?         Well, I haven't been, but I just inherited a delicious old boat, sooo....someone contact the EPA.
6.   What do you do for joy?         I spend many valuable hours with my friends. I talk to my true love on the phone more than we can afford to at this time. I read lots and lots of books. I run to make my body feel better. I hug my mother.
7.   What is your pet peeve?   And how much does it weigh?  Does it sleep by the door?  Is it housebroken?         That would have to be the religious right. Big ol' pet peeve. Oh, and hearing people chew, swallow, suck that last bit of tea from the mug. Drives me bonkers.
8.   Do you write, paint or play?  All at the same time?  (While juggling a dozen eggs and riding a unicycle?)         I write.
9.   Who is the most impressive character you've ever met?         B. Without a doubt.
10.   Have you ever read, acted, performed, thrown up, etc. in public?         I have read in public a few times, as well as performed. Always traumatic. I decided that my work was best appreciated on the stage of someone's mind.
I threw up in public once. I don't want to talk about it.
11.  What piece of literature or art moved your soul to ecstatic waves of bliss?         Jeff Buckley's debut album, "Grace"
12.  What was the first thing you ever encountered that made you realise that art is important?         Good lord. I have no idea. I guess it was when I started meditating and allowing myself to be more creative.
13.  Would you consider yourself an artist?  A good one?  Why or why not?         I think that life is art. We are all alive, therefore, we are all artists. Some people just make more out of it than others.
14.  What are your favorite things that have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with anything else?         Eating toast with Vegemite. Smoking a cigarette with a glass of red wine. Singing along to the radio.
15.  What are your favorite things that have ABSOLUTELY everything to do with everything else?         When B. calls me "Bunny." I love that. When my baby cousin smiles at me through his pacifier. The way I feel when I'm satisfied with my work.
16.  What's the meaning of life?         Whatever you want it to be.
17.  Why?         Because I said so.
18.  True or false: the Three Stooges represent the apex of American cultural achievement.         Please. Have a cuppa joe and rethink that statement.
19.  True or False: Shemp was funnier than the original Curly.         In my world, the 3 Stooges do not exist. Talk to me about The Kids in the Hall, though...
20.  Who's da man?         B.