Better know this blogger.

My blogger friend Rob over at Inukshuk Adventure posted this interview some time ago and I decided to play, too. So here is my interview--Rob being the interviewer. And let me just say, I am impressed with the questions he came up with given that we don't actually really know much about each other. The interweb is neat. And yes, I do realize this is somewhat reminiscent of those survey things from when I was 13.

Me, at the Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, circa 2007

So you are an artist of the performing kind with a day job, to pay the bills presumably. How do you keep the right balance of time and energy to feed both?

I think of my life lately as a daily battle between the things I want to do and the things I have to do. Some days being an artist wins the battle, some days not. And it's a battle because I haven't entirely got the "balance" part figured out yet. There is a learning curve.

Balancing the time is, for the moment, easy since I spend much of my day at a computer with liberal internet access at a job where I am not frequently busy. My energy is more prone to waxing and waning, but having both aspects of my life helps to keep me going. If it's been a tough day in the artist's world, the day job is frequently a good distraction. Likewise, when I am frustrated with my day job, I can remind myself that it is, after all, just a day job. And the system breaks down on occasion. I think most artists have an idea of this going in.

The corner of the stage at The Globe.

But really, it is all kept in check by the knowledge that this being an artist is a process to be taken one day at a time and by the gentle reminder to be patient, it will all turn out in the end.

You are a fellow Torontonian and with 50% of the locals having been born outside of Canada, what would your family tree reveal?

Unfortunately, not as much as I would like. I don't know a great deal about where my family came from, one side of it, at least. I wish I knew more--I think roots are important. And my own personal experience has been a more modern, strictly North American version of an immigrant tale, which the family tree can hardly tell.

My father's family has been in Canada for generations, though at least part of it originally hails from Scotland. There is an old newspaper clipping somewhere in my parents' house about one of our relatives being out west during the gold rush. But, alas, I know none of the details.

The wall at Ellis Island bearing my great grandparents' names.

On my mother's side, my grandmother's parents landed at Ellis Island in the 1920s, I believe, where their names can now be found on one of the walls honouring the multitudes who crossed the ocean in search of a better life. Their journey began in Italy and ended in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, where they raised my grandmother and her two sisters, twins. My grandfather's family called the Soo home, also, after leaving Warsaw, Poland in the mid 1920s. There they met and the rest, I suppose, is history. I often wonder what it was like, coming to the New World, when it was still known as such.

My own story reflects, I think, a more modern trend in Canadian immigration. I was born in Toronto and lived here until I was 9.5 years old, at which point my family moved to Michigan. People often assume that our country and our southern neighbours are so similar a 9.5 year old would hardly notice the difference between one and the other, but they would be wrong. It was an early traumatic experience on many levels, most of which I am still sorting out to this day (and not the least of which might include my having been a child of French Immersion prior to said move). On the other hand, it provided me with many opportunities I wouldn't have had if we had stayed. And it was always very important to my family to keep our connection with our home and native land. So now, many years later and now a dual citizen, I am back in the city in which I was born.

Toronto, being the fifth biggest city in North America, is known for its multicultural mix. With this in mind what are your favourite Toronto things?

One of the joys of being a "newcomer" of sorts is that I am still discovering what I love about this city--it's changed a great deal since I was 9.5. Some old favourites have endured: the Leafs (and I am young enough still to believe they might just win the Cup in my lifetime), Harbourfront, St. Lawrence Market, Future Bakery, the Islands. And I am constantly adding to the list--the city has more to offer than I can possibly keep up with. In the category of new attractions I enjoy: Toronto FC, Ghandi (the best roti on Queen West), Union Station (which may seem like a strange thing to love, but I enjoy the possibilities it presents), and all the theatre tucked away in little corners all over the city. I love the pace of life here and the fact that wool socks and sweat pants are socially acceptable as streetwear. Silly as it is, I love that people smile. And the green spaces--no major metropolis I have been in has near as many wild places as Toronto. Toronto has its own distinct character, much the way that New York City and Paris and London all do, and that is my favourite thing about it.

What drew you to blogging and what do you enjoy about the blogs you visit?

Three things can be credited for my presence in the blogging world: boredom, frustration, and Penelope Trunk. I started my blog because I was bored. I figured it would at the very least kill some of the seemingly infinite time I had on my hands. And in the boredom that helped spawn the blog was frustration at being unable to find the kind of blog I was looking for--a blog about theatre written by someone who is still figuring it all out. There are a lot of blogs out there by people who are established in the theatre world (and don't misunderstand, most of them are quite brilliant). But I'm interested in hearing about people on the cusp, getting a grip, figuring it out--where are my classmates in all of this? And I was frustrated that I couldn't find it so I decided to stop being frustrated and to write it instead. As a result, I have since found a lot more of it. Which is really cool. And finally, Penelope Trunk says everyone should have a blog.

The neat thing about reading blogs, especially the ones that are written by an individual, is that people are far more candid online than they generally are in life. I appreciate people's humour, honesty, wit, and anger. It's an interesting window into someone's life. And mainly, I am interested in people. What makes everyone tick? What are their stories? What are they afraid of? What moves them? What enrages them? As an actress, I am always telling stories--I like to believe that everyone has one.

Stockholm, as viewed from the promontory

I've lived in a few places and travelled to a few more, so I'm always keen to hear of others' travel experiences. Where have you travelled and what places are on your must see list?

I want to see the whole world! I love to travel and have lived in a few places myself--I spent my university years roaming a few parts of the planet. I would take off by myself not knowing anyone at the destination. I studied/lived in both London and Paris, venturing into the environs as frequently as finances permitted. I rode trains to Monaco and Italy and the Alps. I spent hours on buses in the English countryside and Wales. I flew to Dublin and to Stockholm. I've explored much of New York City and Hawai'i. It was all exhilirating for a while. Now it seems a bit exhausting to do by myself. So when I venture to the parts of the world I haven't yet seen, I want to share it with someone.

My must see list changes with the seasons. While I want to see the world in its entirety, I think it would be a shame to get halfway around the globe without ever knowing what's in my own backyard. I haven't seen much of Canada beyond Ontario and Whistler. Newfoundland and the North are high on the priority list.

Roses for Mark Rylance's final bow at The Globe.

I think it is much easier to know where you're going when you figure out where you came from.

And now, if anybody else would care to join in the fun, here are your instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pose the questions).
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions and let me know when you have posted it, so I can link it.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.