XENITH

After months of inactivity, I finally managed to get someone to send me back answers to the questions I sent them.  No hard feelings, of course.  Everyone who knows Patrick either loves him or knows him well enough not to.  In any case, the ‘Great Purple Cow’ had a lot to say.

Real Name?
Patrick. Let’s leave it at that.

What did your user name mean to you when you created it?
What does it mean now?

Well I was originally a member of Xenith in 2004 when I registered with my e-lias “GreatPurpleCow”. There are still some atrocious pieces of writing posted under that username. Technically I have the power to delete them, now that I’m a moderator, but I guess I’ll let the morbid fascination continue. Anyway, I left Xenith because I wasn’t ready. When I came back, I couldn’t remember my password, so I created a new account under those initials “GPC”. To be honest, I’m quite tired of it and am thinking of something new.

It could potentially relate to the brand of cigarettes, but I can’t be too sure.

Favorite Book?
This used to be such an easy question, to which the answer was simply The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things by J.T. LeRoy. However, I’ve matured (I think) and come to realize that shitty books that manipulate their readers, while touching, are hard to respect. However, now I don’t really have a favorite book. I have favorite books:

José Saramago – The History of the Siege of Lisbon
Vladimir Nabokov – Pale Fire
Gabriel García Márquez – One Hundred Years of Solitude
Anne Carson – Autobiography of Red
Saul Bellow – The Adventures of Augie March
William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury
Alice Walker – The Color Purple
Italo Calvino – If on a winter’s night a traveler
Pablo Neruda – Residence on Earth

How did you find Xenith?
Originally, I mentioned to one of my e-friends that I was looking for a place to share my writing and get comments on it, so they sent me a link. Later, after I gave up on being a musician and was more focused on writing literature, I remembered and came back, much richer in forum etiquette.

Where do you see Xenith in a year?
Well, in less than a month there will be a new issue of the ‘zine, and I don’t anticipate anything other than a regular publication from then on, so hopefully that will encourage people to keep posting, continue participating, and never forget their awesomeness. In a year’s time I hope that Xenith will be the community and the network that writers of all kinds are searching for.

Favorite Author? Poet? Artist? (Yes, all three)
My favorite author, I suppose, would have to be Vladimir Nabokov. I admire anyone who is consistently brilliant. My favorite living author, however, is easily José Saramago. The man’s work astounds me. I’m reading The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis right now, and it’s just as moving and stunning as previous novels of his that I have read. And if anyone hasn’t read Blindness or The Gospel According to Jesus Christ, well, stop being a douche and read them.

Are you going to BM ’09?
I don’t think it’s any secret that I’m not the most mobile of Xenithites. Planning my desert road trip for the spring is going to be a hell in of itself. Besides, for reasons I don’t wish to explain, I’m trying to avoid Nevada. I would love to go to Burning Man, though. I look at the pictures and read the stories that come from it and I’m filled with the most overwhelming sense of envy. It does give me hope for the future of Xenith, though, that some of its members are bound by those experiences and are willing to give all that they can to the future of this place.

You get to spend the rest of your life alone in a dark room with one person. Who?
Given that I’m in a relationship, I pretty much have to say my boyfriend, right? Even if I didn’t, I’d still say that. We’re alone in a dark room every night anyway.

Favorite Xenith contributor? (past or present)
Now that I’m Xenith’s editor, I really don’t think that’s a fair question, do you?

How has Xenith changed your life for the better? For the worse?
It’s hard to imagine what my writing would be like without Xenith. Sometimes I’m curious, sometimes I shudder. Even so, it has meant and still means more to me than a place to workshop my writing. It’s a community full of people that I genuinely care about. I’ve spent many hours talking to many different people over the years, most in the live chat, AIM, or via e-mail, but some over the phone, and I wouldn’t hesitate to call them friends. At a time when all my friends that I knew in person abandoned me, I could still socialize on Xenith. Granted there’s no internet substitute for a hug or sitting in the same room watching a movie, it’s still a nice thing to have. Xenith also helps me make it through the work day, when otherwise I would probably develop an imaginary friend from boredom.

Comments?
I just upgraded my hard drive space from 40 GB to 500. I have also renamed my computer “Leonard”, however it is pronounced: LEE oh nard.

Other than that, I really don’t have anything to add. Thanks for asking.

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