Interviewed by Logtar

Following is my interview from Logtar. God have mercy on my soul..

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Barry,

1. Can I call you Berry? LOL. I actually found your blog before I even found Michaels, I have read it and commented here and there. Of all of your posts in your blogs which you do you think was the most controversial and least commented?

By far the most controversial topic I ever touched on was Concealed Carry laws. It actually started with a comment on another blog, regarding my opposition to untrained people being allowed to carry guns on their person in public, that spun out of control. I felt a need to post this rebuttal, which just fueled the fire. I still hear about the controvery today as occasionally gun-rights advocates will dredge my comments out for their own general amusement and righteous head-shaking.

My least commented post....well, very few of my posts garner many comments which is a source of some consternation on my part at times. I'm not the type of blogger that posts to see myself post - I love interaction, and I love knowing that people are not only reading me but thinking about what I write about. Unfortunately, I don't know this for sure unless they comment - stats are nice, but feedback and interaction are true measures that what I'm saying is interesting and worthwhile.

There have been several posts I've made where I've bared a small sliver of my soul that has received few if any comments. I understand that what's important to me isn't necessarily important to anyone else but it's nice to know people out there feel and understand the emotions and passions which others apply to certain situations, and empathize.


2. Now that I got you thinking this is going to be all disconnected and not too personal I will in deep. I know that you love Laura… but my questions is, can you pinpoint for us, and I am hoping not to get you in trouble, the exact moment when you knew she was the one.

Ah, memories. I posted a few days ago how we first met, and with her permission (after the fact), I'll post a little more.

We had been going out a few times - I don't recall specifically what we did early on, but we eventually ended up getting takeout at Wendy's one night. She drove me back to the UT Wesley Foundation, where I'd parked my car, in her Turbo White LeBaron. I think we sat in that car talking, chatting, BS'ing, flirting - with the engine running (both the car and mine) for about an hour. I would pretend to get out and leave, and she'd holler for me to get back in. After a long time of her chatting, I leaned close, said:

"You know what?"

"What?" she replied, puzzled..

"You talk too much." And I kissed her. And thus was the beginning of the future.


3. I know you also care for Michael like a brother, ok maybe like an ugly step brother. As a brother what is the thing you have wanted to tell Michael that you have not said already. And do not get out of this one easy, I know there is something there.

Weasel.

No, that was to Logtar, not you Mike. That's for making me answer this question...

Mike, if I'd known you then like I'd known you now I would've made a place for you as one of my groomsmen in my wedding way back when. But at the time, I'd only known you for a little while and had no idea the kind of influence you would eventually have on mine and my family's life. Thank you for all you've been for us, and I hope we eventually grow old watching "Star Trek XXI: Revenge of the Imaginary Friend" together.


4. You had no idea what you were signing up for did you :) but that is just me. We know you have two children and a loving wife, besides getting married and the birth of your little ones what will be the happiest moment of your life?

East Tennessee Redneck Answer: The day the UT Vols won the National Championship in 1999, bay-beee!!!!

Ok, sorry.

Maybe as the cruise ship sailed out of the port of Miami, as Laura and I began the 10-day celebration of our 10-year anniversary with 1,500 of our closest Caribbean friends...

Hmm...where should we go for 20....

Ok, next let's look ahead, shall we?

The day my kids graduate.

The day I walk Tink down the aisle.

The day I hold a grandchild.

Ok, have to stop now :)


5. For the last one I will let you out easy. Give us your top 5 authors, your favorite book from each one of them and a small snippet about the book. Now, for the easy part, tell us what makes each one of those books great to you.

1. Stephen White: "Warning Signs" - reasons explained in a full post here.

2. Robert Block: "The Burgler in the Library" (Bernie Rhodenbarr Series). Bernie and his friend Caroline pursue a rare book at a mountain hideaway. Bernie is a not-so-reformed cat burglar who runs a Manhatten rare book store during the day. Something about Bernie's attitude toward life is compelling, and great reading. I wish there were more books about him than the 7-8 that Block has written.

3. Agatha Christie: "The ABC Murders" and "The Labours of Hercules" - Two books chronicling the famous mystery solving skills of Christie's legendary Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. What can you say about Christie? You feel stupid you didn't see the clues right there in front of you!!, and Poirot ups the ante with his snootiness. Great stuff, great fun and eminintly re-readable.

4. Stephen King: "Insomnia" - A widower experiences lengthening bouts of sleeplessness and becomes aware of an otherworldly incursion into our own - and "Hearts in Atlantis" - series of novellas and short stories, centering around a reformed Breaker and the children he influenced later in life... He's Stephen King - 'nuff said.

I can only think of four, really. Timothy Zahn and Peter David are my favorite niche genre writers so combine them for #5.