Who Needs Sleep?

Tonight's reason for a late bedtime?

A reporter from The Mormon Times (apparently a magazine supplement to The Deseret News) emailed me a list of questions for a feature story she's writing about me.

On one hand, yay! That's great we're getting more publicity for the play.

On the other hand, it's a little... I don't know... strange? weird? frustrating? disheartening? ... to me that they're only writing about me/my play and not the other two in the festival because I'm LDS and the others aren't.

But it is The Mormon Times, after all; and, knowing that, I shouldn't have been surprised or miffed at the questions she sent me.

Here's the list:

• How old are you?
• Do you have children?
• Is this your first play?
• How did you come to write it? Is it based on life experience?
• Who or what most influenced you along the way?
• What are your hopes for the play? Where do you want to see it performed?
• You're LDS, how much does your faith influence what you write?
• (Since this is for The Mormon Times, could you tell me what ward and stake you live in and what calling you have?)

The second question, I imagine, is in the hopes for an introduction along the lines of "[Chitarita], 30 and mother of 5, is the author of..."

I wonder if that question would still be on the list if I were male.

The second-to-last question is what took me a while to write. On one hand, my faith doesn't really influence my writing. I'm writing about what it means to be a teacher and I'm going for universality and honesty, not missionary work. On the other hand, of course it does! Being LDS has influenced every aspect of my life - I wouldn't be the same person at all if I weren't Mormon.

Grr.

And so I wrestled with the question a while, wrote an answer, and I'm curiously waiting to see if any part of what I wrote is used.

Also? The last question? I was good and wrote the truth - "I am in calling-limbo, having just been released as Relief Society President". I did not explain that the reason I was released is because I left the ward for the summer to live and work in a Buddhist monastery. But, oh, I was tempted to add that part ("[Chitarita], 30 and teacher at a pagan MTC, is the author of...").

She also requested a "face photo" of me. Hmm. Most of the pictures of me lately are from my travels, which means I'm a) sweaty, b) wind-blown, c) next to exotic wildlife, or d) all of the above.

I thought about this one

But the mounds of flowers are distracting and Rachel pointed out that it's "a little too Mary and Rhoda".

She then suggested this one:


or, her favorite of me,



The first one's a little too casual (sunglasses, shirt askew). But the second one! The second one has an awesome air of inspiration about it, doesn't it? The Sacred Grove-like trees, the glow on my face.... (Not a pregnancy glow, no. It's the glow of a Muse of Fire! Oh, wait. Shakespeare's not LDS. It must be a glow from the Spirit.)

Then again, if I want to go for a classic look, there's always


Hmm. I guess it's back to Flickr. My chance to get 8 hours of sleep tonight is already shot.


P.S. "[Chitarita], 30, was struck by lightning inside her apartment last night. A recent blog entry pointed to a cynical and blasphemous nature, which authorities feel explains the phenomenon of a single lightning bolt striking on an otherwise stormless night...."