1. What is your name?
Devon, aka BookReader
2. Tell us something about you, your background, and what you've been up to lately?
I grew up in New Mexico, live in New Mexico, and plan to die in New Mexico. I am working on an MFA at the University of New Mexico. I occasionally publish things, though never as much as I would like. I have an amateur interest in both etymology and entomology as anybody who has read my last large posting on E2 probably can guess.
One of the reasons I like writing stories is that, from my point of view, I am the most boring part of my life and certainly the most boring persona in my head. What could an average American city kid do that would be more interesting than all the vengeful dragons, unbalanced hunters, starstruck lovers, and villainous anti-heroes that he could come up with? I like to take credit for everything I do, but on the whole the writer is the most boring part of any story.
3. How did you discover Everything, and how did you become a noder?
Eleven or twelve years ago, while I was still in high school, a friend of mine, noder futilelord, showed me the node Why strapping buttered toast to a cat's back will not produce infinite power, commenting that he’d discovered this “amazing” website. At the time (and still, I think) there was nothing like E2 on the internet. The discussion of cats producing power was ridiculous, but was treated in a semi-serious way and it was awesome. The internet was a smaller place back then, this was before YouTube or Facebook, hell, even Myspace, and Everything2 came up on top of a lot of Google searches, I imagine I would have run into even without futilelord’s help, but may not have paid much attention to it without his enthusiasm for its content.
I browsed E2 for about a year before becoming involved. My first node was nuked, but my second stayed. I joined E2 right in the middle of Raising The Bar and the idea of quality over everything else appealed to high school BookReader’s fancy.
4. What are your favorite writeups -- both your own and from other noders?
There are a lot, probably too many to name. The Opposition, King vs King and single pawn, I hate this god damn robot (I love reading this one out loud complete with sound effects), the McFlurry was good, but now gone…, Bag of Crushed Child, The New York Magician, Happy Birthday From Planet Motherfucker, and Why there is no moloch13 are all great and by other people.
As for my own nodes, probably The Voyage of the Roofer Boonhurst if only because of other noder’s comments on it, and perhaps American Pie Presents: Something is Alive in Her Bosom 2. The Other is quite good too.
5. What are your favorite and least favorite memories from E2's history?
I had a rather spirited argument with futilelord in the catbox over the stupidest things we could come up with. We were in the same room in physical space, and we kept the argument going for six or so hours. That was a lot of fun. Noders would come into the catbox and say, “What the holy hell?”
I enjoyed going to Hot Damn and meeting a lot of other noders, most notably GhettoAardvark who was kind enough to put me up for a day before the event (and kind enough to let me drink his beer). The Greyhound bus ride up to Oregon was interesting and provides the basis for Shub-Niggurath lives in Greyhound bus toilets. If I sit just right, even today, my hips start to hurt in the exact same way that they did at the end of that trip.
Least favorite is harder, though as a chanop I remember one particular noder who caused me and everybody else a lot of problems. But I have said enough.
6. What keeps you coming back (or not coming back, as the case may be)?
Interesting reads and interesting people.
7. What do you hope for E2's future?
A brighter, less lonely one. Sometimes I feel like all the doom and gloom a few years back created a self-fulfilling prophecy. E2 is unique in that it isn’t a splashy Web Something-Point-Whatever website. It reminds me of 1800s newspaper print at times. And it had a lot of firsts. It was an innovator. But it hasn’t kept up with the rest of the internet. For me, that is part of its charm, but it also means that I worry for it.
8. What does E2 mean to you?
Everything2 is a great place to hang out and talk with friends and not-so friends on a wide variety of subjects while reading some of the best writing the web has to offer. It’s a little quieter now, like a lonely little cafe from an earlier time before the city grew up around it. But the regulars still sit in its dark corners, enjoying the French roast or a beer if that’s to their taste and if you know your way into the back then you’ll always find something interesting and worth your time.
9. Who are your favorite noders? Which ones do you miss the most?
I miss grundoon a lot. There are a few others, but most are not beyond my powers of communication.
10. Who would play you in the Everything2 movie?
Myself. Why trust such an important job to somebody else?
11. Please fill in the blank: "E2 is to the Internet as ___ is to the world."
That is an impossible question to answer. E2 is unique. E2 is to the Internet as E2 is to the world...
12. Any questions that I didn't ask that I should've?
Oh, only the obvious ones.
Everything2 Decaversary Interviews
If you have questions or comments, please contact BookReader or Jet-Poop.