1. What is your name?
Ken Howells
2. Tell us something about you, your background, and what you've been up to lately?
Middle-aged white male, 'Merican, divorced, overweight, well-read,
half-educated. I've been flying hang gliders
for 26 years and I've worked for a small company that is the biggest
hang glider manufacturer for most of that time. In the sit-com of life,
I'm the wacky neighbor. A catchy tag line, topical non sequiturs, the
occasional "Very Special Episode". The pilot for the spin-off didn't
make it past the focus group.
3. How did you discover Everything, and how did you become a noder?
(Interviewer Note: maxClimb originally joined E2 as Captain
Wings. After he changed his account name, his "User Since" date got
reset to the time he changed his name. I don't know how that happened.
Stop looking at me that way.)
I was looking up a term with Google in early January 2001 and found
an enlightening answer on Everything2. I followed some links and liked
the mix of fact, opinion, and quirky writing styles - it was an
encyclopedia with attitude. I wondered who these people were; figured
they all knew each other, some clique at a college somewhere. As the
webmaster of a business website I was intrigued by the notion of a
website that consisted primarily of user-contributed content. I found
myself roaming the site for a while every evening for about two weeks
and decided to submit a review of Cadillac Desert, which I'd just
read. My writeup was cooled (by Gritchka no less) and I was hooked. I
posted a lot of items related to hang gliding at first.
4. What are your favorite writeups -- both your own and from other noders?
I like my Up With People
writeup - I saw the show as a 5 or 6 year-old and listened to the
record over and over and over; my understanding of it changed as I grew,
even as I rejected parts and reconciled later. Researching and writing
it up changed my understanding. Naked Launch
sprouted from the germ of an idea I'd nurtured for a long time and it
was really fun to ride the wave of the actual writing. I'm similarly happy with a few of my
poems, though they were complete
within hours of the inspiration.
How to cook the perfect steak by sensei comes to mind, though I'm
a grill man through and through. I'm a big fan of factuals and teh
funny. Getting to know you noders fucking sucked
is just astonshingly brilliant. I don't seek out nodes to reread them
very often but I'm delighted when I come across favorites again.
5. What are your favorite and least favorite memories from E2's history?
Some of the quests have been very entertaining, though I rarely participate. Gone in Sixty Seconds 2006 - A Theatre Quest
was really a goldmine of creativity; such diverse approaches to the
problem. That my entry actually got performed was just icing on the
cake.
I wouldn't call it a 'favorite' memory, but in the days after 9/11 I
found much... I don't know, comfort? diversion? whatever, in reading
the daylogs and watching the catbox. My meatspace circle was pretty
homogenous then and it was helpful to read thoughts from such a wide
range of people and places. Social networking on the web barely existed
at that time, at least for me.
The whole ush thing was a real drag. The Raising the Bar changes
of several years ago seemed to quash participation for a while, as I
expected when they were in development.
6. What keeps you coming back?
I drop by more than I hang out. I scan new writeups for interesting
titles and noders I like, also to hear new voices and watch (or even
help) their development. The catbox is usually good for a laugh. I've
only met one noder
but I've been Facebook friends with a number of them for a couple of
years and seeing them on FB and E2 is richer than either alone.
7. What do you hope for E2's future?
I hope E2 keeps on keepin' on. Increased participation and more
new, active users would be great. Some enhancement of linking within
the nodegel, maybe semi-automated, would help with discovering hidden
gems. I'd like to see creative formatting made easier. Sometimes I
think that and incorporating other media would help growth, but I think
the consequent emphasis on how things look and sound would detract from
the writing and would especially disadvantage all of the legacy content.
8. What does E2 mean to you?
E2 to me is a refuge from all the half-witted half-assed
half-propaganda content that clamors for attention on the 'net. Here I
can find well-constructed thoughtful writing on current topics, timeless
topics, frivolous topics, all with respect for spelling and grammar and
punctuation and style and details like avoiding hackneyed phrases like
the plague and letting the tempest out of the teapot and especially
run-on sentences.
9. Who are your favorite noders? Which ones do you miss the most?
iceowl, The Custodian, Noung, Scaevola, sneff, Oolong,
BookReader, lizardinlaw (et al), the aforementioned Gritchka -
all have many great writeups. I remember when Jet-Poop was Team
Jet-Poop. There are many others I'm forgetting; I'm crap with names. I
was active when JessicaJ
started and we /msg'd about nodes and noding, so seeing her writing
develop has been sorta special, whether I care for a specific topic or
not. Some noders I like more for their catbox banter. And even
Simulacron3.
10. Who would play you in the Everything2 movie?
William H. Macy or Jack Black
11. Please fill in the blank: "E2 is to the Internet as ___ is to the world."
Chino Hills State Park
12. Any questions that I didn't ask that I should've?
Is your "I Got a Ching!" dance best performed in private?
Everything2 Decaversary Interviews
If you have questions or comments, please contact maxClimb or Jet-Poop.