Occupation: Animator
Where are you currently? San Francisco
Formal education or self-taught? Formal education
What did you want to be when you grew up?
How’s that working out for you?
An astronaut was my first choice; I switched to “special-effects technician” (I remember solemnly copying that phrase out of a library book, thrilled that it was an actual job with a name) sometime in the mid-80s. Looking back, it might have been smart to have stuck with that.
All-time favorite shoe?
Those glow-in-the-dark tiger-striped Converses that fell apart after two weeks.
Is work play?
Not for a couple months yet…but I got a gig coming up in September I’m really excited about.
What was the first piece of music you owned?
Europe’s The Final Countdown, on cassette.
Favorite comic?
Just finished reading V for Vendetta.
Last great book you read?
Everything for Sale, by Robert Kuttner.
What’s the best thing you’ve seen recently?
This morning, I saw a really creepy Israeli short film called “Smile,” by
Yuval Markovich and Noam Abta.
If you could have named yourself, what would your name be?
I might have dropped the “Gieg,” and just been “Nick Fox.”
Two truths, and a lie, please:
T: The Confederacy of the American Civil War is separate and distinct from the whole history and culture of the Old South, a specific political movement that arose in the 1830s. Its ideological foundation was the belief that Jefferson’s democracy was a failed experiment, to be replaced by a new regime modeled on the worst aspects of feudal Europe. (In the memorable words of Confederate thinker George Fitzhugh, "Nineteen out of every twenty individuals have...a natural and inalienable right to be slaves.")
T: We don’t talk about that much these days, although I think we really should.
F: Yiddish is written without vowels.
Is perception truth?
Not for me alone, but many people’s shared perceptions, overlapping and reinforcing each other, can become true—even if they’re all wrong.
What was the last song stuck in your head?
“Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley
Favorite punctuation mark, and why?
The em dash—I like anything that makes written sentences feel more like natural speech. Second place goes to the semicolon.
If you were putting together a survey for a slew of artists, what question would you be sure to ask?
How much of your career do you think was planned, and how much was accidental?
And your answer to that question?
Almost entirely accidental. The planning just helped a bit in preparing for the accidents.
What website accompanies your morning coffee?
Bloglines, for entertainment; Craigslist, to scrounge for new clients.
Define importance:
Importance means surviving long enough to produce offspring—not necessarily biological offspring, of course.
What’s your favorite font?
Times New Roman. It’s comforting.