When I first took over the OUPblog I gave our readers a chance to ask me questions so they could get to know me. Since Lauren Appelwick will be in charge starting Monday (get excited!), I decided to ask her a few questions before I go. I think her answers will give you a taste of how lucky we are to have her on-board. Don’t worry, I plan on saying a proper goodbye tomorrow (Friday). -Rebecca
What is your favorite fiction book?
Becca, we’ve had this conversation so many times. For the sake of this Q&A, I’ll forgo my top 10 and say The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. This year is actually the 20th anniversary of the book’s publication. Also, fun fact: O’Brien and I share an Alma Mater.
What is your favorite non-fiction book?
Laura Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit. Hands down. No contest. ’Nough said.
What is your favorite guilty pleasure blog?
Overheard in the Office is pretty great.
What kind of flowers should we send you?
Who’s “we”? And why am I getting flowers? I don’t think I should be trusted with flowers. This cactus isn’t looking so good itself. Remember when we had to hide it in a file cabinet for a week? I gave it too much too much sun, Becca. I exposed a cactus to too much sun.
What was your first blog post ever?
I had a LiveJournal back in the day. I have no idea what my first post was, but I’m sure it was something to the effect of, “Hey everyone! I’m Lauren! My favorite color is purple, I have a major sweet tooth, and I’m so totally obsessed with Dark Angel.” I think I had a really big impact on the lives of all (2) of my readers.
What other languages do you speak?
I used to speak pretty decent Japanese, but now I mostly just mumble things like, “aré?” and “éé, nanto ka…” usually directed at my computer. I know some French as well, and one very important phrase in Spanish: “Y para mi, un café con leche por favor.” I recently went to Spain, but that was all I knew how to say, so I was a bit shaky the whole time.
If your friend were visiting NYC, what is the one thing they should do while they are here?
Whenever I have visitors, the first thing we do is go to 5 Napkin Burger. Airport –> 5 Napkin. Bus stop –> 5 Napkin. IKEA ferry –> 5 Napkin. Can you drop off your luggage first? No you cannot. Because: 5 Napkin.
What color are your socks today?
Socks are for people who are wearing shoes…
What is your favorite Twitter hashtag?
#thefuture. Except when it’s being used to denote something actually in the future.
Fill in the blank: I’m psyched to be the OUPblog editor because it is _tasty_.
…
Oh, we’re not doing this Mad Libs style?
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bethanne Patrick, Matthew Arck and Becca Ford, Lauren. Lauren said: I'm so excited to be the new blog editor! Here're some questions from @fordbecca to me: http://bit.ly/aC5rWD […]
soooo….lauren, if you only had one day left on the planet what would you do?
Um…I would blog about it. Duh. :)
Bye Becca! Congrats Lauren!
…and what are your three favorite words? Tough, I know, but Freud always found this sort of questions fascinating ;)
Wow. Tough question. “Palimpsest” is definitely #1. I enjoy using “legit” as well, and I’m a big fan of “curdle”…probably because it rhymes with “turtle.”
Lauren, if I ever make it to NYC, I *definitely* want to go to 5 Napkin Burger.
I’m totally jealous of your job. Enjoy!
Hillenbrand’s Seabiscuit inhabits the same background era as my writing, and I agree completely with you about her book: I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but there is no other book like this one.
Yay for Mac!
From another alum who is also a reader of this blog. :-)
[…] Oxford University Press has a new blogger; Lauren Appelwick. In her inaugural blog, I asked her what her favorite three words are, to which she answered palimpsest, legit, and […]
“What is your favorite Twitter hashtag?
#thefuture. Except when it’s being used to denote something actually in the future.”
Hehe, I love that :) #WellDone