The Matt Interview

Your patience has paid off and the moment we've all been waiting for is here!! The people (that's you guys) have spoken, the questions are in and answered, and I've put it all together here for your reading pleasure. Here's an advanced "you're welcome."


Awhile back, my friend Amanda J. mentioned (in a private Facebook message that took me FOREVER to find. I had to go through a year's worth of blog comments and FB wall posts first...) that she felt like she didn't know that much about Matt. She suggested doing a little 'get to know Matt' blog, and since I'd seen other people do 'husband interviews,' I figured that'd be a good way to go.


You submitted the questions, and I did my best to maintain journalistic integrity (if there is such a thing) as the official Interviewer and Typer of Answers. I typed exactly what Matt said (unless he prefaced it with "this is off the record") and have refrained from interjecting my own commentary, which you know is hard for me to do. For your/our enjoyment, however, I did jot down a few "extra" comments he made, some of them multiple times, in reference to no question or many questions in particular. Hopefully these will help give you a better idea of what it's like being married to the Man of Few (but Funny) Words himself, Mr. Mattie B.

Please note: I am not putting these questions/answers in any particular order. I thought about trying to arrange them for maximum...I dunno...emotional impact? Chronological order? Screw it-- they're just all mixed up.

Random Matt Comment #1: You don’t have to write it exactly the way I say it. Can’t you make it make more sense?


Questions from my cousin Rachael:

What is one dream or aspiration that would make you feel life was incomplete if you did not accomplish it? (Sorry if that's worded awkwardly...) Marriage.

Also, how did you discover your calling in life? Yeah…still trying to figure that out.

Amanda J. had three questions (which is good, since this was all her idea):

What are Matt's hobbies (outside of loving and adoring you)?
I like reading books. They need to be non-fiction, though. I’ve recently read In Defense of Food, The Ascent of Money, and Money Matters, all of which I’d recommend. I also try to tinker around the house, fixing [waves his hands in the air, thinking] lawnmowers…I recently fixed all our leaky faucets and showers… 

 If he wants to share, I want to hear about his take on infertility... hardest part, etc. I would say the hardest thing is knowing that your [Erika’s] one dream and aspiration is to be a mother and I can’t do anything to fix it. Not only can I not help fix the problem, but my infertility issues are blocking her from being a mother. It breaks my heart. [Author’s note: at this point, we are both crying.]

If Matt could have any song play to announce his arrival every time he entered a room, what song would it be? It would probably be something from Miles Davis…maybe from his “Kind of Blue” album.

Random Matt Comment #2: I’m not a good blogger interviewer, baby. These are hard.

Allison wanted to know:

What is Matt's favorite t.v. show? My current favorites are Amazing Race, the Office, 30 Rock, Holmes on Holmes, and Holmes Inspection. But I’ve always been a fan of the A Team. Oh, and COPS. But it has to be like 1995, that kind of era…you know, mullets…quality characters like that. Quality characters.

Matt's sister, Amy (sorry, no blog), had a few questions along with her husband, Tom:

I would like to know: What was it like for matthew to grow up with the greatest sister in the world? It was pretty great. I wouldn’t change a thing. That is a crazy question.

Matt & Amy, 2001

Tom wants to know: What is Matt's favorite alcoholic beverage? Terrapin Golden Ale, but it needs to be on draft. It’s hard to find that in the restaurants I visit, so I usually have Yeungling. 

Also, Could Matt tell us his side of the story about when he shaved half his head and then went to the dentist like that? What other side is there? Where do I begin? To give you a history of my hair, in middle school my mom used to always just cut my bangs straight across. But I have a cowlick! On the front…I guess where my bangs are. This always made my bangs very slanty and uneven. It made me look like a dork. 

So in high school I decided I was just going to shave all my hair off and then let it grow really long and then I would shave it off again and then let it grow really long. So about the time I was about to go to the dentist, my hair was about …my hair was long enough that I could bite off the tips with my mouth.

Sometimes you just get in your head that you need to go do something and you need to go do it NOW. And it doesn’t matter if there’s a dentist appointment in five minutes. I thought I had enough time, but with only an electric beard trimmer, it took a little longer than I wanted to. After getting halfway done with cutting my hair, I knew I was going to be late to the dentist. But I don’t like being late to the dentist. So I said “screw it with the haircut, I’ll finish it later, I’ll wear a hat and I’m sure that the—uh—what are the people that work in a dentist office?—the hygienists will have a kick out of it.” When I got there they made me remove my hat. They did have a lot of laughs. But I didn’t really care.

Random Matt Comment #5: Wait, what’s YOUR thing your life wouldn’t be complete without?…..oh, I want that to be mine, too, so that we match. Can you change mine? 


Jenny wanted to find out:
What kind of kid were you in highschool? And I request pictures from the era as evidence please. You know, since homegirl LOVES scanning pictures. Obviously I looked like a dork. My perception is I was awkward. I played the part pretty well though. I didn’t get contacts until my senior year of high school and my glasses were really thick. I did play basketball and soccer in high school. I also mainly listened to Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. So basically, a dorky, hippie jock.  

Random Matt Comment #6: Aw, man…these long questions are HARD questions, baby. They’re all long questions!


Jessie and Adam had a few questions. You can probably figure out who asked what:
1) If you were in a band, would you play the cow bell? Only if I can play other things too, like an egg shaker.

2) How many ping pong balls can you juggle? I would guess two?

3) If you had/have a pet squirrel, what would be/is his/her name and what tricks would/can it do? Maxwell. Long distance runner.

4) What's it like being married to an amazing and famous blogger? [Note from Erika: I do not consider myself an "amazing and famous blogger". This is something Jessie comes up with on her own.] It’s hard keeping her ego in check. But I get ideas from friends in forums.  


Random Matt Comment #7 : I don’t want to give them too much, you know? Don’t wanna give them too much information. Gotta whet their appetite! 


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So there's our first-ever Matt Interview. Hope you enjoyed and feel like you got to know my man a little better. Sorry for the long delay in posting-- we've been having internet issues since Sunday, so this is a little later than I'd planned!


Now, play nice and show Matt some love with some comments. He went through a lot of stress trying to answer all those probing questions!!