Interview: Viki Babbles Gonia

She doesn't even look innocent as a child...

Hello and welcome, everyone - it's time once again for a newsvine community interview. As part of our hopeless effort to win this round of Newsvine Survivor, Viki and I have agreed to interview each other. She put up her interview of me here, and now it's my turn to publish my interview of her.

This one went all over the place - it might be the most in-depth interview I've yet done. We talk politics, sex, and drugs. I get her to call someone out for the Arena of Death, here and now. We even get a half dozen of her favorite quotes about community. I know this is the most complex interview I've done because it took me a good hour to format it - please enjoy it.

Here goes!

I ask everyone about their username. You were Viki Babbles for a while, now you're Viki Babbles Gonia. Why did you change? Don't you feel somewhat exposed in writing with your real name? Is the "Babbles" temporary to help the transition, or is it going to be your permanent middle name on the vine?

I made the decision to use my real name after Brian Ford's article about pseudonyms. I had been thinking about it for a while. I am a writer, and I want what I do on Newsvine to be representative of my writing. I feel that using my full name gives me credibility. When I first changed, I'd dropped the 'Babbles,' but I felt naked without it, so within an hour I was apologizing to Calvin for being a pain in the ass, and asking him to put it back in. I was slightly worried that no one would recognize who I was, although that's really not giving Newsviners enough credit. I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it or not. It's part of my identity, I suppose, and it does tie my Newsvine writing to that on my blog.

Plus, I babble.

There are issues inherent with using one's real name on the internet. It's been discussed many times all over Newsvine, particularly within the comments on Brian's article. For me, I find myself unable to be fully honest in some situations when I'm using my real name. Maybe honest isn't the right word. There's some things I must withhold not because I'm embarrassed or ashamed, but because putting some information out for public view would affect people I love negatively.

You are generally known as laid-back and friendly - you stay away from political arguments, don't engage in flame wars and tend to be interested in fostering a sense of community and vague alcoholism. That's why we all like you. But I think it's time, Viki, that you came clean - on serious issues. I'd like you to please tell us where you stand on the following topics, and please feel free to get as detailed as you feel you should. Also, please do your best to surprise and offend people - that's what serious issues are for:

Ah, cripes. I guess I should have added a sarcasm tag when I told you to ask me whatever you wanted. I'll be as honest and detailed as I possibly can. But I'm probably going to beat you up the next time I see you.

Abortion

I've often said that I am a lifer for choice. But that's pretty stupid. I think that most of those who consider themselves pro-choice are pro-life. I've yet to meet anyone standing at a protest with a sign that says, "Let's kill us some babies!" I've had to consider that choice twice in my life, and I made a different decision both times.

In both cases, the fact that I had the choice made all the difference in the world. These were conscious decisions, rather than something I was forced into because I had no options. In the long run, this ability, this right, to have the opportunity to make a careful and considered decision creates the difference between feeling regret and knowing peace.

I want all women to have the opportunity to have a choice, regardless of which choice they make. I want women to have full information about all of their options, and I want them to consider all before deciding. I want women to be able to make their decision free of the guilt heaped upon them by lawmakers and religious leaders. They'll have enough to deal with as it is, regardless of what they choose.

Sometimes, my inner conspiracy theorist takes hold, and I start thinking things like: if they can take away my right to have an abortion, giving themselves decision-making power over my body, then, one day, they can force me to have an abortion.

But here's the thing I shouldn't say, but I will: some people shouldn't have children. And I'm not just talking about people on welfare who have 6 or 10 kids and no job or no husband or what have you. I'm talking also about people with means. People with high levels of education and important, high-paying jobs. Neglect comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms, and there are thousands and thousands of neglected children in this world. Just because you're leaving them with a nanny or a day care center or a babysitter doesn't mean you're caring for them. When you get home from your job, you'd better be willing to sit down and play with those kids, and discipline them, and do everything in your power to make them a decent citizen of the world, regardless of your income or education level. It's part of being a responsible human being, and it is your responsibility as a parent.

Having children requires enormous sacrifice of time and energy. It's @!$%#ing hard to be a parent. Yes, an abortion is physically and psychologically difficult, and you'll probably think about it for the rest of your life. But guess what? Raising a child is a 24/7/365/rest of your goddamn life job.

Science (as opposed to creationism or corporate-funded anti-global-warming-ism, sorry if I'm loading the question feel free to take offense)

I'm a recovering Catholic, but I'm not an atheist. I do believe there's something out there, even if it is just some kind of force made up of the combined spirits of all humans. I do not believe in Creation, I believe in Evolution. I can't fathom why some supreme being would bother creating a world full of humans and animals and plants. For entertainment purposes? Was God just bored or something?

It's a which-came-first question, really. And in my view, the humans came first, and sought an explanation for things they didn't understand, such as how in the hell they came to be. And some wiseass said "Hey, I know! Some invisible, all-knowing power MADE us! Yeah! That's it! Okay, problem solved, next question." All religion is a bunch of made-up hooey, and its purpose is to provide explanations for things that humans do not have answers for.

Then, of course, came science, which is its own brand of religion. It's the same thing, only science has "evidence" and "proof."

Back to the abortion question for a second--why is it that opponents of abortion are almost invariably religious? They believe that the child is God's creation, and killing one of God's creations is a sin, and wrong. The child is the creation of my body joining together with that of a man. Egg and sperm, baby. If God had anything to do with it, then there was some threesome action there that I was totally oblivious to.

Economic issues (Capitalist? Socialist? Anarchist? Something else?)

I'm pretty much a capitalist. Private enterprise makes the world go round.

Social Legislation (Homosexuality, Drugs, Guns, etc)

I love the gays. ;) Seriously, you know what? We should all be free to love whoever the hell we fall in love with, regardless of gender. We should be free to love them, and to @!$%# them, and to marry them and live with them and make dinner for them and get irritated with them and argue with them and make up, and have make-up sex, raise children, worry about money, buy homes, and on and on and on.

Why in the hell does anyone waste their time and energy caring about who people are falling in love with? What does it matter? Who is it hurting? For the love of Pete, find something else to freak out about. I know a lot of homosexuals who are in very loving, solid, long-term relationships. They have the same issues that any standard male-female marriage has, and in my experience, try harder to make it work.

Marijuana, at least, should be legal. I'm not so sure about the rest of it. I've seen a lot of people @!$%# up their lives beyond repair just to get another line of coke, some more heroin.

However, the war on drugs isn't working. And drug education in this country basically consists of some scary movies of kids jumping out of windows on PCP (who even does PCP anymore?), fear and intimidation, and instructions to "Just Say No." Didn't work for me, probably won't work on my kids either.

As far as guns are concerned, I do believe that citizens of the United States should retain their right to own guns. My husband is a hunter, and we eat (well, he eats) the animals he harvests. We also have handguns for personal protection. And also because they're fun to take to the range and shoot.

However, it is entirely too easy to own a gun legally in this country. It's even easier to get one illegally. To get my Illinois Firearm Owners ID card, I have to take a picture of myself, tape it to a form, and mail it in to the state. That's ridiculous. I should have to take a test proving that I know how to handle a gun properly, understand how to keep a gun in my home safely, and understand the laws of my state regarding guns. It should be no different than getting a license to drive a car. Granted, that's tacking on a whole new world of bureaucracy onto the thing, but I don't have a better answer. And there are a lot of people who own guns who haven't a clue how to use them or store them safely.

Politics in General

Damnitall, I just HATE politics. To me, politics is separate than government. Politics encompasses all the bull@!$%# and the power plays and the lies and the manipulations that people use in order to get in and stay in the government. And once they're there, they just protect their own interests. It pisses me off.

Who do you want to see as the next American president? Please explain why you've chosen against the other main contenders.

Right now, I'm really digging on Barack Obama. I don't vote strictly Democrat or Republican (or Independent or Green or whatever). I vote for whoever I think is going to do the best job (of course, I voted for Bush in '04, so I was clearly wrong, but I swear, I was crying while I punched that chad). I haven't seen any Republicans I'd even consider voting for, and I kinda doubt someone is going to crawl out of the woodwork.

It's so early in the process right now, so for the time being, I'm going on gut instinct. I trust this guy. I believe him. I think he earnestly and honestly wants to see this country take a turn for the better, and he'll work hard to make that happen. He's a gifted communicator and staggeringly intelligent.

I may yet change my mind, but right now, it's Obama for me.

Shifting gears rapidly, let's talk about vice. What's the hardest drug you've taken? Did you like it? What's your favorite sexual position? What's the kinkiest sex you've ever had, and did you enjoy it? Have you ever been arrested? Have you ever narrowly avoided being arrested? You told me you'd answer all my questions, so here's one: what question along these lines would I have to ask for you to consider not answering in spite of your promise? What is the answer to that question?

I'm a soft-drug person, truthfully. When a lot of people in high school were snorting coke, I was still drinking warm beer. I couldn't stand the thought of snorting anything into my nose, and it was entertaining to watch my friends turn into these people who thought they were very intelligent and very powerful, but their noses were running or bleeding and they couldn't keep track of their conversations.

Then came college and the Grateful Dead and LSD and mushrooms and ecstasy. This was in the very early 90s. I hated the LSD and the mushrooms. I couldn't let go of control, and that's really what you have to do when using hallucinogenic or psychoactive drugs. I had a few fun trips, but once I watched as my boyfriend's entire head got sucked into his bottle of Weideman's (some cheap-ass beer we'd get in Kansas. It came in short round little brown bottles), I pretty much swore off the stuff (the acid, not the beer), although it took still a few more bad trips to really stop. I always thought that maybe this time it wouldn't be scary. I was always wrong. I always enjoyed it when at a Dead show, but once the show was over, the trip would just keep going. That's the part I didn't like.

Now, I'm just a booze girl. Marijuana is pretty boring, and just makes me tired, and combined with booze it gives me the spins and then I want to vomit. That's no way to end a night. The older I get, the harder it is to recover.

On to the sex…

For a good, late night, "I'm tired and have a slight headache but let's go ahead and do this anyway" love-making session, there's nothing better than missionary. It's the tired-mom's position. But when I'm not tired, I'm up for pretty much anything. I'm not as flexible as I used to be, but I can bend and twist into a pretzel if it feels good. As far as kinkiest, I'd have to say (or at least, all I'll admit to) is a night in a big hotel room when there were several other people present, in other beds, pretending to sleep. For a little while, we tried to stay under the covers and be quiet, but after a while, we convinced ourselves that everyone was sound asleep and just went to town. Hell yeah I enjoyed it. It was slightly awkward when one of the other people got up to use the bathroom in the midst of things, but hey, they could have been sleepwalking. It's been done.

I've never been officially arrested. I came close one crazy Halloween night down in the city. A bunch of guys I was with got in a drunken brawl with a guy dressed up as Raggedy Andy. We were in a restaurant, having a late-night breakfast before heading home, and there were some words exchanged (okay, so we were making fun of Raggedy Andy. He deserved it!). All the guys rushed outside to beat the @!$%# out of each other. Andy's girlfriend, Raggedy Ann, screeched up in her late-70's Pontiac, and popped the trunk, out of which Raggedy Andy pulled a baseball bat and started swinging. We all ended up at the hospital, and during questioning, the cop threatened to arrest me for lying (I wasn't, I was telling my version of events, that's all). That's about as close as I've been to doing hard time.

Honestly I don't know what question you could ask that I wouldn't answer. I suppose if you asked me if, when I was in junior high, I used to sit near the back of the bus and endure having my budding breasts grabbed by horny young boys, I'd have to answer yes, I did. And if you then asked, why didn't you just sit near the front? I suppose I'd have to answer, well, I guess I enjoyed the attention on some level. Sure, I fought them off. But I still sat in the back of the bus, me and my boobs.

Tell us three things you learned and which surprised you at the Columbus Vinemeet.

You sneak. You wouldn't answer this when I asked you, but now you're going to ask me?

The most important thing I learned or realized as a result of the meet was that everyone in attendance was exactly the person I thought they would be. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was a pleasant surprise to me to meet a bunch of people for the first time and instantly feel that I'd known them for a long time. Truthfully, I've spent more time conversing with some people on Newsvine than I do with some of my real-life friends.

But it's a testament to Newsvine and the people who hang out here that the real-life Mykola, Celestina, Eric Atienza, oldfogey, iarnuocon, indecent, Zaki, Yuriy, stolte-sawa, evano, winsomecowboy, (damn, who am I forgetting? I know I'm forgetting people), Corey Spring, who else? Anyway, all of these people are the same in real life as they are on Newsvine. So, by extension, I'd say there's a level of honesty here on Newsvine that you won't find in any other internet community. That was the surprising thing.

What else did I learn? Hmmm. Oh! That purple fairies will walk around a hotel room with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of Bushmill's in the other. And clowns with accents are sexy.

Pardon me if I get a little meta- here, but let's talk about Newsvine. How did you discover Newsvine? What do you like about it - how has it managed to hold your interest for this long? What do you see as your role in the community? How do you see Newsvine changing in the next 6 months? Year? 5 years? Does it even make sense to talk about a website 5 years down the line? Probably not, that was a rhetorical question and you don't have to answer it.

Oh please, I love me some meta.

I don't remember exactly how I happened upon Newsvine. I read about it either in a news story or in a blog, and was led to Mike D's blog, and then asked for a beta invite. I joined in February of 2006, and it took me a while to get the hang of things.

I'm surprised myself that it has held my interest for so long. I tend to get into things and then move on. I think it's because of the level of discourse, the user community, and the passion that the majority of users have for the site and its community.

I think about my role quite a bit. I spend a lot of time trying to weed out spam and bull@!$%# from the Greenhouse, even though that's not my job and those people aren't going to likely get out anyway (although, sometimes they appear on the front page, which irks me to no end). I was once called a "self-appointed Newsvine culture-cop," although I don't know what the hell that means. It might refer to the fact that I'm known to leave comments containing some variation of the phrase "Stop being an @!$%#." I usually try to say it a lot nicer than that. But there are people on this site who love to play games, and there's just no reason for it, other than their own entertainment, and to bolster their own feelings of power.

I see it as my duty to affect Newsvine positively, to represent Newsvine positively out on the rest of the internet, and to do what I can to help shape Newsvine for the future.

In six months to a year, I expect there to be quite a few more writers doing specific series for which they've received press passes or some kind of exclusive. I believe Newsvine will continue to get attention from the rest of the world, and will certainly attain some level of credibility because of the level of discourse, and the high quality of most of the writing. There are some unbelievably talented writers here on Newsvine, several of which could easily be published elsewhere, for more money and fame. That's my little project, that I intend to expand--to encourage people to submit their work elsewhere.

I see groups changing in purpose, and people finding new uses for them--some of the ideas you put forth in my interview with you were fantastic, and I've been working on my own new idea for the use of groups, although I don't want to discuss it here because it's not fully formed. The thought that each group could be it's own independent column type of thing is ideal. I would love to see that. I think there'd be a lot of people who would visit Newsvine for the content coming out of a specific group, and not pay the slightest bit of attention to the rest of it.

5 years? Hell, I don't know. I hope Newsvine is still around.

It's been a while since we've had a good, down-to-earth, dirty, mean-spirited AoD Grudge Match. Here and now, Viki, I'd like you to challenge between one and three people to a round in the Arena of Death. I think that this sort of sport would be very exciting given your generally peaceful life on the vine so far - but we all get annoyed by someone now and again and the AoD is a great place to blow off steam without starting a flame war. So I'd like to ask you to pick someone who has been driving you nuts and publicly challenge them to a few rounds in the AoD, rules and referees to be determined. You don't necessarily have to explain why the person/people you've picked have earned your ire, but you should be aware that it's considered good form in AoD challenges to be as spiteful and petty as possible beforehand, to maximize anticipation.

You're a rotten bastard, you know that? Good for you.

The first person that I thought of was Ardith. She and I used to be friendly with each other, but something happened. Something twisted in our relationship, and now it's clear to me that there is no going back. I know its good form to be spiteful and petty, but I won't do that now. If Ardith responds in the comments, it may happen there. I kinda doubt she will, though.

What is community?

The concept of community has been on my mind a lot lately. I've been collecting definitions and quotes in my notes, preparing for an article.

Part of the definition of "community" from the American Heritage Dictionary is "Sharing, participation, and fellowship." Those three things are found here at Newsvine in abundance, and are part of what makes this place work, and for the most part, successful.

Some of the quotes I've collected so far:

In every country, we should be teaching our children the scientific method and the reasons for a Bill of Rights. With it comes a certain decency, humility and community spirit. In the demon-haunted world that we inhabit by virtue of being human, this may be all that stands between us and the enveloping darkness.

-Carl Sagan

Yes, our company is at risk because we cede control to the users, but that's how we do our business. If the community decides to kill the business, maybe it deserves to die.

-Jeffrey Kalmikoff, Designing for Community with Zero-Advertising Brands, SXSW 2006

Communities can build amazing things, but you have to be part of that community and you can't abuse them. You have to be very respectful of what their needs are.

-Jimmy Wales, Keynote Speech, SXSW 2006

I sense an insatiable demand for connectivity. Maybe all these people have discovered important uses for the Internet. Perhaps some of them feel hungry for a community that our real neighborhoods don't deliver. At least a few must wonder what the big deal is.

-Clifford Stoll, Silicon Snake Oil, 1995

One would think that if you're anonymous, you'd do anything you want, but groups have their own sense of community and what we can do.

-John Allen, A network called 'Internet', CBC, 10-08-93

Okay, I got carried away there. Sorry. The fact of the matter is that we have the opportunity and the tools to do something extraordinary here on Newsvine--but we can only do that as a community. And every member of the community needs to be on board, needs to support each other.

Have I babbled enough yet?

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