Inside the Bloggers Studio: Meet Mitch Wagner

in bloggers studio, blogs, connect, spotlight by faryl on January 22nd, 20092 Comments

I’ll be honest with you. I’d planned to write a riveting mini-bio on today’s featured guest, Mitch Wagner.

See, Mitch is an incredibly interesting guy. It’s only fair to write something incredibly interesting about him then, right? mitch2

But Mitch had to go ahead and – *gasp!* – upstage the blogger.

That’s right. You heard me. Upstaged. Me. I can’t compete with Mitch’s answers . Anything I could write would pale in comparison.

Which really is to be expected. After all, Mitch not only is Executive editor at InformationWeek.com, he writes two other blogs, so he has lots of practice. Even his tweets are witty. Mitch makes me almost curious enough to explore Second Life – even though I secretly fear that once I go there, there’ll be no coming back (I tend to sometimes – um-”fixate” on things, especially when they involve a computer. “Fixate” sounds so much nicer than “obsess”, doesn’t it?). ‘Nuff said?

All of which is why I heart Mitch!

Rather than detain you much longer from reading his answers, I’ll quickly step aside and let him take the stage. But before I do, I would feel I let you down if I didn’t share some ways to get an additional Mitch fix outside the Bloggers Studio:

I already told you about Infomation Week, so that’s old news. Mitch’s personal blog (aptly named: “Mitch Wagner’s blog“) shares his insights on life (ranging from techie to political to pop culture) and gives you a full picture of Mitch’s virtual existence that his IW readers miss out on.

But wait! There’s more! For the same price of *free* Mitch will give you a third blog! With podcasts! At Copper Robot Mitch brings you

interviews on technology, politics, literature, television, science fiction, science, and more. Join us in Second Life every other Sunday at 11 am U.S. Pacific time, or listen to the podcast.

All in all, Mitch is a cool dude. And he gives a heck of an interview when he’s sitting in the Bloggers Studio chair . . .

To better acquaint you with the fabulous Mr. Mitch Wagner, I will now delve deep into my improv soul and pull out my best James Lipton impression for you, my dear readers.

Without further ado, I welcome you to Inside the Bloggers Studio!

FB: What is your favorite word?
MW: Sussuration

FB: What is your least favorite word?
MW: Cramps

FB: What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
MW: Laughter

FB: What turns you off creatively, spiritually or emotionally?
MW: Pomposity

FB: What sound or noise do you love?
MW: My wife laughing

FB: What sound or noise do you hate?
MW: The Windows error sound. I switched to Mac in Feb. 2007, but that sounds till makes me flinch. Here it is as a remix ringtone.

FB: What is your favorite curse word?
MW: I’ll go with the classic “fuck” on that one. So many to choose from. “Shit” is barely even a curse word anymore. Cunt is very satisfying – the C sound at the beginning, one syllable, the T sound at the end. In Brooklyn, which I grew up near, it’s actually a deadly insult: “You fucking cunt!” Imagine Christopher from “The Sopranos” saying that. “Motherfuck” is also very satisfying — “motherfucker,less so; one too many syllables. Actually, this is boring, but “Crap”is probably my favorite curse word.

FB: What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
MW: Billionaire playboy philanthropist.

FB: What profession would you not like to do?
MW: Public relations. I’d end up having to talk to people like me all day.

FB: If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
MW: “We have some people here waiting to see you: Your Mom and Dad, your
grandma and grandpa Riva and Abe. Your grandpa, who died in 1968,
wants to talk to you about this ‘blogging’ thing, because he kept
scrapbooks of annotated magazine articles during the 1920s and 1930s
that were sort of like blogs, right?

“Also, your friend from high school Vincent is waiting to see you. He
says he doesn’t mind that the last time you talked, you fought over a
stupid $20 debt — he says that neither one of you knew that he was
going to drop dead before you could get that straightened out.

“Also waiting to see you: Your cousin Janet and Barry’s dog Dusty, who
was a totally sweet dog and made you a lifelong fan of golden
retrievers. And your cat Spike, who died too young at age 11 because
of a kidney infection.

“And after that: High-speed Internet access, and unlimited vanilla
latte that won’t make you fart!”*

*I didn’t bring my wife into the heaven
question, because that raises the matter of whether she dies before me
or I die before her, or we die at the same time, none of which seems
acceptable. I’ve settled that matter by deciding that neither one of
us will ever die. It’s a plan.

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