Women's Month Interviews: Constance Wagner

How do we know each other?
Through the Medieval Group of PCA and possibly another life.

How would you describe yourself?
Quirky and creative; intelligent and affable; stable and sane. No, really.

In what part of the world are you located?
Physically, I am in the New York/ New Jersey metro area. Mentally these days, I am mostly in Middle-earth. Ecstatic to be in both locations simultaneously.

Where can we find you on the web?
No real web presence as of yet. Am working on it but you can find blackmail-worthy pictures of me on Photobucket. There are also a few of me in an Elven cloak and boy’s garb from a day at a Renfaire when my gown was not “wear worthy”.

What don't people know about you that they ought to know?
That I truly believe that Art (all forms, visual, written, perfomance) is the Song of the Soul.

What are you most proud of having accomplished so far?
My work with Lord of the Rings in general and my interview and article arising from it with the principal actors of the London production of The Lord of the Rings. My article Arresting Strangeness is the best thing I’ve written so far in that I think I have devleoped a new form of litcrit as performance. Or so I say with my mouth ….

What ambitions do you have ahead of you?
Finishing my first book. Working on my poetry collection. Maybe some self-publishing. Hope for commercial success with various books published by commercial house.

What's the best compliment you've ever received?
Again not sure but they generally have to do with my writing. The actors mentioned above were very complimentary about my interviewing skills and the playwright called my piece “vivid and evocative”. Also, Isaac Asimov once groped my mini-skirted thigh at a science fiction convention. [Ewww!] Does that count?

If something great happens to you, how do you celebrate?
Call people. Go out and have dinner. After I do the private Happy Dance.

What's your best method for coping with stress?
TM

What makes you laugh?
Word play. Layered references to high and pop culture stuff.

What makes you cry?
Last several minutes of Return of the King when Frodo boards the Elven ship and is basically resurrected.

What do you love?
Are you paying attention? Epic literature – particularly LOTR. But also beauty and stillness in moments. Starshine. Moonrise. Gorgeous choral music. Shakespeare. Madrigals. Learning stuff. My friends and family. (This is no particular order of importance. All seem equal.)

What do you loathe?
Dishonesty. Manipulative people. People who don’t respect intellectual and artistic pursuits.

What's sexy?
Humor and intelligence and Tom Selleck in his hey day. Go, Magnum!

What's the best advice you were ever given?
Hhmm, the temptation is to stay on theme and quote Gandalf in LOTR about deciding how to use the time given us, but since he wasn’t really talking to me (He wasn’t, was he?), I’ll have to say it was advice about not remaining in a dead-end relationship out of a sense of obligation to a really nice guy who just wasn’t right for me.

How should people be spending their money?
I think people need to donate to the arts and education. Their choice as to how. Oh, and public TV is a good choice, too.

Which woman/women have inspired you?
My mother who was a factory worker during WWII; my Mom is 91 and still her feisty self. Joan of Arc, my favorite saint as she was a visionary (literally) and a warrior. And Charlotte Bronte. Probably others. I also thought Emma Peel was a great fictional depiction of a liberated woman and said “I wanna be like her when I grow up!” when I saw my first episode of The Avengers when I was in 7th grade. No one else seemed to get it in my class.

If I gave you a million dollars, what would you do?
Immediately indulge in an orgy of bill paying; full-time care for my invalid Mom; home renovation; travel; find sound investments; donate to arts and ed charities; breathe more easily.

Thank you so much for being part of this celebration: you are medievally fabulous!

Thursday Already?

My, how time flies!

Tuesday night went well -- we had a nice chat over an early dinner at the Pearl, then rushed over to the library amid a sudden downpour and an amazing rainbow (okay, the picture to the left is *not* the rainbow from that day, but one of myriad lovely images from Missouri Skies). There was a small crowd, but we were out-numbered which is good enough. Jan, Pam, Kelly (who needs a webpage!) and I had a good time chatting about Tolkien, the books and the films, and more importantly (for me anyway), about his sources, cool stuff like Njal's Saga and Beowulf. Yes, I did manage to declaim some Old English verses (you're not surprised are you?).

Tonight, of course, I'm excited to be going to see Jonathan Miller at Skidmore (thanks again, Crispinus, for the tip off). An original member of Beyond the Fringe, polymath, raconteur and director (including perhaps my favorite film version of Alice in Wonderland -- and no, not just because it has Peter Cook), Miller will no doubt be a lively and illuminating speaker.

I can't decide whether to have any interest in Forbidden Kingdom -- on the one hand, Jet Li and Jackie Chan! and a lot of nods to great wǔxiá films like The Bride with White Hair, but -- it's also got some bland American twenty-something actor, clearly for Hollywood reasoning ("Ya gotta have an Amurrican in it! That's what audiences want to see!"). Bleh.

Talk of the Town

Or at least the Town Library: I'm part of a panel on the World of Tolkien at the Colonie Town Library. Here's the skinny:

6:30 PM: The World of Tolkien- A panel discussion on the works of Tolkien and the films made (and to be made) from them. There will be insight into the roots of Tolkien's mythology and the languages both real and imaginary associated with Tolkien and his works. We expect the audience will bring additional insights into the works of JRR Tolkien. The panel will consist of K. A. Laity, The College of Saint Rose; Kelly O'Connor-Salomon, Sage College; and jan howard finder, long-time fan.

We have since dragged Pam Clements of Siena College along for the ride. Jan put the panel together; I think it will be a lot of fun. A lot of you know I'm not that fond of Tolkien's fiction (he's a good scholar though), but I love the same texts that he drew inspiration from and can speak about the Old Norse, Old English and Finnish tales that inspired him. There are the films, too, so I suspect we'll have a lively discussion with a lot of audience input.