Friday Feature: @Cafe_Carcinogen
And verily, the sun hath risen upon thine golden day that is beauteous Friday. Yup. And we know what that means. We get to wax lyrical with another wonderful Proser about wordy, booky and writerly stuff. This week we are chasing a van via Philly to meet up with and find out all about @Cafe_Carcinogen
P: What is your given name and your Proser username?
CC: My name is Rae and my Prose username is Cafe_Carcinogen
P: Where do you live?
CC: Currently I live in West Philadelphia, however, depending on which Friday this feature happens, I may well be in the first leg of my traveling adventure. At the end-ish of September I’ll be living out of my van, indiscriminately roaming and rambling wherever the wind and my whims carry me.
P: What is your occupation?
CC: I actually just quit my job as a department manager at a local food co-op but I’m still doing very low time work as a home health aid and a personal assistant. I’ve been picking up random gigs as my heart and pocketbook desire and I would very much like to never have a “day job” again if it can be helped. I’m trying to live the next chapter of my life as a post-capitalist.
P: What is your relationship with writing and how has it evolved?
CC: I tumble words around and around my grey matter until their edges soften and their color shines. I don’t write them down at first (especially if it’s for a song which most things are, at least at the beginning) because I find the lines/phrases/verses I remember are worth remembering and the ones I forget simply weren’t as memorable and I let them go.
I’ve always done this and I can’t imagine a life where I didn’t stop in the middle of the sidewalk to write down the most perfect combination of words. In the very near future I’ll have much more time to devote to writing and journaling and I can’t wait to see where it takes me!
P: What value does reading add to both your personal and professional life?
CC: Reading enters my soul, consumes my consciousness, transports and transforms me. I fall in the spaces between the words and we become one. Should I try to turn my attention elsewhere, they beckon me, keep reading--just one more page, just one more chapter… I guess, with reading, you could say it’s less about “value” and more about purpose or sanity or something more profound, but I can’t qutie put my finger on it.
P: Can you describe your current and future literary ventures?
CC: Recently, as I was going through my rolodex of songs in my brain-space, I realized I had several thematically related pieces which touch on my disillusionment with and dislike for many aspects of our modern society. I plan on fleshing this out to perhaps an album-length amount of songs and, if I accomplish this, I’ll certainly post the poem versions of them.
P: What do you love about Prose?
CC: Unlike most places on the web, The Prose is uplifting and supportive.
P: Is there one book that you would recommend everybody should read before they die?
CC: I try to stay away from sweeping generalizations and I prefer to give my recommendations based on the individual...so I guess I could have just said “no”.
P: Do you have an unsung hero who got you into reading and/or writing?
CC: My mother is a journalist and she encouraged my sisters and I to read and write constantly. We didn’t have cable and we lived out in sticks so reading and writing were pretty much the most exciting things you could do with an afternoon.
P: Describe yourself in three words!
CC: Evolving, wandering, old-soul.
P: Is there one quote, from a writer or otherwise, that sums you up?
CC: Now I’m not sure if it counts as a quote if I came up with it so let’s call it an otherwise---- “I’m a compilation of my contradictions.”
P: Favourite music to write and/or read to?
CC: That very much depends on my mood but many times I prefer to do those activities separately and give each my full attention. I find it difficult at times to find words which are my own while I’m listening to someone else’s.
P: You climb out of a time machine into a dystopian future with no books. What do you tell them?
CC: “Bring as many bags and bodies as will fit in this time machine, we’re going to 2016 and returning with all the books!”
P: Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you/your work/social media accounts?
CC: A-typical of my generation, I have no social media accounts. I am a person who is constantly reinventing myself and I don’t feel like I can do that with everyone I’ve ever known in the past ≈30 years viewing and commenting on the person I am now through the lense of the friendship we had then. People are in our lives while they are for however long they are and then they’re not and it doesn’t make that friendship less meaningful, it just means you kept moving and so did they. That being said, I might try and start a travel blog for my journey but I’m not very tech savvy so if a blog is something you’re proficient at, hit me up--I’d love help and/or advice for trade, barter, or skill-share :)
If you don’t already, please follow as soon as you can. If you want to feature, or want someone else on Prose to feature, then do please get in touch at paul@theprose.com
Those that we’ve taken the time to message and send the questions out to, do please send the answers back or tell us if you are no longer interested in featuring. Thanks, all.
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