Why did you choose this username?

SpookyTurtle was born of maliscious inspiration. I was once a regular of the now-defunct cyber-community known as theGlobe.com. Once my primary account name achieved a certain measure of notoriety, I decided that the only way to find relief from my own reputation was to establish a pseudonym for my pseudonym. An obscure comic book panel occurred to me while I was considering a new alias; it depicted an (all too common!) chatroom scene of angst-ridden goths seeking validation of their goth-ness. One line read, "If I paint my turtle black, will he be spooky?" I was in a goth-bashing mood, and found the satire irresistable. The motif has grown on me since then.

Why do you keep a diary on-line?

When theGlobe.com unplugged the servers which had housed my etheral nest of three years, I was quite suddenly displaced. Turtles are territorial, after all, and my ecosystem had been deleted. A couple of my netmates had already gravitated to Diaryland for their own reasons, and I thought it might be a fairly good substitute for my regular soapbox. My life was unusually turgid with drama when I created my diary account, and I've always used writing as my cathartic valve in times of stress. Things have normalized since then, but I'm not often short of material for my day's ritual entry. I'm a bit surprised my interest has lasted this long, but the web-medium is encouraging to me.

How important do you think a layout is for a web-based diary? Would you also comment on yours?

I'm a perfectionist. My own layout has been beaten, twisted, and mauled into its present form over many hours just to satisfy my obsession with hammering on details. My diary exists only to satisfy my needs, after all. In a more general sense, browsing through the pages of other Diaryland users, I find that some people favor the same egocentric bias I do, and their diaries represent their own personal expression of design. My opinion has no meaning for such diarists, and I respect their drive for individuality. Other diaries very obviously cater to ego by begging for audience feedback. If these pages are difficult to access, it's not enjoyable. They're not selling their payload of content. Nice pages, obviously, invite a visitor to spend more time perusing the diary. Also, those Comet Cursor things piss me off.

Your expression carries a distinct style. Who or what inspires you?

I was drawn to books during my tender larval years, and encouraged in my own efforts. I never struggled with concepts of literacy, and I've settled in to my own writing "voice" as my style matured. I have a weak grasp of rhythm and measure, but I do my best to compensate with clever wordplay and spartan prose. I'm just as anal about my web content as I am regarding the coding. After composing an entry, I scour it for editorial weakness, making concise anything that may have been vague or redundant. My Muse is a cruel, vicious dominatrix.

Your diary's URL was distributed to people you know - without your consent. This is surely the worst nightmare of many on-line diarists. How did you handle it? Do some of these people still read your diary - and if so, has the knowledge of this made a difference to the way your write?

As stated above, my diary is my own project, and I do not accept applications for a co-pilot or vice-president. Readers are welcome to read whatever they choose, and are just as welcome tolaugh, cry, or jump into a bark-mulcher. That URL-distributing incident caused a good deal of anxiety, but the problem was not the diary, itself. The issues were eventually resolved in their own context, and my "diary vision" remains unafflicted by any sort of glaucoma. It's worth saying that discretion and honesty are virtues to be cultivated. Identities and secrets are not exploited in my diary, nor should anyone find surprising contradictions of what I've offered at face value.

Do you believe in psychic powers? You claim to have predicted that something like the WTC incident would happen.

I suppose I'm the prophet of inevitability, though I had no idea that my grim little expectations would be fulfilled as soon as they were. I simply suspected that stagnant energy would hit critical mass at some point, and the system would roll to recycle it. Everything happens, eventually. Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed with how that particular crisis has been handled. It created a stunning charge of excitement, but already, it's being absorbed into that typical bland, complacent mentality. We're doomed.

Have you solved the mystery of your haunted bathroom?

Solved, indeed; I moved. The manifestation of Samsa's Revenge seems to have been a phenomenon local to that one particular room, and I wish the new occupant great resilience in dealing with his guest.

Interviewed by GingerBug

most recently:

10:03 p.m.
2001-10-06
spookyturtle

latest interviews

Bye until our move! - 2003-05-03
drastane - 2003-05-03
whymeohgod - 2003-05-03
jamiestar - 2003-05-03
blinkme-182 - 2003-05-03

For all previous interviews, see our ARCHIVE

For how to apply for an interview, read our RULES

To talk with other diarists, visit our FORUM

To leave a message for Interview, sign our GUESTBOOK

To help us and be really cool, you can LINK to us!

We support the AUCTIONS

This site is hosted by DIARYLAND

back to top