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pax

ONE love, blood, life
Joined
Nov 5, 2001
Messages
11,412
Location
Ewen's new American home
Yes, I've succumbed! :D

Ask me anything you want about the glamorous life of an Interference mod. Or about anything, really.
 
Do you ever hesitate to speak your mind, being that you try to keep things cool in here?
 
How many hours a day do you spend being a mod around here?
 
Macfistowannabe said:
Do you ever hesitate to speak your mind, being that you try to keep things cool in here?

Not often, but definitely from time to time. I have an opinion on just about every issue that's discussed in here, and sometimes I choose to keep the opinion(s) to myself, particularly when the subject is getting heated. And there are some topics I pretty much won't discuss anymore, if for no other reason than all the regulars already know how I feel about them (gun control, abortion, gay marriage...those are the big ones).

That's not as hard, though, as when you form friendships/relationships with people on the forum, and your friends or significant others get involved in disputes. It's very difficult for me sometimes to separate the people from the issues and act publicly as a mod, even when privately I may feel that one side or the other is definitely in the right or wrong. It's usually easier, though, as a mod, to consistently refuse to take a side. Besides, in most disputes, both sides truly are at some fault, anyway.
 
coemgen said:
What do you do in your real life?

In real life, I have a full-time job as an editor working for a company that does, among other things, educational and technical publishing. I also do some freelance work as a copyeditor, and I compile indexes for books (terrible work, great pay).

I write creatively as a hobby, and I hope to start my own literary and art magazine someday. I'd also like to go back to school to do postgraduate work, probably in literature or cultural studies.

I listen to music, read books, play with my dog, spend time with my friends and family, and make fun countdowns (see signature). :wink:
 
BonoVoxSupastar said:
Why'd you choose to shorten it to "Pax"?

Couple of reasons, really...my old username wasn't really proper Latin (I told people, half-joking, that it was a tribute to Bono and his own bastard Latin). It was too long and people never knew how to pronounce it, and people just called me "pax" anyway (which is Latin for "peace" for anyone who didn't know).

So I would pester Sicy whenever the subject came up about changing my name to "pax," and one night she went ahead and did it for me, which I honestly appreciate. My mod T-shirt (yes, we mods get special versions of the Interference T-shirts!) has "pax" on it, so when I'm playing hostess in Philly, I'll have a rockin' T-shirt! :hyper:
 
nbcrusader said:
What keeps you going as a mod?

This is going to sound cheesy, but I really believe in the work we do as mods. I think on the Internet, people can forget that real people are behind the arguments and the pettiness, and one thing I always try to keep in mind (and I hope I help others keep in mind) is that the people I'm talking to could be stressed out, or sad, or lonely, and my job is to always make people feel welcome and safe here. I'm sure I don't always succeed, but it's the benchmark for which I strive.

I have good role models here, too--I think we have an all-around quality mod team, but when I was first learning how to be a mod here (which is almost three years ago now, if you can believe it), Sicy, Bonochick, and Anthony were the three I learned the most from. Since then we've had some mods come and go, but they've all brought something special and positive to the team. And the mods do really support each other and back each other up.

Also, I like being able to see people who are logged in invisibly. :wink:
 
Pearl said:
How many hours a day do you spend being a mod around here?

You don't want to know. :yikes:

I generally look in on the forum pretty regularly during the work day, because I have a permanent and superfast connection. Outside of work, that can vary. Most evenings I pop in at least once for a few minutes.

I do try to stay away on the weekends. :wink: Sometimes that works, sometimes not.
 
verte76 said:
What's the thing you like the most about being a mod? What do you dislike the most about being a mod?

Like I said to nbc, I like making people feel welcome here. I like showing newbies the ropes (really!) and answering people's questions. I like to help keep the forums tidy by moving and closing threads and stuff. And I like the spirit of the mod team--supportive, close, funny.

I don't like when my friends get into arguments--makes me sad. :( I really, really don't like when people knock Interference, because I'm so personally invested in this place. People can think whatever they like about the site or the management, but it does make me a little upset when people do nothing but bitch, but continue to hang around here.

Hope that answers your question. :)
 
Wow, your dedication to your mod job is great. It comes through in your comments. You seem like a very warm, genuine person. Thanks for doing what you do here. Seriously.:wink:
 
How do you mods know each other? It seems many of you live in different states, some of you even live in different countries.
 
Macfistowannabe said:
How do you mods know each other? It seems many of you live in different states, some of you even live in different countries.

Although 2005 seems to be the year for me to be meeting fellow Interlanders (finally!), I don't have any of the mods on my slate just yet. I've hung out with zoney! a few times this year (and have been very delinquent in keeping touch with him as of late, so Jeff, if you read this, I'm going to try to give you a call tomorrow), and I'll be meeting Ewen later this month, followed by most of the kids from the Octagon Bar at the Philly gathering in May (plus non-Bar regulars Mrs. Edge and cydewaze).

I'd love to get together with all the mods, and perhaps later this year I'll get the chance. Many of the mods have hung out, however--Sicy and Elvis live close by each other, for starters, and have known each other for years. We had at one point a whole cluster of mods living in (roughly) the same part of the country, so it was the same deal there. I'm a bit geographically isolated from the rest of the team, living where I do, so I haven't had much of the same opportunities.

But there's a lot of exchange between the mods on messengers and PM and stuff like that, so we all keep in touch pretty closely. :up:
 
meegannie said:
How did you get started do freelance work and how do you find jobs?

A former professor of mine has some connections at a publishing house that does a series on popular culture and philosophy, and they need editorial assistants coming from a background of being generally educated, but not experts in philosophy. I started doing some small work one book in the series, which has expanded to doing indices for a couple of the books and some serious rewrites on a couple others. He continues to send work my way, as we've stayed good friends. He's recommended me to colleagues of his, too, who in turn have given me some other work. So word-of-mouth, mostly--the bit of advertising I've done on sites like www.mediabistro.com and www.sologig.com have produced a whole lot of nothing.

I also had a tutoring gig working with people who spoke English as a second (or, like, sixth) language, teaching them how to make good spoken English (which they generally had) good written English. I enjoyed that. Again, I picked that up through a (different) former professor.
 
pax said:


and I'll be meeting Ewen later this month, followed by most of the kids from the Octagon Bar at the Philly gathering in May (plus non-Bar regulars Mrs. Edge and cydewaze).
:up:


a little off topic but still a question....where in philly do all of you plan to meet? i live 15 mins outside the city...
 
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