Six Questions For ... Rachel Sklar

One week and counting until P.S. 122 in New York becomes the most awesome nightclub in the the world. WYSIWYG in the hizzywyg, y'all! I hear Trump's going to be there. And one of the Olsens. For reals. Okay, it's some dude who tried out for The Apprentice and Merlin Olsen. Okay, a guy who looks like Merlin Olsen.

Anyway, you can buy your tickets in advance, which I highly recommend, because you don't want to be That Guy standing on the street who somehow couldn't get into a blog reading. How sad would that be?

****UPDATE: I've just learned that tickets for next week are in fact, very limited, so if you are planning to be there don't wait until show time!****

That also leaves us plenty of time for another interview. Today's victim is jack-of-all-trades Rachel Sklar who apparently works in some sort of aquarium. I'm not really sure, but I hear her apartment smells of rich mahogany.

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1) I heard a crazy rumor that you actually get paid to blog! Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?

It IS ridiculous. I am woefully underqualified.

2) You spend most of your day writing about people I have never heard of. Despite this tragic oversight, other people seem to enjoy it. Who are they anyway?

I write about NYC media and the players that strut and fret their hour upon the page (and screen, and blog...) I get a huge kick out of it — it's so great that my job is to read great writing every day. To produce it, now that's a different story.

3) I never get tired of jokes about the differences between Canada and America (especially if America is the target.) What's your favorite difference?

It's very weird that what your people call "Smarties" are actually what we in Canada call "Rockets." [Ed.: Interesting. I did not know that.] Our Smarties are delicious colorful candy-coated chocolates, and you eat the red ones last. They are better than M&Ms, and the colors are prettier. M&Ms colors are vaguely reminiscent of a 70's rec room, no? I will, of course, still eat them.

4) Times Square: Heart of the City or Ass End of the Tourist Industry?

Heart of the City, for sure. Bright lights; taxis zooming, or at least honking; hotdog and pretzel carts; throngs of people; dozens of theaters in every direction; on every first time tourist's NYC wish-list. I'm not jaded enough yet to think all that doesn't matter. I just wish that whenever I'm there people would fucking get out of my way.

5) Pretend you're James Bond and order your favorite drink with a pretentious flourish.

Diet coke, no ice. Give it to me straight or not at all.

6) Finally, and most importantly: has writing Fishbowl helped you to actually meet and befriend some of the big players in the NY media world, and if so, can you get me a job?

That depends on the definitions of "meet", "befriend" and "players." I definitely have more pen pals now — I am a prodigious emailer. I don't know about actual gainful employment but there's always room for another Fishtern.