19 Rounds with Leta Keane
We recently welcomed Leta Keane to the Split Lip editorial FAM and we could not be happier! Leta's our web editor, and she's an absolutely incredible addition. Get to know her better with 19 Rounds:
1. Early bird or night owl?
Early bird. I am for SURE a diurnal creature. I wake up with the sunrise and struggle to stay up more than a few hours past sunset.
2. What was your worst haircut?
I once tried to get a masculine pompadour cut, but wound up with something that could more appropriately be deemed Aggressively Soccer Mom.
3. If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
The answer to this will change depending on the moment you ask me. Right now, I'd say it's a toss up between "Best Part" and "Japanese Denim", both by Daniel Caesar.
4. Can you roll your tongue?
I can fold it, but I can't roll my Rs - I actually have dreams that I can, and when I wake up and try, I get very sad about it.
5. Mayonnaise: yes or no?
Yes, but Miracle Whip is better, don't at me.
6. What is your least favorite word to come across when reading a book or story?
I tend to not be much of a word snob, but there was one year reading for my college's poetry journal when a good 15% of the poems submitted oddly included the word "orb".
7. Which movie was better than the book?
Stardust, easily - no disrespect to Mr Gaiman, though!
8. What was your first concert?
Local punk shows in northern Chicago suburbs.
9. It's Friday night. You're home alone. What did you order for dinner and what's on the TV?
Chicken biryani and a mango lassi, and my second rewatch of Brooklyn 99.
10. How do you take your coffee?
Hard pass, thanks. I'm all about that tap water life.
11. What expression do you use that most people have never heard?
Many people have heard it, but not many people use it - my typical response to the "How are you?" pleasantry is "Dandy!"
12. What movie have you seen the most times?
It's probably a tie between 10 Things I Hate About You and Empire Records, classic staples of every sleepover growing up.
13. What is the best thing you cook or bake?
I make a mean salmon en papillote.
14. Finish this sentence: More people should be reading _______________.
women of color! essays and creative nonfiction!
15. Favorite time-waster?
Tumblr.
16. What's the hardest thing about writing?
For me, the hardest thing about writing is plot. Descriptions, characters, backstory - I'm all about it. Coming up with what happens next is my weak point, which is probably why my writing degree was in creative nonfiction, and probably why I'm now a software developer.
17. What's the best thing about writing?
Since I write creative nonfiction, the best thing about writing is laying out the connections between things that appear very disparate, and the way the same universe can be filtered through the unique lenses of each writer's history and worldview.
18. What is your favorite sentence from a short story or poem?
This is from an essay written by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan: "We can judge our progress by the courage of our questions and the depth our answers, our willingness to embrace what is true rather than what feels good."
19. What question were you hoping to be asked?
What's your favorite word and why? (answer: "alacrity" because it's the verbal equivalent of Pop Rocks)