Neil at Citizen of the Month asked his readers if they would adopt a blog to interview since some of the people that were supposed to didn’t follow through. I volunteered, because, hey, who couldn’t use some blog fodder that involves researching four years of archives? Yes, four. Luckily, she is a good writer. Go ahead, check her out if you don’t believe me.

Unluckily for her, I was in goofy mode when I drafted the questions, but she was a great sport and didn’t even ask me if I was on drugs or just naturally like that. You folks are used to me, but her readers, oh my.

Enough with the rambling and preambling, I present to you Ciboulette

Can you tell me why you chose this particular blog name? It reminds me of beignette, which is roughly French for donut, speaking of which, why are you so against our national institution, Tim Horton’s, and did you know that the city with the most Timmie’s is Moncton, New Brunswick? Heh. I did that to make your head spin. I’ll try to behave now.

Okay. “Ciboulette” is the name of a character in a play I studied in grade 11 French, oh so many years ago. It was about smuggling cigarettes, I think. I loved the name and instantly attached it to my web-self. Later I found out that it is also a French word meaning “chives” and can be used as an expletive. I’m not against Timmie’s — I just don’t think the donut is worthy of being called a Canadian National Icon. And no, I did not know that Moncton has the most Timmies of all, although it doesn’t surprise me considering it is an eastern city.

What made you decide to teach? Story please.

Ga. Long story, beginning with my mom as an elementary teacher, me rebelling and saying I would never be a teacher, getting my English degree and answering no to all those assumptions that naturally I would go into the teaching field, post-graduate work in lingerie and coffee, a stint in health care, a teacher husband and now: here I am. In between I decided to ignore the fact that my mom is a teacher and really considered it. I’ll admit, at first I thought about the holidays. But, I’m smart enough to know there’s got to be more to like about a job than its holidays! So I considered it for about a year, thought about being a secondary teacher, went into some high schools and poked around and voila! Here I am. I love it. I only hope that one day I will have my own permanent classroom. With the way things are going in my district, that possibility may be years and years away.

I am a hater of Lord of the Flies. I moved a lot in my last years of high school and had to take it three, count ‘em, three, different times. Tell me how LoF can possibly be interesting, with the exception of the conch blowing. That was cool.

I didn’t read Lord of the Flies until last year. I somehow skipped it in high school and so was always out of the loop whenever someone would refer to Piggy or the conch. I’m trying to convince myself right now that LoF is interesting. I think it is, upon closer inspection. I’ve brought it into my classroom because that is what all grade 11 students do at my high school. I know this is a lame excuse, but I am brand new and I need to rely on the resources of my colleagues to get me going. So I’m going to try this out. If it goes well, I will continue to do it. If not, I won’t. However, the conch-blowing was cool. Yesterday we had a huge discussion about civilization and the civilized vs. the “savages,” which was extremely interesting. Then we watched Lost. Anytime I can get Lost into a classroom, I think I’m doing well.

You live on Vancouver Island, extreme west of Canada. You love tea. Please tell me you have had high tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria. If so, have you seen any Red Hatters there? Red Hatters are big on Vancouver Island. I know this because I have a Queen Mother on my mailing list. She is a retired teacher. You may feel free to correct my punctuation and spelling. I’m used to it.

No, I have not had high tea at the Empress Hotel, although I would like to on someone else’s tab. It’s like 50+ bucks/person. For tea! However, now that I’ve written that out, it sounds like a lame excuse. I’m just worried that it’s just a hyped-up tourist trap and the 50 dollars will end-up a big waste. However. I do plan on either having high tea at The Empress or Butchart Gardens in my wedding dress one day, with my other married friends. We will rent a convertible and drive ourselves around town and then end up at tea, in our very, very finest. No Red Hatter spottings around these parts, I’m afraid.

You took hip hop dance lessons. Do you ever bust a move in class? You know, just to show the kids you can?

Definitely not. I think that would be a major disaster.

You have a kajillion posts, give or take an illion. Why don’t you have a 100 things post?

I never really thought about it. Is that a common thing? I see you have one on your site – and that you found it hard. I also like the way you wrote it: it’s like a story. I have a link called “True Things.” That’s my 9-things post.

Do you have an outline for your novel yet? How’s it going?

Not an outline really, more of an idea in the way back of my head. It’s about the layers of time on space. I don’t know if it’s a novel or a memoir. We’ll see.

I believe I know the answer to this, because I’m spooky that way, but why do you blog? No, I didn’t think it was to get a book deal. Although? Bonus!

I write write write. And I like to read. I like to read what I wrote in the past, and I like others to read what I write. It’s an outlet, a way to make sense of my day at times, a place to let off my corny jokes. It’s not about a book deal. No way, Jose.

Lastly, what do you wish you had done differently, besides cleaning out your Grandmother’s notes? (I feel you on that)

Lots and lots of things – but mostly little things. Like taking down the ugly curtains in the reception hall at my wedding. Or not eating that last box of KD. Or writing all in lower case. You get the idea.