An Interview with Alexander (click my name above to read more!)
This is an excerpt from the original interview on 3/8/15.
Charles Osgood: It’s great to see you again, Alexander!
Alexander: It’s great to see you too, Charles. It’s fitting to have you run the interview as your show permeated the house where I grew up in a very, very loud fashion every Sunday morning, especially those trumpets. My dad loved to blast those trumpets as a wake-up call to the neighbors.
CO: That’s fantastic and sounds like a great memory! Speaking of which, what are some other first memories that you have?
AA: Well, my first memory was rather traumatic. It was one where I was crawling on the grass between a lake and a levee in New Orleans, tripping, and face-planting in an ant pile. Who knew you could actually trip while crawling?! I looked up and saw my parents eyes dart straight at me as I let out a really loud cry. They were sitting on this yellow picnic blanket with two of their friends. As soon as my mom ran and picked me up, the memory fades. I must have calmed down by that point. I also remember riding a white eskimo spitz like a horse…
CO: Like a horse? Aren’t those small dogs?
AA: …yes, it also goes to show how little I was too. I also loved to sleep in a little red wagon that I’d pull around the house and park in front of the TV. Another one was sitting in the front yard in camping chairs underneath a 5 ft. magnolia tree; my dad would prepare for my sister and me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on a mild Spring day. On other occasions, my mom would let us role circuits up-and-down the driveway and into the house with our cool 90’s roller blades while she cooked her “fried panéed meat”…we have Louisiana lingo for everything. Just like eskimos have 50 words for snow, we have about as many to describe fried foods…
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CO: Let’s fast forward a little bit. You started your life in New Orleans, how did you end up in Portland?
AA: Well, that’s quite a journey itself. I’ve actually moved 6 times in the past 5 years; but when you’re pulling a wagon around and sleeping in it from an early age, it’s not surprising. I lived in New Orleans for the first 17 years of my life and then a hurricane wiped out the city and opened up my eyes to a world beyond Louisiana. After spending some time in Houston, I was admitted to a college all the way up in the winterlands of the United States, where maple syrup runs free; well, a 15-minute walk from where the syrup roams free. I went to college in New Hampshire, so remote that the Appalacian Trail ran through my campus. Here, I met some of the greatest people I’ve ever come across, and so I selfishly turned them into friends. After four years there, I spent a better part of a year in Europe, studying in Greece and working as an archaeologist in southern Italy. After seeing $67.00 in my bank account (US, not Euros), I determined that I could either be a bartender in Italy and stay there or move back to the US. I really wanted to attend graduate school, so I thought I’d fly back to the US and pursue that. Needless to say, I was laden with student debt, so I decided to tackle that. My dad invited me to work with him, but he quickly turned me into an “admin” person, paying his bills, running copies for him, etc. I found that boring and lived in Louisiana again, so I decided that I had nothing to lose if I packed up my truck with all my few belongings, drove out to a city that I never visited before in my life, and figured out work and a place to live when I got there. I had $3,500 than I had before, so I was 6000% richer. This is why there aren’t more archaeologists…$3,500 is being rich. While in Denver, I met some of the other greatest people that this world has to offer, I joined a company that gave raw talent a home, and ultimately earned a promotion that took me out to Portland, where I’ve lived since March 2014.
CO: To recap, that’s Louisiana, Texas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Greece, Italy, Louisiana, Colorado, and Oregon?
AA: Exactly! Don’t give me anymore opportunity, I’ll end up somewhere in the Pacific next. I’m just about out of room in the US at this point.
CO: You mention archaeology in Italy and studying in Greece…why not do that here in the US?
AA: That could be done, but I’m interested in the cradle of civilization, the Mediterranean area. Ethnically, I’m composed of 67% of cultures that stemmed from that area. In a way, it’s self-discovery as well, learning about my ancestors and using that to draw a connection to the past. Today’s world lends itself to many differences, but there is a huge connection that many people do not realize. Those strong similarities and differences fascinate me.
CO: What else fascinates you?
AA: Oh boy, one day I’d love to say that I was fortunate to visit every single country, start a trendy new history show, and become the world leading expert in some topic, even if it as trivial as a potential lost Hellenistic culture in Turkic lands. Ancient cultures, architecture, art, and the like all fascinate me.
CO: You speak much of travel. If you could visit any place in the world during any era, what would you choose?
AA: Love this question! If I could travel to any place at any time, it would have to be Greece during their Golden Age. Being able to speak with and hold conversations with those that formed today’s world: Herodotos, Thucydides, Perikles, Alexander…but 2,500 years prior today, fills me a sense of wonder, awe, and excitement. They were every bit as modern as we are today. These people even utilized computers, albeit mechanical, but machines to calculate astrological patterns and eclipses in the future. Who knows what else? To me, looking at this stuff is like being a kid on Christmas Eve knowing that a big guy in tights is about to sneak into my house, eat all my cookies, drink my milk, and leave me a present that was made by tiny, little monsters, that we call elves…except I don’t need to wait one night every year.
CO: It’s starting to make sense why this wedding is in the Mediterranean.
AA: Absolutely!
CO: Moving from the past and into the future, where do you see yourself in say, 10 to 15 years?
AA: In 10 to 15 years. I see myself on my second career. I am working to become successful at my current job so that I can afford to go back to graduate school and explore more those topics of interest that I have. I’ll likely be working on that during that timeframe. After that, I’d look to start my own television series and become an educator. Teaching in a university setting, sculpting the minds of future generations and enhancing their critical thinking capacities. It will all make the world a better place. I also see myself being the architect of my home. I want to build a big house, but not a normal house. In fact, it is kind of an insult to call it a house. I would like to build a Greco-Roman villa with southern French and Tuscan panache. The only problem is that that sounds pretentious, so I think we’ll call it a house. [**both chuckle**] I have already started drafting it in AutoCAD. The next step is to make it a reality, which I await patiently as I focus on other endeavors.
CO: Speaking of houses, I hear you bought one recently?
AA: I did! It is in SE Portland. I bought it just 2 and a half months ago, in December actually. It’s been great.
CO: Indeed, what do you when you aren’t at home or have some spare time?
AA: I typically will travel to different parts of the state, go snowboarding, or go to the coast. Always on the road! If I’m at home, I’ll be working on some project, whether it’s crafty and involves digital designing, building furniture, looking at history…
