Triptych Interviews
Amy
Saturday, August 6 (After Chapter 4 of Triptych)
AMY: Hi. I’m Amy.
aroslav: Welcome, Amy. Thanks for participating in our interviews.
AMY: Sure. What’s this all about?
aroslav: We’d like to get to know all the people who are important in Tony’s life.
AMY: You think I’m important in his life? I’d rather be important in, say, Melody’s life, if you know what I mean.
aroslav: I know, but we’ll talk about that a little later. I’d like to start with basic information, if you don’t mind.
AMY: It’s your nickel.
aroslav: Name, age, and birthdate?
AMY: Sure. Ask the tough questions first. Amalia Eden Garnet. Just call me Amy. Age 19. I’ll be 20 on December 12.
aroslav: Is that German? I thought Garnet was...
AMY: Welsh. But the first two names are as Bavarian as my parents could come up with. When you live in Leavenworth, everything is Bavarian.
aroslav: So your Welsh parents gave you a German name.
AMY: I have a little sister named Gertrude. Can you believe that?
aroslav: Civic duty?
AMY: They own the local drive-in. It serves schnitzel.
aroslav: That brings us to your summer job.
AMY: No kidding. In the summer I work as a car-hop at the Alpine Hut Drive-in. It’s an A-frame Swiss Chalet kitchen with two wings of drive-up spaces where, for most of the summer, four of us girls skate up to cars, take the driver’s order, and bring food to them.
aroslav: That sounds very 50s.
AMY: It’s pretty campy, but actually it’s kind of fun. And I learned to skate really well.
aroslav: You like to skate?
AMY: Oh yeah. I’ve got big plans for skating.
aroslav: Really?
AMY: Roller Derby. I’m trying out this fall. I mean, what a great combination—two of the things I love most: skating and girls.
aroslav: Do you have a skater-name picked out yet?
AMY: I thought about Pussychologist, but they’ve got some rules about how explicit you can be. It’s a family sport, after all. I’ll figure it out.
aroslav: You’re pretty gung-ho on girls. Ever have any experiences with boys?
AMY: I’m a gold-star lesbian. The closest I’ve ever been to a boy is the kissing contest with Tony. That’s the only boy tongue that’s ever been in my mouth. And I’d French a poodle if there was a contest.
aroslav: You’re pretty competitive.
AMY: Oh yeah! I even considered taking up racquetball when I saw how good Tony was, how interested Melody was, and how hot Lissa was. But I don’t think I’d get any closer to either Melody or Lissa by making a fool of myself on the racquetball court. So I figure I should capitalize on my strengths and do the roller thing. But I’m still jealous of him and can’t help competing for Melody’s attention when I’m with them.
aroslav: You still want Melody?
AMY: Duh! I won’t do it—cross the line, you know? I promised last spring when Sandra and I had to patch things up between them. But I still want her. Fortunately, there are other girls just waiting for attention.
aroslav: Care to elaborate?
AMY: Uh...no. Not yet. Let’s just say I’ve got my eye on someone who has her eye on me and if we can work through a couple of obstacles, I might have a pretty fun autumn.
aroslav: I’ll look forward to hearing about that. Speaking of autumn, tell me a little about school and what you’re studying.
AMY: Technically, the program at PCAD is called Advertising Graphics. But that isn’t what it used to be. Almost everything is computer-based now and most of the drawings I do are on-screen with a graphics pad and stylus. I’ve learned most of the graphics software and thank heavens for student versions! I’d never be able to afford that stuff if I had to pay retail. I’ve got a special savings account that I put a little of my earnings in so I can afford to buy a super-hot graphics computer and all the software when I graduate. It's going to cost about eight grand by then.
But it’s not what used to be thought of as graphics. I’m studying programming for websites and the various software for that, too. You have to understand social media and search engines. Where somebody like Tony studies Art History for his Humanities component, I get a class in Marketing. It’s a different world these days.
aroslav: Different from...?
AMY: Oh. Uh... From, like, when you studied stuff and all.
aroslav: Let’s not talk about ancient history. You still draw, though. You took the Figure Drawing class last year and you had to test to get into it. Also, your illustration is part of the Rhapsody Suite, right?
AMY: Actually, it really pisses me off when people think they can do computer graphics without having any art ability. Really. Just because you can write HTML doesn’t mean you can illustrate a website. They just copy and paste stuff and expect that will win them some kind of design award. They still look at Wired magazine and think that’s cutting edge. Twenty years ago, maybe. Nothing against the content there, but it’s so first generation.
I want push the graphic envelope in new ways and if you look at all the breakthrough artists in any media over the past hundreds of years, they were all masters of the preceding artform before they made their mark. I don’t want anyone to ever look at a website I designed and say “Yeah, but she can’t draw.”
aroslav: Have you designed a lot of websites?
AMY: I’ve got my own domain and I redesign it every two or three months. I’ve done a few of the commercial sites back home. They’re a little restricted, though, because of the Bavarian Village theme. I’d like to do something where I could really break out of the rut of the standard commercial website. I need a client that will let me play with graphics and user interface. I just want to blow people away. Of course, I’ll probably have to finish my degree and then work for free somewhere before I ever get to that point in my career. People figure that just because it’s online, it’s free. Once I pile up some awards, then I can start charging a premium.
aroslav: You’re pretty keen on getting awards for what you do.
AMY: Awards are just buttons that go on your website when it comes down to it. I don’t just want a site that looks pretty, though. You like books, right? Well, how hard is it for you to find and purchase the book you want? If you don’t know the name of the book or author, how do you find the book? You can’t just go down the shelf of mysteries like you would at a bookstore, looking for a cover that attracts your attention or a name that sounds familiar. And if you find a book you want to buy, how easy is it to pay for your purchase and start reading? If it says “one-click,” it should be one click.
aroslav: You want to work on my website?
AMY: How much you willing to pay?
aroslav: Let’s move on. Tell me more about your family.
AMY: See? I knew it. Okay. Mom, Dad, Gertie, and me. Our name is Welsh, but like most families, we’ve got a lot of everything in us. There is some German back there, and English. I think some great ancestor was a Huguenot. We’ve lived in Leavenworth all my life. It’s a really nice town. I know I make a lot of jokes about the Bavarian theme, but it’s a mountain village that really has a lot of civic pride. And where else can you really celebrate Christmas for a month and a half. I wish I could get out of school at Thanksgiving instead of in the middle of December so I could be there for the whole season.
aroslav: Speaking of seasons, it’s hard to roller skate in the winter. What did you do for fun?
AMY: Skiing. We’re only half an hour from Stevens Pass and as soon as the snow starts, Gertie and I are up there all the time.
aroslav: Are you close with your sister?
AMY: MmmHmm. We’re only two years apart. She’s a senior this year. I’m hoping she’ll come to the city and live with me next year. I love the kid. She helped me get through high school when a few people decided that gays and lesbians should be bullied without any recourse. A gay friend of mine was beaten up behind the school and the authorities did nothing about it. But Gertie was always there for me. I took her to the prom as my date.
aroslav: Are you implying an incestuous relationship with your sister?
AMY: Hey. It’s not incest if there’s no dick involved.
aroslav: I don’t think that’s how the law reads.
AMY: Law-schmaw. Here’s the thing. Unless someone physically catches us in an incestuous act or one of the parties files a complaint, there is no legal case. Even if I confessed to incest—which I’m not, by the way—I can’t be convicted of it unless someone with direct knowledge of it testifies against me.
aroslav: Any other laws that merit flouting?
AMY: Yeah. Of course. Bigamy. Defense of Marriage. Online gambling. Traffic cameras. Not that I’d actually disobey any of those laws, but they are pretty stupid. I mean really...why would we consider it reasonable to pass laws about the definition of a word? There should be laws that defend the people in a marriage, but that’s not what DOMA does. Should the legislature be in charge of the dictionary? “Hey. The word computer only applies to devices with an Intel processor that have a screen, keyboard, and mouse.” Why not? It makes as much sense as DOMA does. But what’s that make my iPad? If I want to marry my lover, why should the State have the right to tell me I can’t because we’re the same sex?
And why shouldn’t Tony, Melody, and Lissa be allowed to marry each other? There’s nothing in the State bigamy laws that says anything about marrying without the consent of an existing spouse. It just says you can’t do it. But they can all live together and sleep in the same bed. They just can’t visit each other in a hospital, or be responsible for each other’s children, or open a joint bank account, or be covered under the same health insurance policy, or have a stupid piece of paper that says they are married.
The State Legislature—and by extension, the voters in the State—have entirely too much interest in what goes on in other people’s bedrooms.
aroslav: Are you an activist?
AMY: I’ll march in the Gay Pride Parade. I’ll vote for people who respect people more than institutions. I’ll vote for gay marriage. Does that make me an activist? I’m just like most people. I don’t have time to be an activist. I have a job and homework and friends. I have a life. Devoting your life to changing the minds of stupid people just makes you one of them. No offense. Really, if that’s what floats your boat, go for it. I just want to live my life. And as long as no one else gets hurt by it, just butt out.
aroslav: Let’s talk about your friends for a minute, Amy. We only ever see you in context with Tony, Melody, and Lissa. Who else do you hang out with?
AMY: Well, Sandra and Kate, of course, but you know all about them. My roommate, Jo, and I had a great time last year. She’s moving to an apartment this year and I’ll miss her a lot. Kevin and I often go out together and then spend our time trying to pick up girls for me and boys for him. The options are limited until you’re 21 and can actually go to some of the venues that cater to gays. We had a great time dancing at the Timberline on one of their 18+ nights. We even got lucky. Mostly, though, it’s the people I meet in school and at my job. We all have a good time or we hate each other’s guts. Or both. That’s one reason I want to start skating here. I really need to see some people who aren’t in class with me.
aroslav: Any significant other?
AMY: I hooked up with a few people over the past year, but no one for more than a little mutual pleasure. I’ve got big hopes, though. I met a girl last spring and we’ve been texting each other all summer. It’s getting pretty intense. If we weren’t a thousand miles away from each other, I think we’d be together. We’ll see what happens this fall. Hope springs eternal.
aroslav: Well, best of luck to you Amy. You have a lot of passion for living and we’d love to see more of you.
AMY: Pervert. Come to a posing party. But...uh...bring your girlfriend.
aroslav: Thanks.
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