E³ Q&A — Doug Wilson
“Since our problems have been our own creation, they also can be overcome.” — George Harrison
The book I am reading
I’m rarely reading just one book. Right now, I’m reading The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese to my wife, anticipating our imminent move to Spain, whilst enjoying Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles and looking immensely forward to starting Neal Stephenson’s Fall; or, Dodge in Hell: A Novel.
My favourite film
Hands down, that’s Amélie, about a young waitress, caught in a make-believe world, who decides to help others find happiness, which leads her on a journey to find her true love.
This is the best film ever made. Orson Welles, Citizen Kane, and the American Film Institute can kiss my rosebud.
Amélie’s director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is a true master of his craft, combining narrative, characters, music, sound and visual effects, color, and cinematography in a tour de force that demonstrates film’s massive potential to reach us despite cultural differences and to make us feel.
This makes me cry
People being kind to each other. In a world of horror in movies, actual wars, and my personal history of violent abuse … it seems all too rare and wonderful while at the same time seeming like the way things ought to be.
My favourite music
My favorite band is Rush, the Canadian power trio, but my favorite type of music is jamband. Jambands can be based on one or more musical genres like rock, prog, pop, bluegrass, jazz, etc.
These bands release studio albums, but in their live performances the songs on those albums serve as launch pads for improvisational jams that can last 30 minutes or more and that can weave in other songs of their own or covers of songs by other artists.
There is a vast musical competence among jamband aficionados, instantly recognizing and appreciating different artists, styles, and traditions. It transcends individual virtuosity or even ensemble performance; each night’s performance is unique and never to be repeated. There is no safety net, and sometimes the resulting carnage is uncomfortable, but everyone appreciates the risk and glories in the reward when it unpredictably and inexplicably comes together into something unique and beautiful.
Examples of popular jambands are Phish, Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident, Leftover Salmon, Dave Mathews Band, etc.
I’m happiest when
I’m listening to music, preferably live music at a festival, where I fall asleep listening to music and wake up listening to music. This is what heaven would be like for me.
Why I’m on Medium
I like the idea of a writing community that shares the passion and experience of its authors with a global audience.
My most-read article
Probably —
Where is your favourite place in the world
In bed with my beautiful wife in the quiet, early morning before the world gets started, as she softly strokes my arm and I drift and float — finally at peace and entirely relaxed. I wish it could last forever.
The extraordinary thing I did was
I survived ten years of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of a parent and somehow managed to heal, thanks to years of therapy, enough to not pass that experience on to my children. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done and the thing I’m most proud of.
My greatest professional achievement
In terms of “biggest” (in gross revenue, etc) it’s a toss-up between selling and designing the original Fandango.com entertainment portal for eight fiercely competing theater chains or completing the technical design for and helping to deliver the U.K. online lottery system.
In terms of long-term impact, it would have to be either the Student Builder platform that assessed the aptitudes of Louisiana high school students and connected them, their parents, and their guidance counselors with local employers who routinely hire people with those skills, giving these kids practical reasons to stay in school, or the Thinking Maps application that helps teach children the eight different types of thought, e.g. composition/decomposition, cause and effect, etc, through the use of interactive diagrams in order to improve their thinking and writing skills.
I’m sceptical about
God(s), religion, and any faith in what cannot be measured and repeated
My favourite life quote
There are soooo many, but probably:
“Be without fear in the face of your enemies.
Be brave and upright that God may love thee.
Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death.
Safeguard the helpless,
And do no wrong.
That is your oath.”— Godfrey of Ibelin (Kingdom of Heaven)
I taught this to my children and made it clear that this was an expectation for each of them. Each line is bold and powerful. What if each of us actually lived this way?
Yours sincerely,
Doug Wilson (at frickingruvin)
