I love blogging for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I get to meet some incredibly cool people, people who are so incredibly nice, who send me concerned e-mails when I post something scary or sad, people who write to ask how Sam is doing in his crate (we’ve abandoned it altogether and everyone is happier and more well-adjusted for it, thank you), people who say they’ve tried my chili recipe and really liked it.

So when I read on Neil Kramer’s blog about The Interview Project, I was pretty stoked. Here’s what he has to say about it:

Did you ever notice that whenever some expert is being interviewed on Oprah or the Today show, the person just happens to have a book coming out the following week?  It’s as it wasn’t important to tell us the cure for cancer until the guy’s book comes out, and then they don’t even tell you the cure so you have to buy the book.  I’ve seen some bloggers being interviewed by other bloggers.  It’s usually the same as it is on TV.  Those interviewed are persons deemed “worthy” of being asked important questions about the world.  They have a popular blog, a project coming out, or a specific expertise.  We instantly find these people even MORE interesting because someone took the time to interview them. It’s like Obama’s campaign didn’t even start until Oprah sat down to talk with him.  All of a sudden, everyone went, “Wow, she finds him interesting. He MUST be interesting.”  I know most of you won’t agree with me, but I think anyone who decides to write about their life online is interesting, even those who may not do the best job yet of conveying that on paper.  We all should be interviewed, at least once.

So the whole deal is that you go to his blog and sign up via the comments, and everyone interviews the person who signed up after they did. I admit to having been a little worried about who I’d get, but it turned out I got Kathleen, whose blog, Unsettled, is very cool, and which you should read. She sent me some questions earlier this week, and I did my best to answer them. You can read the whole interview here. To whet your appetite I want to post this one little excerpt for you:

Tell us about the first time you ever got paid to write something. Bonus points for including the link if it is available.

In high school I won a couple writing contests that came with cash prizes. One was from the American Jewish Federation, but you didn’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, and I won a $300 scholarship from it. Then, at the end of the year, my high school had a program where they "presented" you with all the scholarships you were getting, and the principal – who hated me – made sure everyone knew that I’d entered this "Jewish" contest, even though I wasn’t "Jewish." He totally made it sound like I’d defrauded the entire Jewish faith for a paltry $300, and I got a lot of disapproving looks from my peers and their parents.

I’ve interviewed Margalit. I spent a whole lot of time reading her blog, and I have to say, it fascinated me to no end. I’m planning on actually reading the whole thing back-to-front this weekend. I’ll post the interview later today, but in the meantime I’d advise going over to her site and reading for yourself; she’s awesome.