By Robert Farley (cl_kaulana) | cl_kaulana@oocities.com | Vienna Strasse/7000
Flotiste aka
Psycho Flute Chick
aka Melissa
|
Flotiste has been an active member of the Vienna neighborhood for about a year, five months or so as a community leader. Besides being a member of the Vienna Welcoming Letter Committee, she is also a translator of French and Afrikaans, and has recently been given the task of temporary liaison while Liaison Mike takes time off to travel with his youth orchestra. Added to that, she is a volunteer helper for the GOSH (GeoCities Online System for Help) program also known as Ask The Experts (ATE) recently begun by GeoCities. With all this going on, it's a wonder that the self-named Psycho Flute Chick has any time left for music studies at the University of Alberta. But somehow, she does it.
User Name(s) by which you are known in GC: flotiste
Real Name: Melissa
Geographical Location: Alberta, Canada
URL(s): Vienna/Strasse/3902
Email Addy: flotiste@hotmail.com
Neighborhood(s) you are a CL in: Vienna
Family: mother father sister, and the cutest cat in the whole world
Vocation and/or School Situation: first year bachelor of music student at University of Alberta
Favorite Composer/Composition: Shostakovich's Festive Overture
Favorite Opera: Die Fliedermaus
Favorite Musical: Into the Woods
Instruments You Play: flute, piccolo, alto and bass flute, piano, all saxes, and a little bit of bassoon
Favorite Instrument (whether you play it or not): piccolo
Age: I'm 19 on August 6th
Kaulana: What made you decide to become a CL?
Flotiste: I thought it might be a cool idea. I was wondering if I was good enough at computers.
K: What kind of computer background do you have?
F: A little in junior high and high school, but mostly self-taught.
K: Did you learn mostly in GeoCities through the HelpChat or through visiting sites and looking at the source?
F: Nope. Pretty much just learned the really basic tags from a friend, and then went to a few off-Geo sites to learn the funky stuff. www.htmlgoodies.com is one of my favorites.
K: How will your experience at GeoCities, both as a CL and a homesteader, help you in the future? For instance, you've been given the responsibility of being a temporary liaison, not an inconsiderable task. Many employers might be impressed by that, as well as by the fact that the "job" is voluntary, which is also a good point in your favor.
F: It's a little too complicated to explain for most people. If I were ever applying for a computer job I would definitely consider it; otherwise, for music, it's doubtful that it would come in handy.
K: In your opinion, what are the most important aspects of a good page?
F: Not too much scrolling involved; fairly condensed content; a good mix of images, music, text; and not going overboard with java or frames.
K: When you scan a page, what is the first thing you look for or notice?
F: I look for violations and notice real effort and imagination.
K: What do you think about GeoCities' plan to let free homesteaders have subdirectories?
F: I think it'll be helpful, especially considering the HUGE number of files I have in my own pages.
K: Have you come to terms with the watermark yet?
F: Yes, I actually like it as it makes my job easier in scanning blocks, and I think it's good now that no one is required to have geolink on their page.
K: How has your taking over many of the liaison duties affected you? Is this something you might want to continue to do in the future? Has it changed your perception of the work liaisons do?
F: It made me realize that liaisons do a TON of work. Right now, I'm getting about 15 e-mails a day, most of them GeoCities stuff. I would really like to keep doing it in the future, though, because it is a lot of fun.
K: What are your future plans and goals?
F: I'd like to play in an orchestra or a touring musical theatre company.
K: What would a person be surprised to find out about you?
F: That I sew. Usually people don't associate that with musicians.
K: I guess not. Shouldn't be too surprising, though, since both take some digital dexterity. What kind of things do you sew?
F: I sew a lot of my own clothes and quilts. I fix a lot of people's stuff and am occasionally hired by friends to make tablecloths, pillows, curtains, etc. Right now I'm working on over 30 shirts for an entire choir.
K: What's your favorite thing to do during the Canadian winter?
F: Snowboard (even though I totally suck) and any activity that doesn't involve going out of doors.
K: Where do you spend your summer vacations? Or where would you like to?
F: For the past five years I've gone to an amazing summer camp, but I'm too old now. Next summer I'm thinking of going tree planting (hard work, fabulous money). Where I would like to go would be Europe, for the whole summer, just tour the entire continent.
K: Do you have a favorite memory of the summer camp that you'd like to share?
F: I had a conductor there who was the coolest guy I've ever met. His name was Dr. E. Todd Fiegel, and he was a total inspiration to me. His influence is what made me want to make a career in music.
K: Where did you get the moniker "Psycho Flute Chick"?
F: I came up with it myself to describe myself to people I had met at a music camp.
K: What would you recommend a first-time visitor to Alberta do and see?
F: The Edmonton Festival scene: Street Performers, The Fringe, Klondike Days, Heritage Festival, Taste of Edmonton, Symphony under the Sky, and any folk music festival--there are a ton and they're all great.
K: And finally, for something completely different, if you were a Star Wars character, which one would you be?
F: Chewbacca
K: So that would make you Psycho Flute Wookie? *smile* Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to interview for Vienna Zine.
CL_Kaulana has spent the past four months as a community leader in Vienna, and now works three days a week at a Christian television station in Hawaii as an administrative assistant. Anyone interested in being interviewed for Vienna Zine is encouraged to email him or MusakMaster (musakmaster@oocities.com) to set up a schedule.
Find out how to join the Vienna Community Leaders.
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