Miles from Fenway: Q & A

Welcome and thank you for joining Question and Answer with Finy. I’m your host (and guest of honor) Finy. Let’s get started!

Up first, Blackjack from Somerville, MA:

Q: Do you have any hot, female, single, smart friends who live in Boston who are just dying to date an adorably bald Sox fan? :)

A: Why yes, actually I do, do you happen to know an adorably bald sox fans? *

* Just kidding beejer you know I love you!

Next up, aurora from Las Vegas, Nevada!

Q: How'd you end up living in New York. And where else would you live if it was an option?

A: Well, it’s not a story I’m proud of, but it’s a common one. I moved down here after graduating from Emerson College for two reasons. The first being that I was offered a job here. But perhaps that was because every job I applied for straight out of school was in New York. The reason for THAT was reason number two. My boyfriend of two and a half years was down here at the time. I’ve spoken about him a bit here , here , and here . When a year of living together didn’t work out I stayed because it’s where my industry is. To be quite honest I HATED New York that first year. I was completely unhappy. Turns out it wasn’t the city, it was the guy. Two yeas later, now living in Brooklyn I seriously couldn’t be happier.

Which brings me to the second part of the question. Where else would I live? To be honest I have no idea. Someday I’ll move back to Boston. I know that much. But right now I couldn’t imagine living elsewhere. Chicago’s a great city but after growing up in Rhode Island I could never live in a landlocked state (and please, spare me the “but it’s got the lake” argument, it’s just not the same!), I hated LA when I went to visit. It would have to be a big city. So I honestly have no idea where else I would go. I’m such a northeastern girl, I’ve got a feeling I’ll never leave.

Now, from the great city of Boston, MA, Macca . ! Welcome Macca!

Q: Damn... gotta keep it clean ;) Hi FINY's Mom! Let's see, what don't I already know about you... not too much. What was your most embarrassing moment?

A: Ok, I said this in the comments section of the previous post already but no one should be worrying about censoring their comments because my mother reads this. My exact words in the comments were: “No need to keep it clean, folks. I'm a smaller, less boisterous version of my mother. And I tell her everything. Trust me when I say nothing would shock her. Actually if she ever had her own blog, I am sure she'd shock ME. “ Funnily enough she disagrees. Here’s the email I got from her just MOMENTS after posting that:
____________________________________________________________
From: Finy’s Mom
To: soxfaninnyc@gmail.com
Fri, Sep 2, 2005 at 12:42 PM
Subject: What the …
FINY said...
No need to keep it clean, folks. I'm a smaller, less boisterous version of my mother. And I tell her everything. Trust me when I say nothing would shock her. Actually if she ever had her own blog, I am sure she'd shock ME.

Okay, "smaller" I agree with but "less boisterous" my ass!!!
____________________________________________________________

Such a great relationship my Mom and I have (and that wasn’t sarcastic at all!!! We really do!)

But to get to your actual question, Macca, it took me a while to come up with this one. I do so many damned embarrassing things that they don’t really phase me anymore, Lol. But I think the worst one that comes to mind is probably something that happened in college.

My work study job each winter was to help the men’s and women’s basketball teams keep stats. I’d sit at the scorers table and take down shots, fouls, assists, etc etc etc. It was actually a lot of fun and I learned a ton about a game I knew nothing about. And since this was Division 3 basketball there wasn’t a ton of pressure. Well, one night, the tape that they played of the national anthem every game broke. Someone at the game, and 6 years later I really can’t remember who it was, mentioned that I used to be a singer. From that point on I sang the national anthem at every basketball game, men’s or women’s for the entire season.

Well, when you sing a song that many times, you kind of fall into a rhythm. I didn’t so much think about the words or the notes or any of that stuff anymore. I’d just take the mic, head out to center court, do my thing, and get back to scoring. The problem with this is, when you’re not really paying attention to what you’re doing, when you get thrown off you get REALLY thrown off. So one night someone distracted me in the stands. It was like I was Manny Ramirez or something, all of the sudden I was just completely transfixed by something in the crowd instead of focusing on the song. So as I am finishing a verse I can’t remember what comes next and I can’t even remember what verse I just finished. So just to be sure, I sang the second verse of the song a second time. Probably would have made more sense just to skip to the whole “Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave” part because I doubt anyone would have noticed, but people DEFINITELY noticed me repeating the same words over again.

Oh God even just remembering that makes me shudder a little. Thanks Macca! :p

Oh look, it’s Beejer again. Hi Beejer, what can I do for you?

Q: Ok I have a real one. What are the funniest search words that were used to find your blog?

A: Check out this post on Hey Listen! and I think it explains one of the best instances of searching for my blog. He had seen the post I wrote about Casual Fan Bitches when Cardnilly linked to it, but when he couldn’t find it he used Google to see if he could find it on his own. The search terms he used? "red sox" thong pink pool Damon, apparently for a little while I was number 1 with that search string. I am now somewhere in the 40s. Thank the freaking lord. Though when you google casual fan bitch, even without the quotes, I’m still number 4.

Now, all the way from Las Vegas, here’s Becki !

Q: How do you pronounce FINY? Is it like "finny"? Or perhaps "fine-e". Or is is just "F I N Y"?

A: I get this question a lot more often than I would have thought. The story behind the name is that about a year ago I started posting on RSN.net under the screen name Soxfaninnyc. Blackjack and others started shortening it in the interest of laziness (they didn’t want to type out the long name when responding to me) and thus Finy was born. Originally it was shortened to SFiNYC, but I think Finy rolls off the tongue a bit better. I pronounce it as if it rhymed with mini. I’ve heard people use the hard e at the end, but somehow rhyming it with mini sounds cuter to me. Plus it doesn’t make me sound as if I am calling myself fine or something :)

Coming to us all the way from Ontario, Canada, Mike has a few questions.

Q: 1. Who is your favorite National League team?

2. Who is your favorite non-Red Sox player? (and you can't pick alumni like Bellhorn or any other former player, thats cheating)

3. What is your favorite brand of beer?

A: Yay, sports questions! Was wondering how long I was going to have to wait for this!

1. There’s no National League team that I’d say I am a fan of in the sense that I follow every game, but since moving to NYC I’d have to say it’s the Mets. When I was a kid it was the Braves, for reasons I’ve discussed previously (see the 100 Things About Me list) but now, especially with Pedro and Minky playing, and since I have such ready access to information about them, I’ve found myself rooting for the Mets more and more often.

2. Oooh. Tough one. This dates back to my days as a Braves fan but I am going to have to say Andruw Jones. It started as a purely emotional fandom, the year that he was called up to replace an injured David Justice MM and I and her parents had seats in the front row at Shea Stadium for a Mets v. Braves game. Seeing the “new guy” in right was hot, we decided to start yelling at him every inning and waving furiously. He must have been 18 or 19 at the time, literally just activated, and eventually he started waving back every time he came out to the field. I was hooked. And now look at him. An amazing center fielder, finally having the break out season the Braves have been waiting for. Definitely an Andruw Jones fan.

3. Another tough one. I’ll drink basically any beer you put in front of me. I am, in no way, a beer snob (a fact that the Twin is a bit disappointed about when I am ordering say, a Bud Light). But the old standby will always be Sam Adams.

Now we move on to a question from CK from Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Q: Why has there been no mention of the Twin this week?

A: Knew this was going to be asked sooner or later. I’m finding it hard to write about the Twin without overanalyzing the situation, you know? I am trying desperately to just sit back, relax and enjoy whatever it is that’s going on (is he my boyfriend? are we dating? I have no idea) but it’s hard. I am scared shitless by the fact that I like the guy as much as I do. And he’s given me NO indication to think that anything is going wrong. To the contrary things are going great. My friends adore him, we see a lot of each other, he’s not afraid to be affectionate in public but not in that icky would-you-please-get-a-damned-room kind of way. It’s really been great. He says the sweetest thing sometimes.

But do you guys really want to hear that my heart still goes a little faster when he randomly kisses my hand? And that he’s willing to do so in front of his sister? Or that the other night he was debating either going home or going to watch the Sox game and when I initially said I wasn’t going to be able to make it but then plans fell through and I called him back to say if he had decided to watch the Sox that I could meet him he said “Well, I had just convinced myself that going home would be smart but if I’m going to get to see you then you’ve changed my mind”? Not only is it not the me most of you are normally used to, but it’s also tough to share. And whenever I try it makes for bad writing. And while I don’t consider myself some fantastic author here, I do try to keep things at least a bit sharp. The last week or so when I write about the Twin it’s all mushy and hazy. A bit like my feelings at the moment.

JMD would like to ask a wise assed question:

Q: Are you ever going to answer these questions?

A: Dude, it’s taken me two and a half hours to write this all out thus far, I’m getting there, I’m getting there!

Now for some real questions from Chief Slacker coming to us all the way from St. Paul, MN!

Q: It's a rule never to let a cute girl be sad on the weekends, so here:

When are you going to get me your digits so I can TM annoy you like I do with Aurora ? ;O)

And also:

What's your biggest regret to date?

A: Finy blushes. CS thinks I’m cute. *giggle*

Biggest regret to date? Wow, that’s a tough one. I don’t think I have any massive ones. I mean, everything that has gone on in my life, all my choices, both good and bad, have led to me being where I am now. And I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.

I guess that the biggest one I’ve got is not fighting harder when the ex left. The day that he walked out of the apartment I literally could not speak. I was so shocked. I felt like I had been hit by a truck and as he stood there, crying, telling me he was leaving, I didn’t say anything. Not a word. I wish I had. I wish I had screamed or cried or hit him or SOMETHING. If only because now his lasting image of me, after three and a half years together, is of a pathetic, tears in her eyes scared little girl watching him walk out the door. Not even strong enough to get angry at him.

I know it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Him leaving I mean. But I wish it had gone down a bit differently. Yeah, I regret that a lot.

As for getting my number, email me, we’ll talk ;)

To move to lighter topics, my good friend Meegan , from Brooklyn, NY, would like to ask the following question:

Q: Why on earth do you not like yogurt, you freak???

A: Listen, you veggie loving weirdo, I just think it’s gross. I can’t explain it, it just tastes bad. Yick yick yick.

From Tarrytown, NY, Ed has a few questions of his own:

Q: What is your name?

What is your quest?

Now choose any of the following
What is your favorite color?
What is the capitol of Assyria?
What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?
P.S. I got nothing. Have fun.

A: Um, Finy?

My quest? This is for sure some reference to a movie/book/somethingorother that I am not getting here. Right now I am on a quest to answer all these questions!

I’m going to go with what my favorite color is. It’s purple. And ed, if you can answer the others, I’d love to see it. :)

PS: we noticed, but we love you anways.

Hi, Rebecca thanks for stopping in from Newtown, CT. What can I do you for?

Q: how do you get so many comments, finy? you threaten that you will be sad, and that works?

A: Apparently! It worked on you didn’t it? :) In all seriousness though, I have absolutely no idea how it happened. I clearly didn’t think the guilt trip would actually get 25 people to comment, and there are days when I check in and am like “10 people commented on me working from home? Seriously?” Perhaps some of the loyal commenters could answer this better than I could, but I think I just got lucky and some really great people stumbled across this place one way or another and they happen to be rather vocal. Love you guys!

April comes to us all the way from the great state of Virginia:

Q: Fill in the blanks of this statement:

"Finy is so good at ______, but sometimes she just ________."

The way you think each of these people would answer:

Your Mom
A co-worker
A close friend
An ex-boyfriend

So that would be 4 questions, I guess since I don't think they'd all say the same thing. Or maybe they would, but that's why I'm asking! I'm an ass, I know.

A: Yup, a total ass. This is hard!!

Ok, here goes:

Mom: You know what, Mom, why don’t you field this one?!
A co-worker: “Finy is so good at multitasking, but sometimes she just doesn’t know how to say ‘no, I’m too busy’ and gets overwhelmed.”
A close friend: Meegan , you want to handle this one?
An ex-boyfriend: “Finy is so good at keeping that strong exterior, but sometimes she just needs to learn to accept outside help.”

Whew, that one was hard, and I know I copped out asking Meegan and Mom to answer, but hey, what are you going to do? :)

Next up is Ari from Rockaway, NJ.

Q: One simple question?? What is the greatest Historical Moment that has defined your life (non sports related)?

A: Wow, yeah that’s simple (Finy rolls her eyes). Well, there are very few times in a persons life that you can stand wherever you are and think: Wow, I am living through history right now. And while it wasn’t a “great” moment, that time for our generation was September 11th. It didn’t just affect my life, it affected the world as we know it.

Mikey out in San Diego, CA has the following question:

Q: please, please, tell me now... is there something I should know?

A: Yes, I am completely obsessed with your blog.

Fellow Sox fan stuck in NYC Michael Leggett wants to know:

Q: What would really make you happy, this weekend?

A: Getting to see the Twin. (see, I get all sappy!)

Ken from (I believe) the Boston area doesn’t have so much of a question as a comment:

Q: More posts about ass, maybe.

sorry... i'm a perv...

A: I’ll work on that. ;)

perhaps I’ll post soon about the jeans I wear all the time cause they make my ass look good …

On to the next question! This one comes to us from Long Iron , up in the “great white north”

Q: Aside from baseball, what other sports do you like? Are you also a Bruin's fan?

A: I LOVE football and am so excited that we’re getting back into it! Of course I am a Patriots fan. As for the Bruins, let’s say I support them, but don’t know a ton about them. Do not mistake that for not knowing the game because I know hockey as in, the rules, the strategies, etc etc. very well. My little brother is a goalie for a Juniors team in the Boston area and has been playing since he was 6 (he’s 19 now) so hockey has been a part of my life for QUITE some time, but the NHL for whatever reason just never drew me in.

Outside of the Boston area, I am a BIG ND football fan. My uncle has been a professor there for 25+ years and a few years ago I got to go out there for my first game in South Bend. College football has such a different energy than professional sports. It’s palpable even just walking around campus. No matter how poor a year they have the student body gets behind their teams. And because the rosters change so often any team has the potential to win any given season. I love it.

Jack Roy thanks for stopping by! You’re up next …

Q: Coke or Pepsi, boxers or briefs, I dunno. Geez, this is hard. Why don't you tell me what Ishould write about? Uh... are you gonna cheer for Bellhorn ever again? (Not if he's facing Wakefield, obviously, but I'm actually kinda not sure for myself.)

A: Coke, boxer-briefs, and no kidding. It’s TOUGH! Ok, what should you write about? IPods, if using those skin thingies really can save them so much wear and tear? Then why not just build them with one on already?!

As for Bellhorn, I will always be a fan. I really do think I will always cheer for him, even if I can’t cheer for the team he is playing for. He’s just a class act, who gave a LOT to the Sox while he was here. If he had asked to be traded, or had bitched his way out of town, maybe I’d be pissed, but the Sox let him go, and he exited in the quiet manner we’ve all come to know him for. He’ll absolutely always have my respect.

My good friend Esther, from New York, NY had the following question:

Q: Ok, apparently I'm late, but one question was already taken - why haven't you posted about the Twin? So my next question is how do you really feel about my nagging you to quit smoking, and will you ever do it?

A: You’re nagging me about not smoking will NEVER bother me. I know it’s a nasty habit, and I know you’re saying what you’re saying because you care about me. I would never get pissed at the people I love trying to get me to quit.

Who I DO get pissed at are the random people on the street. The “hey, you know that’s really bad for you” who then go into ten minute rants on how I am killing myself. No shit. I had NO idea, but since you just wandered up to me and informed me of the situation I am never going to pick up a cancer stick again!

Ugh.

And yes, I do think I’ll do it. I know I’ve said that in the past, but I will. I have to. Sooner or later one of these attempts to quit is going to stick, and until it does, I’ll just keep trying.

Yet another Masshole (I use the term lovingly!) Ken has something to add as well:

Q: I think I could find a way to shock your mom... hell I can find a way to shock anyone ;-)

Now my question - if you could re-live one moment in your life, what would it be?

A: Ack! Ok, sorry, yes you could shock my Mom, so let’s not try ok? :)

As for a moment to relive … hmmm … that’s a tough one (you guys really made me think today!) I think it might be the last time I saw my grandmother before she passed away. I’d love to hug her just one more time.

And finally, last but not least, Ed is back with one last question:

Q: Do these pants make me look fat?

A: I think the black skirt with the slit up the right leg would look better to be honest.

Oh wait, he’s got one last question to add:

Here's one. Might be revealing state secrets though.

Is it true that a girl knows the first time she sees a guy whether she will eventually have sex with him?

A: Well, I can only answer for myself, but personally I find this to be completely untrue. The more you talk to someone the easier it is for them to become less, or more attractive. For example, you see a hot guy standing at the end of the bar. You exchange looks, he sends over a drink. You graciously accept and he comes over to say hello. Within minutes of talking to him you realize the guy is dumb as a rock. Or arrogant as hell. Or worse, BOTH. You have been immediately put off of any steamy bedroom fantasties involving the two of you and start to wish you had stayed home with a good book or a Sex and the City DVD.

The reverse is also true. A typically average guy approaches you at the bar. Kind of dorky, not really all that cute, but in the course of conversation you feel yourself engaged, laughing, intellectually stimulated. And you start to wonder if there’s a sexual animal hidden under that sweater vest.

So it works both ways. But I’d never say that I knew, straight away, that I was going to shag every guy I shagged and that I wasn’t going to every man I didn’t. It’s a crap shoot really.

Well, that’s all we have time for today. Thanks for joining us for our first “Q&A with Finy”. I hope I answered all of your questions in a satisfactory manner and I look forward to speaking to you all again real soon!

Signing off from New York City, this has been Finy with “Q&A with Finy”

Labels: Q and A

posted by FINY @ Wednesday, September 07, 2005

17 Comments:

At 9/07/2005, Meegan said…

Great Q&A! And now for the work you passed off to me...

"Finy is so good at TALKING ABOUT GETTING A CAT, but sometimes she just NEEDS TO GO ADOPT ONE (OR TWO)."
At 9/07/2005, FINY said…

HAHAHAHAHA.

I know I know! Give a girl a chance to save up a hundred bucks! I HAVE been reading the book you gave me though :)
At 9/07/2005, Anonymous said…

This means there are going to be more Q&A's? YES!!!!

Very informative.

The questions were from Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. It's a scene where they are trying to get across the bridge of death. They need to answer these questions three. Ere the other side you be. (or something like that). Get them wrong and you end up in the bottomless ravine.

Everyone is afraid. Launcelot goes up first, and he gets "What's your name?","what's your quest?", "what's your favorite color?". He answers all of them easily.

The Coward, Sir Robin, goes "that's easy!!!" rushes right up. Get's the same first two questions as Launcelot. His final question though is "What's the capitol of Assyris". "I don't know that". He gets shot into the ravine.

Galahad then approaches. Same deal for the first two questions. He then gets "What is your favorite color?" "Blu... no wait Yeloooooooo!!!!" He gets shot into the ravine.

Bedavere and King Arthur then approach. Same deal. Arthur's third question is "What's the air speed velocity of an unladed swallor?". He responds "African or European?" The Bridge keeper goes "I don't know that" and the Bridge Keeper gets shot into the ravine. Bedavere then asks "How do you know so much about swallows?" Arthur responds along the lines of "I'm a King I just know these sort of things".

It is actually a reference to a joke from the very beginning of the movie. See Arthur isn't actually riding a horse. He gallops around as if he is, but the horse noise is coming from his squire hitting two coconut halves together. He approaches a castle, and he gets into a whole long argument with the guy in the castle about where did he get the coconuts. He says something about "does a swallow not migrate south in the winter". It starts another whole long argument about European swallows and how an "8 ounce bird can carry a 2 pound coconut". Then African swallows are brought up (of course they are non migratory).

This is entirely too much information, but I think you get the point now. Also I do believe that gives you all the answers to the questions.

P.S. I can't vouch for complete accurracy on all these quotes since I'm doing it all from memory.
At 9/07/2005, Craig said…

Funny, I found where someone had posted the answers to the unladen swallow and capitol of assyria questions recently. See blog.
At 9/07/2005, Chief Slacker said…

Wow, very interesting reading :O) And i know EXACTLY how you feel about when The Ex left, I've had similar situations, where later I wished I had said something, i wish I had done something, but really I was just not nice to do those things and got walked on. Oh well, right? And no worries about posting on The Twin, let yourself be mushy if you want to, you don't have to be what you think is the normal you, be the real you. If that means writing poorly about The Twin, DO IT! ;O)
At 9/07/2005, Agent 31 said…

This was excellent. I feel so CLOSE to you now! Look... you want to borrow my car or somehting? Just ask.
At 9/07/2005, Liz said…

FINY - thanks for the voicemail the other day. Made me laugh! Nothing brightens my day like someone drunk dialing me! It was a bit eerie, because you even emphasize your words the way I would, and your speaking cadence is the same. CREEPY! :)
At 9/07/2005, Jack said…

Maybe I wasn't clear...

I want names!

Phone numbers!

Come on!

:p
At 9/07/2005, MC Etcher said…

I couldn't think of a good question, but I enjoyed reading all the q&a!
At 9/08/2005, FINY said…

Ed: Thanks, I had TOTALLY missed the reference. Now that you spelled it out for me I immediately could see the scene in my head but at the time I drew a complete blank. Damn. I could have come up with a MUCH better answer for that.

CK: Some people have WAY too much time on their hands.

Maine: Thanks! And if you ever need a babysitter just let me know! :)

Lizy: HAHAHA. I totally forgot Meegan and I called you. She talks about how alike we are ALL the time. Somehow we really need to find a way to actually meet. Though it may end up just freaking us both out.

By the way, when the hell are you going to start blogging already!

Macca: Nothing to do with being a good sport, that was FUN. But glad you liked it!

Beejer: I'll bring them out with us for drinks after the A's game, how's that sound?

MCE: Yeah I think there were enough questions already. Glad you liked reading the responses!
At 9/08/2005, Mike said…

Great answers, and great idea for a post...I might have to steal it one of these days. I've never been a Mets or Braves fan, but I certainly can't fault your reasons for liking them. And even for a non-Braves fan its nice to see Andruw Jones having a big year (especially when you've got him in a fantasy pool).
At 9/08/2005, Jack said…

Woo-hoo! Now you're talking!
At 9/08/2005, Anonymous said…

- any blog entry coming ahead of the Pats opener FINY?
At 9/08/2005, FINY said…

Crap! I WANTED to but our internet and email have been down ALL day. How did people get work done before these technological advancements? Seriously?

So now it's looking like it's going to have to be a post-game wrap up.
At 9/09/2005, Michael Leggett said…

You're right about me being stuck in NYC; then again, I work for The City of New York; I was dying to watch DF Yankees Lose(Which They Did, BTW), but, when the Downtown Chiefs, want you to escort some Primadonna, around, you have to do it. 13.5 hours, of which, 11 of them, is stuck in a car with no AC, is no fun, which is WHY I LOVE ALL OF YOU IN RED SOX NATION.
RSN lets me feel alive & bright, which I was NOT allowed to feel tonight, & YOU ARE a Major Reason for that. Thanks, FINY, for EVERYTHING.
There's NOTHING WRONG, in feeling SAPPY.
At 9/09/2005, Michael Leggett said…

FINY, You make me feel Alive!
At 9/09/2005, Esther said…

And you got me to finally post on my own blog...