003: Chris - Rude Cactus

Today we are joined by Chris from Rude Cactus.

Chris is a music, book and cat loving IT security geek that writes one of the most eloquent and popular blogs on the net today.

He is husband to the fish and father to Mia Bean, and he’s a self-proclaimed wannabe rock star. His blog is funny, sad and provocative. He even finds the time to throw in the odd Haiku every now and then. His wonderful photographs, honesty, integrity and regular posts have gathered him a loyal following.

BV: Chris, thanks very much for spending the time to answer some questions for my readers. It's always great to hear everyone's story and you definitely have a few to tell. Can I ask, what made you start your blog in the first place?

I have not the slightest clue…well, okay, maybe one or two. Back in 2003, I was bored, surfing, and stumbled on a blog. It was honestly the first time I'd seen such a thing. I'd never really imagined there were people out here in the blogosphere writing about every aspect of their lives. I was hooked. As I stumbled through other people's blogrolls, I found more and more interesting people who I felt compelled to keep following. Eventually, I figured “what the hell”, and started my own. I have will-power and motivation for certain things in my life but writing tends not to be one of them. I figured it would last a week. That was nearly four years ago.

BV: You tell a story in your About Me page where as a child, you woke up one morning, rolled over in your bed, looked out the window and saw a hundred hot air balloons. This stuck in your mind. So much so, you recounted it to your wife the first night you talked. What was it about this sight that made you remember so vividly?

As a kid, I had my bed pushed right up to one of the two windows in my room. I'd gaze out at the neighborhood in the middle of the night. The sky would inevitably be my first sight of the day. I always slept with the stereo on, a mixed tape on an endless loop. I'm sure my parents loved it. One morning, I woke up facing an open window on a cool spring morning. The bright blue sky was filled with hot air balloons. Yes' Yours Is No Disgrace (because I listened almost exclusively to progressive rock at that stage) was playing. I'm not sure why it was so memorable. It was just one of those perfect moments, the ones that just happen, out of some confluence of sights, sounds and feelings. The ones that stick in your mind the rest of your life. It's a little like magic.

BV: You write Haiku's often in your posts. Is this something you intentionally set out to do or did you stumble across this type of poetry by accident?

Haikus have always played some minor role on the site since its inception. At least once as a restless teenager I'm sure I fancied myself as a poet and wrote angst-ridden crap that would embarrass the hell out of me now. I also have a rather inappropriate sense of humor. There's something very funny to me about taking a soothing, calm form of poetry and using that form to write about something crass or impertinent. Haikus always seem pretty random to me. And I'm kinda random.

BV: OK… Genesis, you admit loving them. Are they on your iPod at the moment? C'mon Chris, be truthful with me. As a side note, we all have one shameful band we like, is this one of yours? (I know for me, when all my friends were listening to Black Sabbath and Guns N’ Roses, I liked Frente… oh, the shame of it all!)

Genesis. Yes, they're all over my iPod, from the early days with lead vocalist Peter Gabriel right through the syrupy Phil Collins Top-40 era. They were the band that got me into music which has long been an important part of my life. I have a 3500-album strong collection of music, so of course I have more than my fair share of crap. I went through a rather lengthy and unfortunate hair-metal phase. During my progressive rock phase, I managed to pick up some really crappy stuff as well. Then there's the fact that I own the original 1960's albums recorded by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. I have no excuse for those. I was curious.

BV: You often take photos of yourself, your family and other things that happen throughout your life. What's the appeal of photography to you?

There was no appeal until a few years ago. I bought a cheap digital camera and got a copy of Photoshop. I found it to be a previously untapped creative outlet I didn't really know existed for me. So, the first appeal really is the fact that it's a way for me to channel some creativity using images instead of words. The second is more obvious – I've got a family and I want to document that family. Before my daughter was born, I'd overhear parents telling others how quickly children grow up. You never fully understand how accurate that statement is, how fast kids do indeed grow up, until you have one yourself. My daughter has to be the most photographed kid in history. But that's fine. I want to remember every minute.

BV: You mention in your blog that you read roughly 100 books a year. What is it about reading that inspires you?

I've always read. Reading was important in my house growing up. My parents read constantly and read to me when I was little. As soon as I was able, I started reading everything in sight. In high school and college, that trailed off a little. I eventually hit the books again. After reading Iain Bank's The Bridge back in 1997 or 1998, I was totally energized about reading again. I started keeping a diary of what I'd read and vowed to read at least six books a month. I've managed to keep that deal with myself with only a few exceptions.

We're all limited by lots of things in life – not many of us have a ton of spare cash handy, a private jet waiting at the airport. We're tied down by jobs, we have responsibilities. We can't, in short, take off at a moment's notice and travel the world. Nor can we experience life as other people. Reading lets you do that from the comfort of your favorite chair.

BV: In one of your posts you mentioned seeing a sign that read ‘Be Silly, Be Honest, Be Kind’. How do you think people can improve themselves using this advice?

The world – all of us in it – works because of trust and compassion. If you don't have those two things, you might as well call it a day. All you have to do is turn on the news and you're given a lot of reasons to be hopeless. Yet, we somehow pull through. The problem is that too many people take themselves too seriously. What fun is that? So, yes, be honest and kind because those are important but also remember to be silly.

BV: You manage to get loads of people giving their opinions and comments on many of your posts. What is it about getting comments from your readers that gives you a buzz?

Two things… the most obvious? People are reading me. My site stats prove it. For some strange reason, hundreds of thousands of people read me every month. I'm at a loss to understand or explain why. I'm just a guy who writes stuff about his life. No biggie. Don't get me wrong – I appreciate it more than anyone can imagine. It's just a mystery to me. The other reason is validation. Here I am, sitting in one little corner of the world, writing about the things that are happening to me, and there's always someone (if not many someones) out there who understand. There's something nice about that.

BV: There is a photo in your blog banner, fourth in from the right. It's a field with white crosses spanning its width, trees in the background and clouds in the sky. Is this just a random photo or is there more to it than that?

The picture was taken at the American cemetery in Normandy. When Beth and I went to France a couple of years ago, we visited Normandy, walked down to the beach that was stormed, where thousands of men lost their lives. It was surreal. You stand there, on the desolate beach and look up at the hills that immediately rise from the sand and you wonder how anyone thought it was a good idea to storm that particular beach on that particular day. Whoever made the call was either delusional or insanely optimistic. Yet, it worked. There's no personal connection for me. My grandfathers both served in the Pacific theater. But it's impossible to be there, to stand on the beach or walk through the field of white crosses and not be somehow moved.

BV: Chris, thanks very much for taking part in BloggerView and giving us an insight into your life.


Did you enjoy this post? Make sure you subscribe to our RSS feed or subscribe via email.