Tracey Gaughran-Perez

Interview with Tracey Gaughran-Perez / Sweetney

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Tracey G-P, also known as Sweetney, is the writer behind Rock-n-Romp and a contributing editor at Blogher. She is married to Jaime and has a daughter, Mina. She is part sweet and part ney, with a penchant for pirate-y things. Her sense of humor is stellar and really comes though in her writing. In high school, she was that one girl that you really wanted to hang out with because she made you giggle even though it meant you would get detention. She sells Tshirts for those of you that are mothers that blog and want to set a good example (building language skills and what-not — its educational!)*

Blog Birthday:

sweetney was born july 2nd 2004. i had a journal on livejournal which i started at some point in 2001 but didn’t really write seriously (meaning at least several times a week) in until 2003.

Why do you blog?

lots of reasons. to amuse myself. to vent. to share things i think are cool/funny/important/interesting. when i was younger i was a big mixtape maker, and i see blogging as a contemporary extension of that, in that it affords me the opportunity to pull together in one space lots of different things that interest and engage me.

plus i like me some people, and being at home all day with a toddler can get, well, flat-out lonesome.

What do you talk about?

motherhood, my daughter and the wunderkin that she is, my husband, politics, tv, music, pop culture, books, movies, yada yada. it pretty much runs the gamut.

What don’t you talk about? Why?

i don’t go into a great deal of sordid-detail-level info on my marriage. to me that’s kind of sacred territory, and while Jamie has no problem with me talking about him, were i to begin, for example, offering blow-by-blow accounts of our arguments and such, i think it might, umm, create some discord. and yeah, like we all need some more discord in our marriages, right?

Worst/best experience re: something you wrote in your blog or put out on the net?

i’ve had some pretty upsetting experiences with trolls, but my new mantra regarding those people (taken from advice given to me by heather) is IGNORE IGNORE IGNORE. which has been pretty effective, actually. as for ‘best’ experiences, those happen daily. i’m constantly amazed and delighted in both small and large ways by the open-heartedness and thoughtfulness of those who come by sweetney. sometimes i get little notes or gifts, and that always sends me into the stratosphere – that someone thought enough of me and what i do on sweetney to take the time to do that. its incredibly gratifying and more than a little humbling.

Favorite/worst thing about living where you live?

favorite: Baltimore’s industrial underdog charm and its people (one in the same).

worst: the poverty (and resultant crime). there are parts of Baltimore that i wouldn’t enter without armed guards and attack dogs. and that’s ridiculously shameful.

If you were president of the US:

everyone would have a computer, pot would be legalized, and paris hilton would be deported. because i’m the president and i said so.

What actor would play you in the movie of your life?

that’s a tricky one. i’d like to say Meryl Streep, because, c’mon – MERYL STREEP! but i’ve been told for more than a decade that i somehow resemble Drew Barrymore, so that’s (sadly) the more likely of the two.

Favorite color:

black. (slimming AND goth! (heh))

Favorite food:

pesto pasta. mmm…. forbidden pasta…

When you were 10, what did you want to do when you grew up?

i wanted to be a writer. crappin’ you negative.

What do you hate?

bigotry and injustice, in all its forms.

What do you love?

humor and thoughtfulness.

What do you want to tell other bloggers, if anything?

dudes, next round is on me!

Astounding facts about you:

well here’s ONE: i have a shortened nose bone, so its mostly just cartilage, and i can pretty much flatten that sucker down completely so that its aligned with my cheeks in vertical height. same goes for me ears, which i can wad up into tiny balls of ear flesh.
carnivalfreaktastic, no?

Are you Windows or Mac? Why?

mac. i love the design of them – inside and out. i think they’re incredibly easy to use and very intuitive as well. and, umm, PURTY.

Do you have a mantra?

not really, but things i say to myself internally most often are probably: CALM DOWN (and/or) LAUGH OR PERISH (or something to that effect).

Who are your heroes?

my friends. and jon stewart (of course).

blog heroes would include heather, eden and alice.

How would your husband/family/friends describe you?

funny, smart, high-strung, sensitive, a little OCD, a little low-self-esteem. equal parts loner and social butterfly (i tend to do things in waves and to extremes). hard to get to know (intimately) but once you’re in, you’re in; fiercely loyal and giving.

What are you working on right now?

my editorship dealy over at blogher, sweetney, and gearing up for the new season of rock-n-romp.

What do you do to stay sane and keep healthy?

write on sweetney. and i’m not kidding.

Thanks, Tracey!
* For the original wording, drop me an email.