{bazima.com}

One of the reasons why I'm drawn to Miss Lisa Whiteman is because she just looks so foxy all of the time. I'd love to spend an hour just going through her closet. Lisa is the kind of girl who all of your friends will love and all of your boyfriends will want to get next to and so you'll think that all of that would make her kind of a bitch and you're totally prepared to hate on her before she tries hating on you. Then you realize she's one of the nicest, coolest people you'll ever meet. That's the worst part.

In addition, Lisa shares my deep-seated fondness for the show "21 Jump Street" (RIP, but now out on DVD, you should know) from back when the Fox Channel was barely a household name and the only other thing on it was "The Tracey Ullman Show." Ah, those were the days.

But the thing that draws me to Lisa most of all is best explained in the obligatory bio page on lisawhiteman.com where she writes, "the line between work and free time is kind of fuzzy. I take pictures, write, build websites, and make short movies. I usually keep several projects going at once, since I haven't yet figured out how to combine all of the things I like to do into one big project. In a way, this site is an attempt at doing that."

Yeah. I'm familiar with those ideas/afflictions.

Blaise K: So. Now you're 30. How's that going for you?
Lisa Whiteman: A lot better than I expected. In fact, 29 was worse (psychologically, at least) because I spent all of it thinking of myself as pre-30, rather than simply 29. Thankfully, I'm not doing that anymore. In fact, just last night someone I don’t know told me (before asking my age) that I look really young, and it felt kind of good to tell him I’m 30, as if that meant I would automatically be taken more seriously. Of course, I'm probably just trying to find a silver lining of some sort, so that it's easier to cope.

Blaise K: You grew up in Raleigh and migrated to New York a couple of years ago. What was it that brought you here, and has the lady lived up to your expectations?

Lisa Whiteman: New York itself is why I moved here, but I went about it in a more calculated way, at the urging of my parents: I got a job (oddly enough, one that I like and still have), and I relocated.

I didn't have any doubts that I would love living in New York, but I half-expected that two (or so) years would be enough. It's not typical of me to remain completely fascinated with something for an extended period of time; I tend to get restless and want to move on, or at the very least, I get a little complacent. However, though it sounds trite, I think about how much I love this place nearly every day, and it's rare that I need a break from it. I keep waiting for that to wear off, but it hasn’t yet.

BK: Name five songs that would be on the soundtrack from a movie about your life.
LW: I have no idea. I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish by The Smiths? Teenage Rampage by Sweet? I don't know how to answer this question seriously. I think a few well-chosen instrumental songs would be the safest bet, since they're the most flexible. One that I like a lot is Meeting in the Aisle by Radiohead, but I’m not sure it has any personal significance.

I make a lot of mixes for other people, but (though you’d think it'd be easier) I’ve never been good at making them for myself.

BK: What was the first concert you ever went to?
LW: Huey Lewis and the News, with my mother, in seventh grade. (I redeemed myself, a little, by following that up with INXS, whom I saw without either parent.) My mom's coworkers, who were less hip* than she was, were confused and understood that she was taking her 13-year-old daughter to see an act called "Huey Lewis and the Nudes."

*Is it wrong to use the word “hip” when referring to Huey Lewis and the News? I think it might be.

BK: Non-professional picture-taking in the New York City subway system has been banned. What if picture-taking altogether was in the process of being outlawed and there was one roll of film left in New York and you had it what would you do with it?

LW: My favorite New York shots are of people, especially those who are natives to the city. I'd travel around the boroughs and take portraits of people in natural settings. I’d have to take photos of breakdancers last, because if I shot them first, I’d end up using the whole roll on them.

Boring as it sounds, the first thing I’d probably do with the photos is put them on my website, assuming that they weren’t outlawed by then as well.

BK: Who was your first true love?
LW: I think I'm the only person on the planet past the age of 12 who is confused by this question. I've always had trouble knowing the distinct difference between "love," "in love," and "obsessed with." I do know that I have been in love; I'm just not completely sure who was first. I wish there was someone I could ask.

BK: What are you wearing?
LW: Even though I'm in my apartment, I'm wearing fingerless gloves, a scarf, and a hat that makes me look like a pilot from the 1940s. My landlords are cruel and thrifty, so that's pretty much my indoor uniform all winter long. Since that’s not very exciting, I’ll add that I’ve got a parasol balanced on one shoulder.

Visit Lisa's website for stories, photos, movies, and balancing acts.