Bruyere
I think I may be one of the only people from FT who has met you (a few years back), so this is an honour to be able to interview you now. I know you have a Canadian connection in your background. Would you care to enumerate?

Well, my grandmother is Canadian, and she's a resident alien in the US, so I could say 'my grandmother's an alien' and not be lying. Plus there are a few scattered Canadians on my mother's side.

Bruyere
I also know that your life has been enriched by the study of other countries and languages. How did this come about?

I honestly don't know. I started taking French in 7th grade and loved it. I've always liked learning about European royalty and such, so I wanted to know several languages to be able to have an easier time traveling there.

Bruyere
What have you enjoyed about studying other countries and languages?

I learned English is NOT a very intuitive language! I loved how you pronounce basically every letter in a word in German and Italian - so much easier! And I think learning about other cultures made me better able to empathize with what people who aren't from North America believe/think.

Gamemaster1967
How old were you when you decided on the profession you went into after college--and what is it?

I'll let you know when I figure out! I started in college as a musical theatre major - I desperately wanted to play Carlotta in "Phantom of the Opera". But my theatre professors were... extremely weird, so I switched to political science because I liked learning about cultures. (That and a cute professor...) When I graduated, I didn't know what I wanted to do, so I went off to grad school. After grad school, I had so much student loan debt from just those two years (I had scholarships, part-time jobs, and my parents pay for undergrad so I didn't have any debt from that), I just started applying for lots of jobs. I ended up with a job at a police union and then got picked up to work with an agency in DC.

kyleisalive
You've been an editor in the TV category longer than the rest of us. Why did you get into editing in the first place (other than the money, of course)?

I'm not sure. It was over ten years ago and I was still in college... I really liked television and I like formatting/editing things (which is a big part of my current job in 'real life'). Back then, we didn't have many standards - as long as you spell-checked and didn't swear, your quiz was almost fine to go online!

kyleisalive
If you were to edit any other category on the site, which would it be and why?

Well, I used to do Movies and Entertainment as well, but gave them up because of the sheer amount of work involved. I've also helped out in Humanities for musicals, so I think Humanities would be my choice.

Bruyere
What have you gained from being an editor here?

Nit-pickiness! I know it's not always a positive trait, but I've gotten very good at just looking at something and spotting spelling/grammatical errors. This is something I use in my 'real life' job and I credit FT for part of the success I've had in my career.

kyleisalive
Any words of advice for the authors of the site?

Just keep trying! If you're having trouble getting a quiz online, ask specific questions to the editors. Oh and definitely spell-check your quiz before you submit it. If you show that you'll do the basic stuff, we'll bend over backward to help you with the harder stuff.

Pagiedamon
What are some of the major changes you've seen on FunTrivia over the past ten years?

Our standards have really gotten tougher - which I think is good. There are a lot of other sites out there that have no standards (think of some of the Facebook quizzes you've taken!) and you don't want to go back there. Also, we used to be very focused on the quizzes and the forums, now there's so much to do on this site you can't really get bored.

Gamemaster1967
What movie/TV series or other created your first interest in science fiction?

"Star Trek"! Well, the "Next Generation" one... I remember watching some of the early episodes when they first aired (and still have the VHS tapes to prove it!). Then I happened to catch "Babylon 5" (after it was canceled and in the middle of season 3) and fell in love with the show.

kyleisalive
What TV show (that is no longer on TV) do you think could be brought back to the air and still maintain its quality? (Note: If the show ended naturally, like 'LOST', and with a proper ending, don't include it.)

Oh, that's hard... I absolutely LOVE "Eight is Enough" (and am still bitter about the fact it's still not on DVD!), but I'm not sure they had a lot more storylines to go on... "Hart to Hart" was a great show and they only had five seasons compared to shows like "Matlock" or "Murder, She Wrote" which had many more, so I'll say "Hart to Hart."

Pagiedamon
You seem to have rather eclectic interests, ranging from things like "Phantom of the Opera" to "Star Trek". What are you passionate about now?

I've never had anything that's a 'favorite' - I always have trouble creating those password hints where all they have are choices for your favorite this or that. I also go through a bunch of phases - last summer, it was bombarding Warner Bros. with requests for "Eight is Enough" to be on DVD! I think I'm in between obsessions right now... I've been spending most of my time on pregnancy websites (I'm 14 weeks pregnant).

Gamemaster1967
Are you an only child?

Nope! I have a brother who is four years younger than me. We used to fight a lot as children (verbally, not really physically!) but we get along great right now. He's gotten to be a nice guy, so we have fun when we're together - and it doesn't hurt that he's got a very nice girlfriend!

Bruyere
What is one of the things you hope to do with your future children?

Just watch them grow up! We've tried so long to have children that I'm just excited I'm (hopefully) going to get that chance... I really am looking forward to taking them to the water park or the Ontario Science museum - you know, doing things that are sooo much more fun when you have kids to experience it with you!

Pagiedamon
You (in)famously suggested the question first, so I must ask: boxers or briefs? ;-)

Ha! Me? Whatever I get for free using Victoria's Secret coupons!

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Another excellent interview! Congrats on the pregnancy - are you going to find out what you're having, or want to be surprised?

Thanks! I originally wanted to be surprised, but my husband wanted to find out so I think we'll have the results written down for us and open them at Thanksgiving with our families.

Oh that's a lovely idea! Yes, congratulations and on the interview It is great.

Congrats, Beth! And a very nice interview, too.

Congrats Beth - may there be much joy in your future.

Lovely interview. Best wishes for the future.

Congratulations Beth, and very nice interview!

One follow-up question -- as a DC native, I'm curious what you like (or dislike) about the city. What's your favorite neighborhood / museum / place to take out-of-town visitors?

Congratulations on your big news.Interview was great.

Wishing you all the best in the future.

So glad to hear about your great news. Thanks for letting us know a little more about you.

What television character would best describe you, and why?

Congrats on the baby coming! That's fantastic news!

That's the best answer I've seen in an interview yet. Congratulations on the little bump - you have some very exciting times ahead.

I see that you are already anticipating the extra enjoyment that doing things with children will bring but is there any guilty pleasure that you didn't feel you could get away with doing as an adult that having a child will allow you to do? For me, it has been building things with lego again.

Congratulations, Beth! Wishing you all the best

How many different languages can you speak fluently? I do well to do one...then some of a 2nd.

I'm not actually a native - I've only lived here for 8 years and I've never lived in the city... So:

Neighborhood: don't really have one

Museum: I love the Spy Museum because it's fun, but for the free ones, I like the US history museum or the Air and Space museum (both the one downtown and the one in Dulles) best.

Place for out-of-towners: Best view of the city is the Old Post Office. Yeah, you thought I was going to say go up the Washington Monument. Here's why I prefer the Old Post Office: It's free, bigger inside, open to the air, and there's a Ben and Jerry's at the bottom of it! The building is beautiful - it was designed by HH Richardson who did some pretty nice buildings throughout the country. Also, the Old Post Office is right near all the buildings in DC, so it's easy to pick out which is which.

I also like Old Town Alexandria - lots of cute shops in an historic district.

At work, we tried getting people along with characters from "The Office" and I think my coworkers finally decided I was a mix of Angela and Phyllis. I was the entire party planning committee, am pretty nitpicky with the reports (in my business, I have to be!), a stickler for rules, but as long as it isn't breaking any rules, easygoing, and nice. (Well, I think the plastic pumpkin full of candy on my desk helps with the last one!)

Oh, my husband and I played with his Lego when he brought them home from his parents' house a couple years ago! I think to answer your question is simply having fun at just being silly... I sometimes make faces at my husband when he's working at home just to get him to smile, so I think having a kid will give me a bigger license to do so

My native language is English.

I started French lessons in 7th grade and took those through 11th grade (they didn't have any French in 12th grade for me), then I took 3 semesters in college. While in grad school, in order to graduate, we needed to be tested at proficient in a language. I studied by watching French news, listening to music that the lyrics were in French and reading books in French. Then to practice my conversation, since I didn't have anyone to speak with, I would say something to my husband, translate it for him, then he would respond and I would have to quickly respond to what he said in French. It must have worked because I passed!

I took a semester of Italian when I had gone as far as I wanted to in college with French (all that was left were literature classes...).

And then when I couldn't fit the second semester of Italian in my schedule, I took German (two semesters of that).

But I haven't used my French for a while, so it has degraded a bit... and in Italian, all I really remember to say is 'Io ho fame" and "Io ho mangiato." And albergo is a hotel.

And thank you all for the good wishes!

Just an update - we had an ultrasound yesterday and we're having a girl.

Aaww yay!

Aww, that's great, Beth! Congratulations again

Thanksgiving changed dates this year? I am only joking, if I had the results I know that I couldn't wait either. That is wonderful news Beth.

Ha - we couldn't wait to find out! I'm going to go somewhere and buy something pink today

And thank you for all the well wishes!