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17 June 2011

weekly interrogation: me!

I'm starting a (hopefully) weekly series called weekly interrogation where I force people I know to answer my obnoxious questions. I do it out of love, and so all of you (my lovely readers) can get to know my people!

I was all set to start with my first person, then I realized it probably isn't nice to make people do something I wasn't willing to do. So instead I figured I'd do me first so you can get to know me a little better... So here goes!


name: Jax Harmon (I consider that my "professional" name, don't freak out if you call me something else)
website: www.jaxharmon.com

1.What do you “do”? I am a mom, first and foremost, a photographer, and hopefully someday a landscape architect (that's the plan, at least. It'll probably change knowing how life is). But deep down in my heart I think I want to be a farmer...

2. Why do you do what you do? I got a whole lot of creative genes and only a smidgen of practical life-skills genes (ok, maybe more than that. But the creative side wins out) so doing something artsy/designy was my fate. And I love every second of it.

3.Where are you from? The east coast. Virginia to be exact. And the most historic city in the country to be even more exact. I love it and miss it a lot. My childhood home is still the location of 90% of my dreams.

4. Favorite color?
red. Well, I have a different favorite color all the time but red is the most consistent one.

5. Favorite food?
Bacon. Garlic. Cantaloupe.

6. Favorite shoes?
Minnetonka moccasins

7. Favorite place in the whole wide world? The woods round about the Appalachian mountains in early summer. (I dream about the way it smells that time of year)

8. Favorite piece of playground equipment? The ginormous tires buried halfway in the ground.

9. Your funniest story? I brainstormed an answer to this for a long time because I really did not want to share this story. It's funny (Rob finds it hilarious) but I find it slightly embarrassing and don't have much desire to share it on the internet. But since I'm not a terribly funny person the pickings were slim, so here goes. Just a note, my family finds fart jokes very amusing and so does Rob. Since getting married and sharing a bed, Rob likes to give me "dutch ovens." (if you don't know what a dutch oven is, it's when you pull the covers over your heads and fart so your unsuspecting victim gets to suffocate on your gas) I am not a fan of them, but he's relentless and always successful, so one night I tried to get revenge by giving him one. Well, Rob is significant larger than I am so instead of Rob being trapped under the blanket, I was the one who got trapped. And almost suffocated on my own fart. There, now you know how immature we are. And that I can pass gas to compete with Rob.

10. Mac or PC? Mac all the way. That's what happens when your dad is a graphic designer and you don't touch a pc until high school.

11. Manual or automatic? Manual. I turned my back on automatics forever the day my battery died but I was still able to start my car and drive to the auto store to get a new one.

12. What do you consider your best asset? My eyeballs. And I like my feet when I'm not pregnant.

13. Guiltiest pleasure? The Bachelor/Bachelorette. And Mike and Ikes.

14. Biggest pet peeve? People who walk out the door as I'm trying to go in with my two kids (and usually a stroller). I mean, hello, I'm not holding the door open with my butt while wrestling two hooligans so you with absolutely nothing in your hands can weasel your way out, especially when you're going out the in door, while the out door is completely empty right next to us. Or when Max pushes the handicap button ('cause I have the stroller) so the doors automatically open, cuing the entire contents of the building to exit (again, with absolutely nothing in their hands) out of my open door, leaving us just standing there, while the other doors are not being used AT ALL and by the time everyone is out, the doors shut so Max presses the button and the process starts all over again. Or when people give me dirty looks when we're waiting in line to check out and my kids are freaking out. If you really want to not have to listen to my kids fuss anymore LET US IN FRONT OF YOU SO WE CAN LEAVE. No amount of giving us dirty looks is going to calm them down because they are fussing because they are ready to go. And I am NOT going to abandon my stuff and leave just to have to come back later because it was a hassle to come the first time. If you can't tell, I'm passionate about the stuff that annoys me. The common sense in this world has pretty much vanished.

15. What do you consider priceless? I had to give this one a lot of thought, and I honestly have to say the way I was raised. Since we've been a part of the military community I've met people from all walks of life and I have to say, my parents rock. I honestly believe I'm doing ok with this crazy life (that so many people flounder in) because of how I was raised. It takes a lot to ruffle my feathers. (I do get easily annoyed, but it takes a lot to make me really upset)

16. If you could sit next to anyone on an airplane, who would it be? This is another one I had to think about a lot. My first thought was someone I admire/am a fan of/love what they do, but everyone I thought of I realized were more people I'd like to meet, but not necessarily someone I'd want to pick their brain for hours. So instead, I'd like to be seated between Michelle Duggar and J.K. Rowling. Michelle Duggar so I can find out how she can be a mom to so many kids and yet still raise them to not be brats. I'd be taking lots of notes too. And J.K. Rowling so I can find out how in world she managed to write 7 books that flow together flawlessly. And not just the main storyline, but details in the first book are major parts of the story in the 7th. How does your brain hold all that information and still make sense of it all? Did she dream up the entire series in one sitting? Which seems impossible to me. I've always thought stories developed as you wrote them, but in her case it all ties together so perfectly and I want to know how. So there you have it. Noting impressive or important, just answers to some burning questions that I think of periodically.

17. What would you choose as your last meal? The lemongrass beef with vermicelli noodles from Saigon in Greensboro. I'm salivating as I'm writing this...

18. What era in time do you connect with the most? It changes as I get older, but right now it's the 70s/early 80s "normal" part of society (NOT the crazy fashions and stuff the rich and famous wore). That's when the best playgrounds were built (I did my thesis on playgrounds so they're my standard to go by) and I just get warm fuzzy feelings when I see pictures from that time frame.

19. Your motto for life? Treat everyone with kindness and respect. It's not always easy and I fail miserably everyday (I get annoyed easily...) but that's what I strive for.

20. Best advice you can give? YOU decide if you're happy or not. Happiness isn't something that just happens to you, it's a state of mind.

4 comments:

  1. That is sooo fun! I love your best piece of advice. We do choose to be happy...it doesn't just happen to us!

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  2. Aww, Jackie, I loved it! I too miss the HUGE tires! We had several of those in different configurations on the playground at my elementary school. Obviously, that tells you how old our school was.... And I have wondered the exact some thing about J K Rowling!! It is truly amazing!! If you ever get that opportunity, be sure to report back. :) And I had no idea you wanted to design playgrounds. I think that is wickedly awesome! Since becoming a mom, I have developed a new found love of playgrounds. Good luck to you!

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  3. Love this post! Great questions.

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  4. I love the weekly interrogation! Thanks for joining the Roundup!

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