When I was a little boy growing up just outside Washington, D.C. one of my Mom's best friends was Judy McNerney and we would quite often drive over to their house so my Mom and Mrs. McNerney could visit, and we would pass the day playing with her daughter, Lisa. My memories of Lisa, her Mom and sister are overwhelmingly positive, and also surprisingly vivid. I thought that our childhood friendship with Lisa was firmly within the purview of memory until a couple of years ago when I was surprised to hear that not only had Lisa McNerney emerged from the mists of time and reacquainted herself with my brother Job, but there was even surreal whispering that the two were kind of an item. Then they went public with their burgeoning romance. So I thought I would introduce her to you, my readers, through a BFZ exclusive interview.
"Lisa, Readers."
"Readers, Lisa."
I have two brothers currently dating a Lisa, and that can get confusing keeping all of the Lisas straight in conversation. Sometimes I think it would be helpful if you guys had a celebrity name like Brangelina. If you and Job had a celebrity name what would it be?
We’ve actually talked about that before. At first Job suggested Joli, but we decided that we didn’t like that because of the Angelina Jolie connotation. One of the first movies we watched together long distance--now a tradition that's gone on for more than a year--was "Mr. and Mrs" Smith". Job decreed her a "freak with daddy issues", so that's out. It’s hard because we only have three syllables to work with between our two names. We would probably need to incorporate our last names into it. Maybe McJoli. Josh, I know your family's big into the legacy of names, and lineage and stuff, and people do call me "Nern", so we could be unorthodox and do a last name thing like NernTate. But that's reminiscent ike "sit on it and rotate" so maybe not. I'm not a big fan of the "Lisa John/Lisa Job" approach. Maybe JOBIE-SA?
Your first name is really Elisabeth. Have you guys thought of Jo-biz, you know, like show biz?
That could work, but nobody calls me Elisabeth really. Haha--that's hilarious! If only my name were Liz, that'd be killer. Honestly if somebody walked up to me and called me Elisabeth I would have no idea who they were talking to. My Mom and Dad agreed in the delivery room that nominally I'd be Elisabeth, but called me Lisa from -literally-day one. They didn’t even call me that when they were angry or anything growing up. Job does sometimes call me "Elisabeth Anne" if he’s being very serious though. Like for reprimands or especially romantic moments.
Lisa, I asked my kids to give me some questions to ask you. This one’s from Jack who wants to know, “What do you like?”
Dogs, I’ve had a business plan for six years to open a hybrid half-dog shelter half doggy day care. I love dogs, and I like coffee ice cream too.
Okay, this one’s from Lucy who wants to know, “Do you love uncle Job?”
Yes.
Why?
You’re not supposed to love someone because they love you, but that’s part of it. I think God has had a hand in it too. I'm not a Calvinist or a fatist, but as a believer I do think the Lord has someone intended for you, if in fact He intends there to be someone in your life. I'm thinking that's Job. I love lots of things about Job, like that he’s a man of integrity; I could list the multitudinous reasons I love him, and those include even the frustrating things about him. I love that he's my best friend. I love that he's accepting of my faults--I've got lots, and he's encouraging. I suppose if you could break down into components the why and the how of loving someone, that'd be weird, and kind of reductive. I just do. And Lucy, speaking of love, I know your Uncle Job loves you a ton.
This one’s from Bowden who wants to know, “Do you think you’re gonna get married?”
Yes, I do, and hopefully to Job.
I’m assuming you find Job attractive, is that right?
Yes. I find him very attractive. He has wonderful hair, which I wish he didn't have to buzz every third Thursday, and I dig his eyes.
Would you say that you burn with desire for him?
JOSHUA! Yes.
Do you guys have a song?
We have lots of them actually. It used to be “Miracle Drug” by U2 because the night we reconnected after nearly 20 years was his birthday, 2008. I looked at his blog for the first time ever as we were emailing back and forth for hours that night, and mistakenly concluded he'd just posted those lyrics--not understanding the way blogs work and that his post'd been published months earlier. That same night, earlier, I'd sat in my car and listened to Miracle Drug for 4 consecutive times. Mentioned that to him. The first CD he ever sent me contains Miracle Drug on it, 4 times in a row, so I don't "ever have to hit seek again". Ha. U2 is my favorite band. I've been a U2 fan since I was a little girl. it's no secret that Job is too He mentions that in a letter he wrote me in 1997!. He’s made me 9 cd’s and I’ve made him 7 or 8 so we have a lot of songs that we've shared. Right now I would have to say our song is “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I actually first heard that song when I left for Vermont recently--it was on my road trip CD from Job, arrived with the mandate that I not listen to it until I left that morning for the 17 hr trek.. Your brother, Joel, and his family really like that song. It'd be fair to say Joel rocks it. I'd be happy to record myself singing it for you to attach as a voice file. You want readership? Let's do this.
Do you want kids?
Yes. I was never the kind of girl growing up who would dream about my wedding or having kids, but I always wanted twin boys and a girl.At 29 I understand the mechanics of genetics now, and that I can't just declare I'll be having twin boys and a girl, but I want three kids at least, but ideally I would like four.
Do you believe in bigfoot?
No.
If Job had to smell strongly like a certain kind of food for the rest of his life, what food would you want him to smell like?
He smells like Irish spring all the time right now. We both just pound coffee constantly, so that'd be a natural one I suppose. My first inclination was to say thai food, but that'd get old. Coffee.
Do you have nicknames for each other?
JOSH! You've tried to pry that out of me via text a few times. We call one another generic nicknames like “Baby, sweetie, honey…” He has a lot more nicknames for me than I have for him but none of them are appropriate to repeat here. We have a lot more private jokes and quotes than nicknames, come to think of it. Characters from tv series we've watched (remotely) morph into nicknames occasionally.
Oh I see. How was your visit with my folks when you were out in Vermont?
It was great! It felt really comfortable. I really enjoyed it. It felt astonishingly familiar to be around them, even though it'd been years since they were a part of my life, and I theirs. Your mom and I spent one particular day together. and your dad offered a few times to help me apartment hunt in Vermont--ha. He also granted me lifetime permission to hug him without having to ask first.
"Lisa, Readers."
"Readers, Lisa."
I have two brothers currently dating a Lisa, and that can get confusing keeping all of the Lisas straight in conversation. Sometimes I think it would be helpful if you guys had a celebrity name like Brangelina. If you and Job had a celebrity name what would it be?
We’ve actually talked about that before. At first Job suggested Joli, but we decided that we didn’t like that because of the Angelina Jolie connotation. One of the first movies we watched together long distance--now a tradition that's gone on for more than a year--was "Mr. and Mrs" Smith". Job decreed her a "freak with daddy issues", so that's out. It’s hard because we only have three syllables to work with between our two names. We would probably need to incorporate our last names into it. Maybe McJoli. Josh, I know your family's big into the legacy of names, and lineage and stuff, and people do call me "Nern", so we could be unorthodox and do a last name thing like NernTate. But that's reminiscent ike "sit on it and rotate" so maybe not. I'm not a big fan of the "Lisa John/Lisa Job" approach. Maybe JOBIE-SA?
Your first name is really Elisabeth. Have you guys thought of Jo-biz, you know, like show biz?
That could work, but nobody calls me Elisabeth really. Haha--that's hilarious! If only my name were Liz, that'd be killer. Honestly if somebody walked up to me and called me Elisabeth I would have no idea who they were talking to. My Mom and Dad agreed in the delivery room that nominally I'd be Elisabeth, but called me Lisa from -literally-day one. They didn’t even call me that when they were angry or anything growing up. Job does sometimes call me "Elisabeth Anne" if he’s being very serious though. Like for reprimands or especially romantic moments.
Lisa, I asked my kids to give me some questions to ask you. This one’s from Jack who wants to know, “What do you like?”
Dogs, I’ve had a business plan for six years to open a hybrid half-dog shelter half doggy day care. I love dogs, and I like coffee ice cream too.
Okay, this one’s from Lucy who wants to know, “Do you love uncle Job?”
Yes.
Why?
You’re not supposed to love someone because they love you, but that’s part of it. I think God has had a hand in it too. I'm not a Calvinist or a fatist, but as a believer I do think the Lord has someone intended for you, if in fact He intends there to be someone in your life. I'm thinking that's Job. I love lots of things about Job, like that he’s a man of integrity; I could list the multitudinous reasons I love him, and those include even the frustrating things about him. I love that he's my best friend. I love that he's accepting of my faults--I've got lots, and he's encouraging. I suppose if you could break down into components the why and the how of loving someone, that'd be weird, and kind of reductive. I just do. And Lucy, speaking of love, I know your Uncle Job loves you a ton.
This one’s from Bowden who wants to know, “Do you think you’re gonna get married?”
Yes, I do, and hopefully to Job.
I’m assuming you find Job attractive, is that right?
Yes. I find him very attractive. He has wonderful hair, which I wish he didn't have to buzz every third Thursday, and I dig his eyes.
Would you say that you burn with desire for him?
JOSHUA! Yes.
Do you guys have a song?
We have lots of them actually. It used to be “Miracle Drug” by U2 because the night we reconnected after nearly 20 years was his birthday, 2008. I looked at his blog for the first time ever as we were emailing back and forth for hours that night, and mistakenly concluded he'd just posted those lyrics--not understanding the way blogs work and that his post'd been published months earlier. That same night, earlier, I'd sat in my car and listened to Miracle Drug for 4 consecutive times. Mentioned that to him. The first CD he ever sent me contains Miracle Drug on it, 4 times in a row, so I don't "ever have to hit seek again". Ha. U2 is my favorite band. I've been a U2 fan since I was a little girl. it's no secret that Job is too He mentions that in a letter he wrote me in 1997!. He’s made me 9 cd’s and I’ve made him 7 or 8 so we have a lot of songs that we've shared. Right now I would have to say our song is “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I actually first heard that song when I left for Vermont recently--it was on my road trip CD from Job, arrived with the mandate that I not listen to it until I left that morning for the 17 hr trek.. Your brother, Joel, and his family really like that song. It'd be fair to say Joel rocks it. I'd be happy to record myself singing it for you to attach as a voice file. You want readership? Let's do this.
Do you want kids?
Yes. I was never the kind of girl growing up who would dream about my wedding or having kids, but I always wanted twin boys and a girl.At 29 I understand the mechanics of genetics now, and that I can't just declare I'll be having twin boys and a girl, but I want three kids at least, but ideally I would like four.
Do you believe in bigfoot?
No.
If Job had to smell strongly like a certain kind of food for the rest of his life, what food would you want him to smell like?
He smells like Irish spring all the time right now. We both just pound coffee constantly, so that'd be a natural one I suppose. My first inclination was to say thai food, but that'd get old. Coffee.
Do you have nicknames for each other?
JOSH! You've tried to pry that out of me via text a few times. We call one another generic nicknames like “Baby, sweetie, honey…” He has a lot more nicknames for me than I have for him but none of them are appropriate to repeat here. We have a lot more private jokes and quotes than nicknames, come to think of it. Characters from tv series we've watched (remotely) morph into nicknames occasionally.
Oh I see. How was your visit with my folks when you were out in Vermont?
It was great! It felt really comfortable. I really enjoyed it. It felt astonishingly familiar to be around them, even though it'd been years since they were a part of my life, and I theirs. Your mom and I spent one particular day together. and your dad offered a few times to help me apartment hunt in Vermont--ha. He also granted me lifetime permission to hug him without having to ask first.
I have a question for you, Josh.
Okay, shoot.
Why did you want to interview me?
Ratings.
Thanks, Lisa, for agreeing to do this interview. I'm glad that you and my brother love yourchothers.
9 comments:
Josh, I really sincerely love this. I wish I could have it framed. No joke.
You done good.
Gator don't sweat.
:-)
I'm so glad to be reacquainted with you. . . California or bust!!
Thanks-this rocks.
Oh--and I'm honored to have been your first interview, as I understand you'll be doing more.
Lisa Richard suggested McJob today as a possible celebrity couple name for you guys. I have to say that could stick.
Yeah-she also suggested I "quit my cryin'" in response to my exasperation that no one seems to like reading my blog.
Lisa Diane's full of suggestions today. :-) I like it!
Sounds like something you'd see listed next to the Filet o' Fish.
I'm onboard.
McJobie, even, to preserve the childhood dynamic of it.
Why Hello Lisa!
Great interview Mr. Tate.
Josh, given the level of ease at which you were able to interview Lisa, it must be safe to assume you are able to overlook her minor character flaw in not supporting your belief about the life and times of Bigfoot. Am I correct?
Also, I don't know Lisa nor do I know your brother, but I must say McJob is quite catchy. Even as an outsider, I can appreciate that nickname.
I'm not the only one awake!
Loved it. . .loved the concept. . .loved the questions. . .loved the answers. . .love the McJob/McJobie. . .having grown up a Mc. . .sneaky using small children to ask your burning questions! Strong work, Josh.
I like Lisa. I like this interview too. I also like that our family is growing . . .
I love that the Tates were like family to me 20 years ago, and are again. Josh and I had to revise, we culled out some of the more revealing stuff--stuff I thought we'd agreed verbally was 'off the record'--then again, this is a guy who as we all know, lives "LIFE ON THE RECORD" so I should've known better :). Job'd be displeased with me for sharing for instance how he knew he (blank)ed me when we were 7.. and never gave up hope...oops... I suppose it's up to the blog administrator as to whether or not to publish this. . . not on me--absolved of guilt, particularly because I didn't provide the verb--it's like Mad Libs. This'll earn me a serious "ELISABETH ANNE!!" later today. Worth it. Christine, you know I lurrrve you right back.
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