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This week’s featured reviewer is an intriguing young woman who enjoys karaoke, clubbing, and classic rock. She’s taking a year off between college graduation and embarking on a teaching career; in between, she’s working in a hospital and hanging out with other Epinion Addicts.
A Feng Shui interpretation of her Epinions member name puts her at the ultraviolet end of the spectrum, with yin shui or energy very near its maximal dormancy. She's a self-described party-loving wimp who thinks that giraffes are too flashy (she'd prefer Calvin Klein gray) but aspires to be supreme Goddess of Epinions - a title she'll never win in an arm wrestling match with Nirav.
Most importantly, she’s lots of fun and a really good sport. When she was given a Twenty Questions list of normal, strange, and just plain weird questions for the purpose of a Featured Reviewer interview, she responded with typical
Magenta321 flair.
What's your favorite color, food, t.v.-show, music, movie, book, animal, and thing to do? (sorry, just getting the basics out of the way first)
Well, one would expect my favorite color to be magenta, but really it is black. Black goes with everything – except navy blue. The magenta part comes from one of my favorite movie – The Rocky Horror Picture show. Magenta is a character in the movie.
My favorite food is chicken francaise, or penne a la vodka, depending on my mood.
My favorite show is The Mole. Also, All My Children. Although, One Life to Live is finally getting interesting too.
My favorite book is Job : A Comedy of Justice -- Robert A. Heinlein. I don’t know why, but that book fascinates me. I am also fond of Songs of Innocence and of Experience -- William Blake for its sheer beauty.
My favorite animals are Frasier, my dog, and Orph (short for Orphan), my cat. Interestingly, I used to have a pet pig named Herman. He was one of those pot-bellied guys. I always loved pigs until I owned one and found out that they are a ton of work and they are very belligerent.
How did you first get into Epinions? What made you stay?
I found Epinions when I was shopping for things online. I can’t remember what I was buying, but it was a major purchase (maybe my car, or my television – not sure). Then I found out I could get money for writing my own Epinions. I liked that idea. I was a hungry college student, who was about to make a large purchase (of some unknown sort), and making a few bucks sounded good. I believe I made $30 in my first week with Epinions, and then they stopped the bonus eRoyalties. Oh well. The money was good while it lasted. I stayed with Epinions despite my pay-cut, because of a number of things. I like to express myself, I like to tell the world my experiences, and I like the people.
What should a modern woman's quest in life be?
Probably to "be all that she can be." No, not necessarily joining the army, but to live up to her potentiality, seizing the opportunities that surround her.
With 211 reviews, you've obviously got a lot to say . . . what happens when you're speechless?
I don’t write. Sometimes I write a review a day, sometimes I don’t write for months. It all depends. I used to blame my muse when I didn’t have so much to say. Now I know not to worry. The yearning to write a review will strike, soon, like when I am trying to fall asleep, or taking a shower. Generally, anytime I am not ready to write one.
What qualities do you find insurmountably repulsive in human?
Hmmm. Liars. I hate liars. I also hate thieves. My ex is both. J
If you could change one thing about Epinions, what would it be?
I would make myself the supreme goddess of Epinions. Ok, maybe not. Ug, there is really so much I would change. I know you can’t please all the people all the time. However, I would "fix" a lot of the things that are wrong. Editor selections and Income Share distributions would be on a regular basis. Category Managers would come back to add content. Humans would take part in Editor selection, not just computers. Edit and delete functions would be restored. I think I’d also offer people to either cash their IS in for money, or for stock options, should the company ever go public. Who’s to say they ever will though? I’d offer more money to people who really put into the site, and less to those who do not. I’d make people with tickets lose any money accrued during the time they were doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. I’d let editors select one person each month that they think deserves special recognition in their category, and allow those people to have a place on Epinions as the "Spot-Light on New Writers". It would be a sort of featured reviewer for newbies, so we can expand the number of great writers on the site.
If you could change one thing about the giraffe, what would it be?
I would make them more minimalistic. I hate the color orange. I’d make them black and white, or maybe gray. I hate all bright colors. I am a bit like Calvin Klein in that way. Everyone at work thought I was strange because of my deep hate for those god-awful bright colored post-it notes. Then, I heard about Calvin, who has special ones made up in gray. Perhaps I could have my own giraffes made up?
You've been an EpinionAddicts member since the very beginning. What's your favorite forum at EpinionAddicts? How about your least favorite?
I used to hate the Café. It seemed like the forum about nothing, to borrow from the Seinfeld concept. Now, I think it is my favorite forum. I get to talk about the Genome at Home Project in there – something I am becoming passionate about, even if I was a little late on getting in on the fun. I’m not too fond of "It Takes Balls," because I am not a big sports fan. So, unless the discussion is about my future husband, Alan Iverson, I am not too interested.
When you get stressed, how do you cope?
I eat. Then I talk to my friends. Then we eat. Sad, isn’t it?
Who do you think you could whip in an arm wrestling match? Nirav Tolia? Amykhar? GWB?
I have never heard this expression "whip in an arm wrestling match." However, if it means kicking butt, I don’t think I could "whip" any of the above. My arms would become like Popeye’s before he has spinach. You know, when he tries to make a muscle, and instead of bulging up, it just flops down? Yeah, that’s me. Wimp.
If you could change one thing about EpinionAddicts, what would it be?
I would make myself a moderator, and supreme goddess of Epinion Addicts. Then, I think I would run more contests at various times, even if the prizes were not extravagant. A prize of a batch of homemade cookies is an excellent prize for a little contest. Oh and I would decorate, but I see Amy had that idea in time for Halloween.
If you were to die tomorrow, what would you want on your tombstone?
Actually, I think I would want the words from W.H. Auden’s poem "Hymn to Saint Cecilia" on my grave. Particularly, (and this is from memory) "I cannot grow, I have no shadow to run away from. I only play… All you lived through, dancing because you no longer need it for any deed. I shall never be different. Love me."
What qualifications do you have for Epinions members on your WOT? Is there any truth to the rumor that potential trustees have to hop on one foot while reciting The Gettysburg Address backwards?
Wow, I didn’t know people had theories for how to get on my trust list. Well, in the beginning, it was easy. Write something decent, and I would read more, because I wanted to trust you. If you wrote well, and I was interested in some of the same things, viola, you were added. Now, if I like you, I remember your name. Then I read more and more over a period of time. Then, if I find myself waiting for the next review by you, you have become worthy of my WOT.
Are people more intimidated by your brain or your beauty?
My brain. I graduated with Honors, and was in the Honors classes at my University. So, I got to go to school for free, but I also got to scare people away because of the "nerd" image. Now that I have graduated, I don’t talk about it too often, but people still figure out that I am a nerd somehow. I party hard, I’m still active in my sorority, but yet, people can smell the nerdiness on me.
If Epinions went public tomorrow, would you invest your next month's income share?
Ha, I would hope Epinions wouldn’t become a penny-stock! Actually, I was really hoping they would go public about two years ago, or whenever they were running the t.v. commercials. I would have invested my income share then, and it was much more substantial than it is now. Now, it is so unsubstantial, that given the option to trade my earnings for stock options, I probably would anyway. Why not?
What do you have in your refrigerator right now?
Well, having moved out of my boyfriend’s apartment and back in with my parents, there are all kinds of things in my fridge now. There is meat, and cheese, and lots of goodies. My favorite is my fat-free yogurt, and the frozen rigatoni stuffed with cheese and portobello mushrooms. Oh, and roasted red peppers. I love those things!
Which of your many reviews are you proudest of?
My Nokia 8290 review. It seems to have helped a lot of people make purchasing decisions, which makes me feel good. I’ve actually gotten a lot of emails from non-Epinions members because of that review. It’s nice to know it helps.
Do you use duct tape? If so, for what?
No, I don’t think I’ve ever used duct tape. However, I am an organizational freak, especially about blackboards or marker-boards (you don’t become an educator for nothing!). My boss has a tendency to write all the way across the four-foot marker-board we have at work, in slanted chicken scratch. Tonight, I copied all her notes, then sectioned the entire board off into equal-sized, smaller sections with electrical tape. I then neatly rewrote all her notes, and am hoping to get a bonus. Seriously. They are giving them out for nothing these days, and I also laminated all the menus at work and put them into a binder. I think this calls for a big reward, don’t you? The last bonus I got was for pulling my back out lifting a box. I got a five dollar bonus for it, woohoo!
So, tell the truth. Who do you think is the biggest heartthrob at Epinions? Whose poster would you put on your bedroom wall?
Ok, now I am blushing. I am partial to Sleestakk, Tattooedjedi, and Madtheory. Sleestakk took his hottie pics down, and put some older pics of himself up. You can’t see him as well in these pictures. Tattooedjedi doesn’t write much anymore, but used to be the most recognizable face at Epinions. And Madtheory has a contemplative pic up – complete with a hat to obscure part of his face. The mystery element works. Plus, all three men review totally different music, but it’s all music I am particularly fond of.
What do you see yourself doing 5 years from now? How about 15 years?
In five years I will be teaching elementary school. I should be doing it now, but I just wanted to give myself a year off to grow. In five years, geez. I sound like one of those women I hate, but I would like to be married and have 1.5 children and a dog. I hope to own my own house, or at least have a mortgage company who owns my home and lets me live there. I’ve even started thinking about possibly taking in foster children. If my life was stable enough, and "things" were in order, I definitely think I’d do it. Will I be ready in fifteen years? Maybe. I can also see myself joining one of those woman’s groups, or a country club (although, the idea of golf or yachting repulses me). I’ll need some kind of social outlet.
<i>Note: This Featured Reviewer article was submitted by Deb Conrad</i>
EA Featured Reviewer - 8 
When Poe ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
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