Photo by Bryan Hoybrook
Our POSA bass, Nicholas Nelson, gives his studio artist recital at 7 PM tomorrow evening, at Portland Art Museum's Whitsell Auditorium. As with all our studio recitals, tickets are free (available by reservation here); a $10 suggested donation will be gratefully received at the door.
You should go see the Rothkos while you're there. Seriously.
Anyway, as with the other POSAs, Nick has graciously answered the Proust questionnaire; for the record, I have never noticed his apparently misshapen face!
What is your current state of mind?
A mixture of 80 percent anticipation and 20 percent anxiety looking ahead to my recital.
What is your chief characteristic?
Thrift, regarding money and everything else.
What do you appreciate the most in your friends?
Wit and patience.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Modesty, though it's still a good one to have.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
The disparity between my ambitions and my actual attempts to achieve them.
What historical figure do you most identify with?
Malcolm X
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Having health, love, family and the opportunity to do good work.
If not yourself, who would you be?
Whoever in this world is most like me, so, maybe Hugh Laurie.
What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My facial asymmetry, my right eye and pupil are significantly bigger than my left.
Where would you like to live?
Simultaneously: St. Petersburg, Mumbai, Minneapolis and Portland.
What is your idea of misery?
Any possibility of joy or beauty left unrealized.
Who are your favorite heroes in fiction?
Joseph K, Holden Caulfield, Raskolnikov
Who are your favorite heroines in fiction?
Medea, Penelope, Dr. Beverly Crusher
What is your favorite journey?
The walk from the record shelves to the turntable.
Who are your favorite composers?
Modest Mussorgsky, Frank Zappa and Ismail Darbar
What living person do you most despise?
Anyone who has the power to better the lives of others and chooses not to for their own benefit.
What is your greatest regret?
Not being a better friend to friends who have since passed away.
What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Confidence.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Creativity.
If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?
Diamanda Galas's piano.
What is your favorite food and drink?
Food: Anything that is spicy, rich, salty and sweet, like good Indian or Mexican cooking.
Drink: I would normally say a strong cup of Assam tea, but after living in Portland a year and a half it ties with a good cup of French press coffee.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would rid myself of all fear that isn't necessary for basic self-preservation.
What is your most treasured possession?
A painting that was a Christmas present to my great-great-grandparents in 1896.
What are your favorite names?
Fyodor, Julius and Lily
What do you hate most of all?
Waste. ...and Ikea.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
A guitar solo I played in 1997 while covering Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Child (slight return)"
What natural talent would you most like to have?
Whistling, I am completely clueless as to how it's done.
How do you wish to die?
At a very old age, proud of my accomplishments and somehow at peace with the idea of dying (though the last part is highly unlikely).
What is your favorite motto?
Existence precedes essence.
