Born 24 April 1991 in Falun, Sweden / 167 cm / 53 kg / Green eyes / Favorite Atari game: “Ain’t got no’n”
One day in the summer of 2011, my friend Iida told me there was a new girl at her job who I would totally love. A month or so later, I met Julia Lind who was that new girl. Iida was absolutely right.
Julia Anna Astrid Lind grew up in a small Swedish town called Falun. The town is known for a special type of spicy, starchy sausage called Falukorv, and a huge copper mine which opened in 1347. The mine suffered a catastrophic collapse in 1687 which created an obscenely large crater that still exists today – 300 meters across and 100 meters deep.
Julia left the land of copper and sausages and moved to the big city, Stockholm, when she was 19.
Somewhere along the way, she picked up a way of “being” that balances heartwarming, indignant, endearing, prodding and hysterical. So much of everything Julia says is in the subtleties, nuances and colors of the way she says it. It is truly impossible to transcribe into written words the things she says, because most of it simply disappears with the sounds.
Every once in a rare while, you meet someone who is a natural fit, with whom you simultaneously feel both comfort and anticipation. Despite her being born after I voted for the first time, it is nevertheless always thrilling to find someone who is on the same page.
Then again, I occasionally realize I’m gonna die like twenty years before she does. (Sheesh, how boring will her life will be after that?) I mean, we’ve only known each other a few months, but I feel like we’ll still be cursing at each other in text messages when I’m 114 years old. She’ll still be a 90-something spring chicken. Yep, that’s Julia Lind. A real early bird.
PHOTOS BY EMILY DAHL
SO, ABOUT YOUR PARENTS…
I have a father and mother, but they don’t live together. They separated when I was two.
AH, IT’S ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT.
Yeah, it’s always been like that. And I have a good relationship with both. So that’s good. And they also have that.
THEY LIKE EACH OTHER?
Yeah, they do.
THEY’RE JUST NOT LOVERS ANYMORE.
They didn’t like each other when I was young. No, my mom didn’t like my dad.
BUT THEY MADE IT WORK A LITTLE LATER?
Yeah.
DID YOU GET GOOD GRADES IN SCHOOL?
Um… [five seconds, hesitating] I… No. Or yes. I don’t know. [three seconds] I dropped out of school when I was 18.
YOU WEREN’T FINISHED YET?
No. I wasn’t finished. I had one year left, but I dropped out, because of many things. … So I worked for about six months, then I started this other school. I don’t know what you call it in the US, but it’s folkhögskolan or komvux. It’s like komvux but it’s a program.
OH, IT’S “ADULT EDUCATION.”
I finished one year later. So I did get good grades at this school.
WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR NICKNAMES?
Nicknames… Hmmm… [three seconds]
OTHER THAN “EARLYBIRD.”
[laughs] I don’t think I have a nickname, other than the usual ones – Julie, Julan – but, no, I don’t have any nicknames. [Maybe] Lind…
YOUR LAST NAME.
…but it’s no fun.
HAS ANYONE EVER CALLED YOU JULGRAN? (The Swedish word for “Christmas tree.”)
[laughs] Nah… No. “Julianne.”
BECAUSE IIDA [HELLSTRÖM] WANTS TO KNOW WHY YOU THINK IT’S SO LAME TO HAVE A CHRISTMAS TREE?
I don’t think it’s lame!
SHE SAID THAT YOU MADE FUN OF HER FOR HAVING A CHRISTMAS TREE.
I thought that it was pretty early to have a Christmas tree that was already up.
IT IS DECEMBER.
But it is… For me it’s too early. We do it the night before Christmas day. So, I was like, [gasping] “augh!” Now?!
SO YOU’RE NOT AGAINST THE CHRISTMAS TREE, YOU’RE AGAINST THE TIMING.
The timing, yeah. But, no, I’m not against it. I was like shocked! “Julgran?! Nej!” (“Christmas tree?! No!”) [laughter]
BUT DO YOU THINK IT’S COOL TO BE ANTI-CHRISTMAS?
But, I… No… I’m not… Noooo?
HOW ANTI-CHRISTMAS ARE YOU? WHY DO YOU HATE CHRISTMAS?
[defensive and perplexed] I don’t hate Christmas! Who said that I…
WHY DO YOU HATE CHRISTMAS?
I. Don’t. Hate. Christmas.
WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR CHRISTMAS?
[no response]
WHAT SHOULD I GET YOU?
[seven seconds] A visit.
A VISIT? WHERE SHOULD I VISIT YOU?
[laughs] No, no. Not your visit. I want to visit Kentucky!
OH!
No, but that’s one of the parts that I don’t like about Christmas. It’s all the presents and it’s so much money. You spend so much money on nothing, just because it’s Christmas.
BECAUSE YOU’RE FORCED TO BUY PRESENTS.
Yeah. Yeah. And that’s something that I don’t like about Christmas. But I think it’s cozy to relax with my family, but the whole thing around Christmas I think it’s overkill.
YEAH. SO IF I GOT YOU LIKE A TRIP TO KENTUCKY OR A GIFT CARD TO McDONALD’S, BOTH WOULD BE FINE?
[laughs] Uh, yeah. [laughter] But I don’t think I would use the McDonald’s… [laughter]
NOT EVEN IF IT WAS FROM ME? A “SPECIAL GIFT” FROM ME?
I haven’t eaten… I haven’t been to McDonald’s since I was a kid.
SINCE SOMEBODY CHOSE IT FOR YOU.
[laughing…] Yeah.
DO YOU THINK THAT CHRISTIANITY WOULD BE SUCH A BIG DEAL IF JESUS WASN’T SO CUTE?
[laughing…] No! Never!
THAT’S A LOT OF THE APPEAL FOR PEOPLE, YOU THINK? BECAUSE HE’S SO CUTE AND HE’S GOT THE BEARD AND THE LONG HAIR…
And, of course, [speaking dreamily…] his blue eyes, the brown, curly hair. Of course! [laughter]
WHO IS CUTER, JESUS OR MOHAMMED?
Jesus, of course. Jesus…
YEAH, I GUESS YOU’RE NOT REALLY ALLOWED TO LOOK AT PICTURES OF MOHAMMED ANYWAY SO…
[laughter] He could be Jesus!
[laughs] HE COULD BE JESUS! MAYBE THAT’S WHY THEY DON’T WANT TO SHOW US PICTURES OF HIM!
[laughter] He IS Jesus! Of course!
HOLY SHIT. ARE YOU RIGHT-HANDED?
Yes.
DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL WEIRD WHEN YOU SEE PEOPLE WRITING WITH THEIR LEFT HAND?
[positively] Yes. [but seriously] No. No.
NO? NOT EVEN WHEN THEY’RE DOING THAT KIND OF BACKWARDS THING WHERE THEIR HAND IS ABOVE WHERE THEY’RE WRITING?
[laughs] Okay, yeah. [resigning herself to giving me the answers I want…] They annoy me. Like crazy. [laughter]
ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS?
[three seconds of suspense] No. [three seconds, then coyly…] But I could be? [laughter]
WHY DID YOU GET FIRED FROM THE GROCERY STORE?
[six seconds] I mean, “why?” [as in “why are you asking me this?”] Why?!
BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW. I’M VERY CURIOUS.
Because (my boss was) a fucking asshole.
HE’S THE BOSS?
Yeah. The boss. The boss is an asshole. That’s why. And I’m so fucking happy about it. I’m really glad that I did.
IT WORKED OUT WELL FOR YOU.
Yeah! I feel…
YOUR NEW JOB, YOU LIKE IT A LOT BETTER.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
WHEN I SAW YOU THERE TODAY YOU LOOKED LIKE YOU WERE HAVING FUN.
Yeah? I am. And the girls that I’m working with are fucking awesome.
ARE YOU USUALLY RIGHT OR ARE OTHER PEOPLE USUALLY WRONG?
[eight seconds of contemplation] The people are usually wrong, I think.
SO IT’S NOT THAT YOU’RE VERY SMART, IT’S JUST THAT EVERYONE ELSE IS AN IDIOT?
[laughs] Yeah. And I don’t say that I’m not an idiot, too. People are idiots.
I ALSO WON’T SAY THAT. YOUR WORDS, NOT MINE. I WILL NOT CALL YOU AN IDIOT.
[laughter] Nej, inte här. (“No, not here.”) [laughter]
NOT HERE. NOT TONIGHT. [laughter] WHEN YOU’RE WALKING IN THE CITY, DO YOU LOOK AT THE OTHER PEOPLE AROUND YOU?
Of course.
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
I’m looking at… It depends on the person I’m looking at. But I love to look at how people move, you know what I mean? How they… Body language. I think that’s very interesting. Then I’m very… I like to look at people’s clothes and hair. I just find people interesting. I think it’s interesting to look at people. Because no one is… Everyone is… Jag kan inte formulera mig. (“I can’t express myself.”)
OKAY. HAVE YOU EVER ACCIDENTALLY SWALLOWED SOMETHING THAT WASN’T FOOD?
[nods, laughing]
LIKE WHAT? [laughter]
Small animals. [laughter]
ANIMALS, COINS, PAPERCLIPS? [laughter] WHAT KIND OF ANIMALS?
[laughing…] Every fucking animal. Cows… Horses… [laughter]
I THOUGHT YOU WERE VEGETARIAN.
Not always vegetarian. Yeah, but flies? [laughter] Yeah, I’ve swallowed lots of flies.
ON A BICYCLE.
Bicycle.
HOW DOES THAT FEEL WHEN THEY GO DOWN?
[laughter] It’s pretty fun! [laughs] No, it’s terrible.
DO YOU KNOW HOW WHEN SOMEBODY IS SMOKING CIGARETTES, PEOPLE AROUND THEM SOMETIMES COUGH… THE SMOKE MAKES THEM COUGH? DO YOU THINK THAT SMOKERS THINK OTHER PEOPLE JUST COUGH A LOT?
[laughing…] That’s fucking good question! Uh, no.
NO?
Yeah.
YES?
No.
NO?
Yeah.
OKAY.
No. Yeah. Yeah.
ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Absolutely yes!
YES!
[laughs] Noooo.
THAT’S ABSOLUTELY WRONG. [laughs]
[laughing…] Yeah, that’s absolutely wrong. I’m so wrong.
WHEN YOU BUTTON UP YOUR SHIRT…
Yep?
LET ME START OVER. WHEN YOU BUTTON YOUR SHIRT…
Yeah.
DO YOU START AT THE BOTTOM OR AT THE TOP?
At the top. I think. Yeah. The top.
I HAD TO REPHRASE IT. I DIDN’T WANT TO SAY “BUTTON UP YOUR SHIRT.”
Ack! Noooo.
THAT MIGHT INFLUENCE YOU. LIKE IN A COURTROOM, “YOU’RE LEADING THE WITNESS!”
[laughs] Yes. I see.
DO YOU STILL KNOW ANY OF THE OTHER STUDENTS WHO WERE THERE ON YOUR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL?
[five seconds] No. You mean, when I was 7? When I started school?
YEP. YOUR VERY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
Nope.
THOSE PEOPLE ARE GONE?
[five seconds] Yes. Yeah, yes, they’re gone. Pret-ty gone. But I have to… [six seconds] Yeah, everyone’s gone.
WHEN I MET YOU, YOU WERE DATING A GIRL…
Yeah. Johanna.
BUT THEN I HEARD YOU RECENTLY WENT OUT ON A DATE WITH A GUY.
Yeah.
SO WHICH DO YOU LIKE BETTER, GIRLS OR GUYS?
[laughs] I don’t see people as “genders.” I don’t think that’s important at all. “He’s a guy. She’s a girl.” I think that the whole thing about saying, “you’re a guy and I’m a girl,” d …. So… [ten seconds] But it’s harder for me to… No, it’s not harder, but it’s… Guys… Every time I’ve been dating a guy has ended in a bad way.
MMM HMM.
Because I think that in the world that we live in, guys do… [six seconds of hesitation]
WHAT IS IT? SPIT IT OUT. YOU WON’T OFFEND ME.
[laughs] No! No, I know. I don’t say that every guy is the same, because they’re not. Or every girl is the same, because they’re not. People are so different from each other. But I have bad… [seven seconds] I have more bad memories about guys. So the guys maybe have to impress me twenty times, but a girl just has to impress me two times.
YEAH.
Because I don’t trust guys like I do girls.
ARE GIRLS BETTER KISSERS?
[smiles at the question] Girls do have softer lips than guys, I think. [laughter]
I FIGURED AS MUCH.
Yeah. But I can’t say that they are better. Yeah, it doesn’t have to do with it. It doesn’t have anything to do with gender, I think.
THERE’S NOT A GENERAL RULE?
Nooo. But in my experience, yes. Girls are better.
YEAH. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT IT WOULD BE THAT WAY.
[laughs] Yeah.
BECAUSE GIRLS ARE WAY SMARTER AND MORE AWARE. [laughter]
Eh, maybe. [laughs]
AND LIKE YOU SAID, THEY’RE SOFTER.
But I don’t want to see it as a gender thing, because it’s not. For me it’s not. [four seconds] So if that makes me bisexual… [laughter] My mom always asks me, [in a concerned mom-voice…] “But, but, but… Julia. Are you a homosexual now?” [laughter] “Please tell me. Are you bisexual or are you a homosexual? Or are you heterosexual?”
SHE WANTS YOU TO CHOOSE?
Yeah! But I’m like, “Mom, I’m sexual. But I’m not bi-sexual. And I’m not ‘gay.’ So… [grunts] Leave it that way.”And she’s like, [apologetically] “Okay, okay! Just so you’re happy. I want you to be happy.”
THAT’S NICE.
Yeah, she’s really good. My mom’s really good. My dad is really good, too.
GOOD!
They didn’t have any problems with my sexuality.
I THINK IT’S LIKE A DREAM COME TRUE FOR A DAD.
[laughter] [misinterpreting what I meant…] Noooo!
[laughing…] NOT IN THAT WAY! NOT IN THAT WAY. JUST BECAUSE EVERY DAD KNOWS WHAT CREEPS GUYS ARE.
That’s true.
…AND IF HE CAN KEEP HIS LITTLE GIRL AWAY FROM ALL THESE MONSTERS…
Yeah! [laughter]
IF I EVER HAVE A DAUGHTER, I FEEL LIKE I’LL BE LIKE, [desperately praying…] “PLEASE BE GAY. PLEASE BE GAY. PLEASE BE GAY.”
[laughter] Yeah, but I mean, girls hurt, too.
YEAH, I’M SURE.
They can hurt more “mentally.” I think so. It’s more mental with a girl.
WELL, GIRLS ARE “MENTAL.”
Yes.
HAVE YOU EVER LOOKED THROUGH SOMEONE ELSE’S GARBAGE?
[taking a drink and then pulling back a bit, tilting her head…] No?
ARE YOU SURE? BECAUSE YOU’RE LOOKING AROUND A LOT…
[firmly] I have to think about it. [laughter]
SO IT’S A POSSIBILITY!
[much laughter] Uhhh…
IT’S IN YOU… SOMEWHERE… [laughter] THE POTENTIAL TO LOOK THROUGH SOMEONE’S GARBAGE.
But, but, yeah. ICA Bagarmossen’s [the grocery store where she used to work with Iida]. I have eaten food from the garbage.
WAS IT PRETTY GOOD?
Yeah, it was pretty good. If you don’t think that it’s garbage. It’s the same.
IS THAT WHY YOU STUCK YOUR HAND IN MY FOOD A MINUTE AGO? [laughter] BECAUSE YOU JUST GRAB FOOD FROM EVERYWHERE?
[laughing…] It’s just like “my thing” to do. Grab other’s food, yeah.
I LIKE THAT ABOUT YOU. [laughter] NO RULES. NO BOUNDARIES. [laughter] TELL ME ABOUT FALUN. THERE’S A BIG HOLE THERE THAT IS LIKE 100 METERS DEEP AND 400 YEARS OLD… OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT?
Yeah, it is. At first when I moved from Falun, I thought that everyone who stayed were sad people. Because it’s [in a British accent..] so “facking” small that you can’t even breathe. Everybody knows everybody. [back to her normal voice…] Not like you know 60,000 people, but… It’s a pretty small town but it’s very, very beautiful.
YOU’VE BEEN TO THE HOLE, I PRESUME?
Of course, I’ve been to the hole. Falu Gruva. (“The Falun Mine”) It’s one of the seven… the world’s…
IT’S A UNESCO SITE.
How do you say it? It’s a…
THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD?
[no response]
ONE OF THE “HISTORIC SITES THAT ARE GREAT?”
[laughs] Like the Holy Grail? [laughs]
IT IS ONE OF THE SEVEN BIGGEST HOLES IN THE WORLD?
[laughter] Yeah. And I don’t know… but it’s very big and very beautiful, and I know that you’d love it.
OKAY, WELL, IF I TAKE YOU TO KENTUCKY YOU’LL HAVE TO TAKE ME TO FALUN.
Of course!
IT’S IN DALARNA SO I’LL HAVE TO BUY SOME LITTLE HORSES FOR MY PARENTS.
[laughs] Awww.
OF ALL THE TIMES YOU’VE HAD MEXICAN FOOD FOR LUNCH, WHICH ONE WAS YOUR FAVORITE?
Of course, when we ate lunch! When was it, Thursday? That was the best time ever.
THAT IS SO SWEET.
Yeah?
THANK YOU.
Yeah, no, thank you. Thank you!
CAN YOU IMITATE WHAT AMERICAN PEOPLE SOUND LIKE WHEN THEY TALK?
[ten seconds of contemplation] Eww, umm… I think that, well, I don’t know. They do sound self-confident. But I haven’t spoken to too many Americans. You’re one of them, of course. But, usually I haven’t liked Americans. Americans and Swedish people are very different, I think.
It’s like [the difference between] an American movie and a Swedish movie. [laughter] If you look at a Swedish movie it’s like oh, deep, dark, very mysterious…
NOTHING HAPPENS.
Nothing happens. It’s very naked. And [in American movies], it’s like you put too much makeup on yourself.
YEAH. AND THERE’S JUST LIKE SHIT BLOWING UP EVERYWHERE.
Yeah! I think so. There are good American movie, of course, but…
JURASSIC PARK?
[laughs] Yeah, like Jurassic Park.
HAVE YOU SEEN THAT ONE?
Of course I have!
IT’S PRETTY FUCKING GREAT, ISN’T IT?
[patronizingly] It’s pretty fucking awesome! [laughter] Yeah, so, I think that Swedish people… I don’t like Swedish people… or, I don’t like people. I love people but I don’t like rude people. I don’t think that you… I don’t see you as an American. I don’t know why, but it feels like you’re more open. It doesn’t feel like you’re putting some shell up.
OH, JUST YOU WAIT! [laughter] WAIT ’TIL YOU MEET THE REAL ME.
My friend… Which one of my friends have you met?
I MET JOHANNA. I MET THAT GUY WE JUST SAW AT KONSUM [grocery store] WHEN WE WERE WALKING HERE.
[laughs] Yeah. Someone said that you didn’t…
WHERE DID WE SEE SOMEBODY?
I don’t know!
NOT AT VAMPIRE LOUNGE, NOT AT LOUIE LOUIE. IIDA’S BIRTHDAY PARTY? [seven seconds] OH! WE RAN INTO TWO OF YOUR FRIENDS AT OUR MEXICAN LUNCH!
No.
IT’S A HARD QUESTION SINCE WE’VE HUNG OUT, LIKE, SIX TIMES.
[laughter] It’s really hard. Maybe it was Liv.
WHERE DID I MEET LIV?
At the cinema.
OH YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.
Liv, the red-headed girl… Because someone said to me that you weren’t like the “other” ones.
AWWW. I WASN’T LIKE, [in a frat dude voice…] “HEY, BRO! WHAT’S GOIN’ ON, DUDE?”
[in a gruff voice…] “I’m from Brooklyn, dawg!” [laughs] But I want to go to Brooklyn.
OF COURSE YOU DO. SWEDISH PEOPLE LOVE NEW YORK.
Swedish people love Brooklyn. Why?
WHY DO YOU? [COMPARED TO A LOT OF PEOPLE IN BROOKLYN,] YOU SEEM TO TAKE A SHOWER AND WASH YOUR HAIR ON A REGULAR BASIS. [laughter] YOU DON’T SMELL BAD. YOU DON’T HAVE GLASSES THAT LOOK LIKE YOU FOUND THEM IN THE GARBAGE, AND THAT YOU’RE WEARING TO MAKE OTHER PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE.
[laughs] No, that’s true. That’s true. Thank you.
YOU’RE VERY NEAT, VERY CLEAN, VERY PUT-TOGETHER, VERY LAGOM.
Pretty lagom. I would say that I’ve got androgyn. How do you say that? If you’re a girl and you look boyish?
OH, ANDROGYNOUS.
Yes, I would like to say that I’m androgynous.
I SEE WHERE YOU WOULD THINK THAT, BUT I THINK YOU’RE QUITE FEMININE.
Yeah, in my face and stuff like that.
YOU DO HAVE A MASCULINE STYLE.
Yeah, but, the feminine style of a man.
ABSOLUTELY. BUT WHAT YOU’RE WEARING NOW, IF I SAW A GUY WEARING THAT, I WOULD THINK THAT HE WAS NOT VERY MANLY.
No, but I’m not very feminine either. I think these trousers, my shoes…
I THINK I’VE ONLY SEEN YOU IN A DRESS ONCE.
Nope. You haven’t. I don’t wear dresses often. It happens in the summer.
IIDA’S BIRTHDAY? IT MUST HAVE BEEN A FLOWING SHIRT THEN.
No, I had these trousers. I had…
SOME SHIRT THAT WAS VERY DRAPED, FLOWING… SO ANYWAY, BACK TO THE QUESTION: CAN YOU IMITATE WHAT AMERICAN PEOPLE SOUND LIKE WHEN THEY TALK?
[laughs] I have to think about it. [nine seconds, then seemingly getting stage fright…] I don’t knoooow.
I WON’T LOOK.
No, no, you can look. You can look. [after some hemming and hawing…] It’s like this, [in a deep, serious voice] “Well, I’m an American and, uh, you love me and I love everybody. And it’s… War does not exist. No. We’re doing this because we love people. We love life, and we love the world.”
[stunned and laughing in disbelief] WOW.
That’s American.
LET THE RECORD SHOW THAT I WAS BASICALLY CRYING WHEN YOU WERE DOING THAT. IT WAS SO FUNNY! [laughter] WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS?
That’s a hard one, because I love music and I love all kinds of music. It depends on my mood, which music I listen to, but I listen to jazz, I listen to electronica, rock music… I love music. So it’s hard to say, but I love “Lullaby of Birdland” by Ella Fitzgerald.
CAN YOU SING SOME OF THAT FOR ME?
Nooo.
JUST A LITTLE BIT?
Noooooo. Have you heard it?
I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I’M THINKING OF THE RIGHT SONG.
“Lullaby of Birdland that’s what…” [stops as I start smiling…]You just want me to sing! [laughter] That’s not… That’s not nice! [laughter]
NO, NO… WHAT OTHER SONGS DO YOU LIKE?
I love a Swedish band called Adam & Alma. They are from Stockholm. The guy that I was dating, it’s his friends. But I have listened to them much longer, so for me, they’re not like his friends, they’re like my idols.
WHAT’S ONE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS FROM THEM?
“Smile for Me, Sun.”
CAN YOU SING SOME OF THAT FOR ME?
No.
HOW DOES THAT ONE GO?
[sigh] You have to listen.
I DON’T HAVE SPOTIFY, CAN YOU MAYBE JUST GIVE ME A LITTLE OF IT?
No.
JUST A LITTLE BIT?
No. I won’t. I’m shy when it comes to music.
JULIA. LOOK AT ME. FUCKING SING! NOW!
[laughter] No! Nope!
[suddenly distracted by a bite on her skin] DID YOU GET BIT? IS THAT A VAMPIRE BITE?
Is that… Nope.
IS THAT FROM THE VAMPIRE LOUNGE?
[pulling her iPhone out] Ah! You can listen… I have the songs here!
OH, NO, NO, NO. YOU CAN PUT THAT AWAY. JUST SING A LITTLE BIT OF IT.
[laughter] No! Okay, so those are two of my favorites. I won’t say that they’re my favorite songs because I have so many favorite songs, so I can’t just pick one or two.
YOU CAN’T PICK ONE… TO SING FOR ME.
[laughs] No, no, definitely not.
WHAT ARE SOME THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT THAT YOU WISH YOU KNEW ALL ABOUT?
I wish that I knew everything about everything.
REALLY?
Yeah. No, no, okay, okay…
THAT WOULD INCLUDE LIKE WHAT SOMEBODY WORKING IN THE KITCHEN [OF THIS RESTAURANT] WAS THINKING RIGHT NOW.
Yep.
YOU WISH YOU KNEW THAT?
No. No, I would have to say that it’s hard for me to say that because I’m in the middle of a process with myself where I’m searching for that, “what do I want to know?” So it’s hard to answer that right now.
SHOULD I ASK YOU AGAIN IN FIVE YEARS?
Yeah! In five years. Maybe one year.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE ANSWER WILL BE IN FIVE YEARS?
[laughter] I haven’t got a fucking clue! [her phone rings]
IT’S MATHILDA! SHE HAS CRAZY HAIR.
[in a British accent] Yeah, she’s fucking amazing. You would love her!
[also in a British accent] EH? QUITE LIT’RALLY!
Yay, quite lit’rally. Yeah, you would.
WELL, I THINK YOU’RE FANTASTIC SO… [laughter] IF SHE’S ANYTHING LIKE YOU…. ANY FRIEND OF YOURS IS A FRIEND OF MINE.
[much laughter] Yeah! Of course!
SO THAT’S ALL I HAVE FOR YOU AND I WANT TO THANK YOU SO MUCH… [much laughter]
Oh, you’re welcome!
…FOR A DELICIOUS INTERVIEW. [laughter]
[laughing…] Oh, you think so?
AND IF SOME TIME YOU WANT TO SING LATER, LET ME KNOW AND I’LL TURN THE RECORDER BACK ON.
[laughter]
PHOTOS BY EMILY DAHL
