Itzah C. Kret interviews Itzah C. Kret                 about My Nutty Neighbors Q:    Where do you live? A:   A little more than a mile from Dick Cheney’s house, in Washington, D.C. Q:    Why does it matter that you live close to the Cheneys?   Do you suffer from the dominant personality disorder in D.C. where you get your sense of identity from where you live, who you work for and what you do for a living? A:    I doubt it.... Several times we’ve had mice in our house.  My wife insists that I catch them alive in Hav-A- Heart traps.  My conscience insists that I release the mice at the spot next to the fence on Massachusetts Avenue that’s closet to the Cheney’s.    Q:   So you are a quintessential Nutty Neighbor?   A:    You could say that. Q:   Where did you grow up? A:    Next to and in the woods that surround the Mormon Temple in Kensington, Maryland. That’s where I found a few wonderful and the few certifiable Nutty Neighbors who provided the inspiration for this book. Q:   Where did you get the idea for the bird letters? A:    By combining a bunch of ideas: Bobbie McFerrin’s voice;  twisting Yoga poses;  and my love of birds..... I wanted at least one of my books to have the complete artistic integrity I seek. Q:   That’s an answer? A:    I was a late bloomer.  I didn’t realize I could really illustrate in color until I was 42.  Because of a bunch of things, I couldn’t allow myself to be exposed to music until I was in law school when I was in my late 20's.   Sitting in the Bobst library  (with headphones on) I discovered how much I love classical music.  Then some friends introduced me to Cat Stevens.  Years later and right about the time I was searching for an answer to my typeface problem I heard Bobbie McFerrin on NPR.  I figured if he could create all those wonderful sounds with his voice, I could create wonderful dancing bird letters.  It was a natural progression, right about the time I was learning how to do Yoga.  And the whole thing probably took a minute.   Q:   You did all those bird letters in a minute?   A:    No, no. no–just the idea.  It took more than nine months to color the letters, put them together into words and then sentences.  I imagine it was a lot like setting lead type. Q:   So now you’re giving away your typeface secrets? A:    Sort of.  I figure I just broke the artistic equivalent of the four minute mile.  There will be other artists who realize what’s possible and create even better typeface in the future.  Hopefully I’ve moved Kandinsky’s triangle upward just a little bit. Q:   Huh? A:    It doesn’t matter.  Let’s get this interview over with. Q:   What do your parents think of all of this? A:    Well they’re proud, but wish parts of it weren’t there. Q:   For example? A:   Well my Mom wishes I’d edited out parts of the introductory page.  “Dear” she says, “ all of that extraneous stuff makes you look like a flake.”  “But Mom,” I reply “I AM a flake”.   “I know dear” she says, “ but you don’t have to broadcast it to everyone”. Q:   You self published in color last October and now this October, Just what are you trying to do here? A:   Compete with Madonna and Billy Joel. Q:  So the grandiose delusion continues...Okay, so what do you really want? A:   I just want to live first, die second and make beautiful things in between.   Q:   And you’re on your way? A:   Yes and I’ll end this interview with what I remember of the first poem I wrote at NYU School of Law. Crying Tears streaming by my cheeks What’s the matter with me? I want to be free I want to be free Free as the raven Flying by the mountaintop Twisting, turning, diving,  soaring Wing-to-wing somersaults. I want to be free Why doesn’t anyone understand? Why does everyone insist on telling me it’s impossible, when it is what I need? I need to be free I need to be free Nothing else Nothing more I am      on my way. .