Zuska is the kick-ass alter-ego of Suzanne E Franks. When not dispensing Zuska's wisdom, Suzanne can often be found gardening, reading, or having one of her thrice-weekly migraines.
There is a super-fabulous interview with Zuska over on Page 3.14. Page 3.14 is "is your guide to ScienceBlogs. Maintained by Seed's editors, web editors, and the other people who make Seed tick, it points you in the direction of some of ScienceBlogs' finest offerings." But I think it's really mostly written by the wonderful Katherine Sharpe, whom Zuska adores, and hopes to meet someday in person.
The interview is loosely based on the infamous Proust questionnaire. At the interview page you will find a spiffy photo of Zuska. Here is a little snippet of the interview to whet your appetite.
What's your name?
Well, originally my name was Suzanne Franks. Then I married someone, and just because I said I wanted to, my name became Suzanne Shedd. Ten years later, it took a lawyer and a court order and a "petition to retake former name" to go back to Suzanne Franks. And there's still a utility company and a credit bureau that thinks my social security number belongs to Suzanne Shedd. Let that be a lesson to you young women who think it's a good idea to change your name at marriage. Anyway - Suzanne Franks.What do you do when you're not blogging?
I garden, I read, I cook, I have migraines.What is your blog called?
Thus Spake ZuskaWhat's up with that name?
........
Ah, you'll just have to go read the rest of it over at its spot on 3.14.
Comments
While I have yet to be interviewed on Page 3.14, I have had the pleasure of meeting our dear Ms. Sharpe, whom I also adore. Heck, she invited me to join Sb on my birthday! She is as charming and well-read in person as she is in print.
Loved your interview - would love to get insights from you on how best to be a Dad to a female only child as I try to steel her against the patriarchy.
Welcome again! It is a pleasure to write beside you.
Posted by: Abel Pharmboy | September 25, 2006 10:20 PM
No interview for me, either (unless you count a podcast from many months ago, which wasn't about me so much as about Scientists Behaving Badly). But Zuska's interview kicks ass. I knew it would.
Posted by: Dr. Free-Ride | September 25, 2006 11:22 PM
I really admire the totem.
I had plans, once, not the same, but the same elements in a different configuration. I never got around to making or even drawing it. Maybe I should.
Posted by: Greg | September 27, 2006 12:36 AM
Enjoyed the interview, and said as much in the comments to it. Proust background is well appreciated as well. ;)
Posted by: Melinda Casino | September 27, 2006 2:08 AM
Well, I cannot take credit for that awesome totem. The picture was taken in Quark Park ( http://www.princetonoccasion.org/quarkpark/ ) in Princeton, NJ. Check out the photo gallery, and especially the project by Naomi Leonard, Bob Custer, and David Scudder. I'm telling you, when you walk through those glass bubbles, it's an otherworldly, beautiful, ethereal experience. If you can get to Princeton before the end of October, you really ought to go check it out. After that - it's gone. Which is a pity. Because it's really nifty. There ought to be a bigger and better Quark Park that lives forever. I wonder if I could get the folks at the Morris Arboretum ( http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/arboretum/ ) to morph it into the Morris Quark Arboretum....?
(sorry I couldn't get my damn HTML tags to work today, don't know why. I curse the foul programmers and their non-informative error messages.) (sorry to all you nice programmers. I don't mean you.)
Posted by: Zuska | September 27, 2006 1:53 PM
Thank you for the links.
The toys of bright people are so fascinating.
Posted by: Greg | September 28, 2006 12:13 AM
Off topic, and in the realm of absolute assvice, but my mom suffered migranes for years which she would drug with all kinds of prescriptions. Then she started smoking "the pot", and blam! So much better!
Obviously, migranes have many places from whence they come; YMMV.
Posted by: Arwen | September 30, 2006 1:16 AM
Well, though in my wild past it is possible I may have tried this treatment and had mixed results, I am getting old enough to fear notoriety and the U.S.'s enthusiasm for prosecuting even cancer patients and their doctors...and I am fairly certain this is not included in my neurologist's battery of approved treatments, even the experimental ones...I have also been told to wait for menopause, after which supposedly many a woman's migraines have up and vanished. Unfortunately for me, I must also pray for a late menopause, hanging on to the hormones as long as possible so as to keep the bones from going all brittle on me. Because I can't take any hormones after menopause, on account of having had the migrainous stroke - and hormone supplements would increase my risk for another stroke. Not that I might want to take them, what with them being associated with increased cancer risk. Staying healthy is not for the faint of heart. Hah. And I'm sure that's way more than all my readers ever wanted to know about the migrainous travails of Zuska.
Posted by: Zuska | October 2, 2006 2:17 PM