Nikita Kashner
Nov 13, 12:40 PM by Marko
Interview with Nikita Kashner at kitta.net
Marko: Hello Nikita !
Nikita: Hello Marko darling.
Marko: For our reader’s could you tell something about yourself?
Nikita: I am 21 years old and I currently live in a small costal town in Western Australia where it would be socialy acceptable for me to have at least three children by now, because of this people give me dirty looks when I walk around childless, and sometimes I hire children to avoid the ridicule. I work as a jewellery designer and I blog at http://kitta.net which I am happy to report is blocked by a wide variety of net nannies and filters, so don’t even bother trying to access it if you are at work, school or a military establishment. My mother is so proud.
Marko: How are you doing these days?
Nikita: These days I am trying to cope with a few health problems, but apart from that I’m fan-fucking-tastic.
Marko: When did you first encounter a keyboard or computer?
Nikita: My first encounter was with a commodore 64 that a friend who lived down the street owned, at the time I was quite young, and I was made to sit and watched him play games, now and again his mum would yell at him to let me have a go. He wasn’t into sharing things.
Marko: What is your favorite art work/website!?
Nikita: At the moment, my favourite website design is http://www.powazek.com, I haven’t been terribly awe struck by a design in some time, but when I first saw his re-design I was very impressed. I love how he has embraced his bottom; we should all embrace out butts. I also like Cindy Sherman’s work and I have quite a few favourites on Flickr.
Marko: When you launched kitta.net are you happy with the result of the site?
Nikita: I am happy with the result now, although when I first started Kitta.net it took some time for me to find my feet design and blogging style wise. I’m not happy with the current design because it is nearly 2 years old and is getting a tad dusty. I’m currently cleaning out the CSS and planning a re-design that should appear around December, hopefully.
Marko: What do you do in your spare time (I do realize that spare time, in this context, is pretty relative)?
Nikita: I like to make jewellery for myself, it’s a real passion of mine and I find that it is one of the most relaxing and rewarding activities. I also like listening to podcasts, I never find time to listen to the radio so podcasts are a fantastic way to listen to my favourite radio shows in my own time. I am also a bookaholic.
Marko: Do you have a favorite drink? How much of it do you drink?
Nikita: I adore a good red wine, but at the moment I have been told not to drink by my doctor, so I have been craving a glass (or two) for some time now. I ask my friends to drink for me and live vicariously through their buzz.
Marko: Would you care to give us a brief overview of what a typical day is like for Nikita Kashner?
Nikita: I wake after sleeping upon a bed make entirely out of gold (sheets and all) and I am then tended to by my minions, they act out my daily blog feeds in vivid detail while I eat breakfast served upon the back of a naked man. I then spend the rest of my morning sighing and contemplating the meaning of life. At about lunch time I go for a swim in my pool which is filled to the brim with chocolate pudding, and then my fanboys lick the pudding off me, after they are done with licking me dry I get dressed in a new silk robe and recite my latest blog entry to a room full of monkeys who turn my words into the witty entries that you see featured in my blog. At night time I enjoy a 57 course dinner of which I eat one spoon full of each dish, afterwards I retire to the den and sit down with the Little Red Monkey to hear his rants and ramblings of the day, he tells me of how his plan to take over the world that day did not go accordingly and then informs me of his plans to take over the world tomorrow and how triumphant he will be. After he is done, I return to my bed of gold and fall asleep to the sound of the Little Red Monkey yelling at his army of flying monkeys to get their shit together or he will be forced to cut all their wings off and they will have to walk everywhere from then onwards. It’s hard being me.
Marko: I am always wondering how people such as yourself go about getting work? How do you do it?
Nikita: I work as a jewellery designer and I mostly make one off pieces to sell, I sometime do custom piece for friends and family upon request. So to answer you question, you could say I normally get work via word of mouth.
Marko: Who are some of your biggest influences?
Nikita: Photography wise Cindy Sherman and Heather Prowazek Champ, my blogging influences are Heather Armstrong and Sergio Villarreal. The biggest influences in regards to my jewellery design are hard to define, since so many things influence my designs, such as pop culture, fellow jewellery designers and sometimes even just a certain colour inspires me.
Marko: Is your background in design? What was the progression into web development and design like? How did that take place and why?
Nikita: No my background is not really in design. I started out learning HTML when I worked as a model and needed an online modelling portfolio, I didn’t want to pay over $500 for someone else to make one for me, so I learnt how to do it myself. It all started from there and I have been designing since then.
Marko: If you where not a designer/programmer what would you be?
Nikita: I have a strong interest in virology and bacteriology, so I would probably be Virologist. I find viruses and bacterium’s to be quite interesting and beautifully complex, yet so simple and effective.
Marko: How do you like our site mcville.net?
Nikita: It reminds me of a black and white tiled floor.
Marko: It’s really that bad?
Nikita: No, not at all, if used correctly black and white tiled floors can look quite elegant.
Marko: What kind of music do you fancy?
Nikita: A variety, I mainly listen to my favourite artists such as Black Eyed Peas, George, John Butler Trio, Paul Kelly, Hunters and Collectors, The Whitlam’s and various other Australian artists, but I am always open to suggestions and trying to find new music to listen to.
Marko: What’s your favorite food?
Nikita: Oh, that’s a hard one, either Lactose free chocolate or pasta.
Marko: Where do you get out on Saturday’s?
Nikita: My friends are predominately geeks, so we have movie nights, parties and other geeky activities where at some point someone mentions WOW and I am forced to smash my head into a wall, I am not a WOW fan.
Marko: Chinese or Thai?
Nikita: Chinese.
Marko: Coke or Pepsi?
Nikita: A year a go I would say said Coke, but I have been coke free this year, to fill the void of this bad habit I have taken up collecting high heel shoes. To tell you the truth it was cheaper when I was a Coke addict.
Marko: html or asp?
Nikita: XHTML.
Marko: Do you watch television?
Nikita: If so, do you have a favorite show? Yes I do, my favourite show right now is Lost, I have to download it though because season 2 doesn’t air down under until February 2006. I also watch House and Greys Anatomy.
Marko: What would we find in your favorites bookmarks-bar?
Nikita: Some pretty hardcore porn links given to me by a web designer who shall remain unnamed, but I can tell you he goes by ‘GP’ due to an incident with some terribly gay pants. Haha, actually my bookmarks are in a shambles at the moment because of neglect and a nasty habit of adding any bloody website I see to them. I’m contemplating a ‘bookmarkers anonymous’ group to seek out fellow bookmark whores with the same affliction. We will have light refreshments and songs about just saying no to bookmarking.
Marko: What inspires you? This doesn’t have to be design related.
Nikita: Colour inspires me quite a bit, a lot of people take colour for granted and don’t look at the emotional impact it can have.
Marko: Thank again for having this interview, cheers!
Nikita: You’re very welcome Marko.
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Dave, before you express un-constructive criticism you may want to learn how to write eloquently if you wish to be taken seriously and not come across as an inarticulate eight year old who’s Daddy has left them unsupervised at the computer.
This site’s got some issues – but the interviews of Kitta and Bearskinrug are some kind of silver lining…