Welcome to Ask Roulette, the newsletter.
Before we get going, we’re excited to announce the special guests for our next Ask Roulette live show in NYC on Thursday, April 25th. Joining us will be
Jon Ronson, author, humorist, and podcast host, “Things Fell Apart”
Caitlin Cook, comedian, “The Writing On The Stall”
and of course, music from the brilliant Eli Bolin
Snag your early-bird price tickets now. Also, the more tickets we sell now, the lower my blood pressure gets.
So, how does this newsletter work? Each newsletter you’ll see one reader’s answer to the previous question. Then you’ll see the question they have for the list, which you can respond to if you’d like. Or you can just read and enjoy.
Previous ask:
What is the first job you can remember aspiring to have as a child? What do you do now? What happened?
Bevin answers:
I aspired to be a detective. It was a joint aspiration with my best friend at that time, who was also my cousin and lived across from me. We both bought 'The Usborne Detective's Handbook' and came up with missions. The most memorable involved an elaborate afternoon of frying cubed potatoes, getting my siblings to eat them with their fingers and then smearing their fingers on a glass panelled sliding door for us to dust with talcum powder.
The powder, brush and a notebook fit in our matching Detective Kits, plastic and brightly coloured, it was all very important business. We were missing a trench coat though and I lusted after one I saw in a Burberry storefront. But we live in Singapore, where it is mostly warm and humid throughout the year, and wearing a coat would be the most conspicuous thing to do.
Today I am an artist and an arts administrator. I think it was the dramatic feeling of being a caricature detective that I liked. Cleaning up clumpy talcum powder, wiping down the crime scene and convincing my sisters to continue their criminal careers was also challenging; so we resigned.
But maybe if I had lived somewhere where I could wear a trench coat things would be different...
Bevin asks:
(editor’s note: Bevin didn’t ask a question, so I’ll present one in the spirit of the above)
What mystery — from your own life or close community — would you most like to solve?
If you’d like to answer this question, you can simply hit reply to this email and write it in. Be sure to also include a question that you’d like to submit next. And tell us a story — your answer will be the bulk of the next newsletter. We will only use your first name, but if you wish to answer anonymously, let us know. Or, leave a comment.
Thanks to everyone who responded. See you next week.
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