It’s with a degree of sadness that today is the last part of my interview with Lorelle.  I’m not quite ready to let her go just yet but I guess everything has to end at some point.

For the benefit of new visitors, the reason I broke up my interview with Lorelle into 4 parts is because of her extraordinary in-depth responses to my questions.  While she gave me permission to “edit” her answers, I felt that would have been a crime because she has so much to offer us. But after this is over, we will be back to two-part interviews with my next guest (Chris Guillebau of The Art of NonConformity).

For those of you who did not see the first three parts of Lorelle’s interview, it is recommended that you see Part I, Part II and Part III before reading today’s final segment.  It’ll give you a much better idea of who she is, what’s she’s all about and some of the adversity she’s had to overcome to arrive where she is today. It’s worth your time to really get to know her because, well, heck, she qualified to be interviewed here, didn’t she?  Wink, wink.

Lorelle?  Please come out from backstage and greet your friends at Adversity University for the last time! (LOUD CHEERING, CLAPPING AND HOOTING).

15. What do you hope God will have to say to you when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Nothing. God better be busy doing bigger things than paying attention to me. There’s a whole world to clean up down here. Hey, you paying attention? We gots a bit of plumbing needs a little fixing here!

Stephen’s Response:  Nothing?  Nothing at all?  Well, you’re right that there’s a whole lot of cleaning up to do down on earth but that’s not really God’s responsibility.  He gave the earth to us and we made a mess of it ourselves!

16. Being deaf, I am always curious to know which sounds other people love and hate to hear. Tell us a sound you absolutely adore and a sound you detest.

Since I have never truly heard silence, I often wonder what that sounds like. Even when I’m sick and my ears are totally plugged up, I still hear the sound of my body. So I wonder what that’s like to really not hear anything.

The older I get, the more noise is around me. Right now as I write this, I’ve got sounds of the fridge in the background, joined by the snap of the heater as it adjusts it’s temperature. The computer hums lightly and the fan kicks in with a whizzing every hour or two. Cars go by, then the whoosh, rumble of a big truck. Phones ring. Radios are on. Televisions are going. It’s noise everywhere.

Luckily, where we are currently staying, every night we go out in the hot tub off the back porch and sit in the hot water and listen to the insects hum, the frogs croak in the nearby pond, the coyotes howl and yip in the fields below, and the horses and donkeys slosh by gently in the muddy field. Even in the night when you would think there would be silence, there are sounds everywhere. Those are sounds I like.

The sound of a cat’s purr is my favorite. A friend always says that you can never be depressed while watching a cat sleep and a purr just makes you smile. Ain’t that the truth.

A sound I hate? Having lost some of my hearing due to childhood illnesses, I treasure every sound. So which one would I choose. Oh, cell phone rings. Over 90% of them suck, especially the music ones. Okay, so it’s not cute any more to have your child or grandchild program your cell phone to play some pop or children’s tune. It’s stupid. Stop it. I long for the gentle click beep of the Star Trek communicator.

Stephen’s Response:  Well, naturally, it would be impossible for me to tell you what it’s like not to hear.  All I can tell you is that it’s probably like a void - a huge gaping void - perhaps like the abyss.  Not even a hum or click or anything.  Just completely void.  Hard to imagine, huh?  Well, that’s the best I can describe to you.

17. We all have our likes and dislikes. What would you say turns you on and what turns you off? Give the first answer that comes to your mind without censoring or editing your responses.

Ah, yes, I remember this from that actor interview show.

Stupid turns me off. Geek turns me on.

Stephen’s Response:  Yes, I drew some inspiration from that actor show.  Over time I’ve modified it for Adversity University.

18. What is your favorite word? Least favorite?

Swear words fascinate me. Their whole etymology intrigues me. The fact that words developed so full of meaning and expression, and versatility - and yet we aren’t supposed to use them.

Least favorite? Oh, I have plenty. Can’t is one, but usually they are words misused and abused. Like - oh, I HATE “like” and I’m sick of “like well like we were like going like to the like store, and like she said like that we like had to go back like…” There needs to be a ban on like.

Stephen’s Response:  Haha, “swear words” fascinate you?  Really?  Well, it is interesting how they got to be developed.  I use it so sparingly that when I do utter those kinds of words, I get a lot of laughs.  Not because they’re “funny’ per sey but because I’ve been told I sound rather “cute” when I say swear words.  I guess it’s because it’s not every day people hear me speak like that.  But imagine someone saying the “F” word every other syllable.  Now that would be BORING.  It would lose its luster, you know?

19. What’s next for Lorelle VanFossen?

Next? Ain’t now enough? I’ve got more books coming out, more conferences to speak at, more blog posts to write, more articles to publish… I’m everywhere. I live on the Internet so I can go anywhere.

I’m going to be doing a little revamp of some of my sites soon, and I’m doing drastic work on the WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users. I’m also doing a lot of work with Woopra, a new web analytics program that I think is going to revolutionize the way we think about our blog and website readers and demographics, as well as interact with them. I’ve got a full load of clients and a lot of great business opportunities coming my way, so it’s busy, busy, busy.

I speak at a lot of events and special programs, and lately, I’ve loved being at all the various WordCamp conferences held around the world. I was in San Francisco, Israel, Dallas, and will be attending a ton more this year and next. I love talking to people about the power of blogging and the ease of using WordPress to convey your online message.

I have plans to write a series on blog writing soon on Lorelle on WordPress, and have a lot of books to finish writing. I will be doing a lot more interviews myself with bloggers and podcasters all over the world asking them to share their insights into blogging. So stay tuned.

Stephen’s Response:  Oh you bet we’ll stay tuned!  Your plate is certainly full these days.  I look forward to reading your series on blog writing plus all those books you have waiting in the wings.  You sure have an interesting, full life, don’t you?  But make sure you take some time to relax and smell the flowers, okay?  We don’t want you getting sick again, do we?

20. And finally but not least, where can we find out more about the Queen of WordPress?

I’m everywhere. I live on the Internet. And stop it with the Queen business! ARGH.

To find more about Lorelle, you can visit my technical site, Lorelle on WordPress, which covers blogging and WordPress. My personal site is Taking Your Camera on the Road and I have a genealogy blog called Lorelle’s Family History Blog, among other blogs.

I’m also found on the Blog Herald, Woopra, Blogger and Podcaster Magazine, and BlogFlux, to name just a few.

That’s a start. As a friend says, “Google me.” I would never say that.

Stephen’ Response:  Well, google does make it easier to locate people so why not use it?  You’re all over the place so I’d be surprised if someone claimed you couldn’t be found somewhere on the Internet.

21. By the way, who is the King of WordPress?

Matt Mullenweg of course - no relation. He’s the one with world domination plans. I’m just along for the ride and the giggle.

Stephen’s Response:  I KNEW you were going to say that!  But of course!  How could Matt not be King of WordPress?  I look forward to meeting him one day.  It’s amazing how one man started the world’s most popular blogging platform.  You tell him I’m a proud convert from Blogger.com okay?

Alright ladies and gentlemen, that’s it!  Please give Lorelle a rousing farewell rendition and let her know how much you enjoyed her queenly presence here at Adversity University.  Be sure to kneel when you greet her and kiss her ring.  After all, she IS the queen of WordPress.  LOL.

One last thing - I want to specifically thank Lorelle for making this interview so much easier for me to publish.  Why?  Because she had all the coding put in so that I didn’t have to copy it to a word document and then spend hours reformatting them.  All I had to do was copy and paste her HTML coded interviews right onto the blog.  It saved me so much time.  THANK YOU LORELLE!

Until next time, enjoy!

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