FYMTQ: Matthew R. Smith

I'm pleased to be starting off the week with our latest FYMTQ profile, Matthew R. Smith. I decided we needed some gender parity up in this piece (and, frankly, he was game), so he's our very first XY. We love him because he was kind enough to get us into Creativity Now, and when he's not getting us sauced on free champers, he's writing L.E.S. Francophile, which we enjoy almost as much as free booze. (Almost.)


Following Young Manhattanite Tumblr Questionnaire

What's your background?
As I'm writing this, my background is my day job: a PR office. Otherwise: Long Island-raised; Fordham grad; French major; French wine publicist. Latecomer to public blogging at the ripe old age of 23 (I did, sadly, have a Livejournal way back when.)

Why are you following us?
Honestly? Because back when I used to read Gawker (when it was palatable), I didn't know who this mysterious Krucoff was and I forced myself to learn!

What era, day or event in blogging history would you like to re-live?
[Travel back in time to] intervene in Perez Hilton's nascent stage and dissuade him from celeblogging. The sad state of our nation and press is only exacerbated by the culture of celebrity obsession and the paparazzi.

Who do you consider to be the greatest blogger of all-time?
You know what? I've often thought that Voltaire (see: Le Dictionnaire Philosophique) would have made a good blogger. His 1-2 page stories, political reactions, and analyses of broad themes would translate so well into contemporary blogging society.

Uh, or Alex Balk's cock?

What's your blogging motto?
Le blog, c'est moi.

Describe that low moment when you thought you just might have to leave blogging for good.
Actually, it's a pretty sad story: an estranged friend of mine texted me with a quote from a protected blog I had written about him (suffice it to say I feared for his health) and I realized that my old blogging platform had not respected my privacy the way I had hoped.

Your mom sounds like an awesome lady. Tell us another good story about her. But don't send her a link to YM please.
Here's a good one: I grew up on Long Island, which my folks always encouraged me to explore. (We often visited museums, nature sanctuaries, forgotten beaches, etc.) One birthday, my mother and aunt brought me and my cousins to the Holocaust Museum on the North Shore, ostensibly to visit the museum and then ramble around the pretty rural beachfront grounds. My mother, however, got lost on the way and, unawares, turned into a different Gold Coast mansion, Winfield Hall (the F.W. Woolworth estate, evidently). After wandering the dilapidated grounds for ... oh, 2 hours or so, we were confronted by a man with a shotgun and a mastiff (which at 3' was nearly as tall as my skinny 13 year old ass) who chased us off the grounds. Literally, he chased us to our car, and pointed the gun at us until we left the property. And then we went home and had cake and I got a Razor scooter.

If you could change one thing about blogging, what would it be?
Every blogger would be as gorgeous as Emily Gould and me.

What is your favorite summer cocktail? [This is asked on behalf of Dana, not Krucoff, who drinks only Budweiser longnecks, should you ever run into him.]
Lillet on the rocks with a slice of orange. Chilled, crisp, citrusy, and bien sûr, French.

Would you consider dating one of us, only for 24 hours, if it meant the opportunity to meet the lowest branches of New York's reblogosphere?
I think I would go with Dana. And I'd totes date her for as long as she'd have me. I treated my high school girlfriend very well. We went shopping together, I drove her around in a Beemer (shhh, it was 15 years old), and sang musical songs at the top of our voices. As long as we can maintain that kinda relationship, Dana, I think we're fine. [I would absolutely go out on a date with Matthew. We could read Fleurs du Mal to one another and talk about CRAV and drink Lillet, of course. -Dana]