Five Quick Questions: Anja Charbonneau
1. WHAT’S ON YOUR CURRENT PLAYLIST?
Lately, I’ve been listening to Caroline Polachek’s album Pang while I work. I like to listen to albums so many times that they become meditative. In the evenings, I love listening to old ambient Japanese albums, and the most recent one is a 3-album collection called Kankyō Ongaku: Japanese Ambient, Environmental & New Age Music 1980–1990. One of the tracks, a repetitive clacking of a train passing, is the most relaxing thing I’ve ever heard. I love it.
2. SOMETHING ABOUT YOU THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO KNOW?
I’m a pretty open book, but here’s a silly one: despite the fact that Broccoli is pretty stylized, I still use glassware from the head shop that looks like a tacky wizard’s pipe. It’s a smooth hit, what can I say?.
3. A RECENT PURCHASE THAT YOU REALLY ENJOY?
At the start of the pandemic I bought an e-reader because the bookstores were closed (I like to browse in real life). I’ve probably read a hundred novels in the last year; I love twisty thrillers and mysteries. Reading helps keep my work/life boundaries in place, it’s a great distraction.
4. WHAT HABIT ARE YOU TRYING TO IMPLEMENT OR GET RID OF AT THE MOMENT?
I’m constantly trying to reduce stress in my life, but it’s hard, because life keeps coming at me (and everyone). I’m trying to take better care of my body, spending so much time at the computer really takes its toll.
5. A BOOK THAT CHANGED YOU?
I’m not sure that I can define how or if it changed me, but I really love His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman. I was too young and unaware of religion to pick up on some of the deeper spiritual undertones when I first read it, but it definitely moved me. It’s a really emotional story, but an exciting adventure, too.