What got you started in blogging and how long have you been blogging?

I wanted to share interesting sites that I found with my friends and I started reading many link blogs and so start blogging didn't look like a bad idea at the time. Prior to that, my idea of blogging was that they were just personal journals.

I started almost 2 years ago, on late may, 2004.

Which site came first - What gave you the idea to run each of the sites?

I already owned the domains a long time before I started the blogs. But when I decided to do it, I put the link blog on bibi.org. I sometimes wrote about movies, then I decided to make use of s domain I already had for Cinematógrafo for movies in Portuguese. I think I made good use of those domains.

Besides Bibi's Box and Cinematógrafo and Last-FM, are there any other sites you run we should know about?

Probably. I save information on many places, specially on http://del.icio.us/bibi. I also had many videos on YouTube but they kind of kicked me out. There are the pictures on my Flickr account, mostly of me and my cats, probably not that amusing for most people.

Well, I have accounts on many social sites, but I don't visit most of them. Sometimes I just create an account on them so that I am "bibi" everywhere. Kind of sick, isn't it? Well, I never said that I was normal.

I used to be a social site addict, but I am recovering. I am now just addicted to blogs. The first one I got into was del.icio.us, then Bloglines and Orkut. I run some communities on Orkut, all in Portuguese. I haven't taken much part in it lately. I mostly manage the communities and make contact with friends.

You rely on your boyfriend to act as webmaster for you, is this you doubting you own skills or just convenience?

Convenience, lack of technical background and also lack of access to the server. My knowledge is limited to HTML and some CSS. I may put code on, but only on places I have access to, that is why I usually have to ask him. Actually, I think it is he who doubts my skills.

Do you have a set of rules for anything you post?

Hmm, I never thought of that. I post on some recurrent subjects, and to look for links on those subjects, when I can't find them. I like putting images about the links, and that is what takes most time when I am preparing a post. I avoid posting not safe for work stuff, but if I find something I like, I try to find images that I can put. It's not that I don't like them, in fact I do - naughty Bibi, hehehe - I just try to keep my site safe. I also avoid religion and politics. I post only those themes when I find them really cool and when I think I will not get irate comments. I prefer to avoid those subjects.

A few times I get link suggestions, but I post them only if I like them. I also don't post advertisements, I don't exchange links and I don't put a link if I don't think it is interesting, funny or cool.

I am a little cranky when I see that a blog usually doesn't give credit to other sites. I then try to find other sources of information and to link to the original site.

Do you ever have an artical that you can't decide which blog to post it on? 

That's usually not a problem. If I find it really cool, I post it in both. If I am felling lazy, I post it on Cinematógrafo, in Portuguese. But as Bibi's box is not about cinema, I find those things easier to post on Cinematógrafo, and "box" readers may not find them as interesting.
 

Have you posted anything that has caused a backlash against you?

Not that I am aware of. I usually don't post on controversial topics because I don't want those things to happen. Both blogs are there to entertain, not to cause a fuss. From time to time I get mad at something and may post about it, but I try not to offend people, even if they are right-wing bush-loving pro-war republicans, and I am totally opposed to all that.

Besides writing for other sites etc. has any other media source been interested in your site or asked you to do some work for them?

No, it didn't happen. Only other sites. I am not sure anybody reads my blog. Nobody loves me! says Bibi, the drama queen. LOL.
 

You mentioned that you worked on another site (unpaid) - writing film reviews i think it was, What made you give up writing for that site (besides it being unpaid)?

Being unpaid was not a problem. I knew from the start that I wouldn't be paid. It was for writing about movies and watch them. How cool is that? I love cinema!

I just had different ideas about what the site should be, and with time we found out that our language are different. I couldn't write as informally as the other parts of the site were, at least not on a movie review. I got too self-conscious, being a cinema major, and thought that it was my duty to write about more serious stuff, with time I felt out of place there.

Do you write for any sites that you do get paid for?

Hehehe. Hum... well.. yes, but I can't talk about that. Next question.
 

Is there a subject matter that you go back to again and again on your sites (besides cinema)?

Photography, art, comics, vintage, pin-ups, cats -- hehe, I know that a lot of people hate that, sorry --, illustration, internet news... Basically my categories. It is not that I look for them, but most of my reading is on those.

 
How long do you spend looking for items for Bibi's Box? 

You are probably not going to believe it, but the answer is most of the day. As I read a lot of blogs, it takes up a long time. Then I select what I am going to post based mostly on that, and I search for related links. I also have a huge list of stuff to post on my bookmarks that I sometimes use. Other times I read something, or remember about something and then I do research on that. I don't stop until I find it is good.
 

How big is blogging in Brazil?

It's big. There are many people with many blogs, but most of them are personal blogs people write about themselves for their own friends. There is also an important group of bloggers that like to write short stories and chronicles. Almost the same situation as in US and Europe, no? I think the problem is that I am not in touch with many Brazilian bloggers, though.

Of all your site visitors, where would you say you get the most hits from ( north America, south America, Europe, etc.)?

On Bibi's Box, USA, without a doubt, then Brazil, and Northern Europe. Even taking all Europe accesses together it is still less than the number of Americans.

On Cinematógrafo, it is almost exclusively Brazil, but there are some from Portugal and some Spanish-speaking countries, who make the effort to read a different language, to which I am grateful. 

Do you get many visits from Brazil ?

On Bibi's Box, not that many. Considering the fact that I don't have many posts in Portuguese, it is a lot, though. On Cinematógrafo, not that many either, but that is because the blog is still new and I had stopped for a long time.
 

Do you visit each actual site that you list in your blogroll or just view the RSS/XML feeds?

I usually read them on Bloglines. When there are no images on the feed, I get into the blog. Sometimes a link attracts me because of the images. There are some that I visit to see whether there are comments, to comment, or to read the full posts when they offer only digests. And there are a few that I visit directly because they don't have an RSS feed. It may surprise you, but there are still some blogs without RSS feeds. Preposterous! :)

about you in more detail:

Cinema seems to be a big part of you - you obviously want to move into this as a career, what area were/are you hoping to move into?

I was a little disenchanted after studying cinema. It is made of closed groups and you have to be part of them, specially here where there are much less opportunities. I had a dream of directing or doing art direction someday, but I came to my senses and found out that I want to do what every frustrated moviemaker does: criticize other moviemaker's films. Maybe I shouldn't have said that. It is possible  that some people will be angry at me, hehehe.

Do you think that living in Brazil maybe holding you up in the hunt for the career you want?

Maybe, but maybe it is just me. I already know my chances were not very large anyway. Besides, in the States and Europe I know it is not easy either. Maybe working as an assistant for the assistant of the assistant of the assistant director of some production in Europe? Maybe I have to get connected. Do you know someone?

(reaching for a hard hat and body armour)

You asked me NOT to ask about politics and religion - why?

Trouble! Whenever politics, religion and football, the discussions end up in fight. I'd rather discuss those things with friends, but if you want to know my position on those issues, you may ask. It wouldn't surprise you.

In the Meme that you were challenged to complete, a short while ago - you listed 5 songs > you knew all the words to, but said that you knew many more songs off by heart.  Would > you class you're self as a Karaoke fan - or just know your music?

Karaoke fan? Ha! You insult me! Now I know why you put on a hard hat and body armour. :)

I like to know the lyrics of songs. I always did. Nowadays I don't like singing something I don't know the meaning to. Remember I didn't grow up speaking English, so people all around me listened to songs and had no idea what their lyrics meant. I wouldn't like to suggest a song or say I like it if the lyrics are completely absurd in a not good way -  or if they could give people a bad idea about myself.

But mostly I simply like to know the lyrics of songs.
 

Lego - you seem to have a fascination with Lego - Why?

Maybe because I never had them. Poor little bibi...  I find it fascinating to put together those small blocks and create something different, to create cool, amazing things.

interests:

List a few!

Ok, let's go: cinema - specially the silent films, cats, foreign languages, books, art, photography, Internet, social sites, music, culture, games, poetry, history... That is, what you see on my blog.

influences:

Person/people?

No thanks. Hehehe. I think that would be my mother. When I was a little girl, I used to sleep in a room full of books “ almost all from my mom. It was filled with art books and image-filled encyclopaedias. My mother and my late father were photographers and I had access to photography very young. She also painted, and I liked looking at painting books and look he painting.

I should also cited Hitchcock that is part of my imaginary about cinema and Chaplin, whose films I had contact with as a child, thanks to my dad that loved movies and let me to the cinema. Maybe some teachers to make me think about things that I thought I couldn't do it. And some of the Existentialism ideas from Sartre.

Favourites:

music?

I'm kind of eclectic: Stravinsky, Peter Gabriel, Pet Shop Boys, Chico Buarque, Iegiã o Urbana, The Beatles, Keane, Vivaldi, Mylène Farmer, Madonna, Franoise Hardy, Depeche Mode, Philip Glass ... I can list more, much more,  or is this enough?

 food?

Chocolate! And green salads, beef (well done), passion fruit mousse, lemon pie, pasta, soup - I love soup in the winter and cheeeeeeese!

drink?

Dry red wine, Tequila, lemon juice, grape juice and water, but not in that order.

colour?

Blue. For clothes I like black too, but the cats also like it, so I have problems.

joke?

I'm not good telling jokes, I think I don't have a rhythm to do that. I prefer to use my sarcasm and irony - I'm very good at making comments dripping with sarcasm.

place (can be -location, town, state, country)?

To live or to visit? I'd love to visit Europe, specially France and Italy (to eat like a pig, of course). I like Sa˜o Paulo as a place to live. If you can find a place with all the nice things there are here, I'd probably like them.

What's on your MP3 player that you are listening to right now?

Now? Nothing, but I was listening to the podcast Podictionary on iTunes earlier. Or do you mean music? In that case, I would have to say "Mathilde" by Jacques Brel. Almost nostalgic, if he weren't new for me.

What makes you laugh (apart from this dumbass questionnaire)?

Sitcoms, English Comedy films, my boyfriend, friends, Bugs Bunny, Woody Allen and The Marx Brother's films, animations, comics, weird or nonsense stuff and silly things I think myself. I laugh at my own jokes, too.

 
what makes you cry?

Mean people. People harming animals, specially furry cute ones. Bad things I remember, bad I read and that is happening with other people. When friends say something that hurt me. Remembering my dad. Depression.
 

Finally (stop cheering)

If you had the influence - is there something that you would change? (bring about world peace, prevent hunger or an event etc.)

 Is this Miss Blog Pageant 2006? If that is the case, I read "The Little Prince" and I want "World Peace".

Otherwise, I am not much into wars. I don't know why people have to kill each other. I think it is very stupid and insane, so I'd have to say "World peace", anyway. An easy way to help with that would be replacing the current U.S. President.

Bibi, Thanks for the interview, it's been a pleasure to find out a little more about you. If you dont mind I'll keeo the body armour on a bit longer - I get the feeling that I might get lynched by your fans.