FULL NAME NAME
Walter Hayes Hopgood
WHEN WERE YOU BORN?
November 12th, 1967. Yes, thank you. I’m old.
TIMES YOU ROLLED YOUR EYES AS A KID WHEN SOMEONE’D SCREAM, “WALTER PAYTON!” OR “WALTER CRONKITE!”
Way too many times to remember!
HOW CLOSE WERE YOU TO EITHER FAMOUS WALTER?
Well, I used a locker right next to Walter Payton’s in the Chicago O’Hare Hilton gym in the Spring of 2010. Does that count?
NUMBER OF NAMES YOU RECEIVED FROM FAMILY MEMBERS?
Two. Walter from my father, Hayes from my grandfather. I’m the only kid that got two family names; everyone else got just one.
RESIDENCE?
Boring, Oregon. Okay, okay, so they recently rezoned and incorporated so technically we are in Damascus. But still.
RESIDENCE TYPE
Does “Green Acres” count?
AFFILIATION?
Huh?
YOU KNOW…. ORIENTATION!
Oh! Proudly heterosexually impaired. And yes, that means I’m gay.
MARITAL STATUS?
Happily attached to one Patrick L. Mathews since February 14th, 1992.
NUMBER OF BIOLOGICAL IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBERS THAT KNOW AND ARE SUPPORTIVE OF YOU AND PATRICK?
My mom and my sister Ann know and are always asking about Patrick. My other sisters know, but honestly I don’t care what they think. I only have to answer to me and Patrick; nobody else.
NUMBER OF NON-BIOLOGICAL FAMILY MEMBERS (READ: REALLY CLOSE FRIENDS I CONSIDER FAMILY) THAT KNOW BOTH OF YOU AND ARE SUPPORTIVE?
WAY too many to count!
NUMBER OF ANIMALS?
You mean pets? Besides Patrick?
YES, NUMBER OF PETS, BESIDES PATRICK
Currently 4. Shiva and Bailey, who you saw above. They are both almost 8 years old Great Danes. Big babies! Then there’s Ichabod, aka “Icky Kitty” who, we have declared, is not a cat, but a COG. He’s a kitty dog. Yes, he thinks he’s a dog. And finally there’s Thelma. We’ve had many other chickens, but they aren’t as tough as Thelma. Oh, and she thinks she’s a dog, too. Even tries to come in the house.
FAVORITE VACATION SPOT?
HANDS DOWN it has to be Puerto Rico. We have been six times or so. It is so relaxing!
CURRENT WORK SPOT?
Right now, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Three timezones and an entire Sunday wasted on travel. But it’s a good client.
WHAT DO YOU DO FOR WORK?
I work in the medical software field on electronic medical record field working on medical records, pharmacy, and all sorts of medical geekdom. It’s honestly a blast of a job; I love it! And they say, you need to do what you love or you shouldn’t be doing it!
WHAT ABOUT FOR FUN?
I really have a blast writing, though I haven’t done much of it lately. That changed just recently as I’ve published (Internet published, not paper – at least not yet!) several stories of the fanfic variety. I’m also planning on a book, though that is taking its own sweet time. Besides writing and reading, I try to get out and run a few times per week. You can see my Runkeeper stats here.
ACTORS YOU HAVE MET, AND WHO HAVE ACTUALLY TALKED TO YOU?
Let’s see. There’s David Duchovny. *swoon* He’s such a nice guy. We had coffee, he took us on the set in Vancouver when they were filming The X-Files, and everything! Then there’s Mitch Pileggi and Nick Lea. I literally bumped into Nick – my arms to his chest. All I can say is *wow*. And of course I can’t forget Rebecca Toolan, aka Mom Mulder. That woman isso sweet! I miss her.
FAVORITE MAINSTREAM MOVIES?
Let’s see. I would have to say “District 9”, “Avatar”, “The American President”, “Threesome”, and many, many others.
FAVORITE GAY MOVIES?
Hands down absolute favorite right now is “Redwoods”. It is such an incredible movie! I also loved “Trick”, “Rock Haven”, and “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”
FAVORITE TELEVISION?
First off, AARON SORKIN IS A GOD! Have you SEEN “The West Wing” or “Sports Night”? Wow. Then there’s the old-school favorites of “Scrubs”, “The X-Files”, “The Sentinel”, and newer classics that left before their times “Ugly Betty”, and “FlashForward”.
WHAT FANDOMS DO YOU WRITE FOR?
I started out in the X-Files space. Mostly Mulder/Krycek, and then Mulder/Skinner. Hell, if you shared the first name of Assistant Director Skinner, wouldn’t YOU like to write porn for him? Then my friend Panda got me hooked on The Sentinel, so I wrote some Jim/Blair stuff. I dabbled in Scrubs a little, a couple JD/Doctor Cox, and then one JD/The Todd that just sang to me. But right now, my obsession is Sports Night. I’m a big Dan/Casey fan.
SPORTS NIGHT? WASN’T THAT ON LIKE TEN YEARS AGO?
Yes, but I started watching it a couple of months ago when I got the DVDs from Netflix. Wow. Just WOW. As my friend Lisa put it (I’m paraphrasing): Sorkin did a show that didn’t assume the audience was stupid. He counted on you having intelligence and being able to keep up, and that’s what made the show!
WHO WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO MEET IN REAL LIFE?
Politicians: Bill Clinton. My friend Laura met him twice, with a five year gap between the meetings. Not only did he engage with her and only her (though there were other people in the room), on the second meeting, he remembered her AND details about her.
Hilary Clinton: The woman is smart. Scary smart.
The new Lesbian PM from Iceland.
Famous People: First off, Josh Charles, the actor. In every film that I have ever seen him in, he has been able to capture my attention and pull me into the role. He is an incredible, and underrated actor.
Barbara Streisand: Babs is not on this list because she is a gay icon. She is on this list because music is so much more than just music to her. It is an important part of life!
Ed from Barenaked Ladies: Same reason as Babs, except Ed not only loves his music (and it shows), but has FUN with it. If he weren’t famous, he’d still be putting out great music, just at some local fair or festival.
Matthew Rush: One of the only porn stars out there that seems to be funny AND have a brain!
