Interviewing San Diego: Joelle Reeder

Joelle is one of our favorite San Diego bloggers. She’s the driving force behind this year’s Rock The Walk event, designs killer blog skins, and runs her own blog at Tenth-Muse. She’s sassy, and fun, with with a pinch of snark. Find out more about Joelle below:

Blog Birthday:

Well, I’ve been “blogging”, unbeknownst to me, for years, manually in notepad on my old website, Joellapalooza.com, but Tenth Muse was born January 22, 2003. I also run a weight-loss community blog called Put Down the Donut which was born sometime last fall.

Why do you blog?

I moved out of San Diego to Dallas for 5 years, so I think it was originally started as a way for my friends and I to stay in touch. My friend at MaisonPants.com recommended I start blogging and well… there you go!

What do you talk about?

I’m what I’ve dubbed (or at least think I’ve dubbed!) a “social blogger”. I blog strictly for entertainment, meeting people, just for kicks. I blog about everything from charity to my annoying neighbors to the proper structure of a PB&J.

What don’t you talk about? Why?

I’m not very political, so I try to stay clear of that topic. I don’t “do” blog drama. I abhor it actually, so even though it happens around me or may have something to do with me, I try not to feed it. I have stuff to do, you know? I don’t really get into deeply personal things that often, either. Call me a product of my upbringing; I’ve never been one to really “air my dirty laundry in public”, as my socialite grandmother used to say. I can talk smack all day long in jest, but I was raised to always be a lady, so I try not to talk about things that would test that boundary.

Best experience regarding something you wrote in your blog?

There are way too many best experiences. I’ve been very, very fortunate that I have so many people who read my blog and are so generous with their comments. I’ve met many wonderful people, have a great job and consider myself the luckiest girl in the world to have met the love of my life through blogging.

Favorite and worst thing about living in San Diego?

Favorite thing(s): the weather! the beach! fish tacos!
Worst thing(s): no seasons! the cost of living! fish tacos! (because i eat too many)

If you were president of the US:

I would give homosexual couples all of the rights and benefits of their heterosexual peers.

What actor would play you in the movie of your life?

Wow. My life was pretty… turbulent, up to this point. I’m not sure. We’ll go with Angelina Jolie. Trite? Indeed, but she’s just insanely hot.

Favorite color:

Pink. I feel dirty admitting that, but it’s true. Do I have to turn in my Doc Martens now?

Favorite food:

Fish tacos! Martinis! Wait, that’s not a food. Martinis should have their own food group.

When you were 10, what did you want to do when you grew up?

I used to want to be an animator. I was really into my art and drawing. It was a toss-up between that and being a singer.

What are your hobbies?

I sing jazz, mostly. I love to sing more than anything in the world and hope to finally do a CD next year of standards and torch songs. I also love to cook and I’m learning to love working out.

What do you hate?

Close-minded people, religious fanatics, Ray Liotta and Sunny Delight.

What do you love?

My friends, blogging, art, The Cure, volunteering, the smell of the dishwasher right when it finishes its cycle.

What do you want to tell other bloggers?

Blog because you like it. Try not to take bad comments to heart. Don’t let blogging define who you are. It’s a computer. Go outside and shake it off.

What is Rock the Walk and why did you get involved?

In the last 5 or 6 years, I’ve become involved in the gay and lesbian communities in the cities I’ve lived in. As a bisexual woman, I think it’s important to support the community, but more importantly, HIV and AIDS are issues that affect everyone, not just homosexuals.

I’m a woman who’s mother lost the battle with breast cancer, so I struggled with the decision about whether or not to commit to fundraising for breast cancer research. But, I felt that HIV/AIDS services were in dire need in San Diego and in general, it’s a cause that a lot of people think they know about and don’t. I figured Robyn had the boobage covered (or uncovered!) with the Boobiethon and I decided to put my efforts into an important cause right here in our own backyard.

I began raising money for AIDS Walk in May through blog donations, then participated in Project-Blog and held an auction for a free blog design to raise more money. I wanted desperately to do something “big”, so I got together with my best friend, Ali, who is a local musician in Velvet Tongue and Rock the Walk was born.

How did the fundraising go?

The fundraising was amazing! I was shocked at how generous people are. Rock the Walk alone brought in a little over a grand (and a good time was had by all!) and my grand total raised for AIDS Walk was a whopping $4,169.00, making me the top non-team fundraiser in San Diego, of which I’m quite proud, honestly.

Tell us about your business.

I love my job. I have the best job in the world. When I started blogging, I met Kathy (formerly of Pixelsphinx.com, but now at DirtyMartinis.net,) who had just started BlogMoxie.com, thinking she would do a couple designs to get some extra cash for Christmas. When she saw my own blog designs, she asked me if I wanted to partner with her and BlogMoxie officially blew up. Almost 2 years later, we now offer hosting and we’ve expanded, creating an umbrella company — Moxie Design Studios –which is home to BlogMoxie, our personal blog design division and verve!media, our commercial design division. We’ve also added 2 amazing designers to our team, Julie (tummymonsters.com) and Mel (highlymoody.com). We are more successful than we ever dreamed, to the point that I quit my job to do this full time. We both feel very fortunate and we love our clients. Next year, there are some big changes in the works (for the better), but I have to keep those under wraps for now.

Thanx, Joelle!