We know how to have fun here at Quiet Lunch Magazine, and every once in a while we like to include our new found friends in our hijinks. After asking Shantell Martin a ton of no nonsense questions during her interview, we decided to end on a light note and play a game of 21 Questions. Being the cool customer that she is, many of the questions didn’t really take Martin by surprise–except when it came to finding her spirit animal. In her defense, asking someone to name their spirit animal is like asking them to sum up their life in one word.
Favorite food of all time?
“Home cooking. Any kind of home cooking, I’ll eat it.”
If Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh were hanging from a cliff, who would you save first?
“American politics, I don’t take part.”
A night on the town or a movie night at home?
“Movie Night.”
Beer or Wine?
“I don’t drink.”
Favorite cartoon of all time?
“Sword in the Stone. I know every song.”
Your worst nightmare?
“Having to move back to where I grew up.”
TV or radio?
“Radio.”
Favorite time of day?
“Morning.”
What is one thing that you can never have enough of?
“Combs!”
What would be your ideal super power?
“I’ve always want to fly or leap really, really high.”
What is the first thing you notice about a person?
“Their shoes.”
Who is your hero?
“Myself in the future.”
Does the end justify the means?
“No., not always. Hardly ever actually.”
On a scale of 1 to 10, how awesome are your daydreams?
“I would say a 9. Couldn’t tell you about them though.” [Laughs]
In the movie, Titanic, could Jack have fit on that plank of wood with Rose?
“I haven’t seen that movie in at least 10 years, so I can’t remember.”
What is worst, never trying or giving up?
“Never trying. You can’t give up if you don’t try.”
Is okay to be bored?
“Sure.”
How real is global warming?
“It’s pretty real.”
What’s your spirit animal?
“I’ve been asked this and I have yet to come up with one… I don’t know, I’ll have to think about it. A bird, a monkey? [Laughs] Something like that.”
See the future or change the past?
“See the future.”
What matters the most to you as an artist?
“Being honest.”
Akeem is our founder. A writer, poet, curator and profuse sweater, he is responsible for the curatorial direction and overall voice of Quiet Lunch. The Bronx native has read at venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, KGB Bar, Lovecraft and SHAG–with works published in Palabra Luminosas and LiVE MAG13. He has also curated solo and group exhibitions at numerous galleries in Chelsea, Harlem, Bushwick and Lower Manhattan.