There’s a lot to say about JoyceP. We could start by mentioning she is a WAmmy winner twice over: She was awarded one of the two Answer of the Year titles for answering What precautions should be taken before a hurricane hits? and Best Advice Answer for her work on What steps can an abused woman take to protect herself and children?
When she’s not writing grade A answers, JoyceP is a Floating Supervisor, a Mentor, a WIT Adult Advisor and a Bronze contributor.
And when she’s not doing all that… well, you can just read on to find out:
How did you originally hear about WikiAnswers?
I stumbled across WikiAnswers one day while trying to find an answer for my sister-in-law, who was working on a class project. After seeing how quickly I got an answer to the question, I was amazed. I could ask anything I wanted, and it was FREE!
The only other time I had ever used an online Q&A site, it cost me $40 to get info that I already had. So then I posted a question on WikiAnswers for myself, the same one that I paid the money for on the other site, and got more FREE information. After that I was hooked.
Explain your username.
When I was first registering with WikiAnswers and had to put in a username, I thought, “Hm, now is my chance to have the name I’ve always wanted, “Natalie”. But then I thought that would just feel weird, going by a different name like that, and decided against it. And I felt it would be dishonest, since that’s an actual name, and not the sort of name one uses for a username. I knew people would be thinking my name was Natalie, and it would have been like lying. Then I thought, “Well, I guess I could use one of the nicknames that some of my family and friends call me.” So then I began mentally going down the list of those nicknames.
Ok, my husband calls me “Baby” - nope, that won’t do. I knew strangers wouldn’t want to call me Baby, and I knew my husband wouldn’t like it, either, nor would I. So I nixed that idea. So, on down the list.
My two sisters each have nicknames they call me, but who else would want to call me “Sisser”, which is what my twin sister and I call each other. Another idea nixed. Ok, what about what my older sister calls me? Hm, I don’t think I want any one calling me “Numb Skull”, including her. So yet another idea nixed. And come to think of it, I’m gonna have a talk with her…..
Well, how about what my science teacher used to call me in school? Nah, I don’t really want to be known as “Gator mouth”, and besides, I don’t really talk *that* much.
Ok, moving on down the list. My daughter affectionately calls me “Miss Mommy”, but that’s a special nickname that I don’t want anyone else to call me. And I was pretty confident no one would have wanted to call me that, anyway. Oh, well, how about what I call her? No, “Baby Girl” is not how I would want people to view me; first impressions are important, you know. And I don’t think people would have taken me seriously if they had to call me “Baby Girl.” Besides, that’s also a special nickname that is just for my daughter.
Running out of options here. Well, there’s always what my ex-husband began calling me after our divorce. Actually I think it would have been illegal for me to have used that as a username anyway. So again, not an option. But I’m sure there have been a few people here, especially the ones I’ve blocked, that would love to call me that, and probably have.
So, that left me with using my first name, and the first letter of my last name. Real creative, huh?
What motivates you to volunteer your time to the WikiAnswers community?
I love helping others, and I love the challenge of answering questions. If I don’t already know the answer, I have lots of reference books in which to try to find it. And of course, there’s always that wonderful thing called the internet where I can find lots of information, too. I also love learning, and I’ve learned a lot while sharing what I know with others. So for me, it’s a win-win situation.
What are your areas of expertise?
Me, an expert on anything? LOL (as my husband would say). While I’m not an “expert” on anything, I do know a little about a lot of things. I have a little more than the average amount of knowledge in baking (I have been a cake decorator for 30 years). I also love working with marzipan and seeing the shapes take on a life of their own, in looking so realistic. I bake homemade bread and pastries, many of which are from recipes and techniques I have developed myself over the years, with really great results.
Not that I’m an expert on it in any way, but family and friends, and even my children’s friends, have always come to me for advice; they know I look at both sides of the equation, and look at the situation as fairly as possible. And they know I will be honest when giving my opinion. Even on my bio page, it states “If you can’t handle the truth, don’t ask my opinion.”
I would have to say I’m also good at organizing my bedroom closet. I have a rather large, walk-in closet, and it’s organized much like a department store. All of my clothes are separated and organized according to type of garment (blouses, pants, skirts, dresses, etc.), and then organized according to color. And all items face the same direction; it would drive me nuts to have some facing the front, and others facing the back. Sweaters are separated according to color, and placed on the shelf accordingly. If only the rest of my house was so well organized… sigh.
I also have a bit more knowledge in the medical field than most laymen. I’ve always had a fascination with medicine, and even more so after working in the medical field after leaving the banking, insurance, and real estate industries.
I love learning, so for me to have changed careers when I did, and to the field I did, was a wonderful experience for me. I got so hooked on it that I’ve acquired quite a few medical reference books, as well as lots of other reference books on many other topics, too.
For me, life is a never-ending learning experience, and I love knowledge and learning. So when I stumbled upon WikiAnswers, I was like a kid in a toy store; I didn’t know where to begin with all the new found treasures.
What is your favorite WikiAnswers feature?
Gee, that’s sort of a hard one to answer; I love a lot of the features. But since I can only chose one, I think I have to say blocking the vandals. It ticks me off beyond description when I see them trashing and disrespecting the site, and wrecking the hard work of others. I get so upset at them for not even thinking (or not caring) about the fact that they are trashing the work of people who do this because they care enough about the site to volunteer their time. The vandals have no regard nor respect for those who ask for help and answers, or for the ones who volunteer their time to help those who need it. So when I do catch one, I get a bit of pleasure in blocking them, and knowing that I’ve helped prevent them from trashing more hard work of someone else.
What has been the funniest question you’ve seen or your funniest experience on WikiAnswers?
I have to say the question Why was the president impotent during the Civil War? struck me as so hilarious, and the answer to it was brilliant and equally hilarious. It’s the ones that weren’t meant to be funny, such as that one, that strike me as the funniest. Especially when someone comes up with an equally funny answer, as was the case with this question.
But the question If a dog rolled around on the carpet and got all staticy and a flea jumped on him, would the flea be electrocuted? struck me as hilarious, too, because that’s the sort of questions I’ve asked all my life. It always drove my teachers crazy!
As for my funniest experience, I have to call it a “near experience”. When I became a Supervisor, I had only been on the site about three weeks. I had not seen all of the categories yet, so there were still some I wasn’t familiar with. Then one day, I saw some questions that looked like gibberish, and I thought it was some kid playing on the computer. I almost trashed the questions, but “something” told me not to trash them. Good thing I listened to the “something”, because soon afterward I found out they were the Tagalog category. Up until then, I had no idea we had a non-English category! I can only imagine the angry messages I would have gotten if I had begun trashing those questions! Whew! That was a close call - LOL!
Share a random fact (or two) about yourself.
Hm, a random fact about myself. Now this is the hardest question so far. My bio page pretty much sums up the kind of person I am, and how I live my life, so I don’t have a whole lot more to add. Well, I guess I could tell about the time my twin sister and I set our older sister’s bed on fire, while she was still asleep in it. But the scar on her foot from the burn really isn’t that big, so I don’t think the fire was such a big deal.
I tend to be optimistic, but not in a manner that makes me unrealistic. I just prefer to look at the brighter side of things. I have pretty good sense of humor and love a great practical joke, and have pulled some great ones. But I’ve also had some pretty good ones pulled on me, too.
I’ve never been shy about speaking my mind, whether it’s to agree or disagree. But I do try to be fair about it. What I mean by that is, if there is something I don’t like or agree with, I say so, but I try to do it in a respectful manner. And when there is something I do like, I speak up, then, too. I feel if one is going to be vocal about how they feel, it shouldn’t be only about the things which they don’t like.
Do you want to be interviewed for the Contributor corner? Just leave a comment below and we’ll get to work.
The results of the 3rd Annual WAmmy Awards (our official WikiAnswers awards show) are in! The winners and their acceptance speeches are now on Answers.com.
Supervisor and mentor 
