Hexes+Numbers is a new interview series where all the questions are randomly generated hex color codes (#000000), and randomly generated numbers without any context provided. It’s up for the interviewee to interpret the questions and answer them however they want.
This week I invited Noah Cicero, whose new book–Las Vegas Bootlegger: Empire of Self-Importance–is out now and available for purchase.
The Hexes+Numbers graphic is designed and credited to Alex Saunders.
Andrew Byrds: 93?
Noah Cicero: I grew up on State Route 193. The road began at a place called The Chicken Rig Cage and ended at Lake Erie.
AB: #e6ff04?
NC: I never discuss my childhood anymore.
AB: 2?
NC: There is a guy named Dennis. He fought in the Vietnam War. He works at the Green Valley gas station.
AB: #e9a740?
NC: I work in a small office in a large office building.
AB: 36?
NC: Indiana Jones goes into the Holiest of Holies and finds Dogen, Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. He asked what the meaning of religion was. They replied there is no religion here. There is no enchantment here. There is only you Mr. Jones.
AB: #dd4768?
NC: A lot of people talk about how other people are smart. Tom finds the unsmart more interesting.
AB: 82?
NC: She told me she has a 401k, mutual funds, annuities, and stocks. I told her my friend will buy me a bicycle.
AB: #2989b3?
NC: One of my friends is illegal. She won’t drive to my house. She is afraid she will get pulled over and taken by ICE. She is Chinese. She doesn’t know her birthday.
AB: 9?
NC: Very vulnerable to attack.
AB: #096193?
NC: I learned to say no three years ago. When people who have the confidence to say no authentically to other people who have the confidence to say no authentically it is immediately understood. When people who have the confidence to say no to people who have never developed the confidence to say no, the person who has never developed the confidence to say no feels accused and sad.
Noah Cicero grew up in a small town near Youngstown, Ohio. He has lived in Eugene, Oregon, Grand Canyon, Arizona, Seoul, South Korea and currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has a movie made of his first book called The Human War which won the 2014 Beloit Film Festival award for Best Screenplay. He has books translated into Turkish, Kurdish and Spanish. His first book of poetry Bipolar Cowboy was voted one of the best books on Goodreads in 2015. He has many short stories, articles, and poems published at such places as Thought Catalog, 3AM Magazine, Wales Review, and Amphibi.us
