Joseph Kynaston Reeves goes by the nom de Web of Squander Two, which he picked up when he was a ground-breaking and completely unsuccessful pop musician. He was born a Londoner but hates the place and so has become more of an honorary Glaswegian, these days living in Northern Ireland with his wonderful wife Vic, six-month-old daughter Daisy, and dog Phoebe. He is a computer programmer and occasional Web designer by trade. Jo blogs at Squander Two Blog.
Why do you blog? > My comments on other people's blogs were getting so long it was just silly. And my wife appreciates my having a way of getting my rants out of my system without her involvement.
What would be your main blogging advice to a novice blogger? > A lot of people will tell you that it is vitally important to update your blog every day even when you have nothing much to say. Ignore those people: following their advice will make your blog very boring for readers. Never blog unless you have something interesting to say.
What are your favourite blogs? > Natalie Solent - Natalie's an astute observer of things and has a nicely understated writing style. Bigmouth Strikes Again - Gary happens to be one of my best friends, but he's also a brilliant and funny writer and I'd read his stuff if I'd never met him. And The Sporadic Chronicle - Rob Hinkley has a wonderful knack for locating highly entertaining nutters.
Who are your intellectual heroes? > Isaac Newton and Bertrand Russell, both for their sheer cleverness.
What are you reading at the moment? > The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian. I'm working my way through all the Aubrey-Maturin books.
What is the best novel you've ever read? > Spares by Michael Marshall Smith. No one writes better about love, but he combines it with murder, talking appliances, giant flying shopping malls, and idealized cheeseburgers. Great stuff.
What is your favourite movie? > Until recently, I'd have said that I could never pick just one, but lately, I think I can: Master and Commander. I can't even imagine getting bored of watching that film.
What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to disseminate? > The very idea that the dissemination of just one thesis is more important than any others is itself a bit of a problem.
What philosophical thesis do you think it most important to combat? > That any ideology can be more important than the lives of other human beings.
Who are your political heroes? > Gorbachev and Reagan: they made ending the Cold War look so easy. And Gorbachev was given absolute power over people and used it to give it to them.
If you could effect one major policy change in the governing of your country, what would it be? > The introduction of a genuine limit to state power, to replace the purely theoretical and entirely useless limits we have at the moment. I'm not sure a written constitution could achieve that, but it'd be a step in the right direction.
What would you do with the UN? > Ignore it. No need to dismantle it or anything. Let them have their meetings - they seem to enjoy them. But ignore them.
What do you consider to be the main threat to the future peace and security of the world? > Bastards. Glib, but true. Right now, it's probably extremist Islamists, but it would be naive to suppose that the nasty pieces of work currently dedicating themselves to that cause wouldn't find a different cause in its absence.
What would be your most important piece of advice about life? > Have children.
Do you think you could ever be married to, or in a long-term relationship with, someone with radically different political views from your own? > Depends on the views. Someone who disagrees with me about state medical subsidies: really, who cares? But someone who disagrees with me about whether it's OK to plant bombs on Israeli schoolbuses: never.
What do you consider the most important personal quality? > Honour.
What personal fault do you most dislike? > Self-absorption.
In what circumstances would you be willing to lie? > When the person I'm talking to doesn't deserve truth.
Do you have any prejudices you're willing to acknowledge? > English-speakers make the best pop music, dogs are better than cats, and London's full of tossers.
What is your favourite proverb? > 'You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it ski.'
What commonly enjoyed activities do you regard as a waste of time? > Watching Eastenders - it is hard to imagine worse television. And showing any sort of interest in the activities of Kate Moss.
If you were to relive your life to this point, is there anything you'd do differently? > Most of the first 20 years. What's the point of learning from your mistakes if, given the chance, you'd repeat them? Of course, the real trick would be trying to figure out how to end up roughly where I am now, but via a totally different route.
Where would you most like to live (other than where you do)? > In the middle of nowhere, many miles from anyone else, with a huge garden and a decent internet connection.
What is your most treasured possession? > Ach, it's all insured. Some things have sentimental value, of course, but the thing about sentimental value is that you get to keep it even if you lose the object that had it. Even my wedding ring's replaceable, as long as Vic puts the new one on my finger.
If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? > I already changed the name I use once, when I switched from using my first name to my second name when I was 18; my first name is William. When I can be bothered, I'm going to change it to just the initial W in order to annoy the many bureacratically minded people who insist on using my first name even though I don't.
What talent would you most like to have? > Telekinesis. Wouldn't everyone?
What would be your ideal choice of alternative profession or job? > Musician. Music's my life anyway; doing it for a living would just give me more time.
Who is your favourite comedian or humorist? > Tim Dorsey, comic author. He writes books about a lovable, clinically insane serial murderer obsessed with the history of Florida - which is a lot better than it might sound. Also, having the little one in the house has triggered my rediscovery of A.A. Milne. It's easy to forget what brilliant comedy the Pooh books are.
If you could have one (more or less realistic) wish come true, what would you wish for? > A cure for diabetes.
What animal would you most like to be? > A domestic dog. One with a waggly tail.
[The normblog profile is a weekly Friday morning feature (posted early on this occasion because I can't post it tomorrow morning). A list of all the profiles to date, and the links to them, can be found here.]