questions from you no. 18

Posted on 07. Mar, 2010 by Princess Lasertron in questions from you

It’s been a LONG time since I did one of these posts, and the questions from you have been piling up. I have enough for a ton of posts, I just gotta sit down and work through them! Feel free to leave a question for me any time–you can contact me by clicking on the “connect” tab up top.

Q: I know you shared you wanted to take Alice to Berlin in the future, but I was curious about your plans to teach her German. Do you intend to? If so, have you thought about how you’ll teach her? Will you just speak to her or buy kids books? (from Karli)

A: Dave and I are both committed to exposing Alice to different countries and cultures. My parents did that with me and I think those experiences deeply affected my character–I later went on to major in German and Intercultural Communication, and had a “plan b” (Princess Lasertron was plan a) to be an English teacher in Berlin…then life happened, etc. This has always been a priority in my family–I have several multilingual cousins as well which makes the holidays exciting!

My German professor was a role model to me for how to teach a language. Her philosophy included immersion, starting with easy root words, and giving plenty of context clues. I realize that teaching a baby is so different from teaching a classroom of adults, but I learned from my professor that speaking and leading by example is the quickest way to learn. I speak German and Dave is moderately conversational–he is taking classes this fall. I plan to read her lots of books and we have always integrated German media in our house, watching movies, news, tv shows, having books, etc. I say all this now–who knows what kind of a learner Alice will be–but the bottom line is that it’s more important to me that she be able to travel and experience other kinds of people than speak a foreign language.

Q: What are your favorite magazines? (via Formspring)

A: Everyday Food, Real Simple, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Teen Vogue, Lula, and W.

Q: What beauty products do you swear by? (via Formspring)

A: Everyone loves their own mascara, and I am pretty loyal to Maybelline Lash Discovery. It has the teeniest tiniest brush to get every lash. I wear Revlon Super Lustrous lipstick in Kiss Me Coral–really into corals lately–and I always top it with a coat of shiny Oiseau lip balm, sold at Anthropologie. As for scents, I use Satsuma shower gel from The Body Shop because it’s smells just like peeling an orange. And I’ve forever been a Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb lover–I rub the lotion on my tummy every day!

What are your favorite products?

Q: Are you afraid people will steal your ideas? Are you protected by copyrights? (from Christine)

A: Well, there’s a huge difference between inspiring others to make similar things and people who copy designs exactly and try to pass them off as their own and make a profit. I think we are all smart enough to know the difference. It’s a real shame that some people take advantage of designers who are still trying to develop a name and solidify the image of their design aesthetic. I do have copyrights and trademarks on the names of my products, but there is not much I can do to protect the actual design because all a copier has to do is change one thing, and I pretty much lose my legal recourse.

I don’t think about it much. I don’t search for people out there trying to make a profit off my designs because it depresses me. (Honestly, you guys do that for me–I always get an e-mail from one of you when that happens!) I think it’s more productive to keep hustling, promoting, thinking of new ideas, and staying one step ahead. It used to be harder for me but now I have so many irons in the fire, I’m definitely not worried!

Q: What is your main goal right now for Princess Lasertron? (from Chad)

A: My main goal forever and ever is to teach a segment on the Martha Stewart show and give a kit to everyone in the audience. If that ever happened, I’m not sure I’d know what to do next.

Q: What is the best mail you received lately? (from Marina)

A: I got a very special delivery today: