Lisa Aliferis edits KQED’s “State of Health” blog on public health and policy in California. Before moderating a panel on health and altruism, she admitted in the Zócalo green room that she’s a better grammar nitpicker than joke teller—and that while she lives in northern California, the southern part of the state has at least one thing going for it: gin and tonic weather.
Who or what would you say is your nemesis?
I don’t have a who. I’m a grammar nitpicker. The incorrect use of the possessive “its,” mixing it up with the conjunction, really bothers me.
What do you do to clear your mind?
I try to pause and just take a deep breath and remind myself to slow down. That there’s no need to rush around. That I don’t have to behave that way if I don’t want to.
What is your most prized material possession?
I’m not a big material possession kind of person. The things I tend to prize are things with sentimental value, and I don’t associate them with being material possessions.
What is your spirit of choice?
Gin and tonic. And sadly, I live in the Bay Area, in North Oakland, and we get fog—we don’t really get hot summers. And so it is rare that it’s really gin and tonic weather.
What’s your favorite thing about Los Angeles?
It’s great to go to the beach. It’s almost always warm at the beach, and the water in the summer is warm and swimmable.
Are you good at telling jokes?
No.
So you won’t be telling any tonight?
No. I can tell a joke, but I’m not good at it. I have an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old, so I’d do grade school humor nobody wants to hear.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A veterinarian.
Describe yourself in five words or less.
Loving. Bright. Compassionate. Curious. Kind. That overlaps with compassion, but that’s the best I can do. How about organized?
What’s the last good cause you supported?
We sponsor a boy in Africa, and we gave some things to him.