Date with the Editor: Joe Zaleski

I'll never forget the time that Joseph Zaleski, Heights executive assistant and A&S '10, wrote "TV Close-up" for The Scene. I was expecting to get an article on a suave womanizer like himself. Alas, I got one about Washington Journal's Steve Scully. And yes, that runs on C-Span. The aforementioned cable network along with a glass of chilled whiskey seem to encapsulate the personality of this Southern, bluegrass-loving gentleman. At The Heights, we love Joe not only for his astute manners but also for his unrivaled sense of humor. On any day of the week, you're more likely than not to find Joe dancing like a possessed man in our office. No, he's not mad. It's just his imitation of drunken freshman girls … all set to Flo Rida. -JN

1. If you could be any TV character, who would you be? James Lipton from Inside the Actors Studio. Everyone knows that he is a real person, but he still fools me sometimes.

2. My magazine is ... Southern Living ... real salon material.

3. My sense of style is … Overzealous use of flannel with flares of pastel prep.

4. My drink is ... Florida's Natural orange juice with excessive pulp. Take your Minute Maid elsewhere!

5. My favorite movie is ... Obviously Forrest Gump. Forrest and I go together like peas and carrots.

6. My favorite book is ... Currently it is East of Eden by John Steinbeck. If you understand the word "timshel," come talk to me sometime.

7. My decade is … The 1940s. Give me Vera Lynn, a pack of smokes, and Brylcream, and I will be in my element. I'm bringing back the fedora.

8. My idea of the perfect date is ... Key lime pie on the front porch followed by a slow drive down the magnolia-lined promenade.

9. The anthem of my life is ... Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." If it is good enough for US Airlines, it is good enough for me.

10. The defining pop culture moment of my lifetime is … Traveling to Galax, Va., for a bluegrass festival in 2007. I have never felt more connected to music than I did for that week.

11. Where I hope to be in the next 10 years ... Building my log cabin in the plush forests of rural America or drowning in corporate bureaucracy.