WHATEVER YOU LIKE, I LIKE
An Interview with Mary T. Bevlock and Becca Blackwell

Mary T. Bevlock: Hi!
Becca Blackwell: What’s up Mary?!
Mary is organizing her desk.
M: (To herself.) I’ll put this here. K. This is here. That one there.
B: Mary, I want to make sure my curls look alright for ya!
M: Oh, don’t worry.
B: You don’t care.
M: Not going to draw yet. So questions first, then I’ll do that. Ok. Ok. Where do you live?
B: Where do I live? Brooklyn, New York.
M: Ok. Let me ask you a question. Ok, the next question is going to be: do you watch soap operas?
B: Soap operas?! Yeah!
M: Which ones?
B: Well I remember a long time ago I used to watch Santa Barbara...
M: Uh-huh.
B: One Life to Live…
M: Go on.
B: And Another World.
M: Oh come on. You missed one more.
B: (Laughs.) Do you remember Passions?
M: Yes.
B: Yeah, that one was crazy. That one had aliens and stuff on it. That was so weird.
M: I like General Hospital. Do you ever watch General Hospital?
B: I did watch General Hospital. 
M: Me too.
B: I didn’t follow the storyline as well, but I did watch.
M: Next question. What is your favorite TV show?
B: Well, (Becca chortles) I’ve been watching recently Murder She Wrote.
M: (Claps and smiles.) I knew it! Keep going.
B: Laughs.
M: Ok some more. Come on!
B: Ok! I really like Unsolved Mysteries as well.
M: Keep going! What else?
B: I also like Pinky and the Brain.
M: Nah. Keep going.
B: K. I love The Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
M: Keep going.
B: Ok… What else did I watch?
M: Do you want me to help you?
B: Yeah.
M: Ok. How about this one? How about Who’s the Boss?
B: Oh, Who’s the Boss? With Tony Danza?!
M: Yes.
B: Yeah! Alyssa Milano!
M: Yeah. Did you see him in New York?
B: I saw him in a play. He started doing a lot of theater in the last five or ten years.
M: Oh wow. I think I like you. Ok good. Ok - do you know why? He’s Italian.
B: He is Italian.
M: So am I.
B: Yeah Mary! I’m Irish.
M: You’re Irish? I didn’t know you were Irish.
B: Look at this thing. (Becca plays with their curls.) I got orange hair and pink skin.
M: Ok, so you’re Italian and Irish together, right?
B: No, just Irish.
M: Just Irish. Not Italian.
B: No. All my friends are Italian and they’re always yelling at me.
M: All your friends, huh?
B: Yeah.
M: You tell them I’m Italian, and I’m part Irish.
B: Oh you are?
M: Yeah.
B: Look at that. Got the best of the best.
M: Yeah. Ok. Next question.
B: Alright.
M: What is your favorite pet?
B: Ha! Well my dog, but I am wearing cats. (Becca tilts their computer camera so the image on their t-shirt is visible. Laser cats!)
B: Laser cats.
M: Wow. What kind of dog is it?
B: It’s a chihuahua.
M: Oh man, come on.
B: (Laughing) Come on Mary. He’s not a yippy dog. 
M: Man… Nah. Ok, what is your favorite food?
B: Oh man. I love sandwiches so much.
M: I knew you were going to say that.
B: Hehehehe. I do love sandwiches Mary, because you can just put anything you want on two pieces of bread.
M: Oh man. You kill me.
B: I can put, like, a piece of lasagna on two pieces of bread - I got a lasagna sandwich!
M: Oh wow.
B: Come on, you’re Italian. You love that.
M: I like that myself. 
B: You like lasagna?
M: Yeah.
B: (Growling) Yes. I love lasagna.
M: I’m Italian.
B: Of course. Do you make lasagna?
M: Mmmm. My sister does.
B: Your sister does?
M: Kinda.
B: Does she make good lasagna?
M: Yes. 
B: Does she use meat?
M: I don’t know, maybe.
B: I don’t know if she did pork or vegetarian.
M: Uh, she’s also Italian and Irish.
B: Oh yeah. So she throws some potatoes in the lasagna.
M: Yup.
B: What is your favorite food Mary?
M: My favorite food is soups, pastas, ice creams, smoothies. Um. What else?
B: Soups, pastas. Does your sister make her own pasta?
M: Yeah. Oh you know what? You know what I really like? TV dinners.
B: TV dinners! Yeeeeaaahhh! I haven’t had one in a long time.
M: Don’t tell me. Chicken pot pie, right?
B: Yeah, I love chicken pot pie. Or Hungry Hungry Jack.
M: I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Oh my god.
B: Chicken pot pie is really hard to make.
M: My sister goes to the store, to the Acme in Ardmore, and she always gets more TV dinners for me.
B: She does? Nice.
M: Yes. And I cook it myself.
B: Oh cool. And you usually get chicken pot pie as well? Or what do you usually like to get?
M: Same usuals. Same usual.
B: Salisbury steak?
M: Not so much that. 
B: Yeah. That one’s kind of like, eh. Now you’re making me crave me a TV dinner!
M: Good. 
(Mary peers into her screen, her face close to the camera for a good look at her subject. Becca gives her a wink and Mary gets to work.) 
B: Check it out. Drink it in. So how long have you been drawing Mary?
M: A long time.
B: Yeah. Did you just, when you were a kid, start drawing? And then you were like, “I love this?”
M: Not really, because I always had colored pencils. No actually not colored pencils, it was crayons. Every color.
B: Nice. Cool. (There’s a pause.) I don’t want to take away your concentration.
M: You’re fine. I’ve done this. Oh please!
B: Have you seen any good movies lately?
M: Not really, but let me tell you this: what is your favorite movie?
B: What is my favorite movie? I usually like documentaries. I’m kind of like that.
M: Here it goes… Go ahead, keep going.
B: I’m just going to yak yak yak about documentaries.
M: Well, go on.
B: Yeah, I guess I kind of like stories about real people. I’m curious.
M: I knew that. What else?
B: What is my favorite? Um. God. Honestly, through this isolation Mary, I’ve been rewatching Murder She Wrote, that’s what I’ve been watching.
M: That’s good.
B: Yeah. Jessica Fletcher. She knows what’s up. She’s always solving a mystery. Everywhere she goes someone gets killed!
M: I know.
B: I know. If I were her, I’d be like, maybe I shouldn’t go anywhere.
M: Mmmmm. Ok. Sit back a little bit. Sit back. Perfect. Ok, keep talking.
B: Ok. Keep talking, sit back, keep talking.
M: I don’t see any wrinkles. All black. That’s good. Ok, I got one for you. Becca.
B: Yah. What?
M: Did you ever watch The Partridge Family?
B: Oh yeah. I mean I haven’t in years, but I did watch it when I was younger.
M: It’s still on.
B: It’s still on? What is it on? Nickelodeon or something?
M: No… Do you have FiOS? Cable?
B: I have cable through my computer, yeah, I can get it through some direct TV or something like that.
M: Ok. I don’t have that. I think it’s on Saturday on COZI.
B: Saturdays? Ok. Partridge Family on Saturdays. COZI. Got it.
M: Right.
B: How am I looking?
M: Good.
B: (Laughs.) I can’t wait to see. Your drawings are so cool. Have you shown your work here at Summertime.
M: I think so. I can’t remember. (Mary begins talking herself through her drawing, what she has down on paper, and what she still needs to sketch out.) Oh that’s right there, got that, ok. This is in red. Ok. Now I’m going to color. There. This is black. That pencil…
B: Do you only have one sister? Do you have any siblings besides your sister? Or just you and your sister?
M: Ok. Here we go. My sister Sally. Her husband is Brett. Four nieces.
B: Whoa.
M: I have two brothers, one is Paul who lives around my area in Havertown. And Jimmy. My older brother is Jimmy. His wife is Patty. And he’s far, but not too far to my house.
B: Whoa. You really are Italian and Irish - you’ve got a big family!
M: Mm-hm, I know! Wait for this. Ok. How many cousins do you have?
B: Cousins, I don’t have any cousins.
M: I beat you.
B: I know. You did beat me! You did.
M: I want to get the word right. I, B-E-A-T. I beat you.
B: You did. How many do you have?
M: Want to know how many I have? My cousins?
B: How many?
M: Fifty.
B: Fifty?!
M: Yup.
B: Five-zero?!
M: Uh-huh.
B: Holy... mackerel. (Laughs.)
M: I know. How about that?
B: That’s wild. 50 cousins. You guys don’t give eachother gifts, man. That could take your whole salary.
M: I know.
B: Do you guys do for holidays, for birthdays, for Christmases, do you pick one person out of your family to buy a gift for?
M: We Pollyanna, yes.
B: Yeah. You have to when they’re that big. That’s crazy.
M: Yeah I know.
(Mary returns to her drawing.)
B: Have you done portraits of your whole family?
M: Once.
B: Once, really?
M: Yeah. My sister Sally and her husband Brett got married and they had an anniversary.
B: Oh wow! And so you did that for their anniversary present?
M: Yeah.
B: That’s beautiful. I mean there’s nothing better -
M: I know.
B: - to have someone draw you. It’s very special.
M: Yeah. I always do that every time. 
B: That’s awesome.
M: Not all the time. Once in a while.
B: Right. It’s a lot of work.
M: I know.
B: Yeah. When you’re looking at your subject, what is it that you’re looking at the most? The edges? The insides?
M: Both.
B: What’s the hardest thing that you’ve ever tried to draw?
M: You. With that hair.
B: (Laughs uproariously.) Mary! You’re killing me.
M: I know.
B: In all different ways.
M: I think I might have got it. You know what? You look like Danny.
B: Oh, Danny from The Partridge Family?
M: Yeah.
B: Because of the red hair? Yeah. Did he have curly red hair? 
M: Yes.
B: Who was the other one? There was Danny Bonaduce, is it Bonaduce?
M: Yes.
B: Yeah.
M: I mean, you got it down.
B: Got it down. I don’t want to screw up an Italian name in front of an Italian.
M: Mmhmm. I know. He’s not very Italian, I’m not sure he is.
B: Yeah, I don’t know if he is either but Bonaduce sounds pretty Italian to me.
M: Very.
B: DANNY BONADUCE.
M: Or Irish.
B: Could be Irish, but I don’t know, you don’t… his name would be like O’Banaduce. (Giggles quietly.) Do you have any pets?
M: I used to.
B: What did you have? 
M: I had a dog, I had two cats… a dog, two cats, a kitten, and that’s it.
B: Ah. What were their names?
M: Julia the cat, Mikey the cat, and - remember the tv show Lassie?
B: Yeah. 
M: That’s my dog. 
B: Your dog was Lassie?
M: Yes.
B: Cute!
M: But his name was Black Dog.
B: Hahaha. Black Dog.
M: We don’t know where we got the name from.
B: I had a deaf cat. We just called it Deaf Cat.
M: Ha!
B: Because she couldn’t hear anything.
M: Wow.
B: And I would just say, “Deaf Kittyyyyyy!” And then I would make sounds on the ground.
M: Wow.
B: And we had a big speaker in the family room, and my Dad would turn the music up, and the bass, and then she would sit on the speaker because she liked the way it felt. I thought that was pretty cool. 
M: Um. Let’s see. When’s your birthday?
B: August 26th.
M: Ooh. You kill me.
B: Am I killing you? When’s your birthday?
M: July 30th.
B: July 30th! (Becca snaps twice.) Nice. You’re a summer baby too.
M: Yeah. Where are you?
B: August. Yeah.
M: Mm I did know that. My cousin, Robby, we call him Big Rob.
B: Big Rob? Is he tiny?
M: I don’t know why, but we always do this, and his birthday is on... August.
B: August what? Do you know?
M: I forget. I made a long list of birthdays. I put every name in my family, of the birthdays, and - oh! - August 12th I think it is. 
B: August 12th. Oh nice!
M: I remembered.
B: August 12th, it’s not too far from yours. You guys celebrate together?
M: No. Not yet. I mean… maybe.
B: Cool Mary. You live a pretty rocking lifestyle.
M: Yeah!
B: Yeah! I’m impressed, and I don’t want to say jealous, cuz…
M: I know. The last time I had a party it was a big one. I was fifty.
B: What? Noo. Mary, I thought you were in your thirties.
M: No. I’m fifty right now.
(Becca snaps their fingers.)
M: I’m not fifty right now, but they got me really good though. Some banquet for my niece - it was a cover up to get me over there.
B: Ooooooooh.
M: They got me really good. 
B: They got you?
M: My sister - I hit my sister.
B: Were you surprised? Like, “aaaah!”
M: Then I said, “I got you Paul,” “I got you Jimmy.” (Mary points her finger to emphasize.) Like that.
B: You were shocked because they surprised you, they got you. And what did they do? They told you they were going to…
M: A banquet. One of my nieces was having a tournament or a banquet.
B: That’s so fun. 
(Mary’s pencil on the paper is audible. A soothing scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch.)
M: And they got me really good. They had a video. We should look at the video.
B: That sounds fun. I mean I hope my friends do something cool like that for my fiftieth birthday.
M: Now I’m fifty-two - ok, uh, um - how old am I? Let me see. I was fifty, then I was fifty-one.
B: So you’ll turn fifty-two in July.
M: Yes. 
B: Right on. You’re looking good Mary.
M: I know. I’m gonna be that way.
B: Forever!
M: Yeah. For the next time.
B: For the next time you come through in another little body.
M: Yup. And my sister said to me I’m gonna have a big party on my fifty four- I mean fifty-five.
B: Oh yeah? What are you going to do? 
M: I don’t know yet.
B: What do you want to do?
M: Anything.
B: Anything? Do you like, like roller coaster rides? Do you like to go to beaches? Or do you like to go -
M: I’ll go anywhere once. 
B: That’s a really, really, really great way to live.
M: Yeah!
B: Try it once, then you’ll know if you like it or not. Is it raining in Philly?
M: It was. Not anymore.
B: Yeah, same here.
M: Thank God.
B: Just stopped.
M: I said, thank God. 
B: Thank GOD. But I bet the trees like it.
M: Mmm.
B: Mmm. The trees and the flowers gotta drink too!
M: Yep. You know what? I was in New York once.
B: You were?
M: Yeah.
B: For the gallery?
M: I had an art show up there.
B: Well, well, well Mary. You’re living the life that most people dream about.
M: I know! And I drank a smoothie up there too.
B: They’ve got good smoothies up here?
M: In New York, yes.
B: Yeah, there’s every kind of everything here in this city.
M: Yup. 
B: Whatever you like, this city got it.
M: Whatever you like, I like. Get it?
B: Got it. Gooood. 
M: See I got you there, but I’m not a comedian.
B: You’re a comedian. Maybe you should open for me one day when I do a set.
M: You’ve heard of - I’m going to get the words out - Uncle. Vinny’s. Nightclub? You heard of that before?
B: Uncle Vinny’s Nightclub?
M: Yeah. You heard of that? You heard of it before?
B: Is it still up? Is it still around?
M: Yeah, I think so, yeah.
B: When was the last time you were there?
M: For my birthday.
B: Oh. In New Jersey?
M: No. Around here. 
B: Oh. Uncle Vinny’s Comedy Club. (Becca is googling Uncle Vinny’s.)
M: Yeah. Yeah. You heard of that before?
B: I hadn’t, but now I have. They almost got five stars too. I haven’t. I do most of my standup in New York. 
(There’s a pause filled only with the sound of Mary’s pencil. Judging by the vigor and the speed it seems like Mary is filling something in. Becca’s shirt? We’ll see.)
B: How many do you think is the most drawings you’ve ever done in one day?
M: A lot.
B: A lot. Like a hundred?
M: Yeah, maybe. 
B: Very impressive Mary. 
M: Yup. In the mail I have a check of my drawings, and I got big money.
B: (Snaps.) You got big money for your drawings, Mary?! I got to hang out with you more often.
M: (Mary rummages in her backpack.) Alright there we go. Look. (She holds up a Post-It note with the amount she’ll be getting a check for, for all the portrait-interviews she’s been doing over Zoom since lockdown began.)
B: Whoa! That’s almost my rent!
M: Yeah.
B: Mary that’s fantastic!
M: Thank you.
B: Congratulations. Some people go their whole life wanting something like that.
M: Yup.
B: Can’t stop you drawing. 
(Samantha Mitchell, Mary’s teacher from The Center for Creative Works joins the call.)
Samantha: Mary have you shown them the drawing yet?
M: Not yet.
B: No! We’re on tenterhooks.
M: I’m doing the shirt right now. It’s almost done.
S: Would you want to give us a sneak peak?
M: Yes. Hold on one second. Alright. There. (Mary holds up her portrait of Becca in front of the camera. It hasn’t been fully colored in, but the lines are all there - Becca, curls and all, grinning, in their laser cat t-shirt.)

B: WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA! I love it!
S: That looks great.
B: Oh my god, that’s so good. Thank you Mary.
M: You’re welcome. Are you gonna take a picture?
S: Yeah yeah. Ready? I’ll take a picture. One, two, three, ok. Snap. Got it. (Giggles.) 
B: So good. You’re gonna give me Lucille Ball hair?
M: Yeah, I’m going to.
(Laughter from everyone.)
M: Red and brown. I got it.
B: Red and brown? Oh, that’s for my hair? 
M: Yeah.
B: Nice! Well this was such an honor to meet you.
M: You too. You have any questions for me? Or you just did that already? Right? I forgot. 
B: Yeah. I think we hit on some pretty heavy issues: what we like to eat, art, geography, politics. We didn’t hit politics. Let’s keep politics out. Yeah, is there any last thing that you want to know from me?
M: Um, I got everything down. You got TV shows, you got General Hospital, All My Children, Santa Barbara. Your birthday’s in August… You ever go to casinos?
B: Casinos? There’s none around here, but I have been in Atlantic City.
M: Which one?
B: Well I went to ones in Vegas - New York, New York and the Coney Island one.
M: Oh wow.
B: I saw Kathy Griffin at Atlantic City.
M: (Laughs in disbelief.) You kill me!
B: I’m killing you.
M: I’ve been there before and I never see any stars there, but sometimes I get a table, and there’s slots.
B: Yeah, slots.
M: Now this time I go to Harrah’s. 
B: Oh Harrah’s.
M: Yeah, You ever been there?
B: I’ve been to Harrah’s. That’s the one in Atlantic City.
M: Yeah. My lucky number is eight. Any number on eight. 8, 18, 28, 38, 48.
B: Yeah. Yeah.
M: You get all eight’s out and I win. 
B: I mean I saw what you got for your artwork, I’m not surprised. You’re good with money Mary.
M: I know.
B: Ladies and gentleman, Mary the Leo.
M: Uh huh. You got it.
B: God bless. Well I can’t wait to see the finished product Mary.
M: I know, me too.
B: Thank you so much, and I can’t wait to meet you in person Mary.
M: Yeah you too. Can’t wait.
B: You are a pleasure to have an afternoon with.
M: You too.
B: Ok. Bye!

A special thank you to Russell Janzen and Samantha Mitchell for making this interview a reality.