I wanna show you what the stars are made of
I wanna show you the stars
Questions from Chad:
1. As far as I know, you've been single for a while. Has the right girl not come along, or have you had other priorities above looking for a ladyfriend?
One of the most basic truths about me is that I'm lazy. I'm focused enough on my existing social life and my career that I haven't engaged in the work of extending myself socially; add in the fact that being social at all doesn't really come naturally and you have the reasons I've been single essentially since Cathy: no girls have showed up and carried me off on their shoulder and I'm not out doing the (hard) work of finding people to date.
2. How do you choose what you're going to draw, given that the subjects tend to range pretty widely?
I draw in three different ways those ways tend to dictate the subjects of the pieces: I draw things I see, like place settings at restaurants and women in photographs; I construct deliberate compositions; and I draw with no particular end in mind, just kind of adding shapes and lines as I see fit. Historically, I did the last a lot more, then moved into doing more construction and cartooning then into life art. I tend to kind of bounce between construction and life drawing for short periods now.
3. Is living downstairs from Rock Band just totally driving you nuts?
Heh. I get asked this a lot, but it doesn't. I like a lot of the music, so it's funny to hear it coming down through the floor. Sometimes I'll hear the bass line and drum thrashing from some Nails song or the Police while I'm drifting off to sleep and catch myself singing along to it. I could see how someone would go nuts, but it's really not bad.
4. Given the current world economic, environmental and political states, what chance is there, in your estimation, that the U.S. will still be the dominant nation 50 years from now?
I think the idea of nations being dominant is already in decline. I can't honestly say that we'll be looking at a different way of doing things in terms of geopolitics on any specific timeframe, but I do think that it's becoming increasingly obvious, generation by generation, that international conflict has consequences that are, well, barbaric.
I think the US has the cash, the nukes and the hubris to use the cash and the nukes to stay top dog until those things are no longer the scepter and the digging stick of our time, but I can't really say whether we have enough cash and enough nukes to keep that time from being 20 years from now, or 30.
5. What's your Chess-boxing persona going to be?
The Sinister Captain Smash. I figure I'll come out to something really heavy and maybe a little fast. My goal will be the knockout or disqualification every time, but I'll obviously take the checkmate if I can see it.
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Questions from Lo Rawr aka DOCTOR WALKER
1) What is your goal with your drawing?
The process of challenging myself is an enjoyable hobby, and drawing is something I can do almost anywhere and leaves an objective record of my achievements. Of course there are also romantic, human reasons I do it but those aren't really "goals", are they?
2) What should I be listening to?
I picked up the Saul Williams self titled album recently and it's pretty hot. Post hip-hop in general and experimental. Jel has some great stuff and you might be the kind of person that could get into Themselves.
Now is actually a bad time for me to answer this, as I've been meaning to branch out recently, my typical stuff is starting to get overplayed.
3) Back in the day, it was a rarity to spot the elusive Chuck, and now I see you every time I am in town. How did your social presence evolve between 1996 and now such that there was once a party solely dedicated to your awesomeness?
Wow. In 1996 I was a recent high school graduate involved in his first "serious" relationship, living in his parents' basement and deep, deep in the throes of stuff like NannyMUD. Between then and 2003, the year the party happened, I:
- Went to college
- Started playing tabletop roleplaying games again for the first time since junior high
- Got a job
- Got laid off
- Dropped out of college
- Got another job
- Moved into a place with a bunch of my friends, who were also some of the friends I was involved in gaming with
- Started drinking
- Stopped hanging out with my friends from high school, for the most part
- Stopped playing most video games
- Stopped playing NannyMUD
- Broke up with my girlfriend
- Had the infamous brief period where I was committed to 7 different weekly gaming campaigns
- Joined a TFC clan
- Moved to the suburbs
- Got a grownup-paying job
- Learned to drive
- Broke up with the same girlfriend a second time
- Moved back into the city
A lot of it was moving into House and getting to be better friends with Matt and Keith, who were each gateways into larger social groups than I'd been involved in, in their own way. That's not to dismiss my older friendship with Lem, or other people I formed friendships with during the House years, like Chad and Mike and Derek and EV and Jason and you an almost unenumerable list of other people that I know or knew and still know, just not as well.
4) What is it like to have a party solely dedicated to your awesomeness?
In terms of memories it's up there. It's probably just behind the time I did body shots off of a waitress in a bar at the U and just ahead of going to Disney World with my school my senior year to be involved in the US FIRST robotics competition. It's a little amazing that it happened and as a result I'm less angry with myself that I didn't see it coming. I kind of wish I could have partied harder or had had the gumption to call in sick to work the next day. And I don't even like parties, really.
5) What is your current favorite vice/indulgence?
With vice, it's so hard to decide. Lying on the floor, eating dark chocolate, drinking gin and tonic and reading a book (at the same time) is pretty solid; especially when the book is a trashy comic. People watching at the tea bar. Steak at Rossi's. A dinner of the regional specials at Campiello. Cold sake and flirting with the waitress at Kabuki. Ogling the hostesses at trendy suburban lunch spots. Flirting with friends. Blitz chess Tuesdays. Tea bar Fridays. Pool and chitchat with my mom and dad on the weekend. Skipping out of work early to have time to myself. Late night drives. Cookies.
My life is my favorite vice, I guess.
Edited to add: Thus far I've been giving questions out when people ask for them. I will, of course, continue this process; if you want me to interview you, just ask.
Questions from Chad:
1. As far as I know, you've been single for a while. Has the right girl not come along, or have you had other priorities above looking for a ladyfriend?
One of the most basic truths about me is that I'm lazy. I'm focused enough on my existing social life and my career that I haven't engaged in the work of extending myself socially; add in the fact that being social at all doesn't really come naturally and you have the reasons I've been single essentially since Cathy: no girls have showed up and carried me off on their shoulder and I'm not out doing the (hard) work of finding people to date.
2. How do you choose what you're going to draw, given that the subjects tend to range pretty widely?
I draw in three different ways those ways tend to dictate the subjects of the pieces: I draw things I see, like place settings at restaurants and women in photographs; I construct deliberate compositions; and I draw with no particular end in mind, just kind of adding shapes and lines as I see fit. Historically, I did the last a lot more, then moved into doing more construction and cartooning then into life art. I tend to kind of bounce between construction and life drawing for short periods now.
3. Is living downstairs from Rock Band just totally driving you nuts?
Heh. I get asked this a lot, but it doesn't. I like a lot of the music, so it's funny to hear it coming down through the floor. Sometimes I'll hear the bass line and drum thrashing from some Nails song or the Police while I'm drifting off to sleep and catch myself singing along to it. I could see how someone would go nuts, but it's really not bad.
4. Given the current world economic, environmental and political states, what chance is there, in your estimation, that the U.S. will still be the dominant nation 50 years from now?
I think the idea of nations being dominant is already in decline. I can't honestly say that we'll be looking at a different way of doing things in terms of geopolitics on any specific timeframe, but I do think that it's becoming increasingly obvious, generation by generation, that international conflict has consequences that are, well, barbaric.
I think the US has the cash, the nukes and the hubris to use the cash and the nukes to stay top dog until those things are no longer the scepter and the digging stick of our time, but I can't really say whether we have enough cash and enough nukes to keep that time from being 20 years from now, or 30.
5. What's your Chess-boxing persona going to be?
The Sinister Captain Smash. I figure I'll come out to something really heavy and maybe a little fast. My goal will be the knockout or disqualification every time, but I'll obviously take the checkmate if I can see it.
-------
Questions from Lo Rawr aka DOCTOR WALKER
1) What is your goal with your drawing?
The process of challenging myself is an enjoyable hobby, and drawing is something I can do almost anywhere and leaves an objective record of my achievements. Of course there are also romantic, human reasons I do it but those aren't really "goals", are they?
2) What should I be listening to?
I picked up the Saul Williams self titled album recently and it's pretty hot. Post hip-hop in general and experimental. Jel has some great stuff and you might be the kind of person that could get into Themselves.
Now is actually a bad time for me to answer this, as I've been meaning to branch out recently, my typical stuff is starting to get overplayed.
3) Back in the day, it was a rarity to spot the elusive Chuck, and now I see you every time I am in town. How did your social presence evolve between 1996 and now such that there was once a party solely dedicated to your awesomeness?
Wow. In 1996 I was a recent high school graduate involved in his first "serious" relationship, living in his parents' basement and deep, deep in the throes of stuff like NannyMUD. Between then and 2003, the year the party happened, I:
- Went to college
- Started playing tabletop roleplaying games again for the first time since junior high
- Got a job
- Got laid off
- Dropped out of college
- Got another job
- Moved into a place with a bunch of my friends, who were also some of the friends I was involved in gaming with
- Started drinking
- Stopped hanging out with my friends from high school, for the most part
- Stopped playing most video games
- Stopped playing NannyMUD
- Broke up with my girlfriend
- Had the infamous brief period where I was committed to 7 different weekly gaming campaigns
- Joined a TFC clan
- Moved to the suburbs
- Got a grownup-paying job
- Learned to drive
- Broke up with the same girlfriend a second time
- Moved back into the city
A lot of it was moving into House and getting to be better friends with Matt and Keith, who were each gateways into larger social groups than I'd been involved in, in their own way. That's not to dismiss my older friendship with Lem, or other people I formed friendships with during the House years, like Chad and Mike and Derek and EV and Jason and you an almost unenumerable list of other people that I know or knew and still know, just not as well.
4) What is it like to have a party solely dedicated to your awesomeness?
In terms of memories it's up there. It's probably just behind the time I did body shots off of a waitress in a bar at the U and just ahead of going to Disney World with my school my senior year to be involved in the US FIRST robotics competition. It's a little amazing that it happened and as a result I'm less angry with myself that I didn't see it coming. I kind of wish I could have partied harder or had had the gumption to call in sick to work the next day. And I don't even like parties, really.
5) What is your current favorite vice/indulgence?
With vice, it's so hard to decide. Lying on the floor, eating dark chocolate, drinking gin and tonic and reading a book (at the same time) is pretty solid; especially when the book is a trashy comic. People watching at the tea bar. Steak at Rossi's. A dinner of the regional specials at Campiello. Cold sake and flirting with the waitress at Kabuki. Ogling the hostesses at trendy suburban lunch spots. Flirting with friends. Blitz chess Tuesdays. Tea bar Fridays. Pool and chitchat with my mom and dad on the weekend. Skipping out of work early to have time to myself. Late night drives. Cookies.
My life is my favorite vice, I guess.
Edited to add: Thus far I've been giving questions out when people ask for them. I will, of course, continue this process; if you want me to interview you, just ask.