Whoa. A post. (That Interview Meme!)
As posed by scarlettina:
1) Your profile bio says that you're a martial artist. Which art do you study, why, and how far along are you?
I study an obscure Japanese art call iaido The link leads to the website of the school I attend (the wiki page for iai is fer crap). Iaido is to kendo what traditional, historic westernsword techniques are to fencing. I study three different schools: Muso Shinden Ryu, Ryushin Jigen Ryu, and Tamiya Ryu Iaijutsu. I now hold a first-degree black belt in each. It sounds more impressive than it is; in iai, getting your shodan just means that you've demonstrated genuine niterest, study, and perserverance, and this is where all the hard work really starts. It also means that I practice forms with a real, sharp blade. That will get yuo focus, most assuredly.
The art itself is meditative, adn though it's removed somewhat from old, old battlefield techniques, what we learn and study is dierctly rooted in those techniques and traditions (Tamiya Ryu is considered by Japan to be an Intangible Cultural Asset, and the school's scrolls--still in the hands of the owning family--are over 400 years old).
2) Talk about your "thing for Edward R. Murrow and Tom Waits."
I likes me some truth. Edward R. Murrow didn't wallow in glamor or entertainment; he didn't pander to anybody. He was no angel, certainly, but he had a respect for his work and for his audience that is rare today. Tom Waits is very similar--except he deals with emotional truths. Worldy truth and emotional truth are just different shades of the same rainbow. Er, yeah. Both of them, when they're at their best, can make me cry.
3) If you could be a perpetual student, what would be your top three subjects to study?
Three?! Wicked fiend. :)
-> History. Gives me an excuse to travel.
-> Languages. Also gives me an excuse.
-> Science. Almost was an astrophysics major. It's never too late!
4) What's your favorite thing about having a part-Mexican heritage?
Perspective. It's made me a better person; I think more about how people feel, what they mght be thinking, and why. It's made me more empathetic, more willing to understand people, because I know what it feels like to be dismissed as something I'm not. That, and the food! And my family.
5) What three things do you do regularly every week?
-> Game. I'm still 15, mentally, so I play (and even run!) an RPG of some sort nearly every week. To say nothing of the post-by-forum stuff.
-> Watch The FIrst 48. (It'd be Scrubs if they aired it on a night I was home.) The First 48 is a series on A&E that documents several homicide departments across the nation, generally following two cases per episode. The name derives from how chances for closing a case diminish significantly once the first 48 hours have passed.
-> Sleep in sometime during the weekend. I dont' get enough sleep during the week, so I catch up, usually on a Sunday. Sleep! I love sleep.
Thanks!
Meme rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
1) Your profile bio says that you're a martial artist. Which art do you study, why, and how far along are you?
I study an obscure Japanese art call iaido The link leads to the website of the school I attend (the wiki page for iai is fer crap). Iaido is to kendo what traditional, historic westernsword techniques are to fencing. I study three different schools: Muso Shinden Ryu, Ryushin Jigen Ryu, and Tamiya Ryu Iaijutsu. I now hold a first-degree black belt in each. It sounds more impressive than it is; in iai, getting your shodan just means that you've demonstrated genuine niterest, study, and perserverance, and this is where all the hard work really starts. It also means that I practice forms with a real, sharp blade. That will get yuo focus, most assuredly.
The art itself is meditative, adn though it's removed somewhat from old, old battlefield techniques, what we learn and study is dierctly rooted in those techniques and traditions (Tamiya Ryu is considered by Japan to be an Intangible Cultural Asset, and the school's scrolls--still in the hands of the owning family--are over 400 years old).
2) Talk about your "thing for Edward R. Murrow and Tom Waits."
I likes me some truth. Edward R. Murrow didn't wallow in glamor or entertainment; he didn't pander to anybody. He was no angel, certainly, but he had a respect for his work and for his audience that is rare today. Tom Waits is very similar--except he deals with emotional truths. Worldy truth and emotional truth are just different shades of the same rainbow. Er, yeah. Both of them, when they're at their best, can make me cry.
3) If you could be a perpetual student, what would be your top three subjects to study?
Three?! Wicked fiend. :)
-> History. Gives me an excuse to travel.
-> Languages. Also gives me an excuse.
-> Science. Almost was an astrophysics major. It's never too late!
4) What's your favorite thing about having a part-Mexican heritage?
Perspective. It's made me a better person; I think more about how people feel, what they mght be thinking, and why. It's made me more empathetic, more willing to understand people, because I know what it feels like to be dismissed as something I'm not. That, and the food! And my family.
5) What three things do you do regularly every week?
-> Game. I'm still 15, mentally, so I play (and even run!) an RPG of some sort nearly every week. To say nothing of the post-by-forum stuff.
-> Watch The FIrst 48. (It'd be Scrubs if they aired it on a night I was home.) The First 48 is a series on A&E that documents several homicide departments across the nation, generally following two cases per episode. The name derives from how chances for closing a case diminish significantly once the first 48 hours have passed.
-> Sleep in sometime during the weekend. I dont' get enough sleep during the week, so I catch up, usually on a Sunday. Sleep! I love sleep.
Thanks!
Meme rules:
1. Leave me a comment saying, "interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.