Author Topic: Ask Me Anything  (Read 5324 times)

Lord J Esq

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Ask Me Anything
« on: May 31, 2007, 05:02:27 am »
Serious questions only.

Kyronea

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #1 on: May 31, 2007, 05:06:20 am »
Why did you become an aerospace engineer, and how skilled are you at the job, exactly?

Lord J Esq

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #2 on: May 31, 2007, 05:51:48 am »
Why did you become an aerospace engineer, and how skilled are you at the job, exactly?

I've always had a liking for science and engineering, much like our purple-haired Lucca. But it was Scotty, from the Starship Enterprise, who provided me with the specific mental image to express that liking. There's a video out there on YouTube where the late James Doohan talks about his amazement at how many people he influenced to become engineers just by being down there in the engine room of the Enterprise.

As an optimist, futurist, and technophile--if I must be made to label myself--I see engineering as one of the two main ways to advance humanity in a meaningful way (the other being the arts), and so not surprisingly I spend most of my engaged time in the pursuit of either, or both.

As for the skill, who is to say? Engineering isn't actually what I do for a living right now, and so much of that aerospace jazz is hands-on, project-specific. I could spit math at you until you're blue in the face, and I know all about statics and fluid mechanics and all sorts of fancy things that, in a god-designed universe, would not be so fraggingly number-intense to master...but could I build a rocket that flies? Heh.

Kyronea

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #3 on: May 31, 2007, 05:57:57 am »
Heh. Nice to know. Sorry if that question was a bit too personal.

Lesse...hmm...what got you interested in Chrono Trigger, and why do you admin the site even now, given that most of the people here are somewhat younger than you? (Unless I have seriously overestimated your age and you're actually around my age, in which case I must apologize profusely. Also--and I should have said this before--all of these questions come from honest curiosity, with no malice behind them, lest I accidentely phrase one in a way that creates that impression, as I will occasional due, much to my dismay.)

Lord J Esq

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #4 on: May 31, 2007, 06:17:11 am »
Heh. Nice to know. Sorry if that question was a bit too personal.

Lesse...hmm...what got you interested in Chrono Trigger, and why do you admin the site even now, given that most of the people here are somewhat younger than you? (Unless I have seriously overestimated your age and you're actually around my age, in which case I must apologize profusely. Also--and I should have said this before--all of these questions come from honest curiosity, with no malice behind them, lest I accidentely phrase one in a way that creates that impression, as I will occasional due, much to my dismay.)

Chrono Trigger itself got me interested in Chrono Trigger. Or, if you must, The Secret of Mana got me interested in Chrono Trigger. I played SoM years ago and loved it. In college I found a website dedicated to preserving the memory of SoM and SoM II--preservation which included the roms for those games. And, due to the site owner's personal preferences, Chrono Trigger was also there and was highly recommended. The rest is history.

Why do I "still" admin the site? Who knows? I didn't ask to be made an admin; Ramsus just gave it to me as a birthday present a while back. I didn't complain. The Compendium itself is a great resource, and we all owe ZeaLitY a debt of gratitude. If I could help out, then so much the better. Nevertheless, forum conversation quality has declined over the years and nowadays I mostly limit myself to this board--although even General has suffered from the departure of some of the former regulars who made this place intellectually rich. So that's where your comment about my age would come in. I'm 24, and while I don't believe that hanging out at message forums is only for kids any more than video games themselves are only for kids, I do admit to feeling slightly out of place here at this particular forum. I spend most of my board time at other communities, well removed from the Chrono world. The reason I still hang out here at all is mostly because the Chrono series is just that awesome.

P.S. No question is too personal. I'm procrastinating from doing some work, and this is a great distraction. If I don't want to answer something, I won't answer it.

Kyronea

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #5 on: May 31, 2007, 06:25:37 am »
You're only twenty-four? Huh. Here I was thinking you were around thirty or so, due to the aerospace engineer stuff. Guess I was way off on my guess about how much college education that takes...

Anyway...I think that's about--

No, I've got one more question: what first interested you in writing, and have you ever released any writing on, say, some large fiction-publishing website, or in a magazine or published novel or what have you? And what genre do you prefer to write for? Are there any genres you won't?

...well...I guess that's four questions. Meh.

Lord J Esq

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #6 on: May 31, 2007, 06:58:40 am »
No, I've got one more question: what first interested you in writing, and have you ever released any writing on, say, some large fiction-publishing website, or in a magazine or published novel or what have you? And what genre do you prefer to write for? Are there any genres you won't?

...well...I guess that's four questions. Meh.

I've liked to write ever since before I was literate. I had a hyperactive imagination as a kid, and I would daydream and make-believe all the time. As I grew up, writing became one of my key means of expressing all that gushing creativity. The actual skill of writing came to me not through instruction, but experience. My parents read to me a great deal when I was very little, and I read on my own endlessly throughout childhood. I also watched a lot of television and movies. All of this input taught me how to write.

As for my published work, there is actually quite a lot of it, but none of it is of the big-deal, "find it in a bookstore" type that you are probably talking about. But, yes, I have been published. My biggest print publication success was several years with my university's student newspaper, where I had a long-running opinion column. Online, my most widely-read work has been at the political blog Daily Kos, by virtue of that website's huge audience. There have been other outlets too, too many to recount. For instance, back when I was GMing online RPGs, I had a website of my own. Sadly, none of this (except the newspaper gig) has earned me any direct dollars.

What genre do I prefer to write in? No surprise, science fiction and fantasy--although I could talk at great length about my sentiments on those genres and their status in this day and age. In addition to science fiction and fantasy, I am comfortable in nearly any genre--and most media. By "media" I'm talking about forms other than straight prose. To name just a few examples: Back in my fanfiction days, I wrote teleplays for The Simpsons. Back in high school, I wrote, directed, and acted in a stage play. Nowadays I keep an online journal, I write letters, and of course I hop around the message boards. I write formal essays, and, more frequently, informal ones. I have even undertaken an epic poem--notwithstanding any complaints raised by Daniel Krispin on grounds of what constitutes an epic poem.

Which brings me to your final question: The only genre that I absolutely would rule out is romance. I used to say that of mystery too, but now I am ambivalent about that genre, and in any case I haven't worked in it. In addition to my ban on romance, I have very little interest in genres such as horror, thriller, western, romantic comedy, mystery, and probably a few others I can't recall. I wouldn't not work in these, but, to date, I have not yet done so.

Kyronea

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2007, 07:05:18 am »
Neat stuff to know. You sound like me, only successful...and I'd probably be more successful if I quit harping at myself about my own failings and actually try to do something.

In any case, thank you for the answering the questions, and you're welcome for the distraction. That is, unfortunately, the last of the questions I really have for you.

Lord J Esq

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2007, 07:10:54 am »
Then I shall simply have to keep myself busy by eating this bowl of delicious strawberries. Thanks for the diversion, Ky.

P.S. Becoming a good writer doesn't happen overnight. Like I said, I've been writing for...what...twenty years now?

Kyronea

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2007, 07:22:00 am »
Then I shall simply have to keep myself busy by eating this bowl of delicious strawberries. Thanks for the diversion, Ky.
Glad to help.
Quote
P.S. Becoming a good writer doesn't happen overnight. Like I said, I've been writing for...what...twenty years now?
True at that. True at that...and, of course, it would help if I practiced more often. Maybe next time you write up one of those story-threads, I'll participate without acting like a whiny bitch.

Burning Zeppelin

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2007, 07:50:10 am »
No question too personal eh? Ok, when did you first, if ever, have sex? And, what is your view on the current state of the CC Forums?

cupn00dles

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2007, 01:30:57 pm »
What the fuck?

ZeaLitY

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #12 on: May 31, 2007, 02:21:32 pm »
I'd like to advance my own interests by asking about your position on the death penalty, American imperialism, and eugenics.

CyberSarkany

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #13 on: May 31, 2007, 03:50:01 pm »
Me wanna ask too!!11!

1st: You sometimes dropped that you have a girlfriend. Are you still together? How have you meet?(a bit romance, please :) because I love real life stories like that) 

2nd: What do you think about Germany?(Wooo, what a lame one) And please, don't say we have no humor...it's not funny anymore when Americans and Brittains explain every joke towards us because they don#t think we understand them...because it's fun...and we have one...
I know this is a wide question, so just write about what comes into you mind first
(and for info, but I'm sure you already know: Nazis don't exist anymore, nowhere, because I'm sick of hearing how we are all Nazis, even though they don't exist any more...some ex-Nazis are still living thou)

Kebrel

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Re: Ask Me Anything
« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2007, 06:39:58 pm »
Can you explain the event when an electron "splits", I guess is the right word, during super positioning?

...
If you know this.

P.S. nice to meet you Lord J esq