Geometric Ponderings

[ImpracticalDino]

What is your opinion of reality TV shows?

[StardustSoldier]

Are you an early bird or a night owl?

I am generally a night owl, although I am forced to be an early bird in the summer semesters due to the 8am classes that I need to teach.

What is it that you teach?

[rhombus]

What is your opinion of reality TV shows?

Perhaps unsurprisingly I do not like reality television shows at all. Even back when I used to watch television I found them generally to be shows that appealed to the lowest common denominator. Additionally, they are part of what destroyed competent writing in Hollywood as the studios turned to hack writers who could "direct" the "reality" in reality television shows as opposed to union writers who could actually write competent action or drama scripts.  Most of what I watch now is educational content on YouTube.

What is it that you teach?

I am a biology instructor at a community college so I teach, depending on the semester, anatomy and physiology, general biology, environmental science, microbiology, and zoology courses. Currently I am teaching Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II for the summer semester.

[StardustSoldier]

Nice!

Do you like math?

[ImpracticalDino]

How was your overall experience when you were still in school, and which years did you consider the best?
I also wonder how hard you studied and worked just so you could teach many, many topics of science and biology.

[The Chronicler]

You've come up with a number of original characters in your Seven Hunters fanfiction series (Taunt, Breeze, Mender, Calin, and many, many more). Considering just how popular it's become among us, I've gotten a little curious about something lately. How do you imagine what the voices of all these characters sound like? If we speculate on the Seven Hunters (and its sequels) being made into some kind of animated series, what kinds of voices do you think would sound right for these characters?

[rhombus]

Do you like math?

It was not my favorite subject, but I find the patterns in math to be quite fascinating. The biggest issue that I had during my academic career were mathematics instructors who were quite poor at their jobs, which is unfortunate as mathematics is one of those subjects that I could not effective self-teach myself. That being said, by the end of my schooling I had advanced through algebra, to second year calculus, and I had taken three years of statistics.

How was your overall experience when you were still in school, and which years did you consider the best?
I also wonder how hard you studied and worked just so you could teach many, many topics of science and biology.

I partially answered this in my previous answer, but I can elaborate on it a bit more. My overall experience in grade school (grades 2-8) were quite positive. I went to a small rural school with a graduate class size of 12 and it was in this environment that I went from a relatively non-social kid in special education (due to autism-related issue) to a mainstreamed child with a 4.0 GPA.

In High School some of the courses were much better in terms of depth of content, but the social environment was quite poor. I was subject to bullying and general social ostracization by most of my peers. Despite this (and a truly awful algebra instructor for Algebra II who nearly made me give up hope in math until I escaped with a C and then got As in the next two years with a better instructor) I maintained relatively good grades and excellent standardized test scores and then moved on to college.

College was a liberating experience due to the lack of the stifling social element that existed in High School. Here things were much more atomized socially which meant that I could pursue my studies without the burden of bullying or needless distraction from assemblies and the other trappings of public school. I generally consider these years to be the best of my academic experience, and also by far the most challenging. Though the general courses were no problem for me, the courses that I took for my Bachelors of Biological Science and my Masters of Zoology were quite challenging. From my third year of undergraduate studies to my second year of graduate school I generally worked 20 hours a week, took classes and studied for forty hours a week, and conducted research for what little of my free time remained. I do not regret this experience, however, far from it. This experience gave me a firm background in not only zoology, but also microbiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, anatomy and physiology, chemistry, and political science. This served me well when I began teaching as I could effectively divide the courses into their constituent parts and relate to students how each topic lead logically into the next topic.

You've come up with a number of original characters in your Seven Hunters fanfiction series (Taunt, Breeze, Mender, Calin, and many, many more). Considering just how popular it's become among us, I've gotten a little curious about something lately. How do you imagine what the voices of all these characters sound like? If we speculate on the Seven Hunters (and its sequels) being made into some kind of animated series, what kinds of voices do you think would sound right for these characters?

Hmmm... that is a good question. For Taunt I imagine he would be voiced by Ryan Reynolds.  For Calin I think Andrew Scott could capture his cadence quite well. Whereas Wrok is clearly a Benedict Cumberbatch kind of guy/runner. I always imagined Luca to have the voice of Diana Rigg. And, for some reason, I always imagined Mender as having a Jodi Foster kind of voice. Dravos is clearly has a Aidan Gillen sort of voice, which I only found out when I watched Game of Thrones for the first time and heard Littlefinger speak and though "What is Dravos doing in this show?"  As for Breeze I always imagined that she had a maternal voice, but I cannot put a voice actor or actress to it.

[StardustSoldier]

Aside from LBT, are there any shows/movies/etc. you enjoyed as a child that you're still a fan of to this day?

[ImpracticalDino]

What is the most disgusting thing you've seen or known of in your opinion?

[rhombus]

@StardustSoldier @ImpracticalDino

**Blows dust off of the topic**

My apologies for the delay in getting to these questions.

What is the most disgusting thing you've seen or known of in your opinion?

This is a dangerous question to ask a biologist. 

Echinococcosis of the brain.  I will not include any photographs in the forum itself, but it involves a parasitic worm forming cysts in the soft tissues of a host's body, which can include the brain itself. The symptoms can be similar to that of a brain tumor, but the cyst can in fact be removed.  The issue is that they cyst cannot be removed directly without rupturing the cyst and killing the host. So saline water is often applied behind the cyst while the patient's skull is open to the elements of the operating theater. If the right amount of pressure is applied to make the cyst bulge out without rupturing then the cyst ball with the embedded worms will go into a surgical bowl.  Yum! 

(Aren't you glad that you asked this question?  )

Aside from LBT, are there any shows/movies/etc. you enjoyed as a child that you're still a fan of to this day?

There are numerous films and shows that I still enjoy. In no particular order, I still enjoy the film Labyrinth, the 1984 version of Dune (and also the book and the 2000 miniseries), the 1970s Watership Down film (and, of course, the book), the 1980s Arnold Schwarzenegger films, and the Evil Dead series of films.  Yes, I know, I was an odd child.    That being said, however, some things have not aged well, which is to be expected as one's tastes change over time.  But those films and shows that I listed have stood the test of time in keeping my interest.

[OwlsCantRead]

How social were you with others when you were younger?

[UnionRags123]

Who is your favorite LBT OC who does not appear in any of your fics?

Which characters do you play and which ones does Historian1912 play in the Mender's Tale role play? Or is that "classified" info? 

[Anagnos]

How long you think you would last in a zombie apocalypse?

[ImpracticalDino]

Do you own any LBT-related accessories, merchandise, or items?

[StardustSoldier]

Do you know what you'd rate each LBT movie, and the TV series, out of 10?

[rhombus]

How social were you with others when you were younger?

I was not particularly social due to a combination of autism (which I was not made aware of until much later in life, but I knew something made me different) and the rather hostile antics of many kids who were my age.  Southern Illinois was not a particularly tolerant place (and still isn’t to a great extent) and as a socially-awkward non-Christian with eccentric friends I was an easy target in High School.  Thankfully I was socially competent enough by the end of High School to adapt well to the college environment, and my autism was not noticeable by the time that High School ended.  That being said, it was a rough time to get to that point.

Who is your favorite LBT OC who does not appear in any of your fics?

Which characters do you play and which ones does Historian1912 play in the Mender's Tale role play? Or is that "classified" info? 

Hmmm…. That is a very good question.  I would have to say that some of Fyn’s characters would rise to that level.  In particular, I find Sol and Rear to be intriguing characters.  This is especially true as their upbringing and lives have gone in entirely different trajectories from the carnivores in my stories.  So I would say it is a tie between Sol and Rear from To Tread Upon Fields Afar.

How long you think you would last in a zombie apocalypse?

If I can make it to my family’s farm?  Well, I have enough food stores for 2 months, several firearms at my disposal, and easily defensible territory against a brain-dead enemy. So perhaps a few months.

If I cannot make it to my family farm?  A day, tops.

Do you own any LBT-related accessories, merchandise, or items?

I do not.  At this point I merely have digital copies of all of the films.

Do you know what you'd rate each LBT movie, and the TV series, out of 10?

I partially answered this about three years ago in an older topic which has since been lost to the sands of time, but my views have not really shifted all that much since then.  Here is my ranking:

1. The Great Valley Adventure (LBT 2)
2. The Mysterious Island (LBT 5)
3. Journey Through The Mists (LBT 4)
4. The Time of The Great Giving (LBT 3)
5. The Stone Of Cold Fire (LBT 7)
6. The television series
7. The Big Freeze (LBT 8)
8. Journey of the Brave (LBT 14)
9. The Great Longneck Migration (LBT 10)
10. Journey To Big Water (LBT 9)
11. The Secret of Saurus Rock (LBT 6)
12. The Invasion of the Tinysaureses (LBT 11)
13. The Great Day of the Flyers (LBT 12)
14. The Wisdom of Friends (LBT 13 - I don't see this one moving any time soon  )

[StardustSoldier]

Oh yes, I know which thread you're talking about. Sequels Personal Ranking, although I forgot that you'd posted in there.

Do you know how you'd rate each of them on a scale out of 10? (if not, that's fine)

[Sneak]

(Epic lol fail. Only now I realized it's Rhombus's ask me thread, not some roleplay or fanfic.    )

hmm... can I ask what parts of TV series made you like it so much so you placed it so high on your ranking list?

[ImpracticalDino]

Have you ever been infected by any type of malware on your computer?

[OwlsCantRead]

You now possess the ability to change your eye color to whatever hue you want. What would you opt for, perchance?