Oct 24, 2005, Tim Stanley

  1. What are your favorite movies of all time?

Let’s see---I love movies, and I am fundamentally an indecisive person, so let me give you a couple of lists:

Movies that satisfy my hero fixation: Braveheart, Gladiator, The Last Samurai, Master and Commander, First Knight

Movies that move me: La Vita a Bella, Unbreakable

The movies that satisfy my inner kid: Galaxy Quest, A Flight of Dragons, The Last Unicorn, Nightmare before Christmas, The Hobbit, The Secret of NIMH

Great family classics: Romancing the Stone, Contact

The Funniest movies of all time: Office Space, Addam’s Family Values, Shrek, The Princess Bride, The Emperor’s New Groove, Dumb and Dumber, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Raising Arizona

Wonderfully dark movies: Devil’s Advocate, Dark City

Probably, all said, the best two movies of all time: Shawshank Redemption and Lord of the Rings

 

  1. What are the books that changed your life?

Let’s see, other than canon—the most meaningful books to me have probably been:

Angels and Demons, The De Vinci Code, The Harry Potter Series . . .

 

  1. If you could be an animal, what would it be?

A dragon? Dragons are animals, right? Maybe a wyrven or chimera? A kraken? Cerberus has a cool job too . . . but then there is the griffon---yep, a dragon or a griffon. But, if you are going to force me to choose a real animal, (and I try very hard to resist mentioning a Liger) I would have to say a Honi (Hawaiian Sea Turtle), for their relaxed lifestyle, extended mating season, long lifespan, portable habitat, amphibious nature, and not least of all, their protected species status.

 

  1. If you could have any pet you wanted what would it be?

I am partial to felines and rodents, but I have known a few good dogs in my day too. I always thought a ferret, weasel, or mongoose would make a good pet. A bat is definitely worth considering too.  I have always liked Raccoons as well.

If opting for a cat, I would go for a black long-hair, or possibly something more exotic, a Kodkod or a Rust-spotted Cat.

 

  1. What would you name it?

There lots of great names out there, I have a whole stash of names that we “almost” names our kids---Drake, Wyrven, Griffon, Grey, Dakary, Caleb, Magdalene Faye, etc. I am sure they will pop up again over they years as names of pets.

 

  1. What is your favorite song or musician?

Pink Martini is probably the one group I would buy an album from, no questions asked, without so much as even looking at the cover.

 

  1. What is your favorite game?

The greatest game of all time has to be good ‘ol classic Dungeons and Dragons. Basic D&D, AD&D, 3.0, 3.5—it’s all good. That game, more than any other game, book, movie, article, or anything, has molded how I spend my leisure time. It has gone a long ways in defining who I am. My list of favorite games is long and varied---but detailing them here would only serve to distract from the glory that is D20. 

 

  1. What about websites, which ones are your favorite?

Well—of course, my own. You can visit all my other frequented links on www.kristim.com/links The pages exists solely to streamline my finding my favorite sites, as a default homepage for my browser.

 

  1. What TV shows do you try to catch every episode of?

It has been a long time since I have actually watched actual TV. I do find other ways to watch my favorite programs however. Currently the only two I go out of my way for are Battlestar Galactica and Family Guy. I keep biding my time, waiting for the glorious return of the Star Trek franchise.

 

  1. What do you want to be when you grow up?

I would love being a tenured university professor of social psychology, and own several lucrative businesses, including a game development company, and other recreation/adventure related enterprises.

 

  1. What is your favorite food group?

Starches (Is that a food group?) You know---Pasta, Potatoes, Corn, Bread, Rice

 

  1. Of all the fruit in the world, which one is your favorite?

My favorite fruit has got to be plums, but pineapple, kiwis, tangelos, mangos and olives, grapes, and just about any berry are pretty high up there.

 

  1. What about vegetable?

Mushrooms, without question. Cauliflower, white corn, broccoli, and all kinds of squash definitely make honorable mentions.

 

  1. What about types of cheese?

It has got to be Swiss. Although, I am currently experiencing a renewed interest in Provolone and Colby.

 

  1. What food could you never eat?

Food is a very visual thing for me. It is looks like it did when it was alive, I probably won’t eat it. No fish with their heads still attached, or octopus that actually are shaped like an octopus, shrimp with the legs attached, or oysters that are still in the shell. But any of those things are among my favorite when presented differently. Oh, and Gatorade---I can never really drink Gatorade. And I don’t like licking the sweat off of middle-aged chubby weight-lifters either. I guess I didn’t really need to say that—it is a bit redundant.

 

  1. What would you request as a last meal?

Probably Chicken Tikka Masala with Saag Aloo, Naan, and basmati rice. (Although, if I were really about to be executed, I would be inclined to make up a few foods that don’t exist, in an attempt to buy a bit of time for that presidential pardon to come in.)

 

  1. What smells provoke strong memories for you?

Walking into the Bombay House---Good times and good food. I have always like the smell of hardware stores, fireworks, old bookstores, and (oddly enough) shoe stores.

 

  1. Which vacation has been your favorite?

I really enjoyed Italy, England, Germany, Hawaii, Yellowstone. I love castles, ruins, religious sites, cathedrals, and man-made and natural wonders, etc. Probably the vacation that continues to capture my imagination, however, is Carlsbad Caverns.

 

  1. What would be the vacation of your dreams?

I would love to go on a family sailing adventure---it would have to be when the kids we a bit older. We could set out for a month long exploration of some uncharted coast (unless you count an old, weathered, hand-drawn map, of mysterious origin and questionable accuracy). We would leisurely anchor and explore anything that looked interesting, and on the shore at night. For it to really be a complete adventure, we would need to involve some scuba diving and spelunking, and ideally, some buried treasure.

If we are talking about romantic holidays---like after kids are grown and gone, the vacation of my dreams would be to spend two+ years with Kristin on a working vacation, volunteering our time for the Church. The place doesn’t matter so much, but I would love to learn another language. (If I really had my pick, it would probably be India, Italy, Greece, Thailand, anyplace coastal) Foreign languages have eluded me so far—I think that may be the best chance I’ll get to learn a language with God’s help (‘cause me doing it on my own, just doesn’t quite do the trick.) I expect our time would not be exactly a traditional vacation—but it sounds like fun to me.

 

  1. What are some of your earliest memories?

Some of my earliest memories include reaching up, but not being able to reach the doorknob. Most of my youngest memories are in Florida—I remember watching rockets take off from Cape Canaveral, having water fights with my parents in the courtyard, I remember walking to the pool and the beach, and playing in the drainage pipes that empty into the ocean. I remember Jelly Fish. I remember playing with a plastic bath toy turtle in our toilet (I actually remember thinking about seeing turtles swimming on Sesame Street, so I knew it was OK), but then the turtle got caught in the air trap and was lost forever. (This was pre-potty training, I remember feeling that my turtle was the reason we had this bowl of water to play in.) Anyway, does that count as a traumatized childhood?

 

  1. What is your favorite toy?

Kristin, of course. After that, it would probably be my computer---the ultimate flexible toy. Really, all I need is Microsoft Office, and I can have a great time. Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Word---They are some of the finest toys every created. And I am not just talking about me enjoying my job, or some sick work-a-holic fetish. Quite the opposite, it is a HUGE distraction for me at work, to be using my favorite toys to do things that are not exactly what I would rather be doing in them. (Designing worlds, creating rule systems, building charts, looking at probabilities, toying with data, building websites, imagining, creating, molding, crafting, cutting, pasting, getting that fun little buzz you get when you left-click a misspelled work, you know—the works.)

 

  1. What is your dream car?

My dream car would be one with few moving parts. Less moving parts means less things that can break. Perhaps a jeep. No top, no doors. Maybe seatbelts. . . Ideally black. Maybe white. Color isn’t too important.

 

  1. What is your favorite season?

Fall. (Of course I am the original Fall-lover in the family. Everybody else is just wannabe Fall-loving posers.)

 

  1. What is your favorite joke?

“Do you know what is the worst part about Roller-blading is? . . . .  Telling your mom you are gay.”

I really like to laugh---it usually doesn’t take too much to get me chuckling.

 

  1. What are your favorite clothes?

I am most comfortable in jeans with empty pockets, well-worn, slip-on leather shoes, a loose, un-tucked collared button-up shirt, with the sleeves rolled half-way up, and no jewelry (except maybe my glasses).

 

  1. Were would you like to live?

I would love to live on a waterfront---preferably an ocean. I am somewhat partial to the Southern East Coast’s water temperature, the Northern East Coast’s seafood, the Southern West Coast’s weather, and the Northern West Coast’s rocky shore.  I am guessing that somewhere in the world there is the perfect combination of all those things, but in my travels so far I have yet to find it.

 

  1. What superpower would you like to have?

The ultimate superpower—and I would take to task anyone who argues otherwise—would be the ability to change shape into anything you wanted. It allows you to backdoor into so many other super abilities, flight, breathing water, invisibility, indestructibleness, great strength, etc. Another great power to have would be the power to read minds. Even greater would be full telepathy. Even greater would be the ability to telepathically plant suggestions in peoples subconscious—but that would temptation would probably push past my ability to maintain any kind of ethical self-restraint. 

 

  1. If you got a tattoo, what would it be?

I would like some weird arcane symbol, tattooed to a bicep (perhaps one on each). It would be much cooler however, if I didn’t remember getting them, and spent my life trying to understand where they came from.

            A “handy” practical tattoo could be touch-sensitive fiber-optics embedded in the flesh of my palm, attached to an implanted wireless Internet-link. That way I could have the entire world in the palm of my hand.

 

  1. What holiday do you look forward to the most?

Of course, Fiant Aleae. (And it shames me to think the rest of my family put something else ;^)

 

  1. Historical person you would like to meet?

I would love to meet some of those larger-than-life legendary heroes of the past---so see how closely history has captured them. William Wallace, King Arthur, Al Gore.

 

  1. Are there any celebrities you have crushes on?

Jennifer Connelly (Ever since Labyrinth), Nicole Kidman (Ever since Far and Away), Liv Tyler (Ever since Armageddon)

 

 

  1. What odd fascinations and hobbies do you have?

Let see, I have dozens of odd fixations, and I am sure I will not remember them all here:

I really like probability theory—I collect dice, and written dozens of probability simulations in Excel, C++, and Basic.

I love spices, I hope to eventually identify them by sight and smell alone.

I love the idea of martial arts and weapon craft. (I which I could develop my affection into more than just an appreciation.)

I enjoy scuba diving and spelunking.

I have a real problem with anyone who says there is only one way to do anything. I enjoy cooking, drawing, music. I learn to love things quickly, I have a really hard time narrowing my tastes down after that—if I listen to any song enough times, I will really learn to like it. I have the same problem with food, TV shows, books, etc. My best defense is just to avoid them to begin with. (The notable exception to this, as I have mentioned before, is Gatorade.)

 

  1. What are you scared of?

There are some looming specters that I know I should be more scared of then I actually am—Diabetes, Heart Disease, Prostate Cancer, etc. The main things that scare me are bad things happening to my family. (And perhaps the bad things I might do in an effort to protect/avenge my family—I’ve played enough Half-Life to know what a crowbar is capable of.)

 

Other than that dark and depressing topic—I really have a strong aversion to dead things (pets, bugs, etc.). I don’t mind killing things—I just don’t want to touch them when they are dead. Now this is where it gets complex—I have no problem with dead thing that I never met alive, and now it is processed and cooked (e.g., My Fuddruckers Hamburger for example,)  I have no problem. But there is something uncomfortable and otherworldly about a body without a soul. Perhaps “otherworldly” is the wrong word—maybe, “thisworldly.” I am used to relating with souls and intelligences. This empty shell is a stranger to me.

(I don’t think I am alone in this sensation of course---that is why graveyards are often eerie, and zombies have made appearances in countless horror stories.)

 

The last other thing that scares me is the depths of human depravity. It is staggering to me the wide range of disturbing images and ideas that we as a race have produced. And for each of these images, there is a conscious mind behind it that imagined it to begin with. I believe within each of us is not only the Light of Christ, that helps point the way home, but something much darker as well. Depending on how people use their potential, they can inspire or they can frighten. I guess this ties pretty closely with my first fear on the list.

 

  1. What are your favorite subjects in school?

In Elementary School I really liked Science and Math

In Middle School I added Computers

In High School I developed an appreciation for English, physics, and art.

In my undergraduate education, I developed a passion for social science, statistics, and philosophy.

In graduate school I learned to love ethics, organizational behavior, and creative management strategy.

Since graduate school I gained an appreciation of marketing and market research.

Now that I am working in higher education again, I am again feeling the yearning to rekindle some of those smoldering fires into new directions: graphic design, art history, business management, technical/creative writing, computer programming, anthropology, etc.

I eventually hope to complete a PhD in Social Psychology or Research and Evaluation Methodology, with an emphasis in Experimental Psychology.

My real problem is trying to balance expanding interests with contracting time.

 

 

  1. What would you do with a million dollars?

I would probably have the million distributed to us at a rate of $50,000 per year over the space of $20 years (plus interest of course.) I would immediately stop working, spend the next five years building a game development company from home while Kristin went back to school to get her Master’s degree. Then, with Sam starting school, I would let Kristin work part-time, while I went back to school full-time (and probably teach-part time) for the next couple of years. Once I finished my PhD, I would be ready to teach full-time, Kristin would be establish enough to work whatever schedule she chose to. Our kids would be deeply entrenched in their school years, old enough to provide their own babysitting occasionally as Mom and Dad sneak away periodically to take a break. For the last 10 years, the distributions would go straight into long-term savings for our kids missions, and our own mission(s) and retirement. With the increased income we would have from more advanced employment we would be ready to buy the house of our dreams, and continue to pursue whatever chimerical fancy passed our way.

(Wow—looking back over that paragraph, it all sounds suspiciously mature and responsible. Chances are, the entire million would get spent on D&D Mini’s (or maybe even M&M Minis) before the check even cleared the bank.)