Jack O'Lantern, your newest most pumpkiny Rebel

[Jack O'Lantern]

Hey you lovely bunch of fitness nerds!

I'd love to take a minute and introduce myself here.

I've been a long time lover of the Nerd Fitness blog, and an occasional guest lurker on the forums. Well thanks largely in part to the really cool mini challenge on the scout 6 week challenge, I am stepping out of the lurker shadows. I'm too late to hop in on this challenge, but here is hoping that the next one will be just as cool.

 

Getting to know Jack O'Lantern:

The Basics:

What is your name? Nathan, or Nate if you prefer nicknames.

How old are you? I'm 21

Where are you from, and where are you living? Well I'm from Vernon, CT. It is a small New England town about 15 minutes north of Hartford, CT with a fantastic diner and bike trails. I'm living on Walker Creek Ranch in Petaluma, CA and will be here for 3 more weeks.

What are you doing with your life? Since October, 2012 I have been in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. It is a 10 month, government funded, team based, full time, residential community service program for 18-24 year olds. Sort of a domestic peace corps for young adults that travels a bunch.

What have you done so far in AmeriCorps NCCC? I've built houses for Habitat for Humanity in OR, responded to Hurricane Sandy in NY, taught inner city kids in LA, and built trails in rural CA. I am also my teams physcial training coordinator, so I have led 45 minute physcial training classes, for 10 people, 3 times a week, for the past 6 months.

What are your future plans? Return home to CT in July and finish up my degree in Secondary Education at Central Connecticut State University. Hopefully land a nice teaching job someday or maybe get set up managing a nonprofit.

What are some of your hobbies and interests? I love doing really elaborate and intricate Etch A Sketch art work. I like to write poetry and recently have taken to trying my hand on stage at open mics. Biking and running are fuel for my soul. Every Halloween I go a little overboard with my pumpkin carving.

 

The Nerd Fitness Oriented Stuff:

What class do you most closely align yourself with? I am most closely a Scout. Somehow in the crazy course of fitness development I've transformed from the hating cardio and loving strength training to finding freedom and exhilaration in running/biking/swimming and boredom and monotony in free weight strength training.

What are you nerdy interests? I'm kind of a fringe nerd. I am very much into mainstream TV nerd culture. I'm all about The Walking Dead, Doctor Who, Breaking Bad, and Game of Thrones. I will gladly over think any of these shows with you. As for games, I still love playing generation 1 and 2 pokemon, and Skyrim. Harry Potter was my first nerdtastic interest and will always have a place in my heart.

What are your current fitness goals?

Short term: I want to bring my body fat low enough to see all six abs, and conquer the Walker Creek Ranch mountain. When I first got to Walker Creek 5 weeks ago, I got winded walking up this monster, 1.5 mile, steep uphill trail to the Ranch's peak. I made it a goal to be able to run all the way up before I leave. So far my best is making it up with alternating 45 seconds run/15 seconds walk up to the top. I have 3 weeks left.

Long term: I want to bike across the United States with a program called Bike and Build. I would also like to finish a triathlon.

What do you have to offer the rebellion? I am a poet and a writer, I offer up my creative ability to sculpt words and stories. I am a amateur graphic designer, I offer my ability to make ideas become images. I am a social young man, I offer up the opportunity to meet other local rebels and help build a community beyond the board.

 

 

I really look forward to getting to know all of you. If there is anything you'd like to know more about me, or if anything here struck your interest, let me know!

[Wolfhorde]

Welcome from a fellow newcomer! Nice introduction if I may add. You also have my respect for your current profession, I often feel that "giving back" or "doing something for the greater good" has a higher value in other societies. (I've lost count of all the times I heard petty selfish reasoning and  he infantile claim every single human is a selfish egotist)

 

Poet and writer, huh? What kind of stuff do you write? What's "Etch A Sketch" artwork if I may ask?

 

Some generic questions regarding the TV shows: Old or new Doctor Who, only specific season or the whole thing and who are your favorite Game of Thrones characters?

[Jack O'Lantern]

Thank you!

I'd agree with that, the western world isn't as big on the greater good as other areas.

 

My poetry is typically free verse without a forced rhyme structure. They are usually 1-3 minutes long when read out loud. I only write what I know, so I'm never making up stuff in order to have a good poem. I'm very reliant on past memories. Most of my writing is very metaphor heavy and tries to use lots of clever word play.

 

The Etch A Sketch is a vintage toy from the 1960's. It is a red box with 2 white knobs at the bottom left and right corners. When moved carefully, the stylus can make all sorts of shapes. It is tricky because it doesn't have an eraser, to get rid of part of an image would mean shaking the whole thing away.

This is my most current piece, a tribute to the ranch I'm staying at:

 

 

 

The Old Doctor Who is uncharted territory for me. I've only watched from the 9th to the 11th doctor. Of them, I think the 10th doctor was my favorite.

For Game of Thrones I really like Margaery Tyrell these days. She so subtly manipulative, I love it. And of course Tyrion Lannister is a riot and also really smooth with playing the game.

[Wolfhorde]

Ironically I was partly also referring to Western societies (mind you, I said societies not cultures). Obviously these are tendencies that can vary greatly regionally but I've found them to be higher in North America, partially Scandinavia and potentially also OZ. All of which also seem (at least partly) to be more open to strangers and more 'civil' in day to day interaction - like being able to strike up a conversation with a stranger in the city without being thought of as havin ulterior motives or creep. But as I said, tendencies can vary greatly.

 

1-3 minutes when read out loud? Nice, actually sounds more like poetry slam format than.. well 'classical poetry'. I guess I'm more on the side of the latter, short poems, emphasis on rhetoric and (metaphoric) imagery and mostly rhymes.

Heh - interesting apparatus, didn't think people still used things like that for artistic endeavors. Nice one though.

 

I gotta admit, I wasn't a big fan of the 9th doctor. Really dug David Tenant as 10th - but unlike a lot of other people I don't have a problem with Matt Smith as 11th. As for GoT I agree although there are a lot of characters I like, I've also come to like Tywin recently. Tyrion is just awesome. Tyrell makes for a better and more interesting character in the political play of king and queen than the Stark girl I think. Oh, I also really liked Jaqen H'ghar.