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View Full Version : Interview with "DragonStryk72"



jimnyc
05-24-2011, 12:04 PM
DS is another one that has been with us for years that I really don't think I know much about other than his stance on some hot potato issues. Not sure if others do either, but maybe we can make an effort here to get to know him better. I've pretty much always enjoyed his posts and he's one of those rare posters that generally gets along with everyone and remains level headed unless really pushed to the limits.


DS - Not mandatory, but would you care to share your first name with us so that we don't have to go through life calling you "DS"?

My name is Sean, and my middle name is Patrick. guess what my ancestry is, lol.

It's obvious you're quite intelligent. Where did you go to college and what did you major in?

Actually, straight out of high school, I went Navy, so my first stop was on the academic end was Nuclear Field A school. I didn't make it through Nuke, picked up the term Nuke Waste, but I managed to become a Machinist's Mate, and got assigned to the USS Bataan out of Norfolk, VA. I'm attending college online currently for a degree in Small Business Management, with hopes to eventually open my own game store/coffee shop. I'm an autodidact, though, so I've been learning on my own for a great length of time now. Any subject that catches my interest I read up on.

Do I recall correctly that you are from NY, but upstate? "If" you've been to the City area where I am, what are the major differences? (I've really never been upstate)

I am living in Albany, NY currently. I have family in the city, my sister and my dad. Albany's a lot slower than NYC is, but with hill everywhere. Makes for a really interesting landscape up here, but things aren't as tightly packed as it is in the city.

Are you married? Girlfriend? Or maybe just bar hopping and having fun?

Just got out of a serious relationship this past July, and it ended badly. I've been single since, partly to get my shit together, and partly because I don't really do bar hopping. I'm pretty much a serial monogamous.

What is it you do for a living? (a general idea is fine)

Well, I just got laid off from my assembly line job last month, and I've been doing a combination of Labor Ready, Temp Manpower jobs, any odd jobs I can grab on Craig's List and whatnot. I'm hoping I can get back in with wal-mart around here, as they pay pretty good, and they're one of the few retailers who'll hire for Full-Time out the gate. I also volunteer at the local Food Pantry (I just can't feel right taking the food offered without paying back in with labor).

On the side, I'm writing a fantasy novel, of which I have a bit over 65,000 words. I only have two chapters left to write at this point, and I already know where I'm going with it.

Tell us what you do in your spare time besides post here. Favorite TV shows? Involved in sports? Into cars? Any other hobbies?

I have various faffing about on the internet, reading webcomics and the like. I play tabletop Role-Playing such as Warhammer and D&D, and have been playing them since I was a Webelos at summer camp for the first time. I'm currently addicted to a really awesome video game called minecraft, and you definitely need to check the game out on youtube and see if its something any of you would like.

For TV, I've gotten seriously into A Game of Thrones on HBO (the books are amazing as well), Criminal Minds, and have been a big Grey's Anatomy fan for a while. My favorite all time show, however, is Firefly, even though it got cancelled. It's the one thing I truly blame Fox for, they fucked it into the ground, not showing them in order, cancelling the shows repeatedly for other stuff, I mean, they didn't even show the pilot episode until three months in.

For sports, I have paintball and Ultimate Frisbee, although Paintball has to wait until I have money for paint again. Not much into cars, but I do some various woodworking, and I'm trying to work out how to create a "virtual tabletop" for the Pathfinder Role-Playing Game so that I can play with my variously scattered about friends.

How did you come up with the moniker "DragonStryk72"?

DragonStryke was the name of a comic-book superhero character I came up with in junior high, and I come back to him every now and again. When I was leaving for Navy, my buddy O'Toole signed me up on the then new hotmail email service as "DragonStryk72" so that me and him could stay in contact wherever I went in the world. I've kept it ever since.

Do you own any pets? I thought of that because my 2 dogs are eyeballing me as I type this! They sometimes look at me like I'm a big sausage.

Well, no pets right as yet, although I think its about time for my sister to pawn off a stray on me again. I fold like an accordion for hard luck stories, and she damn well knows it.

I asked about sports previously, but that was your involvement. What about being a fan? Favorite NFL, NBA, NHL teams?

Well, let's see, I'm a baseball fan, and my team is the Mets, as I was born in Queens. Generally, though, I like watching minor league ball better, why you can see how much they're still trying, and by far I love watching games in person rather than on TV. The Norfolk Tides are my favorite team (used to get season tickets back in Navy. Good hot dogs there), and here in Albany, I'm a fan of the River Rats, the local minor hockey team.

Did you take a lot of drugs throughout your life like I have? (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)

lol, no, I grew up in AA because of my dad, who's been sober for three decades now, so I've stayed away from excess drinking, and drugs all together. I figure I'm weird enough as is.

How is it that you can come off as a die-hard conservative one day and then a flaming liberal the next? Do you contribute that to being open minded about subjects? And if so, are you implying that I am a close minded bastard? LOL

lol, actually, I'm not much of a liberal at all. I oppose torture because it's just morally wrong, and I don't feel that we need to stoop to that level to win a fight against people we have outmanned, outgunned, and outclassed, especially when you consider how much of the world hates them as well. As for gay rights, it basically breaks down to this: I'm straight, man parts are just nasty, but I don't see any harm in what they choose to do behind closed doors. Our constitution is essentially built on a "Harm none, do what ye will" ideal, one that I think we've gotten too far away in the past few decades.

I will admit when my opponent has a valid point, although JWK stretches my abilities with this on an epic scale, lol.

Who are your 3 favorite posters on DP?

Have to give it to Rev, FJ, and SassyLady

My one and only in-depth "political" question for you. Your 2 neighbors have kidnapped your parents, your wife and your 7 year old daughter and 4 year old son. The only way to save anyone is by knowing several codes that will deactivate bombs. One kidnapper is captured. He proves to you that he knows the codes by sharing a portion and allowing you to deactivate portions remotely, and viewing remotely for proof. As further proof, in one room, he remotely kills the adults, and threatens to do the same to the children. The only way to save the children is by getting these codes from him. He refuses. You have a mere 10 minutes to get the codes and SWAT states it is not enough time to enter the premises and you are at the mercy of the kidnappers at this point. He states he will never give them to you. SWAT tells you that they believe they can quickly get the codes for you if the one captured kidnapper is waterboarded. To save your children, do you give the go ahead? (Yes, I know there are a lot of odd variable that you can change to make an argument, but I made this scenario quickly to see how you would react to torture under the most extreme circumstances possible, which is when your children would be directly involved)

Okay, there is one huge flaw: Everything after the blue asterisk is suspended, because if he's within anything like arms reach, I will physically beat him to death. I'm not exaggerating here. I have taken on multiple bullies before because they were picking on somebody who was a total shit to me. He'd better pray to whatever God he believes in that he gets those codes out before I finish killing him. I signed into the military understand I might have to kill someone at some point to protect others, and I qualled for my black ribbon with a shotgun, sidearm, and M-14. I may throw up for an hour afterward, but in that moment, there's no holding me back.

Do you recall how you found us at DP?

Actually, you guys found me. It was some years back when I wrote a piece on myspace about Red State vs. Blue State, and I got a link that sent me here.

If there were a few changes you could make here in our community, what would they be?

Eh, not much, although I would probably look to trying to curb the insults more. I mean, the occasional slip happens, I'm by no means perfect, but you get guys like Spider and JWK who pretty much just set off on huge insult runs as their primary form of response to other viewpoints.