Joined: Wed Mar 16 2005, 01:18am
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CelestialApokalypse interview by lovernios, completed Aug 26, 2005
loverniosGive us a bit of background on yourself... Given name? How old? Where from? Did you move alot, or was the place you lived basically the same all along? What was good/bad about it? Where do those ancestors of yours hail from? What affected you most - nurture or nature - and how? What are some of the things you found out about yourself when life got difficult?
CelestialApokalypseThe name is Aaron and I’m 24 years old… going to turn the “quarter of the century??? mark on October 4th. I was born in Schaumburg, Illinois. I lived there for the first 6 years of my life when I moved about 15 miles south to the village of Roselle. I’ve lived there ever since. I love the suburbs. It’s quiet, plenty of space and there’s always something to do if you’re willing to drive 5-20 minutes.
As for family heritage… I honestly don’t know too much about my ancestors. I do know I’m a Heinz 57 mix of cultures. My surname is from German heritage and my blood contains Irish or Scottish, Native American and Eastern European.
I believe all human personality is developed by the “nurture??? aspect. Being an only child and having parents who NEVER had people over, I really never learned to socialize well. It takes me a long time to warm up to someone, not only because I’m extremely shy, but because I like to study a person to learn how they react to jokes and generally treat others. I’m basically measuring up the person to judge whether they’re worth my time and emotional investment to trust.
Depending on the severity of a predicament, I usually deal with life’s bullshit by swearing… lots and lots of swearing. When I’m not swearing, I’m usually going into overdrive with bitter sarcasm. If things are going really bad for an extended period of time (earlier this year for example) I tend to completely shut down socially, bury myself within my thoughts, fight through depression and figure it out myself. I almost always pull through in the end however.
loverniosPhilisophical... God? What is your spiritual root, if applicable? Do you love the baby Jesus? What are your thoughts on a 'higher-self' that perhaps every human being has, or maybe a 'soul' that is eternal? What's the short answer on where mankind is headed? What is the importance of the dark side of things to you? What are some unique perceptions you might be able to share with the class?
CelApokI was born and baptized Methodist… whatever that means… I’m even circumcised. Isn’t it weird how the cutting of a man’s foreskin is a religious thing? Anyways, I call myself Agnostic because I don’t believe any one religion has it or will ever have it right. The concept of God is way of living that all humans strive for. I don’t know if we have souls, I don’t know if they’re eternal and I really don’t know if there’s an afterlife. If it gives people hope and the will to better themselves, then I’m all for it. But when religious zealots force their views onto others, start wars and blood baths in the name of their beliefs, or generally use it as a scapegoat for their vices, then I feel something has gone terribly wrong.
Mankind will end. It’s the inevitable cycle of life. I’d like to think it would be a big apocalyptic battle between heaven and hell where humans are the deciding factor. How awesome would that be? To have a personal part in the end of times, fighting along side or against divine powers where our true (human) nature is revealed. But I digress. On the “dark side??? of things, I believe that “God??? (oh how I hate that term) is both good and evil. It can taketh what it giveth, and it does so without remorse, forethought or any conscious decision.
My final thought on the matter is not really a unique one, but just something I’d like to say to anyone who will listen. When it comes to theological matters, do your own research, be thorough and make your own decisions. Religious doctrine is not the direct word of God anymore. Consider how many translations and edits such documents have gone through over the centuries of human influence. If you haven’t, I strongly recommend you take just an ordinary paragraph of text and have it translated into hundreds of different languages and then back… the results are a confusing mess. Do NOT be content on what you’re fed just by one source alone. Learn of the secrets the “left hand path??? holds BUT question everything you learn from both sides.
loverniosHow was your high-school experience? What was your major in the college, and how is it working for you in the 'real-world'? What is your day job like? Is it challenging and full of creativity alot, or are the tasks rather boring and mundane? What would it take for you to start your own business in your field?
CelApokHigh school sucked. It was a gaping 4-year hole in my life that I could have done so much more with. I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have and I could have made better decisions when it came to who I was friends with.
College was a great experience however. I finally felt like I was being challenged and learning something. It didn’t start out that way however. I had originally started attending Loyola University in Chicago as a computer science major. Their curriculum was very disappointing with the way they taught computer programming. I personally can’t learn how to code by listening to a teacher lecture for 6 hours a week and then to only get 2 hours worth of lab time… and while in lab, not allowed to get any direct help as the school had the idea that it would be plagiarism. *rolls eyes* I ended up dropping my computer programming class the second quarter and left the school all-together after that. There were other, more personal reasons why I didn’t just change my major and stay at the school. I won’t go into them here however as it would take at least 10 full pages to explain it all effectively.
So after Loyola I picked a college I WANTED to go to in the Illinois Institute of Art, Schaumburg. I earned a multimedia/web design bachelor’s degree from there in 2.5 years. I graduated in 2003 and my interactive portfolio cd-rom won “Best Interface Design??? at the 2003 Artimation Festival.
My day job, I’m a digital production artist for a direct marketing firm in the north Loop of Chicago. I’m responsible for production of Flash animations, programming and website layouts. It’s pretty mundane because it’s direct marketing and our client list can be rather boring to work for. The real fun and creativity comes in advertising… once I decide to move on from this place, I hope to land a job in that field instead.
Hmmm... to start my own web design business I’d probably need 2 good designers, 2 developers, 2 good database/backend developers, a good pitch person (someone who can effectively land good business) and accountant/secretary. I would also need about $850,000 in start-up money to buy software, computer hardware, servers, office space, etc etc.
loverniosINTERNET actions! Man, I bet you do alot on the net! How do you spend most of your time? You're a gamer, what is the 'gaming culture' like? I also need to know what you get out of your time at TSi? Who is your top 3 favorite posters at TSi? Your websites over the years are a testament to color and balance, and maybe more importantly, completeness. What's important to you when making a website for your self?
CelApokI wouldn’t say I spend a lot of time on the net… but I spend way too much time on the computer in general. That’s due to the immense amount of video games I enjoy. As for the “gaming culture???, I’d say it’s a pretty immature crowd who likes to use the anonymity of the internet to talk a lot of smack they can’t say to their parents in fear of being slapped around. That’s generally the crowd who plays first person shooters however. I have spent a lot of time playing massively multiplayer online role playing games (mmorpg) however.
This crowd is generally more mature, subdued and friendly. Perhaps it’s the nature of the games which can be quite social dependent but there is a notable difference between the type of person who plays each genre. Currently, I’ve been playing a lot of Battle for Middle Earth (offline only) and Battlefield 2 (online only) for the PC and I’ve only been playing MVP Baseball 2005 for Playstation 2 since the beginning of summer. I’ve retired from the huge time investments that are mmorpg’s however. They have a tendency to become a second, full-time job.
TSi… what can be said that already hasn’t been? I go there to enjoy the complete randomness of it all. I’ve known a few of its members for as long as I’ve had the internet. I believe it was you, Mike, who first introduced me to it after we had been discussing Metal via an email newsgroup. My favorite posters? Hmm…I don’t want to exclude or single out anyone, so you all will have to judge upon how I react to your presence on the board.
My websites are generally for me, and me alone. I’ve been really slacking in my creation of anything new since I started working full-time in the field. I use my sites to show some of my work, give insight to who I am and to have a place to share the inner-workings of my mind. I think also due to the use of Myspace, I haven’t been motivated to update my sites… s2p1d myspace!
loverniosWhat inspires you to create? What kinds of artistic renderings are crucial to you? Is it all about the pixels? Name the top 5 films from the past 5 years for you? What about television, is it interesting? Any shows you recommend? Is there anything in pop culture worth a shit?
CelApokInspiration comes in many forms and I think I’ve been lacking in all of them for almost a year now. Music and movies do tend to inspire me but rarely enough to actually get something done anymore. What inspires me most is other people oddly enough. I feed off the emotional energy of the others around me. This works for both positive and negative vibes. I wasn’t in a good place mentally for a long while earlier this year and it’s been hard getting everything back in place. I’m working on it however.
Top 5 films of the past 5 years would be (in no particular order): Lord of the Rings (counting the trilogy as one massive film), Shaun of the Dead (Best Satire), Batman Begins, Requiem for a Dream (Best depressing drama ever), and then it’s a toss-up between Anchorman, Dodgeball or Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle for best comedy.
The past year in TV saw the emergence of two of my new favorite shows. Lost and House. Lost is such geeky, pulp coolness with all its mystery, woven character lines and hot chicks. House is probably the most unique and entertaining medical drama to come out since E.R. The character the show is based around is so marvelously sarcastic, condescending and justified, that his short comings are redeemable. The way he and his team solve mysterious ailments of odd patients is fun to watch even if the answers do come out of left field on occasion.
Two other shows worth mentioning are Deadwood and Carnivale. Both are/were HBO dramas. Deadwood starts up season 3 this winter but Carnivale was unfortunately cancelled after two insanely bizarre seasons. I highly recommend picking up the DVD sets of both shows, or just downloading them. heheh
loverniosMETAL - What are the main bands that are beyond crucial for you? What is the important aspects to a great metal album in your view? What are some off-beat bands you like that maybe no one has heard of? What was your favorite metal albums as a kid? Do you have any vinyls? Are you old school or nu-skool and why? What is happening to your metal-taste lately? Give us a 3 line review of your last new CD!
CelApokm/ Crucial bands for me are Rotting Christ, Dimmu Borgir, Summoning, Old Man’s Child and Type O Negative. What makes a great metal album is what makes good music in my mind. I like clean production with lots of layers each complimenting each other. There has to be melody and a strong drum track… something that gets your whole body pulsing and makes you raise your fist and scream to the heavens. I like a variety in vocal styles on the same album. The music HAS TO get an emotional response out of me… whether it be sorrow, anger, joy or bliss.
Off-beat bands I listen to regularly… hmmm… I might have to step outside the metal genre for this one, but first I’ll stick to metal. There are a few select “raw??? black metal bands I hold close. Judas Iscariot does some amazing work and it about the most amount of rawness I can tolerate with an extended listen. I don’t listen to much avante-garde music however. I appreciate song writing much like I would appreciate a well designed and laid out website. Lots of people can play technically well but it’s a whole other beast to bring all the elements together in a concise sonic journey. It all boils down to pacing, builds, transitions and melody. I might be way off base with what you consider off-beat however.
I own no vinyls.
I’m old school in the sense that I believe in the original intent of rock n’ roll music… that of rebellion, shock value and existing outside the norm while still creating digestible and enticing music.
My metal tastes tend to be cyclic. As the weather gets colder, I listen to more violent music and during the warmer months, I tend to listen to more upbeat music. My iTunes is almost always on random play however with 4,164 songs, 13.7 days and 22.31 GB of music to listen to. I really lost interest in the “underground??? scene a couple years ago however. There really isn’t an underground anymore since everyone and their mother is online now. Almost every band has a public voice now and everyone can be a star on the internet. Now I just listen to whatever kicks my ass, calms me down or puts me in a trance… this goes way outside the bounds of metal however.
Last album bought: Arch Enemy “Doomsday Machine??? - It’s an OK album that fails to deliver most of the time. I find it their weakest effort since their new singer joined the band 2 albums ago. Early rumors put this album up in the metal pantheon promising more metaliscious riffs than you could headbang to, but those rumors were a bit premature.
loverniosPeople and society... What the hell is wrong with people these days? What bothers you the most about people? What do you like about people? Who are some people, now or historical, that give you a measure of hope for humanity? Is there a few heroes out there, and why?
CelApokPeople are more confused than ever. We’re definitely a lot smarter as a whole than we were centuries and millennia ago, but we’re still just a confused, scared mass.
What I like most about people is their capacity for love and caring. In the face of dark times and events, we tend to pull through for one another. What I don’t like about people is our ability to be the complete opposite. The manipulation, lies, violence, corruption and gullibility are all very tedious and common occurrences in our societies.
I look up to the revolutionary thinkers of early science who stood up for their findings and beliefs against the early overbearing powers of the church-state. Most of these people died for their findings. The irony of religion creating martyrs of science is a bitter sweet satisfaction.
Heroes are extremely hard to find nowadays… everyone’s personal life can be exposed which overshadows the goals and accomplishments of how they should be remembered. No one is perfect but I think everyone hopes for a perfect person in a hero… they’re let down when they find out otherwise.
loverniosYou - What do you do in your spare time, besides the internet? Do you have any hobbies aside from the computer type stuff? What constitues a great night out for you? What do you do on your day off? What are the best, most interesting personality characteristics of Celestial Apokalypse? What is the overriding drive inside you? Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What is the Celestial Apok look/style? What does your home computer space look like man? Give us a couple skills/talents that would always be hidden from the internet... Can you cook?
CelApokWhen I’m not working or playing video games (takes up 80% of my week)… I read a lot while on my train rides to and from work. With an hour long train ride, twice a day, I can get a lot of reading done finally.
A good night out for me is just to be out with a small group of people. We can be drinking, chatting, philosophizing or just watching a movie. I just like being around other people and I don’t get to do it often enough.
On my days off (weekends) I just unwind and avoid as much responsibility as I can. Every now and then I’ll actually clean. I had today (Monday) off however and I get me a new haircut… one I’m happy with this time. I haven’t even played video games yet today… mostly because this survey is turning into an epic novel.
The best parts of me? Hmmm... I’d have to say my sense of humor and intelligence. I’m always willing to stick up for friends or people I feel are undeservedly wronged. I’m also always willing to listen to someone get something off their chest and help in whatever way I can.
In 10 years I hope I’m heading a design team at an advertising agency and I’d also love to go back to school to get my master’s in either anthropology or physics.
My style is one of not giving a rat’s ass about style. I hate trendy fashion. I just stick to jeans and mostly long sleeve shirts… if the temperature breaks 85, then I’ll take off the long sleeve shirt and wear something lighter and airier like a tshirt under a thin unbuttoned shirt. I like to keep my hair relatively short now because I don’t have to fuss with it too much.
My computer looks like this:
Hidden talents? Hmm… I can cook, yes. I even like to cook and not just bbq’ing. Other than that, I can’t think of much that I haven’t already stated or will state another question or two down the list here.
loverniosSports stuff... Describe your favorite sports memory... and your worst! What are some of your favorite teams and induvidual performers? Are you athletic? Did you do any sports in junior high or senior high? Is there much you do now, like jogging or go to the gym?
CelApokMy favorite sports memory is also my worst. The 2003 Cubs who were 5 outs away from making it to the world series only to be foiled by their own frustration and lack of focus. I know some of you might be asking “What about the ’85 Superbowl Bears???? Well, I was 5 years old at the time and don’t remember it. My favorite teams are all Chicago sports teams and include the Cubs, Whitesox, Bears and the Blackhawks. My favorite all-time players would have to be Ryne Sandburg and Tony Amonte.
I haven’t played organized sports since little league baseball back in early grade school. What is “senior high???? heheh I miss them a lot though. I miss playing roller hockey with local kids. I miss being on a bowling team (have/had a whole shelf filled with bowling plaques, trophies and badges). I also miss playing baseball on a regular basis.
I unfortunately don’t do much anymore. I do nightly sit ups to keep the beer belly fairy away but it really isn’t enough. I used to hop on the treadmill a few times a week but when the weather started to get warmer, my allergies started acting up in quite a severe fashion after everytime I exercise, so I stopped.
loverniosLife look... What mark do you want to leave on the world? What kind of person would you like to meet? Are you a marrying man? What kind of life do you want? What kinds of experiences would you like to take part in at some point?
CelApokI would love to leave this word with a legacy of great change but in what way, I have no idea yet… if it happens, I’ll know it when it comes along looking for me.
I’d love to meet a girl who challenges me to improve myself in all walks of life. I want someone who not only understands my personality and humor but also has a good head on their shoulders, unselfish, caring and knows what they want out of life.
I suppose I’m a marrying man. I’m constantly torn between hating it and accepting it. If the girl I love and want to spend the rest of my life with wants to go through the whole process of marriage, then I’ll do it for her. Otherwise, I could live just as happily and devoted to someone without government sanction over our union.
I want a simple life. I want to work in a good company and keep enjoying what I do. I want to settle down with someone to cherish and travel with and eventually raise a family. I want 2 kids… that would be perfect. I don’t want to put someone through being an only child and having more than 2 mouths to feed just adds to the world clutter.
I would love to travel Northern and Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, Japan, New Zealand and South America.
I’d also love to see the Blackhawks with a Stanley Cup, the Cubs and Whitesox win a World Series and the Bear to win a Superbowl that I’ll remember.
loverniosLast words from you man...
CelApokYeah… life is long and hard, but it should always be a fun learning experience. Never be content with what you think you know; always be willing to push yourself to learn more.
