Worus

My name is Julian. Contrary to what lots of teachers have thought originally, that makes me a boy. I’m not sure how else to introduce that that isn’t really corny, so I’ll just be upfront about it (Yes, I really am Julian). I am a sophomore at Iowa State University studying computer science. So far I like it. As you may have guessed, by going to Iowa State, I live in Iowa, in the United States.

I’m a geek. I like geeky things. Some of my interests include, but are not limited to, computers, video games, anime, music, theatre, study of foriegn language, artistic projects, and writing. This list is far from complete, but I think that it would be pretty much impossible for me to come up with a list of everything that interests me.

Computer-wise, I use a PC. I’m not a hardcore PC user, as a matter of fact many of the updates to this site are done on a Mac because they are beautiful for public access machines. Currently I am using Mandrake Linux 8.1. It’s an excellent operating system and the GNOME desktop environment is just great.

Video games are great. I’ve liked them since I was little. I’m an old school gamer, I guess. Most games I play anymore are roleplaying games. These seem to keep my interest the longest. I’m a big fan of the Final Fantasy series. Being a big Final Fantasy fan, however, I have never beaten the original Final Fantasy. This game frustrated me. For those of you that are wondering which Final Fantasy game is my favorite, I would probably have to say Final Fantasy V. Everything except Final Fantasy VIII is a close runner-up, though.

I once took a test that classified me as a “full time otaku in training,” meaning that I have a heavy interest in anime. This is pretty accurate (that I have an interest in anime, not the “full time” bit). I like anime quite a bit. It provides me with something to watch when there’s nothing on television (always). My favorite anime include, The Vision of Escaflowne, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Serial Experiments Lain, and Fushigi Yuugi. Fushigi Yuugi is probably due to it’s sheer length and the conditions that I watched it under. It took me nine months to see this series, so I got a strange attachment to it like girls do.

Musically my interests vary quite a lot. I like at least some music from most genres. A lot of my music consists of video game music. I don’t know how I got into that, but I’m into it. I think a lot of it has to do with game nostalgia and the nifty packaging that comes with the CDs. I can listen to about fifty percent of what’s on the radio. The other half of the music that I find on the radio I usually have to switch. I also like punk rock. Punk rock is fun. There’s really no other way to describe it. I’m usually up for a good punk show (though I don’t get to many).

I also like theatre. I think it’s really fun to go to a show and watch people perform it in front of my eyes, live. It’s fun to see everyone’s enthusiasm about what they’re performing. My favorite piece of theatre is the musical RENT. RENT is special, magical if you will. If you haven’t seen RENT, try and go see it. I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Studying foriegn languages is also something I like to do. I have studied Spanish, French, Japanese, and Esperanto. I am probably most proficient in those languages in the same order. I haven’t spoken much Spanish since high school, so my ability is waning. I plan to take more Spanish classes starting my sophomore year at ISU. I have basic communication skills in French. I am currently studying spoken Japanese at ISU in a volunteer group called the Japanese Circle. It interests me enough. I also took a few short classes on Esperanto last year via the Internet. If a nation ever decided to adopt Esperanto as its official language and I went on vacation there, I would die. I can say “hello” in nine different langauges, maybe more.

I like to engage myself in random artistic projects. I don’t really have artistic ability, but I’ve enjoyed art stuff since I was little. I just got done with a major phase of making collages out of stuff. I really enjoyed collage. Currently, I am not toying with any artistic things. Most of my projects are fairly impulsive, so that is subject to change on a minute to minute basis.

Writing is another of the things that I enjoy. I like to write. I’m not great at it, but I enjoy it. I don’t write fiction. Most things I write are accounts of real life (this page) or essays. Writing helps me to clarify my own opinions.

Although I’m a geek, I like to think that I can control my geekiness. I feel that I do a better job of talking about geeky things when it’s appropriate than some people I have seen do. Not everyone I hang out with or talk to on a regular basis is a geek, so I must be able to control it sometimes.

A major part of my life is my work. The reason is that I am at work a very large amount of my time. I don’t do anything mission critial or anything, I am just a Wal-Mart associate. I work at a Wal-Mart Supercenter. I enjoy my work for the most part. I feel strange for saying that, but I think that a lot of it has to do with the people that I work with. Most of them are nice people. This makes work a very social activity for me, and that contributes to why I don’t mind going to work as much as I have at other jobs. I live at Wal-Mart during the summers and during school breaks. If I’m not working, I’m usually there for one thing or another. Needless to say, I’m there six to seven days a week. I’m at work so much that my co-workers know my people. Recently Veronica was in the women’s restroom and somone approached her and asked her, “Are you looking for Julian?” I guess she said, “Yeah,” and they responded with, “He’s in the break room, you can go back there if you want.” This was just some random associate randomly apporaching Veronica. No, I wasn’t working at the time, either, but I was in the lounge.

I should mention that I am a Christian. I am one of the only Christians among the various people that I hang out with. I respect other people’s right to choose what works best for them in their lives. I believe that if they don’t feel God’s presence in their lives, going to church isn’t going to make them be “saved.” One has to want change for change to occur. Thusly I am not pushy about my religion to others.

People like to tell me things. I hear a lot of stories from people about what’s going on in their lives or their heads and try to give the best advice I can. The best reason that I have been told that this happens is beacause I am possibly a good “active listener.” An “active listener” is someone that knows when to talk and when to shut up. Whether this is the reason or not, I hear stuff. Unlike what some people might think, this is not a plague. I am always glad to help people out with whatever might be on their minds.

I prefer the night time to the day. I try to schedule everything in my life after 11 AM, and if possible, after 1 PM. I’m not goth or anything, I’m just a guy who likes to be awake at night instead of the day. During the summer this works a bit better than the school year. During the school year I try to make sure I can sleep until at least 10 AM on any given day. This has worked for my firt two semesters. During the summer I work second shift (2 PM to 11 PM) at work. It’s easier to go into work better rested since I wasn’t tempted to stay awake too late than to get five and six hours of sleep and go to work. For the most part, the world does not exist between 7 AM and 10 AM.

I drive people all over the place. It’s a good thing I like my car. Unless I specifically complain about a situation, I don’t mind in the least.

If I got in a fight, these are the skills that I would use to kick ass.

If I have any more mad skillz, please contact me by clicking on the flower at the top of the page.

Disclaimer: I reserve the right to say “mad skillz” or any variant of the phrase without being thought of as lame. I know the phrase is lame, that’s part of why I say it.

Sometimes my mad skillz attack, like my mad calculus skillz did in November of 2000. And they really did attack, because I got an A on that test.

I can be seen on the Iowa State campus, in coffee houses, the Chat Noir in Des Moines, at Wal-Marts everywhere (no really, I gravitate towards them; it’s scary), on I-35, on R38, driving people places, on the Internet, and sleeping when I’m at home.

Now that you know every excruciatingly gross detail about my life, you can read this page and have more of a clue of where I’m coming from. I’m sorry. No, really. I’m sorry.