The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What is your greatest athletic strength?
I'm a fairly well-rounded athlete. Athlete, not necessarily ball sport player. I played soccer up through my freshman year of high school, quit because the teammates and coaches sucked the fun out of it. In middle school I threw shotput and high jumped. I was the #2 shot putter, weighing a whopping 150 or so and out-throwing guys with 30-50 pounds of muscle on me. My coach was great about emphasizing form and I took it to heart...if you do it right you won't hurt yourself doing it hard.

I was just as technical on the wrestling mat in 8th grade. I wrestled in a club in elementary and played club basketball for several years, in middle school I wrestled in 6th and 8th grade. Sixth grade I just kind of did it...8th grade I had an appreciation for the sport (as much as a 14 year old can). To this day I love technical fighting/grappling. When wrestling, I never really beat up my opponents...I'd go hard, but I wasn't out for a smashmouth style like most of my teammates. I'd certainly put the hurt on an opponent, but I wasn't out to win by injuring them. I wanted to wrestle, and I wanted to pin. My knack of going for the pin exasperated my coach to some extent, because the conventional wisdom in coaching wrestlers is to put the emphasis on scoring, and I would almost never cut my opponent to go for another takedown and run the score. My takedowns were okay, but I worked a lot better from the mat. I was great with escapes and reversals, to the point that I figured out my own reversal to go from referee's position directly to stacking my opponent a three-quarter nelson for the pin. That was a fun one, because that move isn't in the modern lexicon so no one knew how to defend against it and definitely couldn't see it coming when I'd go for it from a defensive position. So I was a pain to my coach in that respect, but I'd rather get the team six points instead of 5 and not go to the trouble of 3 full periods.

In high school I pole vaulted on the varsity squad all four years. I absolutely LOVED vaulting...It was such hard work, 100ft or so (and mine was a long approach) to build up a full sprint, having to have a consistent stride every time or your distance from the box and the entire vault would be wasted, the jolt in your shoulder of planting the pole and the fear of the pole snapping everytime as it bends and you swing for vertical, thrusting hips hard and pulling up the pole for every inch of clearance your strength and momentum can muster, keeping your hips up/away from the bar and turning soon enough to not drag the pole into the bar. The greatest feeling in the world was pushing off from the pole, seeing the bar untouched below you, and then just free falling a dozen or so feet smiling and laughing.

Lately, I'm taking up golf. It's a challenge, especially because bat/club/racquet sports are not a strength. So far I'm enjoying it, just getting comfortable with the form.

So, I would say my greatest athletic ability is that I'm a very versatile athlete, very aware of my body and put an emphasis on proper form over strength. My build mostly resembles a wrestler/gymnast (I did a summer of gymnastics to train for pole vault, btw). I'm a bit softer after four years of not doing a whole lot at college, and am itching to get back into shape.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

What is your greatest mental strength?
My physics background gives me great problem solving skills. I'm pretty good at taking a problem, tearing it down to it's most basic elements and then figuring out what steps need to be taken to fix/solve it. I also have a knack/intuition for people... Several friends say I can always tell when something's bothering them and no one else can, and I try hard to help them figure out what they need to do to address what's problem.

I also try to make a point to be well-read and well-rounded, along with keeping up with current events. You never know when something you pick up from one area or discipline will cross over and help with a current problem in another area.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Great answers! Thanks man!

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Great answers! Thanks man!

Great questions!

I'm getting better at talking about me...if someone asks, I'll tell them anything. I just don't volunteer much about myself because, quite honestly, after 22 years, I know myself pretty well and find other people more interesting.

The Well is fun.

[Ninja Monkey]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Why are you so awesome?

Pick one: Vox or Fender (Amps)

Rock or Rap?

If the only music you could listen to(beside the music you make) was one band's full discography, which band would it be?

[Jake]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Is Ken your real name, or is it Kenneth? Have you ever gone by Kenny?

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage? What about non-alcoholic?


Do you plan on living in Indiana forever, or are you looking to move somewhere else eventually?


Also, how's your job search going?

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Why are you so awesome?

Pick one: Vox or Fender (Amps)

Rock or Rap?

If the only music you could listen to(beside the music you make) was one band's full discography, which band would it be?

I would say I'm so awesome because I'm completely comfortable with myself and showing who I am to other people, and try to challenge myself in a variety of ways to learn and experience new things or hone and refine skills I already have. I'm not a perfectionist and I'm not afraid of failure. I don't have to be THE best, I just have to be MY best.

I love the tone of Vox over Fender, always.

I'd probably go with hip hop. There's more happening there for a bassist. I love classic rock, cut my teeth on Zeppelin, love the Beatles and Pink Floyd. But hip hop gets me excited. I think there's a lot of really cool stuff in that game still, and I think apart from some harder to find niche stuff the rock game has become stagnant to my ears.

Choosing one band's discography...that's a tough one. I'll get back to you. Great questions all around, especially that one.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Is Ken your real name, or is it Kenneth? Have you ever gone by Kenny?
My "Christian" name is Kenneth. Up until fourth grade everyone called me Kenny. Now just my grandma and aunt do...everyone else knows me as Ken. In a more formal, professional setting I prefer Kenneth, but people that I'm well acquainted with can call me Ken.

What's your favorite alcoholic beverage? What about non-alcoholic?
I'm a booze aficionado, or at least as much as one can call oneself at the age of 22. If you really beat me down and hold me to it and threaten my life if I pick more than one, I'd say a Manhattan would be my drink of choice. Maraschino cherry in the glass, Woodford Reserve (bourbon and not rye, I know, but that's how I like 'em) shaken with the sweet vermouth...it's liquid perfection in my book. To mix that up a little bit, replace the cherry with a thimbleful of single malt scotch (Glenlivet 18 year is my pick) swirled in the glass and then dumped before pouring the Manhattan to make a Firefighter's Manhattan.

A very close tight second place is a good mojito. I've been making them with Rhum Agricole this summer, which is a bit different from your typical rums. I'll save the nerdism, but if you can find a bottle of La Favorite Rhum Agricole Blanc, buy two bottles. Enjoy half of one now. And be thankful you have another bottle and a half when the rum industry explodes in the near future the way vodkas blew up not too long ago.

For the past month I've been riding vodka martinis with a twist of lemon pretty hard. Chopin and Reyka are both great vodkas for this.

I also love wines...red especially. Love pinot noir. 2007 was a good year for California petite sirah (IMO, better and subtler than 2006). A waiter turned me on to Argentine malbecs, which are phenomenal. A good chardonnay from the Russian River Valley is good as well...but reds are where it's at for me.

Beer, I like stouts and porters. The occasional brown, pale, india pale...but for the most part, stouts and porters.

Nonalcoholic: water, green tea, iced tea, root beer, ginger ale, orange/grape soda.

Do you plan on living in Indiana forever, or are you looking to move somewhere else eventually?
Now that I have a part time gig that can cover my expenses, every job I'm applying to is out of state. Mostly on the East Coast. I'd love to live near Boston. There's a lot of government work that would be open to me on the Eastern seaboard from New Jersey down to North Carolina, so going east is definitely a viable option for me. I've heard from friends I'll appreciate Indiana more when I leave and come back to see family. I'm sure that's true. But I don't think being a lifer is for me.


Also, how's your job search going?
The job search is frustrating right now, as I'm sure you know. For the most part I'm keeping my head up. With my degree and the way the economy SHOULD rebuild itself in terms of new industries and infrastructure, I think it's a good time to be a physicist. I'm maybe a year to two years early on that, but I'm keeping my finger on the pulse and seeking out opportunities so I can make my play. I'm confident and optimistic, which can play a big part of it. I'm thankful to have the luxury of some income during my search, because I know plenty of people are having doors closed to them in the midst of all this.

[Chaos]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

In previous posts, you've given good advice on subjects including Men's fashion, fine dining and 'adult' alcoholic beverages. I'd figure you for someone twice your age.
Where / how did you develop an appreciation for these things at such a young age?

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

To be perfectly honest, the same magazine that published your signature (IIRC). I've taken Esquire since I was 18. I took GQ for a year and found it to be complete rubbish. Esquire always has great writing from cover to cover.

I was also dating a girl who was really into fashion so that got me into men's style a bit more seriously. We'd look at the magazines together. I had never been much on trendy stuff that my peers were wearing... The more "classic" styles appealed to me more. From there I've just developed actual enjoyment for shopping... which is a separate experience from buying. I'll go to a store to look at clothes, try them on, etc. etc. But typically won't buy anything. I'll wait for a sale, go in and pick my size off the rack and be out in under twenty minutes.


For dining, I honestly don't know what it was that set me on the kick of trying new things. Probably a good contribution was watching the Food Network. My grandmother and mother are both excellent "homestyle" cooks, so I grew up in their kitchens (along with my father's woodshop and garage). My approach to life in general is a little bit more "Why not?" so I'd adds bit and dashes of different spices when I could. Living by myself in college was wonderful... I could do whatever I wanted. It afforded me the opportunity to play with Caribbean and Central American styles a bit at dinner parties for friends. I'd do a few chili nights with friends also, which was always an adventure in the spice rack. This summer I've really gotten into Asian food, especially sushi. I think I've consumed a solid 10lbs of raw or seared ahi and yellowfin.

This past weekend I went to a Belgian restaurant that did savory crepes. The waitress took my date's order and asked for mine and I said, "Oh, just bring me whatever you think is the best on the menu." She went on to talk about a duck crepe and then a vegetable crepe and I interrupted her and said, "I want you to surprise me. If you could have any crepe from the menu tonight, that is the crepe I want." I ended up with an incredibly delicious roasted tomato, mushroom and artichoke crepe. So, doing stuff like that is fun. I know it makes the waiter's sweat when a patron does something like that, because it puts the pressure of the transaction back on them. But so long as you aren't a picky eater (and I am obviously not) I think it's a great way to go, especially at a new restaurant.

So I guess my attitude toward food has grown because my parents fixed us new recipes growing up, and at a restaurant I'm not afraid to step out of my comfort zone and try something new. I went vegetarian for a semester just to see how I liked it (I did, for the most part) but was dating a Serbian girl and was invited to a traditional family party. Her mother offered me something with meat in it and then apologized, but I told her I'd rather have the experience of trying something new, especially when my diet was voluntary.



As for drinking...I tended bar for a semester in college and got to know some really, really great bartenders that way. I got turned on to mojitos watching the Miami Vice movie... I made such terrible mojitos at first, but now... I'm pretty proud of them. When I get passionate about something I like to learn all about it, and start from the beginning. I wanted to be a good bartender, not just a kid pulling beers and making rum & cokes or shooters. I read anything I could get my hands on, found blogs to see what was hot in other cities, watched other bartenders whenever I could. There's a great video podcast called Art of the Drink that does classic cocktails and updates on classics. I'm tight with the manager at a martini lounge back at school and he's just as big a nerd as I am. He brought some incredible rums back from a trip abroad, I've done wine and sake tastings for he and some friends, it's just been a complete blast digging into what is really a truly American phenomenon with cocktails.

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

My first drink ever was a whiskey drink at a non-greek frat party my freshman year of school. The guys had made a jug of whiskey cider (whiskey mixed with apple cider). Stuff was delicious, and was mixed surprisingly well all things considered. I was hooked on whiskey. For a while all I would drink was straight Jack Daniels on the rocks... sometimes straight from the bottle. When I turned 21, I had already become the bartender among my friends and also was working in a bar, so I felt some obligation to know how to make proper drinks. These days (all of two years after the Jack from the bottle days...) you'll find me with a manhattan, martini or red wine. I mellowed pretty quickly because working in a college dance club...those people are just pathetic drunks. I didn't want to be the guy trying to get a bartender to pour long or griping about the price of a rum and coke. So my attitude is borne out of a love for drink as much as it is a respect for the crap bartenders occasionally have to put up with.

The worst thing I ever did in a bar was knock over my own half-full manhattan, my fourth of the night. The bartender was great about it, offered to replace it because he knew I wasn't going to get belligerent, but I told him if I couldn't keep one drink on the bar I didn't need another. I've gone back to that bar several times since and have always been treated well, to the point of having rounds for friends comp'ed and a seat cleared for me.

SO

The short answer is I've read Esquire religiously for the past four formative years, I dig in deep on things I care about to learn everything I can, and I love experimenting and trying new things just for the sake of new experience.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Sounds like you are a smooth operator!

[Ninja Monkey]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

I would say I'm so awesome because I'm completely comfortable with myself and showing who I am to other people, and try to challenge myself in a variety of ways to learn and experience new things or hone and refine skills I already have. I'm not a perfectionist and I'm not afraid of failure. I don't have to be THE best, I just have to be MY best.

I love the tone of Vox over Fender, always.

You sir, have won 3 internets for correct answers.

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Are you a fisherman / hunter?

What do you read for fun, if at all?

[Ken]

Re: The Well LXXIX: Ken - Life After Barbie

Are you a fisherman / hunter?

What do you read for fun, if at all?

I've wanted to get into fishing for a while. Nothing against hunting, just not really my bag. I think the challenge of fly fishing is really cool.

I like to read a good bit of political and philosophical writings, biographies and memoirs, science...nonfiction, mostly. I have to force myself to read fiction; it's not that I dislike it, it's just not the first thing I grab.

I really love reading Eastern religion and philosophy texts (Grew up Presbyterian so I feel like I "already know" a lot of the western stuff). I guess I also "avoid" fiction because I'm attracted to learning about different cultures in our world.

I also (unsurprisingly) REALLY like the heady physics/cosmology/philosophy stuff. The cosmology unit in my astrophysics class and the "frontiers of quantum physics" as it were in my quantum mechanics class very much show how blurred the line is at the very edges of the unknown.

Oh! And I also read comics/graphic novels. I'm more of a DC fan, I think the writing is better and the characters are a bit richer. My favorite hero is Green Lantern, with Batman a close second (Batman used to be #1). My roommate turned me on the "new age" of comics and it is a truly legit form of literature now.