Oglemi
Like with Jelli, I wanted to take a quick second to say how much I appreciate you. You really fill in the cracks in a LOT of places on Smogon. I am so glad that you've been recognized for all your hard work; keep it up!
!
Thanks Birkal :3
How did you feel about the conclusion of the Olympic games?
I loved watching the Olympics this time around, I had never really watched any before this one, so I had made it a goal of mine to watch as much as possible of this one. Especially since I probably won't get the opportunity to watch any other Olympics like I did this latest one in the future.
The closing ceremony was amazing, and loved the direction that they took with it. I loved the variety, and glad that the British decided to showcase something that has an amazing history in its own right, and something that nearly everyone can relate to. Not to mention the live performers did fantastic, which is a rarity I think in most circumstances (the Superbowl and SNL are a good example of how a lot of live performances are kinda suckish).
It just kinda sucks that I'll probably never get to watch another Olympics as religiously as I did this one :(
Describe your relationship with both your parents. I know you went into this a bit beforehand, but I wanna know exactly what you think.
My parents are basically the best parents ever. My mom figured out a long time ago that I was gay, and approached me about it like in 8th grade (fuk you Internet history), but I kind of avoided the question so she just let it go and didn't bring it up again until much later. I still don't really know my dad's full opinion on it, I think he may have been a little disappointed, but he hasn't showed it at all in front of me and hasn't been not supportive.
TBH, I don't think I've ever been in a fight with either of my parents. I hear stories from the other kids on my floor about how much they fight with their parents or how stupid they think their parents are sometimes, or how over-controlling their parents are. I've never felt any kind of resentment towards my parents, I don't think ever. I actually love being at home, and miss it when I'm away anywhere.
Me and brother are really good kids though (again, I have a completely spotless record), and I never asked for money as a kid or got into trouble, so my parents were always willing to take us on vacation and do other stuff with us all the time. I also got really good grades in school, and I got a job right away in high school at the grocery store. They also single handedly built up enough money for me to go to college, and are paying my way through it without me really having to do anything. The only stuff that I've had to pay out of my own pocket in my whole life I think is the band trip we took sophomore year in high school, my trip to France in high school, and books for classes now in college.
I mean, I get annoyed at them from time to time, mostly because they're completely technologically-challenged, but I've never felt super angry at them.
We didn't really have a lot of time to "debrief" on our meet up, but how do you think it went? Be honest, haha. Was I what you expected or completely different? What was the most fun thing we did? Also leftover bourbon chicken is DELICIOUS
I went into it prepared for the worst (it's a habit of mine), so it went super well compared to how bad it could have been, lol. I wasn't sure how different your personality was going to be off the computer, but I was glad that it's actually pretty spot on and it was way easier than I was anticipating to talk to you. Also, just walking around on 400 block was pretty funny.
Also bourbon chicken is the best thing ever
If tennis and I entered that soapbox derby, do you think we'd win the $5,000 prize :>
well duh, you guys would probably be the smartest people there, and therefore have the best soapbox
I want to hear some of your thoughts about the education system in the United States today. What does it do right? What about wrong? What do you think of "progressive" schools that are letting kids structure their own lesson plans and schedules? How traditional of a teacher do you think you'll be? What do you envision will be your strongest area as a teacher?
What it does right: The current education system really does teach kids the basics that they need to survive in the real world; most kids are able to read, write, tell time, count money, add/subtract/divide/multiply, know a little bit about the governmental system, etc. by the time that they graduate. There's some stuff here that could use improvement, like better money management classes, or classes that better teach kids what to expect in a job interview, etc. that would teach them more about what to expect in the real world. Many schools do well with teaching kids the basics of having a structured schedule too, particularly for time management.
Most schools are also effective at giving kids a wide berth of different subjects to expose them to the various paths they can take outside of school. It's just such a travesty though that some schools are eliminating their arts programs because of budget issues, when there are a ton of job opportunities available in the real world that require the arts programs.
Social interaction. The current education system does a lot to get kids to know each other and try to make friends, as well as work with their peers to complete projects and such. There's an awful lot that can be improved with the concept of group projects and such, but at least the current education system strives to get kids to work with each other.
What it does wrong: Hard memorization. This is the dumbest thing the current education system does wrong. I know for nearly all of my social studies classes it was basically you just had to memorize the terms for that chapter and then take a quiz, and then never have to use or remember what those terms meant outside of that chapter, let alone that class. The current education system needs more applied learning techniques, so that kids are able to relate concepts to real-life situations. This also applies to math classes and really nearly every class; I couldn't tell you hardly anything that I learned in high school on algebra or geometry, and trying to remember that stuff for my Praxis exams and when I try to help kids in their study hall is a nightmare.
The current education system also allows ineffective teachers to continue teaching for far too long. However, this conflicts severely with my belief that unions are a good thing. It's sad because the unions is what allows ineffective teachers to hold their positions. Outside of that though, unions I believe are a good thing; far too many teachers are forced to take a teaching position where their entry pay actually sets them in the poverty level economically. IMO, teachers should be one of the highest paid jobs in the country, nothing is really more important in our society than teachers.
High school also does nearly nothing to prepare kids looking to go to college difficulty-wise. As a freshman in college I remember being nearly overwhelmed with the amount of coursework that I got just from 4 classes in college. I don't expect high school to suddenly implement super hard classes so that the kids are more prepared for college, especially because not every kid goes to college. But, the AP or IB courses should be far more difficult than they currently are. Because they're already voluntary, it'd give kids an actual taste of what to expect in college. Right now the AP courses at least in my high school are a complete joke compared to college courses, and yet the AP tests are worth college credits in some schools.
Social interaction. There's also a lot wrong with the social interaction that kids have in school with each other. Bullying is rampant in many school systems, as well as the formation of gangs and mean cliques. Luckily, the school that I grew up in cracked down super duper hard on bullying. I remember in middle school our principal would roam the halls at all times in the day and eliminate any kind of bullying. He really strove to have a bullying-free environment, and had little to no mercy on kids that were proved to be bullying (he was scary as shit as a middle schooler, he was 6'2" and had possibly the deepest and loudest voice I can remember at the time). This crack down really made a difference I think in the high school. There was even less tolerance for bullying in the high school, and with it already programmed into the minds of lots of the kids that bullying was bad, there was little to no cases of legit bullying while I was in high school. I really hope our middle school principal publishes a paper of some kind on his process so that other schools can adopt his no tolerance policy.
What's goin' on with
this thread ;)
9.9
Both
If you were forced to change your username, what would it be?
it would definitely just be: 9.9
Ten users randomly off the front of your mind, go.
Nexus, Birkal, Omicron, DittoCrow, SilentVerse, Nails, ibo, tennis, Jellicent, Solace
What is your overall opinion on religion? How much does it define you?
I'm gonna half-ass quote Gandhi here: "I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians." This is extremely generalizing, since I really like you Birkal and you're religious. But, too many people in the world use religion as a radical means to cause war and destruction.
I just wish more people would use the love that they have for God/their religion, and instead direct that love on their fellow man. As opposed to giving their love to their God/religion and using their religion as a means to spread hate on their fellow man.
Overall: too much conflict and social tension/division arises from religion, which is a shame. Frankly, even if religion wasn't used in such a way, I'd still be atheist, just because I have a really hard time believing in an all-knowing higher power.
This is a hard one, because a lot of users have their moments. Overall though, Vader never fails to make me laugh.
What was one of the biggest mistakes of Smogon, past or present? Why do you consider it to be one the biggest mistakes (i.e. why did it upset you)? How would you have resolved it?
This thread
I was really just super mega frustrated that day because nothing was getting done and I was sick of seeing people who didn't do anything for the site anymore in a position of power.
Obviously this was a poor way to go about it, and wouldn't have made the thread if I just took some time to cool off, but idk, I was bored and mad which is a scary combination.
What is one thing you would do to improve Smogon as a whole?
Have a smoother way to transition people to and from power on the site, both in mods/smods/admins, and just regular badges in general (CC comes to mind here...).
Me and Nails had a good convo one night about how by the time anybody here gets in a position in power, they've already done so much that they're burned out and don't want to do anything anymore once they are finally in a position of power or have been recognized. Once in a position of power, some people really overstay their welcome and keep their power way after they're done with the site, which then also stops new contributors from possibly having and using their power effectively.
If you could fuse two users together into one super user, which two wouldja pick? Why?
Obviously yourself and Jellicent. Two of the most awesomeness users and hardest workers combined into one would be insane.
And finally, are you enjoying your well so far =)?
I am secretly hoping for sloppy makeouts at the end of it all
It's going really well, people are coming up with some good questions!
Question for Oglemi:
Describe to me the characteristics that make up the ideal high school teacher. Will you try to be that type of teacher?
The ideal high school teacher is one that doesn't get distracted easily, can keep control of the classroom, is at least moderately exciting, is nice and approachable in and out of class, someone you can put faith in to keep their word, and is a fair grader/instructor. And yes, that's exactly the kind of teacher I'll strive to be.
@Oglemi
What motivates you to do the enormous amount of work you did for the old analyses (it was your defining point for me before we exchanged words on irc, I was just like damn this dude does a lot of work)?
IDK, Nexus calls it OCD. I just want to see the site as a whole up to a certain standard. I want Smogon to be the best site around for anything competitively Pokemon. As soon as I joined the site I was always disappointed with the mistakes and inconsistencies on the site Dex and stuff. I've just always strove to make the site awesome.
How fabulously do you dress? Or, what is your most fabulous article of clothing?
Not fabulously at all, I'm pretty macho and not fashionable at all.
However, I do own one piece of fabulous clothing:
:naughty:
Do you like clothes or shoe shopping?
Shoe shopping is the worst activity on the planet. Seriously. The worst.
Clothes shopping is ok, still not a fan though.
FUCK: Spiders, snakes, grasshoppers, other various beetles
What do you do for thrills?
I'm not much of a thrill seeker, but I do enjoy amusement parks and like a lot of different rollercoasters.
Does the burden of being a smod ever weigh down on you too hard?
Not so far, like I said I really don't have any other responsibilities than when I was a mod, I'm just like a mod with access to senior staff.
Yup ^.^
What are you favourite dance moves?
[youtube]KQ6zr6kCPj8[/youtube]
Chiselled or ripped dudes?
Chiseled guys for sure, definition is way hotter I think than just pure musculature. Again, I'm more into twinks than hunks.