View and vote on the article here: Interview with Marshal craytonic
Interview with Marshal craytonic| Category | | | Summary | | After so many requests, I am pleased to share with zZine readers this interview with craytonic. For a change, there is nothing (or almost nothing) concerning CyberArmy, but plenty of personal questions: you'll finally be able to satisfy your curiosity. |
| | Body | First of all I simply want to ask you why you chose your nickname: "craytonic"?
Well there are two reasons in fact, the main reason I chose this nickname is because it is a contraction of my full name - Chris Ray Tonic.
...and the other reason?
The other reason and the main reason the nickname stuck was because in one of my old IT jobs, the likeliness of my home system to that of the 'cray supercomputer' always came up (I always had to have the best of everything)... So, craytonic seemed a fitting nickname and I put it to good use here at CyberArmy.
What do you do in real life? Do you have a job?
Career wise I took a long trot in the IT industry, I have also worked within the news media industry and my current position is with one of Australia's Banks.
What was your position when you worked within the news media industry?
I was a sub-editor for a local newspaper when I lived in Mississippi, US.
So you lived in the US as well, how long for? Did you live in or visit other countries, in Europe for example?
I was born and raised in the US, I lived there all my life pretty much until a family dispute during 2002 where I decided to go and "live my life", (aka. mid-life crisis, lol) and went touring through Europe. Venice was the most beautiful for sites, and Italy was the most memorable as that is where I met my Australian-born-now-fianc?e. We moved back to Australia together and I have lived here for just over two years now.
That's really romantic! Did you marry her? When?
Myself and (known to most as...) Ladycray are not married as yet, we are engaged and have plans to tie the knot somewhere down the line but nothing in the immediate future. As many know, we have just had a child of our own (aka. Babycray or Jema, born April 9th, 2005) and Ladycray also has a lot of study to complete. But I am positive that when we make the big plans, you will all be informed.
If I'm not too nosy, could you disclose your age and your fianc?e's?
Not too nosy at all... but I shall reply with an indirect, "I am in my 40's and Ladycray is in her 30's."
What are your views about marriage? Any reasons not to marry apart from LadyCray's studies? Are you two religious?
Not religious, we just both have our hands full of stress and 'life' at the moment. She works 24/7 with our little one and I work 24/7 with my job, zZine and family time.
You said you're in your 40's, but I know that this will only be true until next year (more or less). What are your thoughts concerning age? Does it represent an issue when you relate to your family and with younger generations?
I am lucky in a lot of respects that I have always remained young at heart. I have very positive and somewhat philosophical outlooks on life and a large part of that revolves around enjoying myself and I have never let my age become a factor (negative nor positive) where most issues are concerned. In fact, some may say I get along better with the nowadays generation then I do with the other very common cranky-pusses of my generation.
Is the 'age-gap' issue true within CyberArmy as well? Is there something you don't like or that you don't understand about the younger members within the community?
It is very difficult to make assumptions and have opinions in that regard. The maturity level of members within CyberArmy varies greatly. Most of the members I find are very upstanding, responsible and passionate individuals which gives me hope for the positive future we all strive to achieve. CyberArmy is a practically perfect example of a community that holds no judgment toward age, race, sex, etc.
Can you tell me something about your character and personality? I judge by how you have answered these questions you seem to be quite optimistic... is that true?
I guess you could say that. Being optimistic is a tool for being successful and achieving life goals - so to that end, yes I am very optimistic, but ultimately I am an achiever. I am very goal oriented, ethical and straight cut. There are no two sides to me, and everything I say you can take at face value.
I am the kind of person that turns up to work on Monday mornings with a smile, whilst everybody else is saying, "What the hell is wrong with that guy?"
Regarding young and newer internet users, they often get pulled into some need to become a 'hacker', and in the end they end up becoming script kiddies: what are your thoughts on this?
Hacking is a long lost art nowadays. Far too much focus these days is put onto how 'elite' a particular computer user is, or what a particular user can or cannot crack, etc. Everyone has forgotten to look at the big picture, hacking is founded on curiosity - and the problem here lays with a lot of users coming into our little IT world that have a mind full of half-cocked ideas, expectations and goals about the term hacking...
Thought process and curiosity is key in this understanding, and this is where many fall short.
Regarding work and family: my girlfriend seems to have fears that if I get a job as a developer/programmer of some kind or basically anything related to computers, I'll end up spending too much time on my computer. Do you think an "IT career" and "family" can co-exist in a peaceful way? What's the best compromise?
To give a completely honest answer... the IT industry can break families and relationships, there is no doubt about that. Members of the IT industry or even the avid user or lover of computers are a breed of our own. Often we spend all day on our computers without blinking and don't actually realize that another 24 hours has passed!
Now, this can obviously be a huge problem as far as families are concerned, the best advice I can give is to organize your time and set aside 'personal' hours of the day and 'work' / 'computer' hours for the day. Because for the partners of us 'geeks', it can be very lonely and sometimes hurtful to feel as though you are the 'second most important' thing in our lives.
Although it is not true, one cannot fault them in making that presumption. So I do strongly suggest that putting in a conscious effort to spend time with your family is a must.
Do you do that? How are you spending your time when you're not working or doing something for zZine or CyberArmy?
Mostly by my families side, watching the nightly TV shows, burping my daughter, and of course (when time permits) sleeping.
What does it feel like to be a father?
I really don't believe I could foster enough words to give the feeling justice. But fatherhood is an emotional rollercoaster, every single emotion you can experience, is experienced! Excitement, despair, fear, joy, love, hate, contentment, hollowness... But when you become a father, you wouldn't give it up for anything in the world.
So you are definitely a "Family Man", like in that movie with Nicolas Cage?
I am a devoted partner and father and I work very hard to put food on the table. My family is my life.
Let me say you should be taken as a role model for many young(er) people, that's really nice to hear that.
Speaking about movies, any favorite? Favorite genre?
Hmmmm, not overly a movie man these days. I prefer the likes of my idol and favorite show ' House M.D. ', though I must admit I have a soft spot for intriguing movies that get my mind working... the likes of psychological thrillers such as Saw and Se7en comes to mind.
What about books, any preference?
Hmmm I have a number of more recent favorite books: Nothing to fear by Karen Rose, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. All of those books are very good pieces of literature.
Can you tell me something that makes you happy and something that pisses you off?
When your baby laughs and smiles with you it is one of the happiest feelings you will ever feel, but apart from that spending quality time with my partner is something that makes me happy - most definitely. Something that pisses me off? Name only one thing? hmmm. Empty coffee jars in the morning, zZine articles not in on time, ignorance, rudeness, mess and clutter (I am quite anal, lol).
Something really quick - your political views?
hahahahahaha, non-existent. As long as the federal government does right by me in the means of their fiscal policy, which generally increases my shares, I am fine with that!
Favorite item of women's clothing?
Definitely the stunning dresses.
Alright, let's try this - what's totally unnecessary, bra or pants?
Bras! I have found recently that they are a complete pain when your lady is breastfeeding - not a 'convenient' item at all.
Last but not least: canned pasta or frozen pizza?
Well, my first choice would be a home cooked meal, but if I must choose out of those two I would go with frozen pizza! I have a diversion from things in cans. :/
And that's the lot! Thank-you very much for your time Marshal craytonic, it was great interviewing you.
Thanks very much h3rald it has been a pleasure. Off to bed now with me... 'tis 3:00am.
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This article was imported from zZine. (original author: h3raLd)
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