OnlyGenusCaps Member Interview

[Odd Duck]

@OnlyGenusCapsYou’re being interviewed!  (Only if you’re willing.)

 

1.) Favourite fish?

2.) Least favourite fish?

3.) Favourite fish YouTuber?

4.) Favourite non-fish YouTuber?

5.) Favourite food?

6.) What fish would you like to be the most?

7.) What was your scariest moment?

8.) What country do you want to visit the most?

9.) Cats or dogs?

10) Describe yourself in 3 words.

11) Pancakes or Waffles?

12) What is your favorite song?

13) What do you dislike most about the aquarium hobby, and why?

14) What is your favorite TV show?

15) What is your greatest fear?

16) What is or was your favorite subject in school, and why?

17) Do you keep live aquarium plants? If so, what types?

18) Do you love or hate pest snails?

19) Do you enjoy gardening?

20) What do you love most about the aquarium hobby?

21) What was the biggest mistake you've made so far in the hobby, and what has it taught you?

22) Burgers or Pizza?

23) What is your favorite aquatic animal?

24) What is your dream tank or something you want to accomplish in this hobby?

25) Favorite candy?

26) What is your favorite book?

27) What other things do you do for fun outside of the hobby?

Edited September 14, 2022 by Odd Duck

[OnlyGenusCaps]

I should be prepping for my next meeting, but...

1.) Favorite [I performed a "u"-ectomy on all the "favorite"s] fish?  You will find throughout this list that I'm not good at picking a "favorite" for very much.  My interests change over time, and rarely focus on one thing even at any one time.  In general for fish, I suppose I find the Dipnomorpha, or the lungfish, to be really interesting as they are more closely related to us than to other fish; their poition on the evolutionary tree interests me.  Their ability to breath air has also given them the name of "salamander fish", though when I think of that, I think of the exquisitely adapted Lepidogalaxias salamandroides, which I searched for, but was unable to fine when I was last in Western Australia.  In terms of keeping fish, I suppose I really like little survivors, like my Chlamydogobius eremius, desert gobies; also from Australia.  And though I can't keep them I do like the western lineage of Cyprinodon, pupfish, for which their are interesting congener substitutes.  But, I am planning to start marine keeping, so a whole new world of keeping and breeding await...  And I can't predict where that will take me. 

2.) Least favorite fish?  Grotesque hybridized or line bred fish (think flowerhorns, "balloon" anything, or the weird goldfish types).

3.) Favorite fish YouTuber?  I used to never miss any of Zenzo's stuff, but as I am exploring marine keeping, I like Matthew from My First FIshtank, who is now at BRS (I'm a fan of Ryan who started BRS as well). 

4.) Favorite non-fish YouTuber?  For my the most time I've sunk in watching, it's either going to be one of the stand up comedy aggregators, or a channel with loads of ancient military history like "Kings and Generals".  Though for sheer awesomeness I would have to say that I always look forward to anytime new vids come out on "Stuff Made Here"!

5.) Favorite food?  Steak!  I even have documentation that was my favorite food as far back as 1st grade.  No candy and cookies for me as a kid - I wanted flesh!

6.) What fish would you like to be the most?  An oceanic white-tip shark, I suppose.  I'd get to travel the world.  Although there is that nasty business of finning to worry about!

7.) What was your scariest moment?  I can't compete with @mountaintoppufferkeeper here, by any means, or even you @Odd Duck.  But I have had a few exciting and lucky moments; falling off a cliff with my mountain bike and fortunately being the object an errant bush grabbed while watching my bike get trashed on the rocks far below; getting sucked over the falls on an unfamiliar reef with my board ending up, somehow, back under me again just as I was dashed on the rocks, losing the board but remaining personally intact.  I had a couple of adventures when on ranches in Southern Arizona down on the border.  Swarms of Brazilian bees.  Finding unfortunate migrants who had expired in the area.  But probably the most notable from then was when, despite warnings from several law enforcement agencies, my boss decided we were not headed back to the bunkhouse that night so we could get an early start, and we camped in a box canyon.  There ended up being a middle of the night drug swap from a cartel to the local runners (military style humvees came up across the border - we were real close to the border! - and transferred the loads to guys on ATVs who then fanned out north across the desert).  I suspect if we'd been caught, it would have been a bad night.  Next morning Customs shows up with a couple trucks, a helicopter, and a "we told you so" for my boss asking if, and then what, we'd seen.  I imagine they must have caught at least a few of them, they seemed to have a decent idea of what was going on. 

8.) What country do you want to visit the most?  I have been fortunate in my life to travel to many of the places I've wanted to see; as obscure as some of them are.  But I'd still like to get to Caope Town and up the west coast of South Africa. 

9.) Cats or dogs?  Dogs.  Allergic to cats, and I'm okay with that.

10) Describe yourself in 3 words.  No thank you

11) Pancakes or Waffles?  I can make a mean batch of either.  My pancakes are less work, but my waffles are more decadent.  Hard to say.

12) What is your favorite song?  Okay another possible favorite question.  I can't even pick a favorite genre.  I have extremely eclectic tastes; from northern European fiddle music to punk rock, from classical to calypso, heavy metal to tin pan alley.  It's a mixed bag.  I don't really do country/bluegrass or rap/hip hop though.

13) What do you dislike most about the aquarium hobby, and why?  Just when you think you have a handle on what is happening, some disaster happens and you have to figure it all out again. 

20) What do you love most about the aquarium hobby?  Ibid. 

14) What is your favorite TV show?  I miss comedies.  Sometimes stupid ones.  I liked "Scrubs" and "How I met Your Mother", or "Fraiser" from when I was a kid.  I'll always pick a comedy over a drama. 

15) What is your greatest fear?  Wasps, I guess.  I am super twitchy around them.  Although, to be fair, I get stung quite regularly (though only 11 times this summer so far - knock on wood!).  So if that's it, then I suppose at least in my case it's a fairly rational fear. 

16) What is or was your favorite subject in school, and why?  Science.  All of it.  Philosophy.  Western.  History.  Ancient.  Geography.  Any. 

17) Do you keep live aquarium plants? If so, what types?  I do, but I'm not super excited about them.  I keep a few as blinds to reduce aggression for one of my species.  And I keep moss for fry hiding places.  Otherwise, I can proudly say the rest of my tanks are plant free! 

18) Do you love or hate pest snails?  I've worked pretty hard to keep them out of my tanks. 

19) Do you enjoy gardening?  Used to.  I even ran a university botanical collection for years.  I left not long ago thanks to what became my first toxic work environment.  It's soured me on growing any plants, and I used to be internationally know for some.  So, I've gotten rid of most of my collection.  I am however the president of a hydroponic produce company now, so...  Growing plants is still a thing I do. 



21) What was the biggest mistake you've made so far in the hobby, and what has it taught you?  Don't let MTS become more than you want it to be.  I was really proud of Cory when he posted we was evaluating his build.  The thing about this forum, and YouTube, and local clubs, is they can be really supportive and exciting.  That excitement can trigger the all too human emotion of "more" (for outside references, see all of consumer culture).  This should be fun, but it has the potential to be burdensome.  The last MAS meeting, we had one member tell a guy who just purchased 6 tanks that "if you did that every month for a while, it would be a good start".  There is a lot of pressure on folks to do more in this hobby, to "take it to the next level", to over-commit.  I wish I could still surf, or mountain bike, or maybe I should get back into archery.  Those are all pursuits that you can put down and walk away from for a while when other demands on your time present themselves.  Not true of keeping anything alive, whether it is fish, reptiles, or even plants.  It has taught me that the right question is not how many tanks you have room for, but how much maintenance you have time for.  Realistically.  And not on your best days, but on your worst. 

22) Burgers or Pizza?  I'll eat a good version of either, but it seems there are more truly bad pizzas out there than the equivalently bad burgers - so I'd err on the side of burgers in an unknown situation. 

23) What is your favorite aquatic animal?  Maybe, sea otters?  They remind me of home, so they carry a lot of nostalgia value. 

24) What is your dream tank or something you want to accomplish in this hobby?  I own my dream tank.  A custom 300gal acrylic tank has been sitting empty in my basement for almost 2 years.  I'll get to it eventually.  I hope.  But, see reply to question 21.

25) Favorite candy?  I'm not a big candy guy.  Does marzipan count?

26) What is your favorite book?  This like music or fish is an impossible task.  I think we can safely restrict it to the non-fiction section of the book store though.  I've rarely ever been drawn to or enjoyed a fiction read. 

27) What other things do you do for fun outside of the hobby?  That's a good question.  I'm so busy with my young kids and the family life that comes with that, and a new business these days, that I have asked myself that often of late.  I'd like to do more...  I suppose that's the truth of the moment. 

[modified lung]

On 9/15/2022 at 1:47 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I left not long ago thanks to what became my first toxic work environment.

Yeah, that's why I left my last job. I'll never understand the point behind making everyone else's job miserable.

On 9/15/2022 at 1:47 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

  I am however the president of a hydroponic produce company now

There's some new aquaponics startup in town I might try to get in on. The current job is too hard on the body at times.

On 9/15/2022 at 1:47 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

For my the most time I've sunk in watching, it's either going to be one of the stand up comedy aggregators,

Have any favorite comedians or bits?

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/15/2022 at 7:38 PM, modified lung said:

Yeah, that's why I left my last job. I'll never understand the point behind making everyone else's job miserable.

I think in my case it was because of a supervisor and coworker who realized they were in way over their heads.  They lashed out for fear they would be discovered.  I felt a bit bad leaving knowing the impact it would have on operations, but I take some solace knowing it was the catalyst to the personnel changes that were needed to potentially salvage the operation now that they are gone.

On 9/15/2022 at 7:38 PM, modified lung said:

There's some new aquaponics startup in town I might try to get in on. The current job is too hard on the body at times.

I am sorry to hear that.  If you decide to go in that direction, I wish you the best of luck with it!

On 9/15/2022 at 7:38 PM, modified lung said:

Have any favorite comedians or bits?

I don't get to go to clubs these days, so learning about new folks has been largely curtailed for me for the past few years.  I've been dependent on YouTube.  I like Mekki Leeper's stuff, but he doesn't have much up.  His one episode of "Control Room" where he sold Væv tissues was a master stroke though.  And I like Taylor Tomlinson.  Her crowd work is amazing! 

Do you have any recommendations?

[Biotope Biologist]

On 9/16/2022 at 6:41 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

 

Do you have any recommendations?

I think I might! I have come to really enjoy Nate Bargatze (hope I spelled his last name right).

Dry sense of humor with good comedic timing relatively new to the scene. Most of his bits appeared on one of the Jimmy late night shows where I think his humor was lost on the crowd. But he does have a Netflix special.

[modified lung]

On 9/16/2022 at 6:41 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

I think in my case it was because of a supervisor and coworker who realized they were in way over their heads

Lol that's exactly what happened to me. The manager was more of an engineer and never bothered learning any of the biology or chemistry behind anything.  The last year I was there the chemistry of the incoming water started changing dramatically. The problem was definitely manageable but he refused to change and killed a lot of the fish. I was the only one telling him why fish were dieing and that's when he started trying very hard to get me fired. I found myself being disciplined by HR for things I didn't do so I just quit.

 

On 9/16/2022 at 6:41 AM, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Do you have any recommendations?

If you like podcasts, check out Let's Talk About Sets. It's two intermediate level NYC comedians analyzing comedy. Lots of good stuff on there and the hosts are hilarious. It's the best podcast that exists. 

[PineSong]

Marzipan? Wow. You're the second person interviewed to have an oddball favorite candy. I wonder if there's something about fishkeeping and liking things outside the mainstream....hmmm.

I appreciate what you said about MTS and the hobby supporting or encouraging overexpansion--and about figuring out how much maintenance you can do on your worst days, not your best. 

[OnlyGenusCaps]

On 9/16/2022 at 10:36 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

Nate Bargatze

Sorry for the slow reply.  I am back home in California visiting my family right now.  I'll check him out.  Thanks!

On 9/16/2022 at 11:17 AM, modified lung said:

If you like podcasts, check out Let's Talk About Sets. It's two intermediate level NYC comedians analyzing comedy.

I'm not typically a big fan of podcasts (one I like, but it comes out every few months).  That one sounds likje a good means of discovery though.  I'll check it out!  Thanks!

On 9/16/2022 at 9:11 PM, PineSong said:

Marzipan? Wow. You're the second person interviewed to have an oddball favorite candy.

Hey, hey, hey, now!  There is nothing unusual about marzipan.  Just ask the Germans, or the north Italians, or the Danes.  Typical every days stuff.  Elsewhere.  🤪

On 9/16/2022 at 9:11 PM, PineSong said:

I appreciate what you said about MTS and the hobby supporting or encouraging overexpansion--and about figuring out how much maintenance you can do on your worst days, not your best.

Thanks!  Hard lessons learned to get there.