I Am TarVolon, AMA

*Real name: Jay
*Age: 25
*Education: Erskine College (BA), Brandeis University (MA)
*Occupation: 2nd year Ph.D. student at UNC, Chapel Hill
*Religion: Presbyterian
*Have lived in Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Tennessee, South Carolina, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, but the formative years were in Johnson City.
*Am a sports polygamist, cheering for Carolina, Tampa, and Nashville in hockey. Have had Carolina season tickets for two years now. Other sports are easier (Tennessee, USA).
*100% Single

 

What is your favorite pizza place in the JC area?

 

Scratch.

Those guys are 100% hippies, but I love it. Not sure if you've been there, but they hand you a piece of paper with ingredients and the word "trust" at the top. They say you can circle the ingredients you like or cross out the ones you don't like, or circle "trust" and let them compose you a pizza. Their compositions are tasty. I've had everything from a traditional pizza to a smoked salmon and mandarin orange pizza with a green curry base. Also, they have Mexican coke and habenero cheesecake.

 

Dean Dome or Mini Dome?

 

After having been at a big rivalry game at the Dean Dome this weekend, it's hard to vote against it. But I did wear an ETSU t-shirt to the Heels/Bucs game earlier this year. In the student section.

 

I'm intrigued.

 

Subtle "I hope NYY sees this thread."

 

So, what's with the screen name? Isn't Tar Valon a city in a game?

 

It's a city in my favorite fantasy series (The Wheel of Time, which I started in middle school and finished this year. I've read the first 9 books I think four times now and the first 13 at least twice). Given that I'm a Vol fan and a long-term Tar Heel with grad school, I figured the slight modification was appropriate.

 

Interesting.

 

I'm a Greg's Pizza fan. Is the Pizza Pub on Walnut still open? They had great pies.

 

What have been/are your screen names on the various Vol message boards?

 

I'm not even sure. I don't know if I've ever been there. Greg's is definitely a popular choice though.

 

What are your degrees in?

 

Incipient_Senescence on Rocky Top Talk. Incipient on VN. I had one on SECRivals back from 2004 up until 2008 or so, but I don't remember what it was and don't remember if they're still around. @WillyMcGilly on twitter (although I'm also running the @RockyTopTalk account for now).

 

BA in mathematics, MA in philosophy

 

How diverse

 

Two complete ends of the spectrum. How'd you go from a definite science like math to something as open ended as philosophy?

 

They're actually not as far off as you think, especially when you're in pure math. A lot of the big names of history contributed in both (Descartes and Leibniz come to mind). But my senior year in college I realized that all my friends were philosophy majors, so I started taking philosophy courses. I was almost done with my major courses, so I just added a minor. Liked it so much I decided to keep doing it.

 

They aren't all that different.