Spotlight on Staff/Spotlight on Ozias

"I now also root for Penn State out of institutional loyalty, and so I don't get jacked by my students." -- Ozias

SGM CE Towns & Systems (Professor of Happy-Fun-Stuff)

I retired as GH Nourri in March 2000 to join the newly formed QC team on the Development side. I was involved with big merchant events from the Spitfire and Juggernaut to the first run of the Dhu Gillywack, not to mention countless Ebon Gates, auctions, and wandering merchants. I helped out as a painter and QC editor on the Elven Nations I & II expansions before taking over as town guru of Icemule Trace. I had a lot of fun in that job, especially when cutting my teeth as a coder on the penguin chick NPC. During the development phase for GemStone IV, I helped convert the games' rooms to point and click interface, while also designing the gnome races and writing their history; I've also edited many of our history and culture documents. For the past few years I have served as SGM first of the World Development team, then after reorganization of the CE Towns & Systems team. I manage the work of the CE side coders, town gurus, writers, room painters, and more recently of the PRO and CHE team.

Where were you born?

Elizabeth, NJ, but Rutherford, NJ was my childhood home.

Where do you currently live?

Farrell, PA, a small rust-belt city north of Pittsburgh.

Do you have any pets/kids/both?

My son, Aidan, is five months old. My wife Maggie and I have an English bulldog named Eula and three cats named Delilah, Sam, and Angie.

What is your current occupation?

I teach English at Penn State's Shenango campus.

What did you want to be while you were growing up?

A writer. My 5th grade teacher read us The Hobbit in between lessons, and I've never recovered.

Favorite TV shows?

I'm pretty addicted to TV, and I watch way too much of it. I love Lost and House, but also really cheesy reality shows like American Idol, Project Runway, The Biggest Loser. I also love HBO's The Soprano's, Entourage, Deadwood, etc. The best thing on television, however, is Homicide on DVD.

Favorite actors/actresses?

Johnny Depp. Grace Kelly.

Favorite musicians/bands?

Springsteen still runs through my veins, despite leaving Jersey all those years ago.

Favorite books/authors?

Well, you ask an English professor this question and you're in for a long answer. I wrote my dissertation on Faulkner, and I really love Southern lit: Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Mark Twain...the whole damned, tragic lot of them. My favorite books in the world, though, are Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony and Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried.

Where did you go to college and what did you study?

Georgetown for a BA in English (with Theology minor), Penn State for an MA in English, and the University of Mississippi for the PhD. My dissertation looked at the influence of the frontier on southern history and culture as represented in three Faulkner novels. I also got very interested in Vietnam War autobiographies.

Favorite/least favorite job you've ever had?

I spent three years as an assistant professor at a college in Missouri where I got to teach a wide variety of classes including graduate seminars in southern and multi-cultural American lit; I was also the director of Undergraduate Studies and Assistant Director of the Center of Faulkner Studies. Least favorite? I spent one day as a general laborer in a pipe factory, which helps to explain why I'm overeducated.

Favorite hobbies?

Playing the guitar, though I rarely find time any more.

Favorite foods?

I spent summers as a child on Long Island fishing, and I love any kind of seafood. Pizza, however, is my drug of choice.

Favorite board games or computer games?

I loved board games as a kid, and I find it hard to name a favorite. Pictionary was a huge favorite of my college years. I think the finest computer/video game I've ever played was Combat on the original Atari 2600. Tank pong...pure joy.

Favorite sports/sports teams?

The Mets were my early love, during the bleak 70s. Since then I've added Hoya basketball, Chicago Bulls during the Jordan years (bigtime bandwagon fan), and Notre Dame (my grandfather's alma mater) football to my list. I now also root for Penn State out of institutional loyalty, and so I don't get jacked by my students.

What would you do with a million dollars?

To be totally honest, I'd pay off my ludicrously huge student loan, buy a vehicle with air conditioning, and invest what's left.

What three people past or present would you invite to dinner?

My mom and my grandmothers...they're much on my mind this week.

What is your favorite quote?

"I reckon I'll be at the beck and call of folks with money all my life, but thank God I won't ever again have to be at the beck and call of every son of a bitch who's got two cents to buy a stamp." --William Faulkner, on being fired from a job at the Post Office

Name something you'd like to do before you die.

Run a marathon.

What's your favorite acronym?

E.U.L.A. I actually named my dog after a character in Faulkner (Eula Varner Snopes, the ultimate Southern belle), but everyone in GemStone IV asked why I named my dog after an End User Licensing Agreement.

Who is your hero or heroine?

I'm moved by little people who stand up against powerful forces. For the past few years, since my wife taught a course on Images of Women in Popular Culture, I've focused on two similar images: Joan of Arc and Buffy Summers.

If you could have any musical group or artist, past or present, play at your birthday party, who would it be?

Eva Cassidy

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Flight. I've flown in my dreams since I was a kid.

And the Zobmondo question

Would you rather...

Have an incurable condition that compels you to turn around in place three times before sitting or laying down...

Or...

Have to dance a little jig before walking through any doorway?

Definitely the turning around. Nobody who has seen me dance would question my choice.

Co-Worker's Not-So-Candid Quotes

• "Such a go-to guy. He always has the answer, no matter what the question."
• "Ozias is a great leader as far as SGMs go. In part, because he's the kind of leader that will approach you on a very humble inquisitive level, even though he's an SGM if you're discussing a system or area that you somehow know more about (which doesn't happen too often!)."
• "Ozias is one of the most tolerant people I work with, I think. He humors me and my endless off-the-wall questions gracefully (and knowledgeably)."
• "Witty, articulate, warm and friendly!"
• "Ozias is a rather wise and intelligent fellow with a true heart for the game. He does a great job of managing his team to breathe life into Elanthia, and his presence as our local grammarian is always helpful in our little text-based world."
• "The quiet giant, Ozias has a sweet soul and a definite vision for the world we call Elanthia."
• "Ozias makes everything okay!"
• "He is an absolute treasure! He's a tireless resource, and incredibly good-natured. Always willing to answer a question or offer an opinion, and always generous with the positive feedback as well."
• "Ozias is just plain great!"
• "The Professor delights in verbose, yet affecting communication designed with the animus of being efficacious in remedying the quandary at hand. And he's a swell guy, too!"
• "Ozias has a big heart, and you can always count on him for "professorly" advice."