Quick Questions with a Cannonballer: Mobius_Walker

Question from your bio: what are aerial arts, and how do they relate to maths?

I primarily have trained in aerial silks and aerial hoop (also called a lyra). Silks are exactly what you’re thinking of: long bits of fabric that aerialists climb up, wrap around us, drop and unwind from. Lyra is a thin metal hoop that is suspended from the ceiling that one can contort around, spin on, and swing from. Aerial arts were a great way to work out and stay active without having to go to a gym. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I haven’t been able to teach or train any aerial arts since last March, so it’s been a while since I’ve been up in the air. I hope to get back to doing some sort of aerial training soon. As for teaching math, my day job is as a precalculus team leader, precalculus teacher, and diving coach at a public high school in Cypress, TX. This is my 6th year teaching math and 3rd year coaching diving, and it has been unlike any other year of teaching. Hybrid teaching (virtual and face-to-face) is a trip; I’m thankful to have such a strong support system at home because otherwise I would have lost my mind with stress.

How many times have you participated in CBR? Has it changed the way you read?

This was my first time participating in CBR though I’ve been a long time Pajiba reader. CBR has reminded me that reading should be fun. For the last few years I’ve gotten so caught up in reading “literature” and the classics and books by stuffy old, white men that I became a sort of reading snob, and I just wasn’t enjoying what I was reading at all. Eventually, I stopped reading altogether. I was gatekeeping myself out of reading. CBR got me out of that headspace and back into the joy of reading. CBR also forced me (in a good way) to try new genres and read new authors. CBR broke down almost every requirement I had built up in my head about what it means to be a “reader.” Now the only requirement is that you read.

You read a wide range of different styles. If you had to pick a favorite genre, which would it be?

Fantasy. No question, no hesitation. Reading has always been an escape for me, and fantasy stories were the biggest escape possible. I also love the various ingenious systems of magic that authors construct and explore. Deep down, I’ve always hoped that magic were real, and fantasy novels, especially urban fantasy books, are a way to explore what that magic could look like in the real world. I’m hoping that if I read enough fantasy novels with enough magic in them, I can make magic real in the world.

How do you decide what to read next from your TBR pile?