Hi everyone!

My name is Christopher Robledo, but i prefer Chris. Something about being called Christopher brings back memories of my mother calling me when I’ve done something wrong. I am currently in my fourth year at City Tech, but will not be graduating until at least next January. I am actually back in school after 10 years of working as a carpenter. After High school i went straight into the workforce as i was never a school oriented person.Now that I’m older, i know what i want, and focus purely on that. I’ve been basically living on my savings, and doing side jobs here and there to make ends meet. I love to read, with science fiction and fantasy being my favorite genres. I’m currently making my way through the Disc World books, i can’t believe i put off reading these for so long. I love the satirical writing style of Terry Pratchett, and how the stories don’t take themselves seriously.

My favorite hobby is building scale models. I have done cars, tanks, and plane kits, but i mainly enjoy building robots like Gundam, Zoids, etc. I’ve gotten pretty good at it, to the point that i have won contests, and get commission work for my builds. I think my favorite thing at contests is to see the old war veterans who normally hate these kits and call them toys come over and compliment me on my work. This hobby is one of the reasons i got into the major that i am currently in, Computer Engineering Technology. The associate degree for this is Electromechanical Engineering Technology, which is all about building circuits and learning about the internal workings of a computer. I have always been into building things since i was a kid. While most kids had Lego’s, i always preferred playing with my Erector Set. I’ve even helped build props for some student films, often on a budget.

I mainly spent this winter break working on a few kits, and studying up on some online classes, as well as doing some construction side jobs. Another thing i love to do is dance. I know the basics to a few standard dances but i love deep house and used to be on the dance floor every weekend. I really messed up my back last year falling on ice so i can’t do it as much as i used to sadly. This summer i hope to take more dance classes, hopefully my back will be in much better condition.

Here is a picture of me last October at the New York Comicon with some friends who came in from out of state. We’re standing in front of the display case with the entries for the Gunpla Builders World Cup where i won the Best Small Scale category. We all fit some stereotype of the fandom.

^^And my entry^^

When it comes to writing, i think i generally have a decent imagination and usually don’t have too much of a problem writing an assignment. I do tend to rush through, so my handwriting gets pretty illegible, and i can make some grammatical mistakes. One of the things i look forward to in this course and using OpenLab, is typing my work as i generally type much faster than i write, and i can flesh my ideas out faster/better.  I think the thing i hate the most about actually writing is the mark that gets left on my middle finger. I tend to grip a pen or pencil (preferably) pretty tightly and i always end up with a red mark. If a topic doesn’t interest me, i do not look forward to writing about it, as its usually twice as hard to put ideas down on paper or the screen.

I have used OpenLab a few times, mainly for some of my classes relevant to my major. Professor Wu and Dr. Reyes always insisted on using it, so i would have to go to each courses site for homework and lecture downloads. I’ve only had to upload a laboratory report once. I’m sure by the end of this course, I’ll be somewhat proficient in using this interface.

When i think of Science fiction, i always remember watching movies as a child. I am an avid fan of most genres, but whenever a science fiction movie is on tv or in theaters, i tend to look forward to it more. For me, science fiction is a genre that takes an idea that is similar to fantasy and melds it with science. It can be about time travel, space and the unknown, virus outbreaks, or even something less radical that is closer to actual reality. I think anyone can write science fiction, but most famous writers have some sort of technical background or do extensive research into some field of science for it to make the most sense. Anyone can be a fan of science fiction. When i was growing up, it generally had a stigma about it where fans were looked down on by normal society. In recent years, being into science and things once considered only for nerds or geeks is the in thing, and its become much easier to let it be known that you are a fan. There are meetups you can actually go to to discuss your favorite shows or books every month in the city now as well.

When i hear the word science, i think of knowledge and logic. Its something i can believe in as most often its based on fact and can be proven. Fiction is anything that can be made up but isn’t based on fact. It can be a lie, or even something as simple as basing it on an event but with an added factor that makes it different than the reality of the situation or story. Science fiction is absolutely considered real literature. Its been around for a long time, and often ideas written in these stories become reality. How many of today’s technologies are inspired by science fiction of the past?

I think our class consists of only male students simply because there are much easier classes out there. Its a very unique subject, something that not everyone will enjoy. I hate to use a stereotype, but maybe some female students know that it is popular among males and don’t wish to be the only female students in the class. Even as i type this, i feel like it is sexist thinking, but stereotypes are generally based on some form of truth. Professor Belli’s main line of research is in utopian societies, something that often occurs within science fiction literature. She seems like a very confidant woman who loves the topic and enjoys sharing her ideas with whoever wants to hear them/learn which is why i believe she chose to teach this course.

As previously mentioned, i love scifi, so i really wanted to take this course. When i was working on my associates degree, i was told that i couldn’t take this yet as it wasn’t part of the curriculum for my degree, but when i switched to my Bachelors, it became available. I won’t lie, all this typing and reading is a bit more than i expected, and i know i’ll probably struggle a little further into the course, as every other class i’m taking involves large projects that will eat up my free time.

Some of my favorite science fiction authors would have to be Frank Herbert, Douglas Adams, Phillip K. Dick, Hideyuki Kekuchi, Daniel Wilson, James S.A. Corey, Earnest Cline.

Some of my favorite science fiction books: A scanner Darkly, The Dune series, Do androids dream of robotic sheep, Robotpocalypse, I Robot, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books, 1984, Fahrenheit 451. Just a few. If you like to play video games and enjoy trivia from the 80’s and 90’s, check out a book called Ready Player One by Earnest Cline. It being made into a movie, but it really is a great read.

Some movies/tv: Dune, Star Wars, Aliens, the first 2 predator movies, inority Report, Enemy Mine, Robot Jox, Hackers, Serenity/Firefly, Almost Human, Battle Star Galactica, Star Gate, Total Recall, Dredd, and most Giant robot Anime. You name it, i’ve probably watched it. There are some shows that i just can’t get into, like Doctor Who. I’ve tried, and i really don’t understand why everyone likes it, its pretty lame compared to all of the other shows that are out there.

For this course, i’m hoping to learn a bit more about the background and themes of science fiction. Maybe improve my writing skills when it comes to using more technical jargon.

I went a bit long with this post, but figured its best to be thorough.