My name is Rob. I have six brothers.  My parents are over 100 years old. I build aquariums. I am married. My wife is deaf. I listen to the Beatles.
My name is Ray. I live in Florida. I am 45. My parents are both scientists. I am a scientist. I work out. I do gymnastics. I am tall.
I have been working on building a new tropical aquarium since we last talked. It's coming along nicely.  That's great. Is it big? How many fish will live in it? Yeah, it's a 100 gallon tank. It can fit several fish in it or a few big fishes in it. I think they people that I am making it for want to put about 4 or 5 big fishes in it for their office. Do they give you specific instruction on how it should look, or do you get to make those decisions yourself? Is this an artistic project for you? Some have specific instructions, and some others are familiar with my work and trust my artistic decisions so they give me free range. I prefer the latter. I feel like I work better when the creative process is rooted in self-expression. This is one of those projects that I have been given the freedom to do with what I please.  That sounds rewarding. I love being a scientist, but never really developed an artistic side. It's not really creative. Yeah, science and art tends to come from two different sides of the brain. What does your job typically entail? I work in a reproach lab with a few others Biologists. I do experiments with bacteria, record them, repeat. Very technical. Kind of soothing. But the results take a long time to be meaningful.   Wow, that sounds really interesting! I can see how the repetition, the orderliness of the scientific process, and waiting for the reward of those results can be calming. The long wait makes those results all the more sweeter.  It's kind of like art in the sense that it's hard work but the end results make the process worth it. I think the difference is you probably know when you'll finish an aquarium, whereas we're not really sure when our findings will be useful. Plus, I'm dealing with smaller creatures (bacteria versus fish). Hmm you make an important distinction. The waiting therefore is more uncertain than I face with my process. I don't know if I have that level of patience myself. Everyone once in a while, I have the aquarium maker's equivalent of writer's block, but that eventually works itself out before I grow impatient.   That's why I like exercising and gymnastics. It's something I can do on a schedule. Every session, when I finish, I feel like I've completed something.