Better Know A Classmate: Mr. Tra

This is the first in what should be a 159 or so part series, wherein we catch up with our old classmates. If you would like to participate in this Q&A, please email me.

With that said, here is my interview with Frank. Or should I say, my frank interview? HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

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Ahem. I would first like to thank Dan for asking for this interview. My original plan was to jump straight into a healthy dose of "Dan-bashing". Start out by making fun of his K-State roots. Not that I'm against K-State. My in-laws are both professors at the fine institution down the road from the first and greatest university ever to grace the plains of our fair state (KU). Move on to shaming Dan for attempting to "be-himself" on the site of our impending awkward night of comparing how much weight people gained(I gained 60 pounds but it's all muscle. Promise.). Finally, I would end with telling off the president by wishing that I had never voted for him seeing as though its been soooooo long ago that I cannot truly remember if I ever voted for any election in high school. I tried to think back and remember maybe approving for Millie as secretary though I have the odd feeling that she ran unopposed. Either way, my initial plan was to burn Dan in verbal effigy before the entire class of '97 (or the 20-odd people who have actually visited the site).

1. You were Asian in high school - are you still Asian?

...yes, I am a rice eating Asian(Vietnamese-American)...still.

2. On a scale of 1 to 10, how Asian are you?

I was a 5 but now I am a 7. Initially, get three points for looking the part. I had a few more for being able to speak the language and for driving a Honda. After I lost the Honda, my rating slipped a bit. So I took up martial arts. Which made me a 10 since I took to it so naturally. Then I stepped into my first tournament where I kicked, punched, and yelled at this guy to the point that he limped off of the mat but LOST because I showed a "lack of control". So I turned in my orange belt, married a white girl, and so now I am a 7.

3a. You used to go to The Bottleneck a lot when you resided in Lawrence. What band(s) made the biggest impression on you?

College was the best 9 years of my life! Everything that I could not do in Wichita, I found the ability and initiative to do in Lawrence. I saw some pretty cool shows like Dashboard at Liberty Hall and Better Than Ezra at the Granada but whenever I had a free night, I would be at the Bottleneck. Some bands of note that do not exist anymore are the Anniversary, Ultimate Fakebook, and the Get Up Kids. Emo bands mostly. Though I wouldn't tell it to their faces. Three bands that I'd risk failing a test for every time are Reggie and the Full Effect, Hot Rod Circuit, and the Alkaline Trio. My most memorable concert experience would have to be Tenacious D. I had no idea what I was getting into and I still feel dirty. The worst concert? The Pfunk Junkees. Imagine Korn doing the Beastie Boys while channeling Metallica...all the while while with a straight face.

3b. What Lawrence restaurant do you miss the most?

India Palace. My wife wrote that. Last time I ate there I was infected by some anaerobe and its extended family of about 10,000 toxin producing hillbilly cousins. After mitosis set in I swore never to eat there again.

I miss the Mad Greek. You don't find flaming cheese like that just anywhere.

4. Please describe an average workday in horrifically mundane detail.

A lot has changed since I recently gained employment. This is the ideal day:

I wake up at 5 A.M. and get to Wesley Hospital by 6. I assist in checking medication and fluids set to go out to the hospital floors. Then I make my way to the neonatal intensive care unit where I take care of the orders from the NICU, Peds floor, and the Labor and Delivery ward. In between orders, I waste narcs. That's right. Being that I have no vices let alone substance abuse issues, it is my reponsibility to dispose of every drawn-up but unused or leftover high concentration narcotic syringe. I also calculate and double check every neonatal TPN(total perenteral nutrition) bag that gets sent out to KC to be made. I set-up meds to be made up. Trouble shoot with the nurses. Do a couple of chemotherapy orders. Check dosages. Sounds ho-hum but saving babies is pretty exciting/challenging/satisfying work. So if you ever deliver at Wesley or have kids that get hurt and sent to Wesley. I will likely be your pharmacist.

I get done with my shift around 2:30, make my way to Bishop Carroll and run a couple of miles before wrestling practice starts.

Make it home by six. Have dinner with the family. Do some writing. From 7-10, I try to get in 100 push-ups every hour. In between I field a couple of calls from Hollywood about my comic. I make it to bed around midnight. Then I restart my day. I have enough to do between pharmacy, coaching and writing that I usually take the weekends that I am not at a tournament to decompress with my familly. Lift some weights. Mow the lawn.

Pretty full life for someone that Millie quoted as,"Slept his way through high school." Amen, sister.

5. You've commented on this website about your appreciation for the band The Killers. The Aquila tells me you've also written a graphic novel called "The Killers". Did the band influence the story? How so?

By name only. I was approached on the web by an artist who was a manager of a McDonalds in Canada about doing a WWII comic book. This was after I had a short story published and did some small comic book anthology work in KC. This was right after the Killers(band) had a single out. So I took inspiration from the name the Killers and dreamed up a story where a band of Nazi SS were running around Germany still killing after the war had ended. I took more inspiration from the Crow. I wanted villains that you would begin to get to know. Maybe even feel a little sad after they get killed. Which they do. Thus the name. Pretty much everyone dies.

I also took inspiration from George Schneller. By name only. I needed a really German name for my lead villain. While doing research(watching Saving Private Ryan), I heard an American yelling, "Schnell!" I sat up in my chair(figuratively) and decided I would use George's family name for the lead baddie. No I do not think George is a Nazi or that he would run around Germany on a killing spree. I just think that Schneller sounded very German. So you could also say that George is an inspiration to me. I also throw in a Keiter. The character with Keiter's may actually be the only character alive after all 96 pages is done and I blow up 5 city blocks in Berlin.

6. The story involves Nazis. Will there ever be a better villan than the Nazis?

I once dated a girl in college that every time she smiled her eyes got REALLY big. After a nightmare or two I decided that it didn't matter if she had a great personality or a killer bod or an original sense of humor or was loaded with cash or drove me around campus. People should squint when they smile.


7. Do you plan to write more graphic novels?

Yup. I was actually asked to write the Killers into a screenplay but studying for my last board exam will probably make that impossible. My next graphic novel will probably be Spy School. Cheesy Nickelodeon title but the book will be more dark and serious. It is mainly about a teenager that reads the daily obituaries to find names of recently deceased individuals. He then hacks into their email accounts looking for ways to break into their financial holdings. Naturally he should work for the intelligence wing of the government. Yet somehow our lead ends up being sent into the field. Pandemonium ensues. I will probably work with Eric Z again on this one.

I am working on a pitch with Stefano Raffaele called Manticore Sunset. We had previously worked on an A.I.M. pitch for Marvel www.stefano raffaele.com/AIM/ . I did a Batman pitch with Paul Gulacy for DC. I also have some work lined up with Alias and Warpton Comics. So having the Killers on the net www.speakeasycomics.com has helped tremendously with my exposure as a writer.

8. Your wife's name is Katy. Do you ever make fun of the way she spells her name?

No but I make fun of the town where she's from. I once spent a month in Manhattan doing a veterinary medicine rotation. I assisted on correcting every sort of prolapse that you can imagine. First look up prolapse. Then imagine having to try and assist in the reinsertion of a prolapsed anus, eyeball, and uterus. That was the extent of my month-long K-State education.

9. On a scale of 1 to 10, how Asian is Katy?

Physically? 0. Metaphysically, since we are now one in the same? 5. She enjoys curry.

I feel that you should marry up. The moment you hear someone yelling,"She's too good for you!" I suggest pulling out all the stops and trying to get the girl. I even attempted a Better Off Dead "ski to impress the girl" trip. "Go down as fast as you can! If you see something...turn!" I ran into a cardboard cut-out of a pink hippo.

My wife is brilliant. National Merit Scholar. Multiple time state math champ. Perfect SAT score. Top of her class in Chemical Engineering. Took Organic Chemistry and Differential Equations as a freshman. She's spunky. Opinionated. Very uber-Catholic. Easy on the eyes. Most importantly, she squints when she smiles.

10. How did you decide on your daughter's name, Amber?

It was Katy's to choose. I had once sold the right to name our firstborn so that Katy would go buy me a gallon of OJ. I sold the next naming rights for the one that we are expecting in December so that Katy would buy me some Taco Bell. Then I suggested the name Amber and Katy thought the name was perfect.

11. As a pharmacist, if you were going to abuse a prescription medication, what drug would you choose and why?

Methadone. Stays in your system forever. S'why doctors prescribe it to get people off of heroin. Can't get high if all of your opiate receptors are full of Methadone. Your voice also sounds cool like William S. Burroughs(Lawrence resident). I'm sure a lot of people other than I decided to go to pharmacy school after watching Drugstore Cowboy. Right? Tricia Gosche, I'm looking in your direction.

12. What was your favorite class at BC? Why?

Chemistry. Why? Because I failed it. Got myself a big fat "F" in Diepenbrock's class. Nothing against the teacher. I was the most self-unaware student that I knew. Daydreamed or drew in almost every class. The failing grade that I earned and that Mr. Diepenbrock was more than happy to give angered me greatly. So much so that it woke me right up from my haze. High school was odd for me in that my core group of friends all took to drugs and dropping out and sleeping around. The very things that we set out not to do when we got to BC. So I was lost but then I was found. Took Chem I my first year of college. Got a B and then continued to take chemistry every semester that I was in college. Woke up one day with a Doctorate in Pharmacy.

If it wasn't for my failing chemistry I would not have had the inner drive to get out of town and take chances. Does passing 16 college chemistry courses and their coinciding labs ease the pain of failing high school chem? Not so much but I have found numerous distractions for my time. Paychecks are nice as well.

13. Is there anything you would have done differently in your time at BC?

Applied for scholarships. At least a single solitary application would have been smart.

No, like I said, high school was what it was. A time where I lost my closest friends and woke up just shy of my senior year to my lack of ambition in life. People were friendly enough to me and I was hopefully cordial back. I was going to say wrestling but I helped coach the team last year that won its third state title so I have a nice ring to put those ghosts to rest. So I guess if I could go back and do a single thing differently it would be to make an attempt at stopping my friends before they got too deep with drugs and alcohol. I may not have been able to change any outcomes but at least I would have gotten off of the fence and tried. Looking at the blessed life I lead now and comparing it to theirs, its too bad.

In conclusion, I hope this catches me up with everyone(that cares, mind you. I apologize to the rest). I look forward to reading about what everyone else has been up to. I think that Dan has come up with an excellent vehicle for information gathering, future planning, and friendly conversation(I even wrote that with a straight face). I feel that the sight will be up long after the first reunion comes and goes.