Richard Dornbush

After talking about his skating and goals for 2012 Nationals. Ricky spoke to us briefly about some of his interests outside the skating rink.

ISIO – You are still in school at Norco City College?

RD – Yes. All of my classes this year, I’m doing at the Riverside campus.

ISIO – Do you have a major yet?

RD – Yeah, it’s physics.

ISIO – So then what do you want to be when you grow up?

RD – Well a physicist, I suppose. A physicist and a figure skater. It’s really been difficult for me to choose a particular major, but I’m definitely going to stay in the field that the classes I’m taking apply to. I’ve narrowed it down. I like mathematics and I’ve also considered engineering, but right now I’m tilted more towards physics.

ISIO – Physics in terms of a professional scientist? In terms of research?

RD – Possibly. Possibly. I wouldn’t mind having a position at a university somewhere, but I think research is definitely a prospect.

ISIO – We understand you are a reader.

RD – [He laughs] This is another question they asked [in another interview].

ISIO – So what are you reading now?

RD – Oh, you know, I’ve really been trying to get into some highbrow stuff. The hardy boys, and – no, I’m just kidding.

ISIO – Well, Marai [Nagasu] tells us she reads series of fantasy novels.

RD – Series of fantasy novels!

ISIO – Yes.

RD – You know when I was younger I read a lot of fantasy and a lot of these series go on to have thirteen, fourteen books. I started this one series when I was younger that the author is planning on writing over twenty of them. So, you know, my interest have shifted, but at the same time I’m OCD enough to HAVE to finish the series. So, I’m still sort of treading those when they come out, but I’m not really branching out into new ones. Mostly what I’m interested in now is a lot of literature. I like reading Virginia Woolf, and Joseph Conrad and stuff like that.

ISIO – And you are also into video games, we hear. What kind of video games do you like to play?

RD – Well, this is sort of a new hobby, and it’s very - very limited. I don’t do a whole lot of it.

ISIO – Shooter games or strategy games?

RD – Both. Both. I like the shooter games. Playing with my friends is always fun. And sometimes that has a lot to do with strategy, as long as you’ve practiced enough that your not just fiddling around with the stick trying to make it look straight. I recently got this game called "L.A. Noire," and it’s a [1940s] detective game, and you have to be pretty strategic the way you play that one.

ISIO – Are you into any movies?

RD – Not so much. I’ll see a movie once or twice but it really doesn’t hold my attention as it does a lot of other people.

ISIO – Thank you for time after practice today to talk with us, and good luck at Nationals.

A Conversation with Richard Dornbush: Part 2, Ricky on Ricky