Flatball Radio | Delia Chiu – “Tokyo Purgatory”
by | August 4, 2015, 9:18am 0
When I first met Delia in 2008, she had been playing ultimate longer than I had known the sport existed. We were driving down to Ashland, Oregon when she realized how young I was (21 and painfully baby-faced). Her reaction to me immediately turned from “aww, that’s cute” to “I feel strangely maternal now.”
As long as I’ve known her, I’ve always been aware of the magnetism Delia brings to every social situation. Her small stature belies her commanding presence and sharp tongue – not to mention her quick wit and obvious smarts. An adolescent education obtained while living in the heart of New York City and an adult education at Stanford gives Delia a wealth of insight that was an essential part of our Flatball meetings.
Delia helped build a foundation of vulnerability and candor within the group by openly detailing her experiences in therapy. When Delia shared that she had confronted significant struggles putting in the necessary work toward completing her PhD, we were all able to immediately relate to facing those inexplicable mental obstacles.
Delia had to contend with the same barriers while creating her story for Flatball Radio. Only four days before the show, she (and I) had major reservations about the current version of the story. We spent hours at a local tea shop trying to crack the nut and, after some sizable progress, I made her recite it to me on the walk back to my place. Despite some progress, neither of us was entirely sure what would happen on stage.
In retrospect it seems foolish to expect anything but eloquence, since Delia is a game time player. She stepped on stage, lowered the mic stand and brought down the house.
More about Delia: Stanford alum and Schwa anchor. Has played nearly 20 years. Blends New York honesty with Portland charm. Real life scientist.
Photo by Gene Buonaccorsi — www.eugenebuonaccorsi.com
Comments Policy: At Skyd, we value all legitimate contributions to the discussion of ultimate. However, please ensure your input is respectful. Hateful, slanderous, or disrespectful comments will be deleted. For grammatical, factual, and typographic errors, instead of leaving a comment, please e-mail our editors directly at editors [at] skydmagazine.com.