Hi. My name is Michiel and I have been a friend of Skippy for about twelve or thirteen years. Basically we knew each other when neither of us had a gut or love handles.
Skippy has been wanting to have some other people contribute to his website, doctor and I am honored to be the first person he asked, check or at least be the first to accept. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Skippy for the chance to either wow or bore thousands of people every week. Not everyone gets that chance. How cool is that?
I wanted to make my first post some cool, cough funny story, but somehow I felt that an introduction is in order. So here is a little bit about me.
I have no interesting military stories. I never served and my dad was in the Air Force, which we all know barely counts as being in the military. At least that is what friends in the other branches of the military have told me, and I have to trust them, because I never served.
I am, however, a geek/nerd/dork or whatever you call it. Allow me to present my credentials.
I am thirty nine years old and remember seeing my first Star Trek rerun when I was about four and still in pre-school. I even remember trying to explain it to my friends the following Monday. Oh, and I prefer the term Trekkie over Trekker.
I was totally into Star Wars and saw it three times in the theater when it originally ran. To say that I was into Star Wars at the time was like saying I like to breathe air. And for the record, I will never refer to the original Star Wars movie as “Episode 4,” or “A New Hope.” It’s STAR WARS! (Do you hear me Lucas! Quit jacking with my childhood mythology! It’s STAR WARS and Greedo did NOT shoot first you bastard!)
At about age eleven or twelve I fell in love with the wonderful world of Dungeons and Dragons, and even dabbled in a couple other games. (Gamma World ring any bells?) My girlfriend thinks it is so cute that I still have the books and dice, but most of all, the little lead figures that I hand painted myself.
Around this same time, (this is early 80’s) I was obviously into video games much like everyone else. But I never had an Atari or an Intellivision. No, I had an Apple IIe. And I had lots of games on that. I bring up the Apple IIe to not only show that I was a nerd, but that I am at least second generation nerd, as this was something my parents chose to buy. I just wanted an Atari. But then again these are the same parents that let me stay up late while I was in pre-school to watch Star Trek. (By the way, the Apple IIe still works, and has a working disk drive, monitor and dot matrix printer, as well as a large game library. I might be willing to entertain offers for the whole package, but my inner dork says not to, even though I don’t use it).
From about age twelve to about seventeen, I collected comic books. I was a Marvel kid. All of you fans of DC and other companies can keep your comments to yourselves, I liked what I liked. If anyone is wondering, my favorite character is the Thing.
I was a major metal head when I was a teenager too. I discovered heavy metal and pot and promptly grew my hair to the middle of my back. Seriously, a couple bong hits, some Iron Maiden and a good comic book, and I was a happy boy.
In college, I majored in Art.
I was a major chess geek for a while and was really into four way chess for several years. If you have never tried four way chess, then you really should. That game will make your brain scream.
I was very much into Paganism for several years. We all know that Paganism, in all of it’s forms, is the nerdiest of religions, as it is the path that most resembles a live action D&D game. It was through paganism, that I met Skippy at a big nekkid pagan campout. (Oh, speaking of live action role playing, I have taken part in a Vampire: The Masquerade LARP, but that is a story for another time).
I carry a Discordian Pope card in my wallet. My Discordian name is Art C. Fartci.
I have done tech support for an ISP and a major computer company. Please hold.
At this point in my life my inner dork expresses itself by playing City of Heroes. I have played other games some, but I like COH and COV. It just picks on too many of my nerd weaknesses. It’s a video game, it’s role playing, and it’s super heroes. WOW can bite me, I can fly and teleport in COH and COV. Until I can fly and teleport in other games, this is the MMORPG for me.
I also have worked in haunted houses for about fourteen to fifteen years. I don’t think it is dorky or geeky or nerdy, but I’m sure it is anyway. The way I see it, why go see zombie movies when you can BE the zombie? Plus any job that will pay me to chase people with a machete and threaten their lives without fear of legal repercussions, that’s the job for me.
Finally, I also do stand up comedy, which is probably one of the nerdiest forms of entertainment out there. Seriously, most comics are social rejects of one sort or another.
So there you go, I am one of you. Love me.
P.S. By the way the only thing worse than fanfic, is furries. Commence flaming, now.
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