My friend and Epic Slant Press LLC Blogger Stubborn has recently tagged me in in a post of his. I am to understand that the young peoples tag each other on the interwebs and that means said tagged young people must then answer. This seems like a pyramid scheme but I trust Stubborn so I am going to go along with this!
Since we all know I am something of a… person with an ego it seemed fun to share answers from random questions.
1) Describe in detail something that makes you very happy.
Blonde, five foot two, pretty, and loving. Generally that makes me happy. That would be my wife of course. Sharing activities with her makes them a lot more fun. Things that I used to do are better shared.
Going on vacations with her is pretty much what I live for.
2) Which blogger(s) did you find most influential when you started. Have you contacted them recently? Why or why not?
This is going to sound conceited. I don’t really have a lot of people I’d consider “influential.” My mother was so concerned I’d be dependent on people that she raised me to be a self-motivated and self-supporting guy.
I’ve never really looked at a game designer, blogger, or anyone and said, “I want to be like them.” My mind works like this: I want to do X. So then I go do X. Sometimes I succeed. Sometimes I fail.
I HAVE, however, had bloggers that motivated me to keep going. Chris Coke, Syp, and Stubborn all inspired me to keep blogging/writing. Kind of like how gym buddies keep you in the gym.
I talk to Stubborn on occasion. As to the why… well, adulthood, right? Time is a commodity we don’t all have.
3) Do you have pets? What are they? How did you choose them? Or if not, why not?
I married into a parrot named Mango. Generally I’m a HUGE animal person but not a pet person. I like to go visit animals but not live with them (I’m a neat freak).
4) What game has influenced you the most over your gaming years? How so?
EverQuest/EverQuest II changed the entire course of my life both negatively and positively.
As a teenager I played too much EQ. I let it damage some of my personal relationships in real life. Of course it was also helping me cope with them. My friends were into alcohol and light drugs. I’d get tired of dealing with that and retreat into EQ. I just retreated too much.
It started to turn me even more introverted and also allowed my condition (I’m a high functioning agoraphobic) to get worse (IE no longer high functioning). It about ruined me.
Then EverQuest II happened and I became an officer. That put me on the path to being an extrovert. No matter how much saying so may upset people in my life it is true. EQ2 gave me the ability to go out into the world and deal with people. So much so that I’m now a raging extrovert.
5) Did you like school? Why or why not?
I hated high school with a passion. I was one of those kids that was a little too smart. There wasn’t really any challenge and by my junior year I was being released after lunch to go to work. My senior year I only needed 3-4 credits total to graduate. It bored me and seemed pointless.
College felt the same way. A liberal education where I was learning a little about everything and basically how to do nothing. My junior and senior years were amazing though. I made some new friends, got in a specialization (that I don’t use) and enjoyed it.
Tech school was amazing.
Graduate school was a huge waste of time to just say I have a Master’s for employment purposes. By the way, I have a Master’s… and nobody cares.
6) On the same note, did you have a teacher who meant a lot to you? If so, have you contacted them recently? Why or why not? And if not, why do you think you didn’t?
I enjoyed a lot of my college professors. I’m not sure they “meant” anything to me other than they were the ones I enjoyed the most and still tell stories about. Dr. Harris was my mentor and he is just an awesome guy.
7) If you feel comfortable talking about it, what’s your biggest vice?
Vice is tricky. I was addicted to Kickstarter. I still am honestly which is why I don’t look at it. Other than that I don’t drink, smoke, use drugs, drink soda, cheat, hire prostitutes, or do any of the other things that are typically associated with the word vice. I’m kind of boring there.
8) To balance that out, what’s your biggest virtue?
I want everyone to be successful and happy. If I do one thing while I’m alive, If I’m remembered for one thing, I want it to be that I did everything I could to help those around me be the best they could be.
Society works best when everyone is a team player, and I’m a big team player.
9) What movie / TV series / book / or music (or all of the above) do you wish more people had been exposed to?
*cough* Other than my own books? *cough* I kid… I kid.
I’m not sure. I went a long time without consuming any media other than games. I don’t really do movies and I don’t watch a lot of TV. I think “Better off Ted” is an amazing TV show that should have been a massive success.
10) What’s the most important lesson kids should learn when growing up? Why?
Time to tick off a lot of people!
Lesson 1: You’re not special. Sorry, most people aren’t. You are unique and important but you’re not special.
Lesson 2: The world owes you nothing that you don’t work for. You’re not special (see lesson 1). If you don’t work for things you don’t deserve them nor can you appreciate them. If anything we all OWE the world something. The people that raised us? We owe them. The people that helped us? We owe them. Earn your place in the world.
Lesson 3: You will lose. Learn to lose gracefully. My children (if I ever have any) will never get a participation trophy. I want them to know failure as well as success. Why? That is simple. I don’t want my children to be the adults that flip out when they learn lesson 1 and 2.
Lesson 4: Karma is real. Not in the religious sense but in the human psychology sense. Google it. If you do good things people see that. When they’re in a position later on to help or not help you they’ll remember what you’ve done. Karma is real. Don’t be a jerk.
11) Do you vote? Why or why not?
Yes I do in every election. I consider it a waste of time, but I do it. Perhaps one day we’ll have someone I don’t feel bad voting for.
