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I've been here more than half a year, so I thought it was about time I did one of these. I don't know whether or not you care but it would be polite, if nothing else, to introduce myself. I'm just leaving university and have no clue what to do with my life, so perhaps summarizing it thus far would be a healthy exercise.
Alex Cronk-Young thinks I look like a girl.
I was born and still live in Cardiff, Wales — where Roald Dahl wrote his books and Dr. Who is filmed.
I identify myself as British, Welsh a gamer, a liberal, an atheist, vegetarian, feminist, Marmite-lover, etc.
I went to Christian primary and secondary schools (5-18 years old, for Americans). I was an atheist almost all along but too scared to say so until I was maybe 12 or 13.
And when I say "atheist", I mean "agnostic". But then I'm agnostic on every idea I'm 99 per cent certain of. So, for brevity, it's easier to say gravity keeps you down, the sky is blue, and I'm an atheist.
I've just finished university (college, for Americans), where I studied English Language. Lancaster University is a great institution but the city is small and lifeless. (It's a town really, but the queen decides these things arbitrarily.)
I don't watch many films but my favorite television shows are Twin Peaks, the Sopranos, and the Wire. Favorite books: On the Road, My Brother's Gun, and The Outsider (The Stranger in America). The three best gigs I've ever been to were Kill Kenada, when the ten or so people in attendance sat in a ring around the stage; the Hold Steady, who get better every time I see them; and the Flaming Lips, when I held Wayne Coyne's space bubble.
[embed:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3BbprxGRIA#t-3m22s ]
Me touching Wayne's massive ball.
I've been playing games since the Mega Drive (Genesis, for Americans) era but my favorite game thus far is Mass Effect 2. I hold a soft spot for the Darkness as well, but I know that game doesn't belong on any "all time best" lists. My first gaming memories are of playing Lemmings with my dad, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with my little brother. He was Tails.
You want a story? In my last year of high school, a friend and I were mugged on the way to the pub (bar, for — you get the picture).
It was early in the evening, still light, in May 2007. We were crossing a green space in a relatively safe, middle-class neighborhood and a pack of chavs (that's a terribly snobby British term for a young, working-class, white person) spotted us and shouted "moshers". That was weird because I don't consider myself a mosher and never have.
These, Americans, are chavs. Hatred of them is a worryingly acceptable form of classism.
We thought they weren't being serious but the first punch to the chin made sure I didn't remember much of the next five minutes. My friend got worried when I asked him if they had taken anything. Apparently I had asked that twice already.
Our socialist health service determined I had a broken cheek bone (which they say was permanently damaged, but I don't see a difference) and fixed my chipped teeth. Then our socialist police service caught the one that threw the first punch.
He got off but I got a generous criminal injury compensation, part of which I spent on an acoustic guitar. I named the guitar after him. Blue. Stupid name for a person, but a decent name for an instrument.
This made me scared and sometimes unable to pass strangers on the street for a few months. I still have a bit of a social phobia, but it's back in check now.
And, yeah, that story started with us going to the pub. The drinking age here is 18, and if you're not a dick the bar staff in some local pubs will start serving you at 16 or 17. My dad even got an 18th birthday card from his barmaid. Another friend of mine was sleeping with a member of staff at the Chapter art house, revealed his age, then broke up with her and got us all barred from the bar until we were all of age.
I really don't have a conclusion to this except to say that you can find me elsewhere on the Internet at CastMedium and Twitter. Raptr and Last.fm summarize my gaming and music-listening activity. If you still harbor burning questions deep within your seething bosom, you can seek answers anonymously at Formspring. Also: you're weird — stay calm and chat in the comments section like a normal person.