When I was little…

…My brother and I would run around Westmoreland Park, pretending to be the duck police, keeping the peace between feuding ducks by running amongst their squabbles.

…I played with Legos for hours and hours. My favorite sets were the Aquanauts and Wild West. I still have tubs and tubs and tubs of legos. I know I am wrong in this, but it has always bugged me when people say "Let's play Lego." instead of "Let's play with Legos."

…I was constantly afraid of Monsters and Aliens. Like, a lot.

…at recess I would pretend with my friends that we were fantasy warriors and go on epic quests and do battle with evil fighters and monsters. Sometimes each other.

…I was WAY into vampires. I was a vampire for Halloween for probably five years in a row.

…I read Tintin comic books all the time. In fact, I learned to read with Tintin comics.

…I had dozens of nicknames for myself, including: Sparky the Evil Warrior, Elmo, and Mister Man Minelli Water-Runs-Up-Hill. Seriously. We actually named our first dog "Sparky the Evil Warrior"

…I was obsessed with pasta, particularly Pasta and Pesto.

…I loved the cartoons Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain, and The Tick

…I was passionate about rockets and built and shot off Estes Rockets all the time.

…I took didgeridoo, unicycle, and trombone lessons. I was terrible at all of them.

…I also took archery lessons, which I feel I am proficient at, still to this day.

…I wanted a Nintendo or Sega SOOOOO bad. But my mother did not "believe in them."

…I spent most days after school at the Boys and Girls club. They had a great art room and this is where I first fell in love with art. My folks still have all of the little ceramic monster heads I made. The art room director was Ben Rosenberg who just got his MFA from PSU and remembered me and my family when I ran into him at a gallery opening.

…They also had several Foosball tables. This is where I became so good at the game. It is now one of my truly great skills.

…I hated scary movies. Still do.

…I wanted to be a Karate Teacher. Or so says a project I did in Kindergarten that we still have kicking around somewhere. It also says that being a Vampire would be a suitable profession as well.

…I fought with my brother, but mostly we were (are) great friends.

…I got in trouble for yelling "YOU STINK!" at my fourth grade Japanese teacher. I said this because my mother did not allow me to say that something "sucked" or "sucks." I thought I was being nicer by saying "stinks."

…I took pride in being the weird kid. I still kinda do.

…I had platinum blond hair that for a long time was in a mullet and then a rat tail.

…I wore sweat pants and extra large T-shirts every day.

…Calvin and Hobbes and The Far Side were my favorite comics in the paper.

I could go on and on…


Song of the Day: Love, J Dilla