CoreBB

I'll try not to make this too boring / essay-sounding.

My name is Connor Michael (lastnamehere). My parents, having a thing for Irish names (my brother is named Brendan), decided to continue the trend. My middle name is after St. Michael (the Archangel), whom, among other things, smote the serpent with his flaming sword or somesuch. He's a pretty badass dude.

I was born May 6th, 1988, in a hospital in Mainz, West Germany. My dad had a freshly-minted Ph.D in history from Catholic U (before it started sucking), and was in Germany on a research grant to "work" on a project he never ended up finishing. My mom was busy raising my brother, which is just as well because there's not much you can do with a master's in religion, even if it is from Yale. She frequently laments her choice to switch to that from political science.

My birth pretty much went without a hitch, though when I piss her off my mom reminds me that I had a very large head, which wasn't a walk in the park for her. The doctors had to pull me out with forceps. The first thing my brother said after he saw me was (after very politely going in the hallway): "That's a funny looking baby."

That pretty much set the tone for most of our relationship.

About two weeks after I was born my parents moved back to the U.S., staying in New Mexico with my dad's parents before moving to Camarillo, California, where I spent the first fourteen years of my life, and where my dad got his first and current job as a professor. It was hell. Pure hell. That place sucks, and I don't miss it.

When I was about three, my parents got divorced. I've never had a desire to know the exact details of what happened, but the gist of it is that my mom basically ran off with one of my dad's students. One of my earliest memories is of my mom leaving. This is partially why I'm not very close with my mom's family. My mom said the first and only time she's ever heard my grandfather yell at her was when she said she was getting divorced, and though it's not as bad now, they've still never entirely forgiven her, which strains things when we visit. My dad is by nature a very forgiving guy, but he still loathes my mom's husband, which is kind of tough for me because he's really a nice guy, and it makes things pretty awkward.

My brother took it a lot harder than I did. I was still pretty young, so most of my memories are after the divorce. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't screw me up for a while. I was pretty shy throughout most of elementary school, though I did make one of my longest-term friends in 2nd grade. We hated each other at first, but then we watched a horrible movie in class and both laughed our asses off making fun of it. I talk to him pretty often, and I make it a point to visit when I get a chance.

Middle school was similarly tough. I was shy, and I was a chronic underperformer, which is a habit it took me a LONG time to kick, and used to drive my teachers absolutely insane. It was around this time I first got introduced to MMORPG's. A coworker of my mom's was beta testing EverQuest, so I ended up getting it about a month after release and playing it off and on until Dark Age of Camelot came out. It was DAoC that first introduced me to VN, but I'll get to the part where I arrive much akin to a swarm of locusts on ACF later.

In about 8th grade, my dad met his current wife, Kathy, whom I owe a great deal of what sociability I possess to. Both sides of my family are stubborn introverts, but she managed to give me her crash-course in extroversion, which served me well later on. They got married in the summer between my last year of Middle School and my Freshman year of high school, and I moved to Pasadena and started high school at Pasadena High School. My Freshman year was tough because I was still shy, still an underperformer, and I didn't know anyone. Not to mention that going from a place that's pretty much 90% white to being a minority was...disconcerting. In hindsight, I'd say it was good for me.

This is about the time SykoSoul kicked me over here because I was causing too much trouble on the server boards. I still remember my first appearance was flaming Anon. It was for stupid reasons, and I doubt he'd recall it. After that I lurked a bit, and started posting regularly.

Sophomore year of highschool I started in academy program within the public school called VADA (Visual Arts and Design Academy). I can easily say this is one of the best things that ever happened. It broke me out of my shell, I made a ton of lasting friends that I still see regularly and take classes with, and some of my academics improved. Not all of them, but some. I also spent ten months of my Sophomore year interning for my State Senator, which I think was one of the best experiences I've had. I was kind of shaken when my first boss died suddenly. It was the first time anyone I'd known closely had died. My next boss was as good as my first, though, and she said when I left that I was one of the best writers they'd had. The most memorable assignment I had was ghost-writing a letter for an award ceremony honoring the Chief of the LAPD.

I met my first girlfriend here on ACF when I was a junior, and we dated for about four months during my senior year before breaking up. I'll leave you to guess who it was. If you pay attention at all, it shouldn't be hard. I met my second girlfriend (she's the psycho one) at school about a month later, and we dated for about two months before breaking up. The first breakup I regret. The second I don't. She was and still is a crazy bitch, but she was hot and I was dazed by a hormonal cloud.

Despite some improvement, I carried on in the grand family tradition of screwing up at highschool. My dad and one of his brothers, despite having Ph.D's, never graduated from highschool. In a massive screwup I took pains not to publicize here, I didn't either. Long story short, I screwed up and ended up a math credit short of graduating, and I'm not blaming it on anyone but myself. It was a major wakeup call for me.

So, enter this year. I started college at Pasadena City College in August of '06, notable for its illustrious alumni: Sirhan Sirhan (Robert Kennedy's assassin), Michael Dorn (Worf), Eddie and Alex Van Halen (of Van Halen, and both of which went to my high school as well). It's not bad. My mom was pissed as hell at me because she thinks I should be going to an Ivy League school, but I wouldn't want to anyway, and she's a bit of a snob when it comes to that kind of thing. Luckily, this year, I'm doing really well. I've gotten good grades (first time in my life I've gotten nothing lower than a B+), I've loved my classes, I started fencing last semester and am now the Secretary of the Campus Club / on the school's men's epee team, and I've made a lot of friends and met a lot of interesting people. Despite the bad rap the community college system gets, it's got some very dedicated and intelligent students and professors. After I'm done here, I'm looking to transfer to UCLA.

Random stuff:

I started a brawl at a Christmas pageant when I was about three or four. My mom says she laughed her ass off.

I'm a history major, though I might add an anthropology major on to that.

I fence. Lots. With an epee. It's great. I get my ass kicked at tournaments, but I'm improving.

I am obsessed with Irish history, culture, music, politics, etc.

I like politics, as Lynea mentioned, but it'd probably take a specific cause I really believed in to get me to start pursuing them beyond voting - which I have never missed so far. Screw the rest of my age group.

I may be an unrepentant lefty, but I still think America kicks the pants off of most of the world. Go us.

I may be an ass here sometimes, but I honestly like pretty much all of you. I can't name anyone I wouldn't help out if it was in my power to do so.

I am not as indie as I'd have you believe.

Ask me anything you want to know.