CoreBB

Hey, there I was troubleshooting my wireless router, and then I look down the page and what do I see? Alrighty then, lets get cracking - I gots ta work in about an hour. So I'll bust out everything I can now, and then the rest after I get out.

edit for teaser:

Sadly, I cannot recall my own conception, or even the first few years leading up to that point. The first memory I have is, when I was 4, I was on one of those "fun old timey" trains where people with handle bar mustaches server you ice cream and you listen to rag time music. Well, the train broke down about 15 minutes into the journey, nearly derailed and then had to be "bumped" (imagine an engine going in reverse, then speeding up to hit your train - then imagine that over and over) all the way back to the station. The worst part is that they did this over some very tall and scary bridges, and so for the next 10-12 years I had a mortal fear of bridges and trains (but, for whatever reason, a fascination with handlebar mustaches). To this day my family swears that never happened, but I know its true.

The Saga of Bloodangel_Mephiston

Sadly, I cannot recall my own conception, or even the first few years leading up to that point. The first memory I have is, when I was 4, I was on one of those "fun old timey" trains where people with handle bar mustaches server you ice cream and you listen to rag time music. Well, the train broke down about 15 minutes into the journey, nearly derailed and then had to be "bumped" (imagine an engine going in reverse, then speeding up to hit your train - then imagine that over and over) all the way back to the station. The worst part is that they did this over some very tall and scary bridges, and so for the next 10-12 years I had a mortal fear of bridges and trains (but, for whatever reason, a fascination with handlebar mustaches). To this day my family swears that never happened, but I know its true.

So here's what they tell me happened up until that horrible train ride. I was born on Feb 28th 1986 in Lewiston Hospital in Lewiston Maine. I like to tell people I was worn at midnight and was nearly a leap year baby, and alot of people believe me until they realize that 1986 wasn't even a leap year, and that I was born at 6:17 in the afternoon. My father and mother lived in a small house in Lewiston for another year, and then we moved in Portland. It was about this time that my mother had this strange bump on her back. She went to a doctor who assured her it was nothing, and sent her home. Well, the bump got bigger, and blacker and she went to another doctor who diagnosed it as maligant melanoma. By the time she was given treatment it had spread from her back, into her left lung. It was lookin' pretty grim, because the cancer in the lung couldn't be touched with regular kemo without substantial risk. However, there was new experimental treatment method available in NY, at that time, which she was given. It was in a whole bunch of medical journals (I'm sure if you looked up the name "Sharon Pratt" in the context of cancer medical journals circa 1987-1989, you'd find some stuff there). To complicate matters she was also pregnant at the time, and the doctors, given the experimental nature of the cancer treatment, suggested abortion. I won't go into all the details, because I don't know them, but this story had a good ending. The treatment worked (even though she had part of her lung removed), my sister was born without incident, and the doctor who misdiagnosed her cancer lost his practice and we won a substantial sum of money as a result of a medical malpractice lawsuit. By the year of 1990 things were looking pretty good, so we decided to celebrate in an ol' timey way; and that's where I can take over.

Good times ahead for many years. Because of the influx of capital we moved (all us 4) into a bigger house in Portland. I went through elementary school with alot of friends, and at the top of the class (at our "graduation" ceremony I even got a special award that came with a plaque that was hung in the school's lobby). Elementary school, as a I remember correctly, was pretty damn good. I was the best player on my little luege team (an .800 average one season), top grades (by elementary standards anyway), and a ton of friends. For some reason I was a frail little kid though. I cried alot at stupid things, and didn't stand up well to the criticisms of the "cool" kids. When I went off to middle school things started to get a little shakey. I still was doing great in school (A's all around), but all my old friends had left me, and were making fun of me on a daily basis. All the smart kids I used to be with in elementary school (in some special AP courses) all started call me a dumb and convinced the AP teacher at the middle school to toss me out of the class, and I was cut from the Senior Leuge team because I wasn't a fast runner. Rather trivial stuff, but in 6th grade that all seemed like a big deal. Thankfully, I met my best friend ever on the first day of 6th grade. We were all sharing what our favorite books were and I said "The Hobbit". The kid sitting next to me said "Hey! Mine too." and we've been best friends ever since. (awww ... cute story moment).

The summer of the 6th grade was a tough one. I'd like to let ya'll know that the person I had the most respect more in the entire world was my grandfather. I'd could tell stories all day about the stuff we did together. He taught me how to fish, how to work a saw, how to build things, and we spent a ton of time together over the summers when I wasn't in school. Well, in the summer of 6th grade (I guess this would make it 98, or maybe 97) he died of lung cancer. That was a real hard blow to take, and even now its tough to think about. Has it really almost been 10 years since I last saw my Da? ....

10 years.

Starting 7th grade I transfered to another school to get away from everyone who was bullying me on a daily basis. Some real good stories about that place, but I'll save them for the happy part 2. Lets just say I did alot of crazy dancing and praying to pagan gods. Yeah, I had no clue what I was in for when I started there.

But that's not quite all that happend that year. As you can see I'm already kind of long winded, and this a touchy and complex subject so I'll be as brief as I can. The next year, the year of 7th grade, my mom and dad got divorced. I was under the impression this was because my dad was yelling at my mom, and abusing her. She told me all sorts of things about how he stole all her settlement money, and how he was cheating on her with all sorts of other women, and whole bunch of other bullcrap. I hated my father for this. Untill about 2002 I'd say I hated him. With a burning, raging passion. I didn't want to go over to his house on weekends. I didn't want to see him on holidays, and I didn't want to ever be around him because I hated him so much. However, there was another side to this story, the true side that I never found out until the summer of 2002. My mother was not only a lier, but an alcoholic and drug addict. She would steal from me and my sister to cover her "costS", I would pay the bills sometimes, and, oh yeah, remember the settlement money? She spent that all on drugs. A 15,000 trust fund set up my grandmother for my college education? Gone. I spent alot of time hiding those years. I was in denial like nobodies business. I stop exercising as much, got out of shape and .. and ... you'll never guess what I was doing all those years?

I shut myself int the basement played alot of Asheron's Call and trolled the VN Boards.

And that's part I of the story. I'll give ya part II (the happy good part) when I get back from work. However, I work untill about 11pm-12am EST so you might have to check back tomorrow morning. Sorry ACF, but that's the way it is.