Both parents. Spoilt me literally. My mother especially was devoting much of her energy to me. She took great care of me. My dad was more self-effacing. I had a stable childhood but with an underlying desire to break free from control or authority. I had a good childhood at first, but because my father was an alcoholic, it was difficult later on, especially for my mother. Before my father became this "monster," and before my friends and extended family started constantly staring at me with either pity or contempt, I had a happy childhood. I would like to tell you that I had an unhappy childhood, with an alcoholic father and a mother who did not have much time for me, so being there in that place was a wonderful thing for me, indescribable.
I was a happy child growing up in Greece; it wasn't in any means a life of luxury, but the love and nurturing I received from my family was enough to make me think I was made of gold.
No one. I was the first of four, and the oldest never gets spoiled.

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That's just something losers say. It depends entirely on the game. It depends. If you're just starting, you have to play a lot and build up experience. That means initially you're going to lose a lot because no one is great at anything as beginners.
That's also why kids learn so much quicker than adults, they allow themselves to fail and just pick themselves up and try again. Adults who are beginners at something rarely become as proficient as a child would. Usually because they have too much ego and will quit when they feel that they look bad. If you've reached a level of proficiency in something and you enter into it as competition or a job, then winning becomes more important than simply being a happy competitor. I believe losing with honor is more important than winning by cheating. Yes, you can’t always win. There will be people who’d be better than you, that gives you the scope to get better. Always thinking about winning gives rise to toxic competition. I’d rather be the dumbest person in the room and learn something than the smartest one and just teach.

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Here are, in no particular order, are ten things I’d ban to improve life for the majority. And I’d do it within twenty four hours of taking charge in an Elkin totalitarian state.. Announcements on trains and tubes except in a serious emergency. We can read the names of the stations, thank you. The name of the station could simply be announced ONCE as in ‘Crewe station’ to help blind people. We do not need an acutely irritating near continuous commentary. 2. Chewing gum. It makes a filthy mess all over pavements and elsewhere and is completely unnecessary. They’ve banned it in Singapore. I’d make it illegal in Britain to manufacture, sell or possess it. Sunbeds. Why do we allow something which is strongly linked to cancer? Not only would it be better if fewer people suffered the horror of skin cancer for their own sakes, but it would probably save the NHS a deal of money if we outlawed all those tanning businesses and reduced the number of cancer patients needing treatment. We don’t tolerate other cancer-inducing habits such as tobacco much now. So let it be with sunbeds. High volume on in-car sound systems. No one should be allowed to drive around with sound blaring through open windows so you can hear it half a mile off. It’s an aural assault to everyone else. It is also very distracting for the driver who can’t possibly hear, for example, an emergency vehicle approaching, or be able to concentrate on driving safely. I’d have a legal limit on the upper volume control - and it wouldn’t be a very high one. The time to ‘clear a BACS payment’ insisted on by banks. We all know that you can transfer money from one account to another instantly at the press of a button. There is no excuse whatever for banks to snaffle your money for several days. Civilised countries do not allow this racket and neither should we. Escalators. Put in lifts for disabled people and parents with children in wheeled conveyances. Everyone else can walk up the stairs. Escalators are not remotely green. They guzzle a lot of power and are costly to install. We’re told we have an obesity crisis. This would be a way of ensuring that everyone gets more exercise. Music in shops and restaurants. It is often assaultingly loud and is designed to muddy your brain into buying or ordering stuff you neither want nor need. Ban it. Hot food on trains and buses. No one should have to sit near another passenger eating some high smelling burger, chips, curry, Chinese, slice of pizza or any other heated meal. And it creates foul litter. In Hong Kong all food is banned on its metro. I might allow cold sandwiches and bottles of water… but don’t push me. Modified exhausts. I’d ban their manufacture, sale and use. I’m dead against anything which simply makes cars and motorcycles noisier because silly owners get their exhibitionist kicks out of deafening everyone they pass.

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When they get butthurt when you don’t agree with their opinion. It’s like they believe you automatically become entitled to agree with them because of the friendship you have. It annoys the heck out of me. She doesn't spend enough time with me! Their lack of empathy. She sits next to me in all classes and copies things directly from my screen. She gets annoyed if I move my screen so she can't see it. She routinely comes in late and gets pissed and throws a bitchfit if someone has taken her seat, and instead of finding a different seat, she waits for them to move and interrupts the entire lesson. Not only does she come in late, but she also has to spend at least 20 minutes shovelling teapots, mugs, jars of honey, hand lotion, lip balm, nail oil and a gazillion other things onto her table, again interrupting the entire class. She bitches and whines and demands everyone's attention and help constantly. She fails most classes and blames her group mates even though they get better grades for the same paper because the teachers know she didn't type anything besides her own name on the first page.. I actually don't think she's my friend anymore. He's not my friend anymore, but the most annoying friend was this "nice guy" who just didn't get the message I wasn't interested. You ever know someone who you initially thought was cute, but as you got to know them, you realized you had almost nothing in common with them? Yeah, he was one of those. He'd always insist we were a perfect match, but I thought we could really only be friends because we just didn't like the same things, so I'd turn him down because of that reason. Now mind you, I'm not some bitch who turns guys down just because I don't like their outward appearance, I legitimately thought it wouldn't be good for either of us. He moved away a few months after I met him sophomore year in high school. Fast forward a couple years, and I've been dating someone new (I'm still with this guy today) and I find out my friend is moving back into my state. So, I go to his house for the first time and help him move in because I want to meet his family and be a good friend. Now, I've been in contact with this guy over Skype ever since he moved, and he knows I'm taken, but he still persists and tries to get me to develop romantic feelings towards him. I'm not interested, and I brush it off. One day, I'm coming back from college and decide to stop at his house because I want to pay a visit. I'm exhausted because I stayed up the night before cramming for my midterm exam, and I'm completely beat, but I try to stay up. I end up falling asleep, and I wake up to one of his hands down my pants while he's groping my tit with the other, and I'm visibly pissed. He pretends like nothing is wrong, and I try to shake it off. I end up leaving about an hour later, and I'm so angry. I stopped talking to this guy, but I didn't take it to court because I didn't wanna completely ruin his life.

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I didn’t get breakfast today but at lunch I had the papa johns pizza my school orders in every Friday (I got tired of it after 4 years of eating it every Friday (my school is pk-12 and I started in kindergarten) so I haven’t had it in about 5 years. Today I was like fuck it and I got the pizza. The cheese was a little crumbly but overall it wasn’t bad. I had a chocolate covered granola bar with that. For dinner I made myself a panini with turkey, Muenster cheese, pickles, and honey mustard on sourdough. Afterwards I had a Twix and a tube of mini m&ms cause it was just Easter and that was all that was left. I also had four pickle spears which I think equals one whole pickle. I’m pretty sure that’s it. I usually have spicey stir-fry noodles, then add 2 chicken breasts and some sweetcorn for a hearty meal. I get it all from B&M's so it is cheap as fuck too, noodles are 29p, chicken is about £1.60 I think and sweetcorn is about 33p worth. It's a proper fat munch for less than £2.50, bargain. I usually make lots of stew in the weekend, so I can freeze it in single portions and bring it to work. Lasagne also work well. Otherwise, dinner leftovers, übersalads in the summer, the works. I also keep a 3-pack of Lidl cheese-filled wursts in the fridge so that I have something to eat when I forget lunch, and I'm sure my coworkers won't touch them with a 10' pole. Wednesday is market day in our town, so either something from the curry stall or the pie stall (pork pies, steak pie, sausage rolls etc - like a home made high quality greggs). Friday is "treat day" so a few of us go out together and get some fast food option, normally KFC but sometimes McDs or subway. Monday, Tuesday & Thursday are less exciting, I normally have a loaf of bread in my desk and get a slice of ham and/or cheese from the local Sainsburys and make a sandwich.
I only eat 2 meals a day, first at 11ish so I'll call that lunch for the sake of this thread, although I usually call it breakfast. If I'm in the office, usually a baked potato with cheese and beans, or a massive cheese and onion pasty, both of these will be from the van that comes round the business park and doesn't have a lot of choice for a veggie, there's also not really anywhere I can get to and back without spending my whole lunch break doing so, unless I want to go to subway or greggs, both of which fucking suck when you don't eat meat or fish. If I'm working from home I've got a bit more freedom on where I can go as I have my bike and can cycle around, but I'll usually end up with something like a hash brown cob (roll) or a small veggie fry up. I work in a school full of constantly dieting lady teachers so I go out of my way to wined them up by having home cooked meals like shepherds pie, Thai green curry, pork satay and noodles. Basically anything that smells fantastic and would make weight watchers throw you out if you even mention the dish.

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What do you mean by consistently? For me I've never had a song stuck in my head for more than 2 weeks because I've listened the holy fuck out of that song. Right now I have Open Up Your Heart by the Rapture stuck in my head. It WAS my favorite, and I still love it. But "Disease" has something really special about it. IMO it's Caleb's strongest performance as a vocalist to date. He just sounds incredible. Like at first glance (or listen I guess) it's a radio friendly song, but the more I listen the more I grow to appreciate how good it is. Amazing album all around. I really didn't like the previous album, and the first album I thought was super hit or miss. This was a shocker for me. I tend to do that a lot. For me, an album that gets boring after a few days of nonstop listening clearly had flaws I didn't see the first few times. At least that's how I see things. Artificial Selection by DGD hasn't gotten stale, nor has the self-titled Secrets album. That's why they're 1 and 2 this for me respectively for AOTY voting. INK and Beartooth aren't there yet because I need time to settle. But if they end up lasting for me it'd be DGD, INK, Beartooth, and Secrets in that order. I kind of forgot to listen to the Shields album tbh. I really liked "Black Dog" but I need to check out the rest of the album. LOVED FFAK and that'll probably make the list (which I'm thinking of doing 20 albums this year), most likely in the top 10. Highly recommend the new VCTMS album if you're into the more the groove hardcore scene. This year is so backend heavy. There were such few albums at the beginning of the year but it feels like everything is coming out from last month till November. Definitely more quality albums though. I love Sam Carters voice in Royal Beggars so much, low key have a man crush on the guy plus, the music video is fantastic. Most music videos suck nutts, but i never get bored of watching royal beggars. The blood coming out of the bassists eye towards the end is creppy as hell along with his rapid hyperventilating. There's two of them right now. The first one is called 'El Boton del Pantalon' by Systema Solar. And the second one is 'Tus Besos' by Juan Luis Guerra y 440. Both are in Spanish but you might enjoy them if you like latin beats and bachata. I swear to god - for an entire week. I'm like reading a book and the song is on my mind, I wake up in the morning and the song is on my mind, I just got done listening to other song - this one's on my mind. I thought I was going crazy. The Jurassic Park theme. I had it stuck in my head for about 3 and half years. Not all day, but everyday. I would end up whistling at least some of it daily. Family and friends noticed after maybe a year and pointed it out to me. I kept doing it, but tried to avoid whistling around people to moderate success.

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I had a CAD class. It was an elective and meant for juniors and seniors so they had CAD 1 through 4 (each semester would have another level). I started freshman year. So come junior year I have nothing to work on. I somehow manage to get through the first semester by doing nothing but reddit and flash games. My teacher gave me an A. The second semester he tasked me with coming up with something I could actually build. So I designed a trebuchet and then went to the wood working class next door and built it. What made it so much fun is that I had to take cost, building material, and practical design into consideration when I was doing it. It took three iterations but I managed to make a working trebuchet. It stood about 4 feet tall and could launch a soft ball over 100 yards. From what I gather it's still in that teacher's room and he pulls it out about once or twice a year and launches random shit with it. Another fun thing I did with it was get multiple teachers involved. The home ec teacher sewed the pouch, the physics teacher calculated a lot of random shit about it, and the wood working teacher helped me build it and calculate the cost. All around a really fun project and honestly even though I was fucking around most of the time I got more out of it than any thing else I did in high school.
My next favorite class was welding because I mostly used the plasma cutter to make penises out of scrap metal. But in welding class one day the gym teacher brought in some random stand he wanted cut and welding back together in a different way. Since I was way ahead of everyone else the teacher told me to do it. With no direction what so ever I got to work. I even went above and beyond and painted this thing our school colors. When it was said and done the gym teacher came in and I jokingly said, "That'll be $100" and he just stared at me dumbfounded. My teacher backed me up and said, "You heard him" and I actually got paid for it. My teacher thought it was hilarious because he hated the gym teacher. After that our school made a rule saying you can't charge teachers for projects done in the wood shop or welding class. That would have been a tie between my Film Studies course (we did nothing but add whatever stupid concept he wanted us to do to the films we were already making for fun) and my Ecology Course. In ecology, I was the only student who seemed to give a shit, as they used the teacher's class as a dumping ground for every idiot in the school. So the teacher, seeing I was clearly a cut above the other students, gave me the lesson plan, and let me take his tests early. I passed them all with a 97, and spent the rest of the semester dicking around in class, or getting snacks for the professor in the cafeteria.

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I think I was 8 or 9 when this happened. I didn't know what those black wasps were, so I walked up to one. It's response was onto fly my face. I screamed and ran through some nearby bushes. I thought it was off, but it climbed back onto my face. I literally grabbed it and threw out off. After that, I ran inside. After all that, I never got stung. Years later, I learned that was a wasp. If I had known that, I probably would've ran inside sooner. When I was grade 3 (about 7 years ago), we had a school trip to a park. When we were there, I saw some students standing near a tree and throwing rocks on it. I went there and saw them throwing a rock on a bees nest, and missing the nest. I, the sniper, got that rock and threw it to cut that nest in half from first shot. Everyone ran away from the tree when we saw all the bees flying, I got stung in my forehead. The bees went so far from the nest, stinging a girl that was playing in the park's playground too. Fortunately I’ve never had a really bad experience, but last March I got stuck under a kayak on the shore. The waves just kept coming as I was trying to dock and my dad kept laughing at me. The more traumatic part was my dad laughing and not doing anything.

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I dream of traveling to Greece. Other than that, I'd love to go to Cyprus, Lebanon, United States (middle-of-nowhere predominantly white cities), everywhere in Latin America (particularly Brazil), and the Philippines. Croatia: my favorite country in the world, I moved there when I was very young and left again when I was still pretty young but we lived in a massive house outside Zagreb right next to a castle called Medvedgrad. Most beautiful country I've ever visited or lived in. I'm not just talking about Zagreb- Dubrovnik, Split, etc. are all great too although I personally love Zagreb the most because of the people, among other things. There are cafes and pizzerias everywhere as well as a fantastic downtown area, which are filled with incredibly humble and friendly people. Also, one of my favorite memories of Zagreb was going downtown on Saturday mornings with my father and buying pins from the street vendors. South Africa: one of the coolest countries I've been to, such a wide array of different landscapes and cities. The highlights for me are Capetown and Kruger National Park, I've never seen anything like those places. Italy - Truth be told I've never been further south than Rome, but the places I've been - Genoa, Bologna, Florence, among others - I have met friendly, down to earth people with a sense of humour, beautiful old architecture, lots of culture, and great food. Italian is easy to learn if you took Latin in high school. Best national anthem in the world. Bosnia and Hercegovina - A country with a lot of problems, sadness, and the burden of history, but also a country where people just try to make the best of it, relax, and get along with life. Thanks to Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, this region is truly a cultural crossroad, for better or worse, and not only shows us what happens when we reject eachother; it also shows us what can happen when we embrace eachother. Germany - So familiar yet different, home away from home. Thanks to its size and geographical location, it has many beautiful diverse landscapes and variations of architecture. Generally a well-functioning country with friendly people, although dealing with government employees can be a pain sometimes - they tend to be a bit uptight. Russia - beautiful and majestic, wonderful people, some of the most interesting history in modern times, good public transport, museums, nature, neat language. It's different enough to be interesting but not as crazy different as Asia and if there's one guarantee, it's that I'll never get bored there. France - best food in Europe, decent climate, great scenery, architecture, museums, beautiful language, a diverse range of cities and villages, cool and chill people with a goofy sense of humour, seemingly the most optimal balance of business and pleasure.

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I had a hypertensive crisis & almost had a stroke. I called my husband - he was out with friends, he speeds home & gets stopped by a pair of cops who almost shot him & they didn't believe him when he said his wife was home having a heart attack or stroke or something. The cop calls me & tells me I better be fucking dying or both my husband & I are going to jail. But he did call for an ambulance. By the time everyone arrived I was delirious & about to pass out. Car crash, my head smashed into plastic and I got nerve damage. Anyways, I didn’t go to the hospital and thought I was fine. One day I walked out of math class and moved my head too fast when someone yelled my name, I was on the stairs. I felt the nerve move in and out of place, my tongue went numb and I couldn’t speak, I lost my vision and almost fainted and fell down the stairs. I thought I was going to die.

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Sigourney Weaver. Specifically as Ellen Ripley. I hated any scary movies as a kid, but I remember one day stopping to, for the first time ever, actually see what was happening in Aliens. It was the scene where the marines find the woman attached to the wall, begging them to kill her before the chest burster comes out. I decided to sit and watch, and to this day Aliens is my favourite of the series. I love how badass Ripley is, while still being a caring mother figure. Also, Sigourney Weaver looks scarily similar to my mother, just taller and leaner. I still love the actor and character, but I wouldn't say she's my idol anymore. I don't really have any one individual to look up to. Jim Henson. I loved the Muppets from a young age, and after seeing the behind-the-scenes footage of making The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, I was obsessed with his sheer creativity. I wrote a huge essay on him my freshman year of high school. He's totally why I tried film school, currently work as an artist, and adore puppetry as an art form to this day. Tony Gwynn. Growing up in a baseball family it was only a matter of time before my brother and I started playing. My dad used to have a couple of Tony's hitting VHS tapes and we used to watch them all the time.
The man could just put the bat out there and make the pitchers and fielders look silly. He didn't start hitting for power until about 98. So as a smaller framed guy, of course I'd idolize the guy hitting for average. Batting titles, All star games, gold gloves, he was is a legend. I never made it past HS ball, but you can bet Tony was my hero. I only sobbed 4 times (that I remember) in my adult life. The day Tony passed was one of them. RIP MR. Padre. James hird - the captain of my favourite AFL team. He was the perfect embodiment of a leader, played fairly, scored winning goals in dying minutes. I had his number on the back of my jersey. He was one of the best to ever play the game. When he retired the team had a slump, he came back a few years later as a coach stronger than ever and they began to play well again.. Turns out he and the team's doctor were giving them drugs and it became one of the biggest sporting scandals in the sport's history. Nastia Lukin. I was a gymnast for 10 years of my life, and she was actual #goals. I got to meet her once, at a meet, she was the one handing out medals. I think I almost blacked out, I was so excited to meet her. She complimented my eyes and my soul ascended to heaven. My brother. He's seven years older than me, as a kid I thought he was just the coolest, the best. He worked at the nearby Putt-Putt (minigolf/arcade) and would set the arcade machines to free for me and give me hundreds of tickets (making him a golden god in the eyes of a five to ten year old kid). I'd wear his tshirts. He showed me all the hidden places and items in the original Legend of Zelda. He taught me how to play baseball. I'd follow him like a puppy trying to get him to play with me.

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I can finally hang out outside comfortably again. Went rollerblading last week, then the shit weather hit again, but it's getting warm and sunny more frequently now, so I'll carpe the fuck out of these dies until it gets too hot. I love winter a lot, but by the time it’s over, I’m ready. The bugs aren’t out yet, but it’s warm enough to hang out outside with people who don’t like the cold. It’s great to see people outside, to see green on the ground, flowers blooming, trees budding.
Spring, fall, winter, they all look the same in where I live. We have summers (killer summers), and then days that are not so hot. But also not so cold. And the flowers bloom throughout the entire year. And here in the tropics, it's always like this. So, I have no favorite things about any season of the year, as they all look the same. Although I love when the summer is over, because generally, here in the tropics it is just too hot.
I love to walk around leafy neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and Woodley Park to see the neighborhood cherries, plums, and magnolias. I also start camping and hiking again out in VA and West Virginia.

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Learning to jump rope. I am being serious. I could not jump rope, due to severe disabilities, when I was little. My school had a 'jump-a-thon', and I was humiliated, as I couldn't do anything, and I was mocked for it. I spent the next year going outside every night with a flashlight and a rope, learning to jump rope on my own. A full year passed, and little 6 year old me could finally jump rope, to participate in the 'jump-a-thon' the following year. It is the first thing I remember that was a conscious effort, something I tried to do, and accomplished, that really changed my life. Jumping rope is by no means a practical skill, and this isn't a big deal to anyone else. But to me, both as a child, and as an adult, learning to jump rope was an incredibly important part of my development as a human being, and the biggest thing I've ever accomplished; learning to transcend my natural boundaries. I left a 5 year marriage to an abusive drug addict and moved back to my hometown and slept on my parents’ couch with nothing but two suitcases worth of possessions to my name. I was in a deep depression for a solid year. It’s been over two years since I left and I have a really good paying management job, I live on my own for the first time ever in the perfect little place, I bought a $15,000 car, and I have two cats that adore me and wonderful friends as well. When I was sleeping on that couch I didn’t think that my life would ever get better. Starting over scared the shit out of me, but it reminded me that I’m a strong, hardworking, outgoing person that could make my own happiness and success. Now I can honestly say that I’ve never been happier! As an American in the military I was given a written commendation from a Colonel in the Republic of Korea Army (ROKA). The award was for being a appreciated liasion between my unit and a KATUSA (Korean Soldiers) attachment. I had good rapport with them and spent a lot of time getting to understand their ways and frusterations of how things were running. I took it higher, made the changes I could, and they appreciated it. Pretty cool. It was a good 2 years of enlightenment, connection, and humility. Getting out of my major depression after being hit by a car. I had a massive fear of crossing the street after I was hit. The fear was so bad that when I had to take a bus somewhere if it let me off across the street from the building I'd stay on the bus, take it to the final stop, wait for it to go the other way and get off so it would let me off in front of the building. It was so bad I stopped going out of the house and just played video games, missed school, and got fat. My mom helped me a lot and my school guidance counselor was very helpful and supportive which helped.

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This was in college btw, barely a month ago. What I don't know is if the other students in the group believed it or not, I saw no change on the expressions of their faces and none made any comments, the course went on as normal. Here in Mexico people don't give any importance to that kind of statement, maybe in the US that would have been scandalous, here nothing happened at all. It was a sub for context. It was for choir/acapella, and our teacher was out for the day for some reason. The sub was a middle aged man, and was not pleased being there from the start. He claimed to be a "professional critic". Halfway through the class, he told us outright that he believed we had no talent whatsoever, or something along those lines. It was definitely much more offensive than that. He said that to us... a bunch of teenagers aspiring to be great. If I remember correctly, some students straight up walked out of class, and told administration about it. I think he walked out too. He was fired either same day or next day. Fast forward to the end of the school year, we were competing with a bunch of other choir groups. Had to drive all the way to Ohio for it, same city as Cedar Point. We were the amongst the best that the judges had seen that day. One Friday at the beginning of class he said something like 'for a dime and a carrot I'd let you all out of here", after a few minutes where everyone kinda looked at him funny, he just said 'get out". Some people tentative started for the door then there was kinda a mad dash when he didn't care. Back to class as usual next Monday. BTW on the first day he said "I want to set the record straight, I've never killed a student. I've hit a few with my car but I never killed them." I remember him more vividly that anything he taught, history IIRC. Intro to business class, high school. Our teacher was excellent and loved by the students at the school. So it's surprising he did the craziest thing I can recall. He assigned us to read "The Day After Tomorrow" (which he claimed was "excellent"). It's a cheesy airport novel about a bunch of criminals and white supremacists who - SPOILER - try to resurrect Hitler by surgically attaching his frozen head to a strong, young body. It's full of explosions, sex, and bond-style gadgets. It was completely irrelevant to the class. I had a highschool teacher who everyone loved. He had served in war and was a generally cool dude. Something interesting is that this guy told all sorts of stories that were crazy. One day he would tell us he had to pee on a guys face in combat to save his life, the other day he told us that he could throw a fully grown pig ten feet. Lots of crazy things that were hard to believe. For one of the stories though, he had photographic proof. He had somehow snuck into Disneyland with his two children before the park opened and got a picture on mainstreet with the castle in the background and the entire park empty.

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Horror. It feels like the antithesis of what Hollywood is about. This isn’t a hard knock against mainstream films, there’s plenty that I like and even love, but it’s more of a knock of the studio meddling and the “safeness” of the product. Horror, especially from indie and smaller studios are allowed and even encouraged to do something different and take risks. All in the name of making people scared or disgusted about what they’re watching. It’s tapping into very basic emotions and leaves me a lot more drained than most other films. It feels much more like an experience. And that’s not to say that horror doesn’t have that mainstream presence like with The Conjuring or Insidious, but it’s not typically the ones that are heavily discussed within the community. And thanks to A24 and Blumhouse, horror is reaching a wider audience. Whether that will yield similar problems to major horror productions is yet to be seen, but it’s been nice seeing new people get into the genre. I'm a movie nut so I'll give just about anything a chance, but I'd say that my personal preference leans towards horror and science fiction mostly. I love how those kinds of stories can explore the depths of human nature through a heightened, fictional reality. Whether it be the invention of some fantastic new technology or the threat of a hideous demon, they're ability to encourage the viewer look within themselves and at the world around them in new ways is most gratifying. Suffice it to say I am out of my mind excited for Dune. I don’t know what it is about comedies that make me love them so much. It may be good writing and a fantastic cast or maybe it’s so dumb I can’t help but laugh. The former category is usually films like Monty python and the holy grail, this is spinal tap, raising Arizona, and In Bruges, while the ones in the latter category is basically the best of Adam Sandler. I can't nail down a specific genre but man do I love movies with a ton of world-building for me this means a lot of sci-fi but also films like Lady Bird, Gangs of New York, and Grand Budapest Hotel. Honestly most Wes Anderon movies have great world-building. I particularly love mysteries. I have the fun of my life watching a good thriller with some nice plot twists and a surprising ending. Also, I have a crush on nonlinear storytelling, and that’s why I like Christopher Nolan’s films so much. I can’t say for sure why this is my favorite type of movie, but I imagine it is related to that feeling of surprise when you see an unexpected revelation that makes perfect sense and fills all the gaps in the story.

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Family and career are just two of the many, many options of adulthood. And there isn't any single path. Not choosing those, or least not choosing them right now, does not put you any further ahead or behind anyone else. I've opted out of having a family; I can't be behind in a race I chose not to enter. And fun things don't suddenly become less fun because i'm in my 30s.
The only childish thing about your hobbies is that you consider them childish. If you enjoy those, at any age, there's nothing wrong with that. My house is filled with Lego and Nerf and board games, but I don't see them as any more childish than also having a slow cooker, running shoes, and a file cabinet of paperwork. Everything is just a small piece of what makes up my adult life, and living it how I want. Now I just have the money, time, and stability to enjoy the same things I did before, even more. For the most part I've settled on the attitude of, "Screw it, do what you enjoy." I don't really talk about my hobbies as much as other people I know, but other than that my adult life and my "child-like" interests seem to be co-existing pretty happily. I read fantasy, sci-fi, and YA books when I'm trying to get my brain to slow down at the end of the day. I watch anime during my morning workout (actually I use it to time my workout). And so much gaming...I can't even tell you how much gaming I do. However, all of that doesn't keep me from "adulting". I'm 36, married, have been working at the same company for eleven years and have worked my way up to middle management. I have an active social life and take care of my mother. And I'm doing just fine at the mundane adult things like having a mortgage and sorting out IRA contributions. The whole idea of growing up and being mature isn't like two polar opposite points of childhood and adulthood. It's more of a spectrum with lots of points between point A and point B. Do what makes you happy. As long as it's not keeping you from succeeding in the "real" world it shouldn't be a problem. It's funny, because I've felt this way too lately. I'm also 26. I'm married and have a full time job, but still love fantasy, sci-fi, board games, Nintendo, etc. I'm currently obsessed with Zelda: Breath of the Wild! I've changed in some ways the last few years (mainly confidence and how outgoing I am now), but in most ways I feel the same as I did when I was 18. I do think a lot of it is a generational thing, but I've been trying to see it as a positive. My wife and I say that there's a difference between being childish and childlike. Being childish is acting like a child when the situation calls for the maturity of an adult to handle it. Being childlike is acting like a child when you're enjoying someone or something that you're passionate about.

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My first name is Elizabeth. My parents specifically chose it because there are so many variations and nicknames: Liz, Lizzy, Beth, Liza, Betty, Bett, Ellie, Elle. They thought it would take some of the pressure off picking the right name, since I could just go with whatever I wanted once I got older. I stuck with Elizabeth. My middle name, Kendal, is my father's favorite brand of Canadian motorcycle oil. He was a pro flat track racer back in the day. They almost made it my first name, but my dad's name is Kenneth, and he doesn't like the practice of naming kids after oneself. Well, here goes nothing. I am the second of two children. It just so happens that my mom's first name starts with 'B' and my brother's name starts with 'C', which work in an alphabetic fashion. By this logic, my dad decided that since his name begins with 'R' my name should begin with 'S'. The middle names though are my mom's and maternal grandmother's middle names...so yeah. I am girl, and my parents had picked a name for a girl and a boy, because they wanted it to be a surprise. The girl name they picked was Savannah, but when I was born, my dad suggested the name Skyler, because I was born in Schuyler County (it's pronounced Skyler). They chose to spell it with an e rather than an a, because that's how everyone says it. Same with my brother's name, Alexzander. You say it like Alex-Zander, so they included the z. I like my name. My moms favourite movie is Last of the Mohicans. She decided to derive my name from the main character Nathaniel. He was brave, skilled and probably other things. I haven't seen it myself. She felt if you name a child after someone they will be more like that person.

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