this page's content last changed around march 1996

Hey.

I've been in the process of writing a novel over the last several years. Well, actually, I haven't really written any of it in a few years...I started a while back, and haven't really touched it that much. Every now and then I get some ideas but never really do much. I think if I get some relaxing time off and maybe a computer of my own, I'll try to finish it up. I guess my problem is that I start a whole lot of things that I never finish. Maybe I just have a short attention span. (Well, ok, I know I have one.) I lose interest in some things too quickly. Maybe my problem is that I'm chock full of ideas but don't have any motivation to do the busywork. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. Probably.

I'm not a Transformer, but I play one online. I've pretty much always liked robots and sci-fi stuff, as far as I can remember. The first time I remember encountering this phenomenon is around 1979, when I read the "Shogun Warriors" comic series and collected the toys. They were really well-made; almost all metal (the best ones anyway, which stood around 5"-6"), and really really cool. I wish I'd bought more. I also liked the movie "Tron" a lot. But the most interesting series overall that I've ever been a part of was the Transformers. Robots that could reconfigure their bodies into other forms! What a great idea! And it was marketed so well. Ok, so they didn't always write it the best, but dangit, they were still really cool.

What do I like...hmm...tough question. I like a lot of things. My view on what's "popular" probably insults most people. What I look for in life and in companions is essentially someone who does not try to put on any false appearances. Things that fall under false appearances: hair spray, hair coloring, makeup, things that make you seem taller, suntans, what-not. These things just don't impress me. I want to be with someone who is essentially natural. Someone who is exactly as they appear. What's wrong with that?

I believe that in almost any situation, complete and utter honesty is the way to go. This relates to my above belief statement about false appearances and what-not. I am really not very interested in something that's glossed over to make me feel better. It's really not worth it. I've had this happen, something happens, someone just says something that is intended to make people go away happy and satisfied, and then later the truth comes out, and it's all gory and gross and really really hurting more because it wasn't revealed when it should have been and now I'm really upset. Just don't do this to me.

Popularity sucks. Just because "everyone" is paying attention to OJ doesn't mean I give a flying fsck. I don't wanna hear about Ollie North or U2 or Rush Limbaugh or the Buttafucos or any of that crap. Just leave me alone. I don't want hype. Oh, and I hate Guns'n'Roses. And a lot of other things. I listen to music that you haven't heard of, for the most part. My biggest creative expression (until I stopped doing it because of time constraints) was my radio show on WRCT, which I view as the best station around. I hold this opinion because we play stuff you won't hear other places. That's the whole point. Just because you can tune in every other station and hear the same crap does not mean it's good. The thing is, it's impossible for this opinion to be popular.

I believe in loyalty: not sacrificing your beliefs or values for pretty much any reason. This is especially important to me in interpersonal relations. I really hate it when someone totally abandons something they've built up and reinforced, throwing it to the wind, for one reason or another, totally "out of the blue." (What does that expression mean? I guess it's a reference to something dropping from the [blue] sky, or maybe the ocean. I dunno. Never thought about it before.) This kind of stuff really should just be avoided around me at all times. This also sort of ties in with the honesty bit.

I also like this guy a lot. One of my favorite DC Comics characters is Captain Atom. He's coated with alien metal, and he can do lots of really cool things. Ok, so I don't really side with him personally as much as I do Nova, but I still like him a lot. When he's well-written, he's an intelligent, take-charge, brave, heroic figure. I like that.

I like to read comic books. I probably like them so much because of the pretty pictures, or maybe because the world (almost) any given comic book character lives in (his or her "universe") is infinitely more fun than the world I live in. People can fly. Lift large weights. Get caught in a nuclear exlosion/hit with deadly radiation/dropped into the vacuum of space/what have you and instead of dying, they actually develop powers and abilities which put them above the rest of humanity. How does that work? It's an ideal world, I guess. Stuff like that could never happen here. Well, I don't think it could, anyway. I mean, everyone in this universe is human. Blah. Boring, non-flying, mortal people. What fun is that? I'm not saying I necessarily want to live in a comic book world (everyone would look rather not like they do now, not quite as human, drawn), but, well, I think I need something to convince me that there's something that's as cool as that in this world. I think.

Ok, I also like Random. He's one of my more favorite characters who probably conforms the least to resembling me in actual personality and behavior. But then again, I think we all like to sort of live someone else's life once in a while. I don't think that really anyone is perfect and I at least am open to experiences where I partake of that which is not normal to me. Random is arrogant, rude, ... and very, very powerful. He'll do anything for a buck, because he can. And he drives a really nice car...

I like to listen to most kinds of music, except country, rap, and possibly more. Lots of stuff really annoys me. Current likes include Matthew Sweet, Versus, Nothing Painted Blue, Dream Theater, Rodan, Leviathan, and a bit more. Mostly I listen to indie hard thrash punk alternative rock or some derivative. I really tend to enjoy things that I think most people haven't heard and I try to spread these things somewhat. I really hate most things that make it big, mostly because people's reasons for liking it seem to be that it's popular. I hate U2, Guns and Roses, Elton John, Michael Bolton, and a lot more. They're overplayed. They're for some reason supposed to be the greatest thing I've ever heard, because some sicko is trying to get me to hear them way too much. I only listen to one radio station in Pittsburgh for actual listening. (I wake up to another station. I have no idea what it is. I think its frequency is above 100. I only wake up (not actually listen) to this because 'RCT isn't always on the air. Too bad.) I wish I could buy all the music I'd like. (I wish I could buy all the everything I'd like.) And I wish I actually went to most of the shows I missed over the spring. Sigh.

I drive a red 1988 Nissan Sentra (contrary to some lame opinions, I do drive it) which I love. The car is exactly right for me...the style is what I like. I like everything about it, except for the dent and the fact that the bumper is held on by gaffers' (not duct, sorry) tape. But those things are my fault, I guess. When I drive on the highway I use the "Excuse" (TM) driving system. How this works: essentially, it's for people who might not be obeying the speed limit. What you do is find someone who's going faster than the speed limit, and go behind them and match their speed. They'll draw out the cops first, right? It would be nice to have someone in back too, in case cops would come up from behind, but that's a bit harder as they'd be doing the following. But whatever. I take no responsibility for anyone getting a ticket while using this system. Too bad.

I like to play cards. Mostly Spades and Egyptian Ratscrew. I'm not really big on "classic" games like Bridge, Pinocle, or whatever, mostly because I don't know how to play them. I also play a bit of Hearts but not really very much. I'm not really sure if there's anything particularly significant about the games I play. All you really need is two games, though...because you play spades if you have four players and ratscrew if you don't have four players. Well, ok, I guess you need some game(s) to play if there's just you. I do play solitaire, too, but not that much. Anyway, playing cards is good.

About the bat thing: I just think they're really cool. Bats are also really cute. Bats are the only truly flying mammals and they hate the sun. And they're not bad, like a lot of people would have you believe. I do find it kind of weird, though, that I don't really care for the character of Batman too much, though. I will say that one concept I think is really cool is the DC character of Man-Bat. Basically a man-sized, walking-on-hind-legs-but-winged-and-looking-like-a-bat, flying creature with human intelligence. I think this is really neat and would be a great improvement over what we have now.

About the skull thing: As you by now should know, I read comic books. One of my favorites (and the one that sort of got me into collecting after I'd pretty much forgotten it at a much younger age) is the Punisher. I think I like this character for several reasons. First off, he's pretty much just a normal guy in a world of super-powered flying invulnerable supermodels. He uses guns and the people he kills stay dead. He's about as good as a human can be, and he somehow manages to keep up with everyone else. I think that around the time when I first started reading The Punisher, I was sort of looking for something to identify with, sort of an alias/hero name to go by, as some people do. Just going by your real name can be kind of boring and you aren't that easily recognizeable, you know? Anyway, I'm not so big on this mentality anymore, and though I think that establishing an identity for yourself can be a good thing, I am looking for a certain amount of originality as well...trying not to copy other people's work and come up with something truly my own. Please see Gargunkle for more info on my take on this.

Future topics (reminder to myself): music, philosophy on life in general...

More stuff here as I think of it.

copyright (C) IV Productions, 1996. IV Productions is owned wholly by Eric Pronko, e@dhp.com.

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