A Belated Meme Thing
Apparently, I was tagged by Tachevert over at World IV to participate in the "Tell Five Things You Don't Know About Me" blogging meme a couple of weeks back, but I missed it. I'd just come back from vacation and had to dive head first into a new project with a looming milestone and.... *tries to think of more lame excuses*.

Better late than never, I guess. Besides, it's "massively multiplayer gaming" at it's best, without expensive servers or subscription costs! Incidentally, a partial lineage is: Susan Wu (who sent this into the gaming blogosphere)-> Raph Koster -> Broken Toys -> Mythical Blog -> MMODig -> Gaming Bitch -> World IV -> Li'l Ol Me.

So here goes: Five Things You Don't Know About Me. Unless you already do:

#1 - I'm a hillbilly. I was born in West Virginia, and lived in a place called Tick Ridge. I kid you not. My grandparents were just up from a place called Mud Suck. It used to be about two hours from Charleston, but a freeway made it closer to a half-hour. Talking to my aunt about a year ago, I learned that now Charleston has grown to the point where it's pretty much IN Charleston now. Oh, and developers have come in and, in an effort to make the area more sellable, have re-christened it "Cedar Hills" or something like that for the maps. But the locals still call it Tick Ridge.

We moved out when I was only five or so, during my mom's divorce. Flitted about to Florida, Maryland, Alabama, and then back to Maryland again (where I spent my teenaged years, and I guess that's where I lost my accent).

#2 - I'm adopted. Partially. When my mom remarried, my stepfather (who we soon just called "dad") offered to adopt her three boys, and we took him up on it. I think I was just starting junior high at the time. So I officially changed my name from "Murphy" to "Barnson". Irish to Icelandic. Go figger.

#3 - My first job was at a toy store. I missed the worst of the Teddy Ruxpin craze, but I was fully exposed to (the deliberate, I think) undersupply of Lazer Tag. I learned firsthand the horrors of the Christmas Rush. And I faced accusations by desperate customers of hording massive supplies of Cabbage Patch Kids in the back room. I got to participate in little "sting" operations to catch 14-year-old shoplifters. And I had to endure dressing up in a pink promotional costume. At least it was better than working at a fast-food place.

#4 - I'm an active Mormon. As I live in Utah, this shouldn't be too surprising, as that's about half the state (well, Mormon, if not active). And then I think I mentioned that I went to Brigham Young University, which is kind of a dead giveaway. I don't drink, don't smoke, was married in the temple, go to church on Sunday, served a mission, pay 10% of my income in tithing, and all that. But I do play D&D, have written some somewhat violent videogames, and have done my own minor bit of campaigning in support of freedom of speech over "protecting the children." All that and I teach Sunday School, too. I'm like a renaissance geek or something, huh? Okay, maybe not.

#5 - I've considered careers in acting and writing. I was a pretty decent actor in a high school somewhat famous (or notorious) for its theater program. But, that's high school, and I really wasn't sure I wanted to try that for a career. I also thought more than once about writing fiction professionally. But I enjoy programming too much for now, and as those who regularly read this blog can attest, my skills may be a little ... lacking. :)


Okay, it's traditional that I now, in true chain-letter fashion, pass this along to five other innocents whom I don't believe have done this yet. And assuming they are more on-the-ball than I am, they may or may not respond by listing five things we'll wish we'd never learned about them. Hey, it's a topic for a slow news day, at least.

So here we go --- tag, you are it! Let's go with Jacob Proffitt of The Rabid Paladin, Shamus Young of Twenty Sided Tale, Jana (~J) of Eeps, Meeps, and Ipes, Scorpia of Scorpia's Gaming Lair, and David Michael of JoeIndie.com. That should give us a cross-section of game journalists, game developers, and gamers.

(I would pick Weird Al, but I don't think he'd respond. And while it's not a requirement, I don't think he's a gamer. Though apparently he's a wiz at Minesweeper and can play for days, and once we see his sweet moves, we'll stay amazed at his fingers moving so fast it'll set the place ablaze....)
- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 7:37 AM (Permalink)