Let's Talk About You

[Louich]

and me
Let's talk about all the good things
And the bad things that may be
Let's talk about sex

(insert funky music here )

[XXXII&III]

I'm a classically trained pianist and I like to break into The Touchdown Song (rock & roll part 2, is that what it's called?) on my piano. And in high school choir I learned how to project my voice from the diaphragm which means I know how to yell loudly and not lose my voice after football games.

My musical background has been a great foundation for my football fandom, lol.

[CanDB]

I can make a whole forum fall asleep with just one post.....................

[Remedy]

I can make a whole forum fall asleep with just one post.....................

This made me chuckle. lol You should see some of my profs..

[Alastor]

I can pick locks.

There are two songs written about me. One rather flattering... And one after we had dated for a while.

I have been represented as a character, an Easter egg, and my car was put into a video game.

I have been a character in two critically acclaimed works of fiction - and no I do not mean "Alastor" as in the Harry Potter crap. I mean me as a person, with my real name and real references to my life.

Neat thread. I'd CP if I could.

[HavoK471]

I can pick locks.

There are two songs written about me. One rather flattering... And one after we had dated for a while.

I have been represented as a character, an Easter egg, and my car was put into a video game.

I have been a character in two critically acclaimed works of fiction - and no I do not mean "Alastor" as in the Harry Potter crap. I mean me as a person, with my real name and real references to my life.

Neat thread. I'd CP if I could.

I would love to hear more info about this stuff

[Remedy]

I would love to hear more info about this stuff

[Alastor]

I would love to hear more info about this stuff

I'm flattered and I have to admit, I'm excited to answer. Call it gloating if you want, but I'm going to answer and I sincerely thank you for asking. This has made my day better.

I can pick locks.

I have ADHD, and I have it pretty bad. Note that ADHD is something that's still kind of vague to medicine. Some forms of ADHD cause disabilities in the process of "hyper-activating" or "overstimulating" the brain. I was fortunate. I do not have those types of symptoms. I don't have nervous ticks nor have my social skills ever been affected. In fact I'm fairly decent at navigating social circumstances.

I do not have ADHD in the same way that people who have to have medication have it.

I was also raised in an era where ADHD didn't have a name other than "hyper."

As such I was forced to learn to control my behaviors, which was pretty grueling and at times I still struggle with it. This is probably why I'm an attention whore. I need the stimulation. I need constant stimulation.

As I sit here writing this post I am also playing poker on four tables, analyzing a chess game, listening to music, and talking to a friend, and yeah, I'm pretty much doing them all at once. While I do this, my knees are bouncing up and down uncontrollably.

People that first meet me think I am high strung and nervous. I'm not nervous. I'm the most relaxed, confident person I know. I am however, constantly doing something.

School was a real nightmare. I never could sit in a desk, even in college. My master's program was absolutely brutal to me. It was very hard, and I had to use many more times the energy to get through it than the others did. I not only had to do the work and learn the material, create and express thoughts appropriate for that environment, but I had to sit through lectures for four hours at a time, cramped up, with people all around me. It was as close to torture as I can recall in the last 10 years.

I'm rambling... Another trait of ADHD.

Anyway, I constantly have to be engaged. I taught myself to play piano. I cannot read sheet music. I never cared to read it and never tried to read it.

I am HTML literate, and I don't just mean "can use dreamweaver." I can look at web pages, see how they're built, and not just mimic them but adapt them. I do often need someone who is more formally educated to help me get the result I'm after, but I can get there with a bit of guidance most of the time.

I learned to fly airplanes just because.

When I was in the military I learned to read, write, and speak Arabic conversationally. I've since forgotten how - not much need for it in Denver, but I did it.

I am currently playing around with Portuguese again, but nothing formal.

I can use PHP... Sort of. It's at a very low level, but I can wade through it if given enough time and context.

I'm a licensed FCC radio operator. I did that just because too. I'm also hazmat certified (although it's expired). I've also been trained as a combat EMT in the military, which was totally optional but I thought it was fun and they gave me a small boost to my monthly pay.

Um... What else? Anyway... I can do a bunch of hokey and useless crap.

Did I mention I ramble?

One day I was bored. I decided I wanted to see about this lockpicking stuff to see if it was real. I checked into it a little bit and found someone who could pick locks. He wasn't very good, but he was at least someone that could pick locks. Most picking people are pretty private because of the piratey perceptions that people perceive about pickers.

Say that five times fast.

Anyway, I found a guy. I got some picks (12 bucks and it included a beginners book) and just kind of tried it.

I found that it was fun and easy. It's like a logic problem you solve with your hands.

I kind of did it for fun for a while. I can now pick the vast majority of locks that I encounter and I can get into any lock in most people's houses that they think are secure. The most expensive lock I've ever picked is one that cost $450 bucks or so. No one spends that much money on a lock.

I've picked a safe that cost over $1000 dollars.

I did it with my picks that cost $2 (combined total) and it took me about 15 seconds, if that long.

I'm now at the point where I can't really afford the locks I can't pick, so I'm sort of stuck looking around for them at junk yards and stuff, which is time consuming and boring. I've kind of hit a plateau in my skill level because of that.

I have a group of friends, and it's not uncommon for one of them to spend $3500 or so on a new lock that's "state of the art." They'll then open the package it came in, set to picking the lock, and it's open in under 30 seconds. A minute at most. Then their $3500 lock is obsolete to them.

I can't really afford that kind of stuff, so I'm pretty much stuck with getting locks from friends when they're done with them, and obviously they're not really interested in handing out $3500 locks for free, even if they're done learning from them.

I dunno. I just have to be constantly engaged. This was something I was curious about and I just kind of started doing it to see what it was all about. Turns out there's not much to it. There's no "magic" to it. It's a simple case of moving some parts around inside of a confined space. There's nothing mystical to it once you get into it.

There are two songs written about me. One rather flattering... And one after we had dated for a while.

I dated a girl who was a pianist. She's quite good. She can also sing very well. She's released at least one CD. The title of that CD is also the name of the first song she wrote about me. The second song she wrote about me is later in the track listing.

One is about her infatuation and the romance that we had begun. One was down the road when we felt it was time to part ways. It's a bit of bittersweet romance music. I'm exceptionally flattered by those songs, and they're both incredibly good songs.

I have been represented as a character, an Easter egg, and my car was put into a video game.

I used to work for Pandemic Studios/Bioware on their creative resources team (public relations, marketing, player interaction, etc.) when they were Elevation Partners. About a year and a half after I went to work there they merged with Electronic Arts. I kept my old job for a while after the merger. I was on the team that created Destroy All Humans, Mercenaries II: World in Flames, the first Mass Effect (though I was not directly involved in that one I was part of the surrounding structure), Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Saboteur, and others.

My name is in the credits for some of them. My car is in Mercs II - "The Car of Death" is an inspiration that came from Ali Zandi when he saw my picture of my 1968 GTO. He gave it a lift kit, put a hard top on it, painted a stripe down one side, and then made it capable of blowing up any car it contacted and it was one of the prizes for completing missions and getting enough hidden spare parts.

The Easter Egg that refers to me is behind your base. It's the first one most people find. It's at the end of the docks behind the player's primary base. It's "Alastor's sword and shield" - a reference to my avatar here.

I've also been on nationwide radio as well as prime time TV, albeit on cable, to talk about and promote games and speak on the nature of video game creation.

It was a fun gig, but I fell in love with the kids I was working with and decided to be a teacher instead, so I resigned my old position and went back to school.

I have been a character in two critically acclaimed works of fiction - and no I do not mean "Alastor" as in the Harry Potter crap. I mean me as a person, with my real name and real references to my life.

Some 45 years ago my mom went to college where she met a boy. They really liked each other. He ended up going on to law school at another school and my mother ended up going to San Diego to finish her degrees. They always loved each other very much though.

Shortly after she got out of college, she met my dad. She fell in love with him, married him, and out I came.

My dad died when I was young however, and over the years she and her college boyfriend got back in touch and got close. It's kind of cool really, and I'm very happy for both of them. Anyway, he's a writer now. He has used my real life and my real name as the framework for a character in his books. He's a pretty good author too, and he's won quite a few awards. He's also a college professor in cultural studies, but he writes along-side that.

So that's my story. That's how those weird things happened. Not necessarily because I did anything special, but because the people around me did.

I'm more inclined to believe that this is the case more often than others would like us to believe, but in my case I blatantly admit it. It's not because I did anything amazing, but rather because I tend to be surrounded by those who do.

[gcmath]

I'm flattered and I have to admit, I'm excited to answer. Call it gloating if you want, but I'm going to answer and I sincerely thank you for asking. This has made my day better.

I can pick locks.

I have ADHD, and I have it pretty bad. Note that ADHD is something that's still kind of vague to medicine. Some forms of ADHD cause disabilities in the process of "hyper-activating" or "overstimulating" the brain. I was fortunate. I do not have those types of symptoms. I don't have nervous ticks nor have my social skills ever been affected. In fact I'm fairly decent at navigating social circumstances.

I do not have ADHD in the same way that people who have to have medication have it.

I was also raised in an era where ADHD didn't have a name other than "hyper."

As such I was forced to learn to control my behaviors, which was pretty grueling and at times I still struggle with it. This is probably why I'm an attention whore. I need the stimulation. I need constant stimulation.

As I sit here writing this post I am also playing poker on four tables, analyzing a chess game, listening to music, and talking to a friend, and yeah, I'm pretty much doing them all at once. While I do this, my knees are bouncing up and down uncontrollably.

People that first meet me think I am high strung and nervous. I'm not nervous. I'm the most relaxed, confident person I know. I am however, constantly doing something.

School was a real nightmare. I never could sit in a desk, even in college. My master's program was absolutely brutal to me. It was very hard, and I had to use many more times the energy to get through it than the others did. I not only had to do the work and learn the material, create and express thoughts appropriate for that environment, but I had to sit through lectures for four hours at a time, cramped up, with people all around me. It was as close to torture as I can recall in the last 10 years.

I'm rambling... Another trait of ADHD.

Anyway, I constantly have to be engaged. I taught myself to play piano. I cannot read sheet music. I never cared to read it and never tried to read it.

I am HTML literate, and I don't just mean "can use dreamweaver." I can look at web pages, see how they're built, and not just mimic them but adapt them. I do often need someone who is more formally educated to help me get the result I'm after, but I can get there with a bit of guidance most of the time.

I learned to fly airplanes just because.

When I was in the military I learned to read, write, and speak Arabic conversationally. I've since forgotten how - not much need for it in Denver, but I did it.

I am currently playing around with Portuguese again, but nothing formal.

I can use PHP... Sort of. It's at a very low level, but I can wade through it if given enough time and context.

I'm a licensed FCC radio operator. I did that just because too. I'm also hazmat certified (although it's expired). I've also been trained as a combat EMT in the military, which was totally optional but I thought it was fun and they gave me a small boost to my monthly pay.

Um... What else? Anyway... I can do a bunch of hokey and useless crap.

Did I mention I ramble?

One day I was bored. I decided I wanted to see about this lockpicking stuff to see if it was real. I checked into it a little bit and found someone who could pick locks. He wasn't very good, but he was at least someone that could pick locks. Most picking people are pretty private because of the piratey perceptions that people perceive about pickers.

Say that five times fast.

Anyway, I found a guy. I got some picks (12 bucks and it included a beginners book) and just kind of tried it.

I found that it was fun and easy. It's like a logic problem you solve with your hands.

I kind of did it for fun for a while. I can now pick the vast majority of locks that I encounter and I can get into any lock in most people's houses that they think are secure. The most expensive lock I've ever picked is one that cost $450 bucks or so. No one spends that much money on a lock.

I've picked a safe that cost over $1000 dollars.

I did it with my picks that cost $2 (combined total) and it took me about 15 seconds, if that long.

I'm now at the point where I can't really afford the locks I can't pick, so I'm sort of stuck looking around for them at junk yards and stuff, which is time consuming and boring. I've kind of hit a plateau in my skill level because of that.

I have a group of friends, and it's not uncommon for one of them to spend $3500 or so on a new lock that's "state of the art." They'll then open the package it came in, set to picking the lock, and it's open in under 30 seconds. A minute at most. Then their $3500 lock is obsolete to them.

I can't really afford that kind of stuff, so I'm pretty much stuck with getting locks from friends when they're done with them, and obviously they're not really interested in handing out $3500 locks for free, even if they're done learning from them.

I dunno. I just have to be constantly engaged. This was something I was curious about and I just kind of started doing it to see what it was all about. Turns out there's not much to it. There's no "magic" to it. It's a simple case of moving some parts around inside of a confined space. There's nothing mystical to it once you get into it.

There are two songs written about me. One rather flattering... And one after we had dated for a while.

I dated a girl who was a pianist. She's quite good. She can also sing very well. She's released at least one CD. The title of that CD is also the name of the first song she wrote about me. The second song she wrote about me is later in the track listing.

One is about her infatuation and the romance that we had begun. One was down the road when we felt it was time to part ways. It's a bit of bittersweet romance music. I'm exceptionally flattered by those songs, and they're both incredibly good songs.



I used to work for Pandemic Studios/Bioware on their creative resources team (public relations, marketing, player interaction, etc.) when they were Elevation Partners. About a year and a half after I went to work there they merged with Electronic Arts. I kept my old job for a while after the merger. I was on the team that created Destroy All Humans, Mercenaries II: World in Flames, the first Mass Effect (though I was not directly involved in that one I was part of the surrounding structure), Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Saboteur, and others.

My name is in the credits for some of them. My car is in Mercs II - "The Car of Death" is an inspiration that came from Ali Zandi when he saw my picture of my 1968 GTO. He gave it a lift kit, put a hard top on it, painted a stripe down one side, and then made it capable of blowing up any car it contacted and it was one of the prizes for completing missions and getting enough hidden spare parts.

The Easter Egg that refers to me is behind your base. It's the first one most people find. It's at the end of the docks behind the player's primary base. It's "Alastor's sword and shield" - a reference to my avatar here.

I've also been on nationwide radio as well as prime time TV, albeit on cable, to talk about and promote games and speak on the nature of video game creation.

It was a fun gig, but I fell in love with the kids I was working with and decided to be a teacher instead, so I resigned my old position and went back to school.

I have been a character in two critically acclaimed works of fiction - and no I do not mean "Alastor" as in the Harry Potter crap. I mean me as a person, with my real name and real references to my life.

Some 45 years ago my mom went to college where she met a boy. They really liked each other. He ended up going on to law school at another school and my mother ended up going to San Diego to finish her degrees. They always loved each other very much though.

Shortly after she got out of college, she met my dad. She fell in love with him, married him, and out I came.

My dad died when I was young however, and over the years she and her college boyfriend got back in touch and got close. It's kind of cool really, and I'm very happy for both of them. Anyway, he's a writer now. He has used my real life and my real name as the framework for a character in his books. He's a pretty good author too, and he's won quite a few awards. He's also a college professor in cultural studies, but he writes along-side that.

So that's my story. That's how those weird things happened. Not necessarily because I did anything special, but because the people around me did.

I'm more inclined to believe that this is the case more often than others would like us to believe, but in my case I blatantly admit it. It's not because I did anything amazing, but rather because I tend to be surrounded by those who do.

It sounds like your ADHD was never a handicap. You were dealt a lemon in life and made lemonade. You sound like a well rounded guy and are most intertaining. Hope you help others with ADHD.

[catsigater]

I was on Jeopardy! Won the first show. Went down in flames the second.
Went to the same High School Jim Morrison attended, though not at the same time.

[Remedy]

I was on Jeopardy! Won the first show. Went down in flames the second.

really? you're my hero that's awesome.

I love Jeopardy.

[catsigater]

really? you're my hero that's awesome.

I love Jeopardy.

Yep really. If you'd seen the second show, I wouldn't be your hero. Completely lost my composure.

[Remedy]

Yep really. If you'd seen the second show, I wouldn't be your hero. Completely lost my composure.

haha Still cool in my books.

[12and4]

I'm premed, double majoring in anatomy/physiology and exercise science.

I enjoy school. I love football. My favorite professional team is the Denver Broncos. My favorite collegiate team is the Fresno State Bulldogs, which is also where i go to school.

I used to be an avid pokemon collector, on my quest to catch them all.

I delved into yu gi oh but it was oh so bad.

I played counter strike for about 7 years of my life.

I can't play any instruments but i'd love to learn acoustic guitar.

I used to repair PS3's and sell them online.

I have a dog named ochocinco.

I cannot pick a lock, probably don't have ADHD but its up in the air.

I don't have a sympathy bone, no idea why... which was hard for me at a hospital when people would tell me their problems... in my head i would just be saying "I don't care i don't care i don't care i don't care". I needa work on that. It's not that i don't feel bad for them, I just don't really... want to know? idk.

I am a master of jiu jitsu (not really a master, but did it for about 6 years and won a lot of tourneys in vegas and such... i was pretty damn good).

I love playing football, any position. I'm pretty good at nearly every position. Me and my friends always have a game going probably 15-20 times a year.

I am still friends with most of my kindergarten class.

I love lemons. I hate fish. When i don't have a choice and have toe at fish, I put a full lemons worth of juice on it until i can't taste the fishy taste of it.

Idk what else to say. OH!

Well, about 4 years ago I woke up with 2 bullet holes in my back (bullets still lodged in there) on a ship. Apparently I was rescued by this german fishing ship. They didn't know who i was, I didn't know who I was. All I had was a laser light that had my bank account number on it. Long story short, the CIA was after me for failing a mission that required me to shoot some leader of a country...

[broncoFan!]

I can pick locks.

There are two songs written about me. One rather flattering... And one after we had dated for a while.

I have been represented as a character, an Easter egg, and my car was put into a video game.

I have been a character in two critically acclaimed works of fiction - and no I do not mean "Alastor" as in the Harry Potter crap. I mean me as a person, with my real name and real references to my life.

Neat thread. I'd CP if I could.

I am deeply offended good sir.