It all started on a severely chilly February morning back in 1980...
To this day I still think my mother should be cannonized for all she did for me prior to my womb eviction. She basically saved my life. Not that I was necessarily in peril exactly, but she saved me from a life other than, and less preferable to, the one which I currently lead.
My father was elated that his first child was slated to be a masculine child. So he wanted to follow suit with his father and bestow not only his name, but his father's name, unto his son. And so with that I was in line to become Norman James Gunn, III...
Luckily for me, my mother had no desire to bring her first born into the 80's destined to a life of torment and nerd-dom. She persuaded my father to name me Michael instead. I owe her much more than I will ever be able to repay.
And so when I eventually become wealthy and infamous, this is why the movie based on the life and times of Michael J Gunn will be aptly titled... Almost Norman.
Years later, after the traumatic upbringing and childhood bullyings...
As a kid I was constantly labeled "very artistic" by adults and "a good drawer" by peers. But art was never something that I felt compelled to pursue. To me, art meant that I needed to wear smocks and octogonal eyeglasses like Mrs. Leib, the grade school art teacher.
Now I see things a bit differently. I have traded in my crayolas for an Adobe Design Suite. Instead of learning to draw superheroes with bulging pecs, I am learning to design websites. After earning a business degree at Rutgers University, I found myself working my ass off in a hellish retail environment and realized I was more than mildly unhappy. And with no prior "digital media" experience, I dropped a pair and enrolled myself in Drexel's certificate program in Digital Media.
While I've only two classes under my belt, I'm ecstatic to be back in school learning something I friggin love doing. I have never done anything with web design.
The things we do when we're not torturing small animals/children...
Only 2 years ago did I adopt my newly acquired affliction towards snowboarding. Having surfed for a number of years (but still incapable of shaking my aversion towards large waves) I find myself much more eager for the disgusting, snowy, coldness of winter just so I can hit the glades again.
Though friends and I went through a major poker craze (like most adolescent guys) , we have now traded in the Hold'em tournaments for a little game we like to call, Spades. I am a beast and I rarely lose. While it's great to beat your friends at poker and take their moneys; in spades there is much much more at stake than mere dollars...
it's called manhood.
One of my most unique hobbies is one of my most expressive. I make my own t-shirts. A big fav amongst my friends is the one I made of Dr. Phil holding a giant fork with a baby on the end of it that reads "Dr. Phil eats babies." Everyone gets a kick out of it... especially because the baby's head has a bite taken out of it and Dr. Phil has blood dripping down his face.
Ya never know, he could. Everybody's got skeletons.
My most intellectual quality is my love of all things "puzzle". I can usually be found in front of the tv with the latest edition of Games Magazine. It may make me a dork, but I freakin love word games, number games, logic puzzles, etc. Crosswords. Paint By Numbers. Sudoku. Hitori. Ugh! I can't get enough! I'm sick in the head. Whatever, I'm a dweeb, sue me.