Stolen from Matt who stole it from Maryssa.
And thus the cycle conmtinues. This is why we can't have nice things. Childhood survey found behind the cut... which likely doesn't work.
For warning, there are a few questions with missing answers. I have a disfunctional memory. They're peices of my past that never got a permanent seat. Tough luck to youu.
1. What was your first car?
78 Impala. It was a miserable little vehicle, that had a habit of deciding that it had grown weary of braking all the time, and didn't wish to do it any longer. The ceiling fabric was falling off, the uphostry was all rotted, it took a few tries to start, and was generally a big clunky steel tank. May god have mercy on the soul of whomever bought that pile of scrap at auction.
2. What was the name of your first pet and why?
The first pet that I really defined as being MY cat was Thomas J. Kitten, named for a cat in a story about a kitten who runs off gets kidnapped by rats, and nearly made into a pie. A bit greusome. His littermate, who was very much my sister's cat, Tabitha Twitchit was named for the kitten's mother in the same story. Don't ask me why they have different last names.
3. What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was very young, I wanted to be a model, likely because it would get me attention. I also had a period of time where I wanted to engineer biomecjhanical prostetics, but I don't think that hit until my Jr. High years. Most of my youth was spent without a very clear definition of what I wanted. My father wanted me to be an astronaut. I was creeped out by the thought of dying in space.
4. What was the name of your elementary school?
Big Springs Elementary. It was in the city of Garland, but part of the Richardson school district. We were never sure why, but being part of the RISD did let me enroll in a "gifted" program that had a central focus on creativity, and alternative forms of thought. I suspect that to be one of the main reasons my brain retains information in such an odd manor. Great for panels. Bad for childhood surveys.
5. Who was your first best friend?
Sara Kehoe, whom I met when she moved to Dallas in the 5th grade. Up until that point, not so many friends at all, much less one I could call best. I don't know what made us click, but we did. I hold her very much responsible for bringing me out of my solitary existance, and she told me she held me reponsible for bringing her out of her bookishness. I had the creativity, but only because I was constantly off entertaining myself, and she had the willingness to enjoy the fact that I was a little odd.
6. Are you still friends today, and if not, what happened?
We're on good terms, but I wouldn't say friends. We drifted apart in High school, as we both had diffwerent interests, and both became involved in extra cirricular programs (theatre for me, flag corps for her) Our friendship kind of managed to limp along though Jr. year, but by Sr. year, we had just started off in completely differnet social circles. I talk to her from time to time, but we're more aquaintances who share fond memories now.
7. What was your favorite board game?
Probably Mancala, but the one I played most was Connect Four, mostly because people hadn't heard of mancala, and I was quite good at it, so while they were just being introduced to the game, they were being introduced by constantly losing. And that's not a bit of fun at all. Shot myself in the foot with that one, but I didn't know any better, or how to go easy on newcomers to a game. My sister and I also played this really really old Dungeons and Dragons board game, when we were willing to take the time to set it up. I was always an elf, because then I got to go through all the secret passages. My parents were into 1e, yo.
8. Did you play house or other make believe games?
I know I played make-believe games, and of course there's playing with dolls. I've got recollection of playing X-Men around the 4th-6th grade age(I was usually Rogue at school, but I know I played it on at least a few occasions at my day care, but I don't know who I was) and Ninja Tutrles before that (I was Donatello in that. And after shoving a boy off a fairly high peice of playground equipment after he kept on saying I had to be April because I was a girl, no one questioned my place as Donatello. The time out was WORTH it.)
9. Were you a Dungeons and Dragons geek?
Not unless you count the board game, and there was no roleplaying in that. Sooo, no. Right around 6th grade is when I became interested in the Dragonlance books, which led me into my love of the Fantasy genre, which lead me into my interest in D&D, but that was a seed that took a very long time to germinate.
10. Did you sleep with stuffed animals as a kid?
Piles and piles and piles of them. Tot he point there was often not much room for me on the bed. Most of them were there more for my father than for me. The only one I ever had a real attachment to was my red stuffed Brontosaurus (Don't tell me he was an Appatoaurus. He's red and made of worn out velvet. Scientific accuracy ahs no place here) who was creatively named Bronto. Bronto was also female for a couple of years, back when I went through a phase of (my favorite can't be male, and I can't be cuddling up at night with a male thing)
11. Do you still sleep with stuffed animals?
Nope. They're still around though. Just as my stuffed animals were more for my father than they were for me, he's the opne who has all the emotional attachment associated with them. He's got my old collection, as well as my sisters. I will, however, admit to often hugging a pillow at night. And that's sort of the all grown up version of a stuffed animal. I'll admit it. I've come to terms.
12. Who was the first person you looked up to when you were younger?
No recollection. I know it was my mother in a report I had to write for class around the 3rd grade era, but I doubt that was true.
13. Who was your favorite relative?
Would have to be my sister, though we had a love hate relationship for a number of years, when we became competitive for the attention and approval of our parents. Things went much MUCH better after were were finally given separate rooms. It seemed to solve the problem instantly.
14. Were you short or tall in elementary school?
Tall. Always very tall, very thin.
15. Were you teased in school?
Not particularly. I was usually so self absorbed in my own activities to be teased, and I was taller than my classmates, and agressive when provoked to boot. I was mostly just left alone to myself whenever peopel were off playing with their own friends, and just accepted back in when there were group acitivities (games and such) I was never popular, or rejected. I just spent my time doing my own thing, and was left alone to do it.
16. What was the name of your favorite teacher?
Sticking the the Elementry school theme, brobably my 5th grade teacher, Ms. Roberts (hell, I don't know her first name). She spent a lot of time joking around with the class, really making it an enjoyable year. She had a take on how to handle classroom situations the likes of which I hadn't ever seen before, and still showed that she had a deep sense of interest and care for each student, and that they exceed. Second to her was Mr. Ulaissek, my art teacher from grades 1-5 (after which she transfered) She was probably the first person outside of my immediate family tot ake a real interest in me as an individual. She recognized my creativity, and encouraged it, giving my words of praise when I did well, and challenging me with making just a few changes to my assignments, to make them just a bit more difficult. In retrospect, she's another of the people who really shaped the person that I am today.
17. What was the name of your least favorite teacher?
No recollection. I know there was one I despised, but I don't remember anything about her, other than the fact that I didn't like a teacher.
18. What was your best subject in school?
Always did well in art, and I did fairly well in math until I reached a point where there was no proactical purpose to the things I was learning, and so I lost interest in learning them (things such as the quadratic formula) But that was much, much later on in life. In my younger years, math and I were spot on. I actually had one really really bizzare activity that I enjoyed where I would randomly pick a massive list of numbers (usually about 18 numbers of so) and then divide the whole thing by five, taking up at least one full sheet of paper with the equation. I don't know why it was always five, I don't know why it amused me, but I do know that I did it quite frequently.
19. What was your worst subject in school?
Social studies. I could remember events without a problem. I could remember their significance. I couldn't remember names or dates, and I never really fealt that it was necissary information, so I never did. So I was always pretty crummy in History. In Govemrnet, most of it just didn't interest me, so I maintained Cs and Bs, and I inherited the American trait of being absolutely wretched with geography.
20. Did you do well in Physical Education?
I didn't excell, I was never the best, but I didn't do poorly, and I always had fun with it. I actually enjoyed PE a lot, and was generally quite good with it all.
21. Were you clumsy when you were younger?
Not clumsey in terms of dropping, or lack of balance, but my legs got knocked around a lot in the years of learning to play and deal with my growth spurts. I know this because they were constantly covered in bruises, which is where I first developed my habit of never wearing shorts. Ever. I can be spending the day outside when the temperature is 114° and you will still find me wearing long pants.
22. Who was your favorite band as a kid?
No Doubt. I remember going to see them at Edge Fest 96 (local radio media event) when I was in 6th grade, and being oh-so shocked at Gwen's use of the word "fuck" scandal!! We had to leave when people started throwing (glass!) beer bottles around. Probably should have never been allowed to go in the first place, but you know.
23. What was your favorite movie as a kid?
The Land Before Time, until it's place in my heart was replaced by the Nightmare Before Christmas. Both movies still charm me.
24. Did your parents read to you?
Yes. My parents always strongely encouraged literature in my life. I still have vague recollections of when I was 8 and my father read The Lord of the Rings to my sister and I as a bedtime story.
25. Did you have a favorite book?
There was this very short series of books written by R.L. Stein before he started the Goosebumps series called Space Cadets. And they were hilarious!
26. What was your favorite restaurant as a kid?
No recollection. Probably Cici's pizza. I know I was a fan of their arcade, at the very least.
27. What TV or movie star did you have a crush on?
David Bowie as Jereth in Labrynth. My first celebrity crush. Awww.
28. Do you now wonder what you were thinking?
Hell no, I'd still do him.
29. Who was your first crush in school?
This boy named Josh Crump. Not sure why. Maybe because he was an artist-like creature, and because he had smooth skin. Maybe just because I needed someone to be girlish over and I didn't follow celebrities. Not a clue.
30. As a child, what kind of car did you want when you grew up?
No recollection.
31. Did your parents spank you?
Occasionally. Mostly they were all about sitting me in a corner, though. I was largely well behaved once I learned what was right and what was wrong, so my parents didn't have a lot to worry about, and gave me a lot of trust in my teen years.
32. Did your parents fight a lot when you were a kid?
Not in front of us, but there was a lot of stress associated with finance and jobs that I learned about later in life. My father would however lose his temper every now and then, and either take it out to the garage where we would hear a lot of yelling, or would overturn furniture in the livingroom. He never took his agression out on any of us, or the animals, so while it looked scaery to me as a child, I can appreciate that sometimes you just get a lot of pent up agression and yo feel the need to find something to release it. He never broke any of the furnitrure, just got a release form lifitng and flipping them, and he worked on that until the habit was stopped around when I hit age 10 or so.
33. Did your parents get divorced or stay married?
Divorced
34. If they got divorced, how old were you when it happened?
21
35. Did you ever run away from home?
I thought about it a few times, but never made an attempt.
36. How old were you when/if you first got glasses?
5th grade. They were aware that I needed them around late 4rd grade, but I kept on avoiding the subject, or sayign that we were goign to go to the optometrist, without telling my parents. Eventually, the teach stepped in and told them for me, and then it was off to get a hunorously large pair of specs.
37. Did you need braces or a retainer?
Yup. Got braces in my High School years.
38. If you're male, how old were you when you had your first wet dream?
Oh my.
39. Both sexes when did you start shaving?
I think it was around late 5th grade, when I heard other girls talk about shaving, and fealt bizzarely left out. I went and bought some razors without my parents knowning, and cut the shit out of my legs and arms. XD Oops?
40. Girls when did you start wearing a bra?
Wore a trainer when puberty hit, around 12. Wore an AA cup for years and years as a method of covering my nipples, grew jaded about the whole ordeal around 19, and stopped wearing them alltogether. I never filled out the AA cup. I t was too bg for me. Was just a waste of time, because for some funny reason, we can't handle nipples if they belong to a woman.
41. What was your first kiss like?
No recollection
42. What did you do on your first date?
No recollection
43. How old were you when you first drank?
I think it was at age 16, when I first got drunk. Some older family friends had us visiting for a weekend in Waco and got us all sorts of boozed up, under the premise of "it'll happen eventually, may as well do it in limited company, where you can sort of kind of be monitored" The whole event still revolts me. I don't drink anymore.
44. Where was your first house?
Garland, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Lived there until I was 18, and my father still lives there. It's not a nice house by any means, but it's still home.
For warning, there are a few questions with missing answers. I have a disfunctional memory. They're peices of my past that never got a permanent seat. Tough luck to youu.
1. What was your first car?
78 Impala. It was a miserable little vehicle, that had a habit of deciding that it had grown weary of braking all the time, and didn't wish to do it any longer. The ceiling fabric was falling off, the uphostry was all rotted, it took a few tries to start, and was generally a big clunky steel tank. May god have mercy on the soul of whomever bought that pile of scrap at auction.
2. What was the name of your first pet and why?
The first pet that I really defined as being MY cat was Thomas J. Kitten, named for a cat in a story about a kitten who runs off gets kidnapped by rats, and nearly made into a pie. A bit greusome. His littermate, who was very much my sister's cat, Tabitha Twitchit was named for the kitten's mother in the same story. Don't ask me why they have different last names.
3. What did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was very young, I wanted to be a model, likely because it would get me attention. I also had a period of time where I wanted to engineer biomecjhanical prostetics, but I don't think that hit until my Jr. High years. Most of my youth was spent without a very clear definition of what I wanted. My father wanted me to be an astronaut. I was creeped out by the thought of dying in space.
4. What was the name of your elementary school?
Big Springs Elementary. It was in the city of Garland, but part of the Richardson school district. We were never sure why, but being part of the RISD did let me enroll in a "gifted" program that had a central focus on creativity, and alternative forms of thought. I suspect that to be one of the main reasons my brain retains information in such an odd manor. Great for panels. Bad for childhood surveys.
5. Who was your first best friend?
Sara Kehoe, whom I met when she moved to Dallas in the 5th grade. Up until that point, not so many friends at all, much less one I could call best. I don't know what made us click, but we did. I hold her very much responsible for bringing me out of my solitary existance, and she told me she held me reponsible for bringing her out of her bookishness. I had the creativity, but only because I was constantly off entertaining myself, and she had the willingness to enjoy the fact that I was a little odd.
6. Are you still friends today, and if not, what happened?
We're on good terms, but I wouldn't say friends. We drifted apart in High school, as we both had diffwerent interests, and both became involved in extra cirricular programs (theatre for me, flag corps for her) Our friendship kind of managed to limp along though Jr. year, but by Sr. year, we had just started off in completely differnet social circles. I talk to her from time to time, but we're more aquaintances who share fond memories now.
7. What was your favorite board game?
Probably Mancala, but the one I played most was Connect Four, mostly because people hadn't heard of mancala, and I was quite good at it, so while they were just being introduced to the game, they were being introduced by constantly losing. And that's not a bit of fun at all. Shot myself in the foot with that one, but I didn't know any better, or how to go easy on newcomers to a game. My sister and I also played this really really old Dungeons and Dragons board game, when we were willing to take the time to set it up. I was always an elf, because then I got to go through all the secret passages. My parents were into 1e, yo.
8. Did you play house or other make believe games?
I know I played make-believe games, and of course there's playing with dolls. I've got recollection of playing X-Men around the 4th-6th grade age(I was usually Rogue at school, but I know I played it on at least a few occasions at my day care, but I don't know who I was) and Ninja Tutrles before that (I was Donatello in that. And after shoving a boy off a fairly high peice of playground equipment after he kept on saying I had to be April because I was a girl, no one questioned my place as Donatello. The time out was WORTH it.)
9. Were you a Dungeons and Dragons geek?
Not unless you count the board game, and there was no roleplaying in that. Sooo, no. Right around 6th grade is when I became interested in the Dragonlance books, which led me into my love of the Fantasy genre, which lead me into my interest in D&D, but that was a seed that took a very long time to germinate.
10. Did you sleep with stuffed animals as a kid?
Piles and piles and piles of them. Tot he point there was often not much room for me on the bed. Most of them were there more for my father than for me. The only one I ever had a real attachment to was my red stuffed Brontosaurus (Don't tell me he was an Appatoaurus. He's red and made of worn out velvet. Scientific accuracy ahs no place here) who was creatively named Bronto. Bronto was also female for a couple of years, back when I went through a phase of (my favorite can't be male, and I can't be cuddling up at night with a male thing)
11. Do you still sleep with stuffed animals?
Nope. They're still around though. Just as my stuffed animals were more for my father than they were for me, he's the opne who has all the emotional attachment associated with them. He's got my old collection, as well as my sisters. I will, however, admit to often hugging a pillow at night. And that's sort of the all grown up version of a stuffed animal. I'll admit it. I've come to terms.
12. Who was the first person you looked up to when you were younger?
No recollection. I know it was my mother in a report I had to write for class around the 3rd grade era, but I doubt that was true.
13. Who was your favorite relative?
Would have to be my sister, though we had a love hate relationship for a number of years, when we became competitive for the attention and approval of our parents. Things went much MUCH better after were were finally given separate rooms. It seemed to solve the problem instantly.
14. Were you short or tall in elementary school?
Tall. Always very tall, very thin.
15. Were you teased in school?
Not particularly. I was usually so self absorbed in my own activities to be teased, and I was taller than my classmates, and agressive when provoked to boot. I was mostly just left alone to myself whenever peopel were off playing with their own friends, and just accepted back in when there were group acitivities (games and such) I was never popular, or rejected. I just spent my time doing my own thing, and was left alone to do it.
16. What was the name of your favorite teacher?
Sticking the the Elementry school theme, brobably my 5th grade teacher, Ms. Roberts (hell, I don't know her first name). She spent a lot of time joking around with the class, really making it an enjoyable year. She had a take on how to handle classroom situations the likes of which I hadn't ever seen before, and still showed that she had a deep sense of interest and care for each student, and that they exceed. Second to her was Mr. Ulaissek, my art teacher from grades 1-5 (after which she transfered) She was probably the first person outside of my immediate family tot ake a real interest in me as an individual. She recognized my creativity, and encouraged it, giving my words of praise when I did well, and challenging me with making just a few changes to my assignments, to make them just a bit more difficult. In retrospect, she's another of the people who really shaped the person that I am today.
17. What was the name of your least favorite teacher?
No recollection. I know there was one I despised, but I don't remember anything about her, other than the fact that I didn't like a teacher.
18. What was your best subject in school?
Always did well in art, and I did fairly well in math until I reached a point where there was no proactical purpose to the things I was learning, and so I lost interest in learning them (things such as the quadratic formula) But that was much, much later on in life. In my younger years, math and I were spot on. I actually had one really really bizzare activity that I enjoyed where I would randomly pick a massive list of numbers (usually about 18 numbers of so) and then divide the whole thing by five, taking up at least one full sheet of paper with the equation. I don't know why it was always five, I don't know why it amused me, but I do know that I did it quite frequently.
19. What was your worst subject in school?
Social studies. I could remember events without a problem. I could remember their significance. I couldn't remember names or dates, and I never really fealt that it was necissary information, so I never did. So I was always pretty crummy in History. In Govemrnet, most of it just didn't interest me, so I maintained Cs and Bs, and I inherited the American trait of being absolutely wretched with geography.
20. Did you do well in Physical Education?
I didn't excell, I was never the best, but I didn't do poorly, and I always had fun with it. I actually enjoyed PE a lot, and was generally quite good with it all.
21. Were you clumsy when you were younger?
Not clumsey in terms of dropping, or lack of balance, but my legs got knocked around a lot in the years of learning to play and deal with my growth spurts. I know this because they were constantly covered in bruises, which is where I first developed my habit of never wearing shorts. Ever. I can be spending the day outside when the temperature is 114° and you will still find me wearing long pants.
22. Who was your favorite band as a kid?
No Doubt. I remember going to see them at Edge Fest 96 (local radio media event) when I was in 6th grade, and being oh-so shocked at Gwen's use of the word "fuck" scandal!! We had to leave when people started throwing (glass!) beer bottles around. Probably should have never been allowed to go in the first place, but you know.
23. What was your favorite movie as a kid?
The Land Before Time, until it's place in my heart was replaced by the Nightmare Before Christmas. Both movies still charm me.
24. Did your parents read to you?
Yes. My parents always strongely encouraged literature in my life. I still have vague recollections of when I was 8 and my father read The Lord of the Rings to my sister and I as a bedtime story.
25. Did you have a favorite book?
There was this very short series of books written by R.L. Stein before he started the Goosebumps series called Space Cadets. And they were hilarious!
26. What was your favorite restaurant as a kid?
No recollection. Probably Cici's pizza. I know I was a fan of their arcade, at the very least.
27. What TV or movie star did you have a crush on?
David Bowie as Jereth in Labrynth. My first celebrity crush. Awww.
28. Do you now wonder what you were thinking?
Hell no, I'd still do him.
29. Who was your first crush in school?
This boy named Josh Crump. Not sure why. Maybe because he was an artist-like creature, and because he had smooth skin. Maybe just because I needed someone to be girlish over and I didn't follow celebrities. Not a clue.
30. As a child, what kind of car did you want when you grew up?
No recollection.
31. Did your parents spank you?
Occasionally. Mostly they were all about sitting me in a corner, though. I was largely well behaved once I learned what was right and what was wrong, so my parents didn't have a lot to worry about, and gave me a lot of trust in my teen years.
32. Did your parents fight a lot when you were a kid?
Not in front of us, but there was a lot of stress associated with finance and jobs that I learned about later in life. My father would however lose his temper every now and then, and either take it out to the garage where we would hear a lot of yelling, or would overturn furniture in the livingroom. He never took his agression out on any of us, or the animals, so while it looked scaery to me as a child, I can appreciate that sometimes you just get a lot of pent up agression and yo feel the need to find something to release it. He never broke any of the furnitrure, just got a release form lifitng and flipping them, and he worked on that until the habit was stopped around when I hit age 10 or so.
33. Did your parents get divorced or stay married?
Divorced
34. If they got divorced, how old were you when it happened?
21
35. Did you ever run away from home?
I thought about it a few times, but never made an attempt.
36. How old were you when/if you first got glasses?
5th grade. They were aware that I needed them around late 4rd grade, but I kept on avoiding the subject, or sayign that we were goign to go to the optometrist, without telling my parents. Eventually, the teach stepped in and told them for me, and then it was off to get a hunorously large pair of specs.
37. Did you need braces or a retainer?
Yup. Got braces in my High School years.
38. If you're male, how old were you when you had your first wet dream?
Oh my.
39. Both sexes when did you start shaving?
I think it was around late 5th grade, when I heard other girls talk about shaving, and fealt bizzarely left out. I went and bought some razors without my parents knowning, and cut the shit out of my legs and arms. XD Oops?
40. Girls when did you start wearing a bra?
Wore a trainer when puberty hit, around 12. Wore an AA cup for years and years as a method of covering my nipples, grew jaded about the whole ordeal around 19, and stopped wearing them alltogether. I never filled out the AA cup. I t was too bg for me. Was just a waste of time, because for some funny reason, we can't handle nipples if they belong to a woman.
41. What was your first kiss like?
No recollection
42. What did you do on your first date?
No recollection
43. How old were you when you first drank?
I think it was at age 16, when I first got drunk. Some older family friends had us visiting for a weekend in Waco and got us all sorts of boozed up, under the premise of "it'll happen eventually, may as well do it in limited company, where you can sort of kind of be monitored" The whole event still revolts me. I don't drink anymore.
44. Where was your first house?
Garland, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. Lived there until I was 18, and my father still lives there. It's not a nice house by any means, but it's still home.