So Spam

**Conrad** · 2009-06-28 23:13

Where were you born? - Voorhees, NJ

Where did you grow up? - About 15 minutes away from where I was born. I lived in one or two apartments with my parents until I was 3, at which point I moved into my current house which was another 10-15 minutes from that apartment.
What are you favorite childhood memories? - The family that lived across the street when I moved into my new house had two kids, Juan and Max. Juan was my age, Max was a year or two younger, and on the day we moved in they went to greet us and I decided that Juan would be my friend. We spent as much time together as we could, and some of the other kids in the neighborhood would make fun of me and ask me why I'm hanging out with some black kids. I went to my parents and asked them why they were saying that, since Juan was brown, not black.

They moved away after a couple years, and when I was 7 a new family lived next door. The boy, Nicky, was 5, and his sister Tara was 3. I spent so much time with Nicky that our families practically lived together. We kept in contact until around the time I left for college.

I can't claim to have nearly as difficult a life as moots or miz, I lived a boring suburban white childhood complete with overprotective parents and emotional suppression. I used to read the encyclopedia and memorize the parts I liked, which usually involved American history in some capacity. Kids generally didn't get along with me at school cause I was the know-it-all, and I probably deserved it looking back.

Did you have a favorite TV show growing up? - The Simpsons and whatever cartoons Nickelodeon showed.

Song? - When I was in preschool I made my parents play "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel all the way there, all the way home, for at least a full year. My favorite song now is probably too difficult to figure out.

Best friend? - Juan when I was a kid, Nicky later on. I had various friends who all came and left as I got older and never heard from again. Nowadays I have a group of a few very close friends:
Nick, whom I've known since I was 7 and played with him in little league;
Amanda, whom I met in high school, who disliked me at first and is now like a sister to me;
and of course, my former roommate and pain-in-the-ass who you all know as Tsutsumiko. I have a few other friends from college and elsewhere, also.

Favorite food? - My mom makes a lasagna so good that I won't eat the dish unless she cooks it.

Who did you get in your first fight with? - There was some punk-ass kid (I think his name was Damien in fact, lol) in my neighborhood who was always causing trouble. One day (was around 5 maybe?) I was at the playground on the monkey bars, while all of the teenage kids were playing basketball on the court nearby. The kid comes in and starts shit with me because I'm by myself and he's some scrawny fuck with a Scrappy Doo complex. Anyway I forget how but he started attacking me and I fought him back, all of the teenagers surrounded us and started cheering us on. Now on the basketball court there were always broken bottles, and I ended up pushing him off of me and onto the glass where he got his ass torn up. His cousin or something came knocking on my door a little later complaining to my mom, but my mom backed me up since I was defending myself.

Do you have a favorite relative? - My parents are cool. Our relationship is that they know I'm a dick to everyone and find every opportunity to make a joke, so they just go along with it and make comebacks right back at me. My dad's father was a great man too, he used to work for Boeing before I was born and worked in the Hole, which was the Top Secret area. My grandfather brought that stuff to his grave 30 years after the fact, but he was easily the smartest man I've ever met. He grew up in England during WWII and was separated from his family to keep him safe. He and his twin brother lived on a farm with a family who took him in. He met my grandmother and took her to Canada and then NJ when he was in his 20s, got married and started a family.

Do you remember your best birthday party as a kid? Or as a teenager? Best present? First concert? - Never had any birthday parties as a kid, not sure why. My best present was either my Nintendo 64 for my 10th birthday from my dad or my first internet-capable computer on my 13th from my aunt. There's also the Wii that my dad's parents got me for Christmas in 2006, where they had to stand in multiple lines at multiple stores to get for me and wouldn't give up until they got it. There was even a time when they were 5th in a line at a Toys R Us, and found out there were only 4 Wiis available. That holds sentimental value for me as it was the last Christmas I spent with my grandpa before he died.

First kiss? - A bit embarrassing for me...my first girlfriend when I was 19, she frenched me. I wasn't smooth about it at all, I just said "Hey we haven't kissed yet," and she grabbed my face and pulled me in.

Do you remember how you reacted when you experienced your first death in the family? - I was too young, only 2 years old when my mom's grandfather died. He's buried with a picture of me on top of his coffin.