Destructiod Community Assignment: Ten Things

4. Books
I love science fiction and fantasy novels. Ursula Le Guin's Earthsea-cycle and Terry Goodkind's "Sword of Truth" books hooked me early on. I became obsessed with Ed Greenwood's character Elminster (he's still my favorite wizard) and R.A. Salvatore's Champions of the Hall (the dwarf king Bruenor and his adopted daughter Cattie-Brie, the barbarian turned adventurer Wulfgar, the ever relaxing halfling Regis and, of course, the loner and moral beacon, Drizzt Do'Urden). I read Asimov, Orson Scott Card and a smattering of Terry Pratchett. Currently, I'm all about some Patrick Rothfuss and Braden Sanderson.

5. Comics
Like any kid whose formative years were in the 1990's, I knew comics were inherently cool. X-Force and Spawn were my entry points. But this was an interest primarily fueled by my older brother. When he stopped buying monthly issues, I stopped reading along with him. That was until I was in undergrad, and I discovered instocktrades.com. Trade paperbacks were what got me back into comics. I should be more specific, buying trades written by Geoff Johns got me back into comics. This was a singular author that convinced me that there are no such things as bad characters in comics, only bad writing. Do you think I expected The Elongated Man to become one of my favorite heroes after reading Identity Crisis? Do you think I wanted that? Now I hand pick storylines that I'm interested in: a Blackest Night here, an Amazing X-Men there, maybe a little Long Halloween, and possibly a Superman Red Son or Marvel 1602. But the real surprise was Brian Wood. Demo, Channel Zero and DMZ changed the way I read comics. Enough said. Currently reading: Age of Apocalypse Omnibus.

6. Tabletop games and board games
I'm currently engaged to a woman who's crazy about tabletop games, so I don't think this hobby is going anywhere. But Dungeons & Dragons, when I think about it, was probably the catalyst that started it all. I was four or five the first time I played, and I can still remember that gorgeously corny AD&D 2nd edition Players Handbook. It was an adventure played with some neighborhood friends, Dungeon Mastered by my best friends older brother. This is the group that formed the "Stand By Me" of my childhood. But keep in mind, this was long enough ago that being a nerd meant getting your ass kicked at school. As excruciating as it was at the time, those hours spent with friends after school were priceless. We made D&D characters, and sometimes never played them, painted Warhammer figurines, came up with imaginary side stories for Hero Quest and raced each other to see who could finish the new Final Fantasy first. All the while, mostly keeping that side of myself from my parents who thought a role-playing-game meant satanic worship. Good times. Anyway, enjoy this Doubleclicks video, they're super awesome.