[X] My Assistant

[hobgoblin]

hehe, enlightened dictatorships ftw? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Tachi]

Damn right. Freedom and justice for everyone, at least, until I run out of ammunition and the socialists finally drag me down.

*draws gun*
"No laying down on the job, I said get in that booth and vote with your logic, bitch!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/spin.gif)
"No, they can't have it just because it's the nice thing to do, where would the money come from? I sentence you to 2 years of economics training! You'll get that cut in half for good behavior if you write me a 50 page essay on the value of the free market!" (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)
"What? They're trying to take away your automatic weapons? Here, take this ammunition and handle it, I'm busy."
"Whose jumping the border? Why aren't the automated machine-gun turrets handling it? GREAT SCOTT, what do you mean we don't have automated machine-gun turrets on the borders?!!!!"

Yes, I should definately rule the world.

[Bladerunner]

I saw this thread and thought I'd pop in here and give a bit about myself for the Shadow community at large.

Just shy of the 30 mark in life. I'm 6'4" with brown hair and hazel eyes (which I attribute to my Greek heritage) I've role played most of my life, since about age twelve (I played Blue Box D&D at age 8, but you can't really count that). The group of friends I grew up with started playing Shadowrun in 93' and played it pretty solid for about seven years. I think what drew me to Shadowrun was the writing of William Gibson. I found an older copy of Burning Chrome at a flea market when I was out shopping one day, and I got hooked pretty quick on his style and thematic prose.

I live just outside the current Chicago land metroplex, with my wife and two children.

In my professional life I work in the digital community as the Vice President of a web design and programming firm. I love working the field and with our client to direct their dream and visions into a digital reality. I blow off work related stream by ventilating KE security with my rigger and playing with drones. Our gaming group is a pretty close knit family that has been gaming together for over a decade, and after seeing so many posts int he past on different sites looking for groups, I know I'm lucky.

I'll stay away from religious and political stances, as it's best to do in good company.

[Method]

Yes, I should definately rule the world.

I'd vote for you.

[ravensmuse]

I'm a 29 year old man who's employed as a Crossing guard in Salem (the famous, Massachusetts one), living a couple of towns over. While I have a physical aspect to describe, I'm not going to unless I'm going to game with one of you - privacy thing. Well, I'm dark-brown haired, and I have a redhaird cousin.

What town? I'm up in Newburyport.

[Hocus Pocus]

are any of us truely from somewhere? do we truely do anything? are we the dreamer, or merely a part of someone else's dream?


I'm actually a billionaire, with many hot supermodel girlfriends.

[Tachi]

I'd vote for you.

I appreciate it. Now, if I can only get 3.5 billion more votes. *crosses fingers*

[X-Kalibur]

I appreciate it. Now, if I can only get 3.5 billion more votes. *crosses fingers*

"Well, I don't agree with his Bart killing policy... but I do agree with his Selma killing policy" *votes*

[Shrike30]

-27yo male from Seattle, born and raised here, don't plan on leaving any time soon (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) 6'1", 195 lbs (about 10 of that I don't need), with the bulk of my size in my legs, torso, and shoulders (having inherited my father's barrel chest and small hands). I'm married, no kids, own a house, and raise chickens for eggs (which amuses my neighbors to no end, as it's a kind of yuppie neighborhood).
-3 years of college, at which point I realized I wasn't interested in a degree in the History and Philosophy of Science. Of all things, I mostly took away from that a solid background in mathematics, chemistry, and physics. I've been working as an Emergency Medical Technician for the better part of three years, and am going back to school to become a Paramedic... who knows, a Bachelor's of Applied Science might only be a couple more years away.
-I was diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive (basically, all the organizational problems of ADHD without the hyperactivity parts) at 25; every day for me starts with a slow-release dose of amphetamines (which, if I also have a cup of coffee, makes me talk too much). No allergies, no other major medical conditions, one medication that I can't take because it gives me siezures, and one knee that, if I run downhill too long, starts to get sore in the ligaments below the patella (I've never pushed that one far enough to qualify as having a chronic injury, but if it flares up it stays sore for a couple of weeks). At 14, I managed to break my left arm and lose both the fine motor control and all of the sensation in my left hand for about 6 months... now that wrist just gets a little stiff with overuse.
-I can muddle through car repair, computer repair and software troubleshooting, I can wire and rewire a house, do plumbing and carpentry, and teach myself to do almost anything else that involves using my hands, as long as I can get my hands on books about it. I've worked in office environments doing scutwork, data entry, file management, and logistics support... and found that working in an office long-term is something I just can't do (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)
-I'm fast and accurate with handguns, a fair shot (but not fast) with shotguns and rifles, and I studied Aikido for a couple of years (mostly learning how to land without breaking and how to lock joints and pin people... throws were not my strong point). I can drive a 7 ton ambulance through downtown city streets, through red lights, off-road through bad terrain, and into oncoming traffic, and haven't wrecked yet. I've placed nationally rowing (the long, skinny racing boats that look like water bugs), but it's been a decade since I stepped into a shell.
-I've hiked and survived in most conditions between the New Mexico high desert in August and a snowstorm on Mt. Rainier at -15 F (roughly -25 C), and I've managed to get through 3 years as an EMT in North Seattle and Everett without some meth-head deciding I looked like a pushover. Environmental skills, both (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
-I can tend bar, play piano and trumpet, and speak just enough Spanish and Russian to get myself in trouble without actually being able to effectively communicate.

I'm always a bit surprised to see how many other people on Dumpshock live locally to Seattle. I've always figured it had something to do with home-field advantage.

[Kumo]

Really interesting people here... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)
I'm 27, male, single.
I'm Polish, living in Lublin (south-eastern Poland). I'm Catholic, but I also believe in reincarnation, spirits of nature, Tao... and some other things. And I REALLY don't have any problem with it - all that things fit like a cool set of puzzle (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif) . And I dislike these pesky catholic (or other) fundamentalists.
I own a herbal shop and also practice some kinds of natural medicine. I also use I Cing, runes, occasionally Tarot.
And I must start to work uot a bit... I'm not overweight, but my body starts to revolt against sedentary lifestyle.
I speak Polish, English (not fluent, but I hope You understand what I post here) and a bit German.

RPG: sadly, I never had enough time to play as often as I would. I started with Warhammer 12 years ago, later played L5R and a bit of oWoD Mage. My first Shadowrun was 2ed; I loved this universe, despite terrible Polish edition (one of first RPGs translated to Polish). Now my favourite is fourth edition. Oh, I also like boardgames, good books and movies... but I don't watch TV. 90% of it was a waste of time.

[tweak]

I'm a 33 year old male, 5'9", 165 lbs.

I started roleplaying in '87 with first edition D&D. I spent half a decade playing the oWOD stuff until it went to shit. During that time, I also played Shadowrun (2nd), Rifts, and anything cool I could find at GEN CON. In the summer months, I played Battletech. Now, my main interests are SR4, Advanced Squad Leader, and Battletech.

In my spare time, I practice Aikido and shoot at the local gun range. So I'll probably bump into some of the other Aikido folk here at some seminars next year -- probably gonna hit up the one in Dallas.

For work, I'm the jack of all trades. I work as an analyst doing overall business analysis as well as software development as needed. I look at Marketing, Pricing, Risk Management, and I will write code to deploy new strategies. I know C, x86 Assembly, C++, R, SQL, and I'll even do some .NET stuff as needed.

Politically, I'm FTW.

[SincereAgape]

Stumbled upon this thread a few weeks ago. I had originally abstained from posting, despite reading so many interesting biographies about various people who visit this community. This post will serve as a bump for those who missed this thread originally, or are just coming back to Dumpshock for a visit or to say hello.

Well. I work in a city called Hackensack in Northern New Jersey. Which is about thirty minutes from New York City. I do not go into the city as much as I used to, but it is always nice to know that I can hop aboard a bus or a train to avoid psychotic traffic and travel to a city full of culture and diversity. I grew up in a suburb around Baltimore Maryland, living the life of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer combined with reading and TRADING comic books, watching 80s movies, and watching a lot of Saturday morning cartoons (best child hood ever), before moving to a town outside of Chicago, IL. Moved out to New Jersey for college and have lived here for the past eight years. (Ugh has it been that long!)

Professionally I am a Social Worker, specializing in working with the mental illness population around the North New Jersey area. I provide counseling services in addition to setting up benefits for my clients. I spend half of my work week in the community, and therefore have the opportunity to interact and socialize with a lot of different people. Our clinical team is great, and we all work together very well. The benefits are good, but the money is not. There has to be a trade off. No one day is the same, and I love the fact that I am constantly on the go, and can experience an increased amount of stress at any given moment of the day (Stress gets the blood flowing the emotions stirring).

Personally, most of my life has been a different story. I suffer from Bi-polar II disorder, and was not properly diagnosed until early 2007. Therefore my life has been full of ups and downs, as I have experienced many rollar coasters and a lack of long term stability. I have been working since I was 14, my first job delivering news papers, and then becoming a supermarket cashier. Over the years I have worked in retail, security, as a marketing strategist, a journalist (No pay.), and as a EMT. One of my proudest achievements was paying for college on my own and not having any student loans to pay off after graduation. I also suffer from minor dyslexia, as it takes me forever to read anything off the computer and a long time to read from a book. Regardless I enjoy writing in my hand written letters and posting on forums like dumpshock.

Interests wise, I have so many. Music, sports, poetry, poker, reading, playing video games, hiking, biking, running. You name it I have tried it. My biggest claim to fame at the moment is being a practitioner of Muay Thai kickboxing for the past four years. I have trained at two fight camps, and have broken both of my hands. I use my geekery to work as a coach and a trainer for other fighters, after losing two amateur fights in 2006 and 2007. At the present moment I train at a kickboxing fitness gym, and serve as a part time fill in coach when the need arises. I am in the process of scouting Mixed Martial Arts Gyms in the local area, with the plans to join one if the prices are reasonable. In the future I want to coach basketball, soccer, or softball for kids or the developmental disabilities population.

Over the years I have dabbled the arts such as photography, and music. But I lacked the desire and heart to pursue those. I have come to the conclusion that I am a laborer and not an artist. If I had one had one wish in the world, I would wish to be a writer. That being said, I love working, and I love sweating. I love sports and anything that has to do with using my body. Religion has played a big factor into my life, and I have been away from mine for a long time. I have a vivid imagination and have been a fan of Roleplaying for a long time. Sadly, I spent a year of my life playing Cit of Heroes and am a 'recognizable' person on the Virtue server. Sad. Sad. Sad. But full of good memories, and I had the opportunity to make a lot of new friends from various places in the world. Many of whom I have met and talked to.

If my short time on Dumpshock has taught me anything, is that this is a community full of intelligent people, and filled with very creative minds and excellent writers. Overall it's a good community, one that is alive and active. Although it can be a bit negative at times, I wouldn't change the overall population at all.

[milk ducks]

25 year old american musician. Married an australian girl, moved down there for a few years before moving back to start a family. Our son is just over a month old now. Aaand, wow, you'd think there'd be more to talk about.

love,
nathan.

[Metapunk]

I am 20 years old, living in Denmark, still attending highschool, my third and last year:D before I went to high school I was at a circus school
I dont have a job at this time. I am not that strong in how to measure my height in feet and all that so you get it is plain metres, I am 1.74 metres.
I am trying to grow a goatee to match my long hair:P
For hobbies I am doing freerunning, acrobatics, juggling, double acrobatics and ofc RPG.
I have been playing Rpg for around, I think, 8-9 years now, but only 1 year with Shadowrun:( two of the years I was teaching RPG to young people as a job.

Nice to meet you all:)

[ravensmuse]

Professionally I am a Social Worker, specializing in working with the mental illness population around the North New Jersey area. I provide counseling services in addition to setting up benefits for my clients. I spend half of my work week in the community, and therefore have the opportunity to interact and socialize with a lot of different people. Our clinical team is great, and we all work together very well. The benefits are good, but the money is not. There has to be a trade off. No one day is the same, and I love the fact that I am constantly on the go, and can experience an increased amount of stress at any given moment of the day (Stress gets the blood flowing the emotions stirring).

Huh. I credential in the NY / NJ area. Wonder if I've ever done you, lol.

I love working with behavioral health people, because they are the nicest providers that you can talk to (when you can catch them). Most of them will take the time to talk things over with you and are generally on the ball when it comes to sending things in. Ya'll just need to get some fax machines though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[darthmord]

Well, gotta add my entry...

I'm a 34 year old male. I stand 6'2" tall and 230 lbs in weight. I have brown hair (with hints of gold & blonde) & grey-blue eyes. My wife & I have been married 14 years as of July of this year. We have four daughters ranging in age from 13 to 2. Like some others here, we have an atypical marriage. We are strongly committed to one another but engage in.. ahem, recreational activities with certain friends of ours.

I speak fluent American English, not the slang and other degradations visited upon our language. I also pronounce words how they are spelled. Thus Norfolk is 'Nor-Folk' not 'Nawfawk'. I can read Spanish and French enough to understand what is being said but my ability to speak both languages is lacking. I can at least relate basic concepts in Spanish though.

I'm originally from a little town in NW Ohio but have since moved all over the eastern portion of the US due to being Navy for a while. It's how I met my wife. I now live in Norfolk VA.

As for gaming, I've been an avid player of RPGs ever since Battletech 1st Edition. I started playing that when I was in 7th grade (back in '87). Have played D&D from 1st through 3.5, SR from 1st through 4th plus a smattering of other games over time (various Star wars, Star Trek, Renegade Legion, etc).

Over the last couple of years I've become a bit of a firearms enthusiast, mainly in the target shooting aspect.

Professionally, I'm a Network Engineer / System Admin / Computer Tech / Jack-of-all-Trades. I work for a major megacorporation / defense contractor. My current position is in software development of a GOTS patching mechanism for very low-bandwidth systems. I maintain our software with monthly updates.

[Warlordtheft]

Yes, I should definately rule the world.

But would you want to? I mean you'd be responsible for taking out the garbage in Mogadishu...me I decided that while I could accomplish it, it was not worth the effort. Go into business theres more money and less headeaches.

[Seriphen]

I'll add my entry.

I'm 25 and live in Clearfield, Utah. About 20 north of Salt Lake City. I have lived in Utah my entire life but with a previous job spent a year traveling around the country. I was a Network Tech for the city of Salt Lake untill two months ago. I have been gaming for quite a while now but don't get much time to play. I have played D&D, GURPS, and Shadowrun mostly. Also like to play Battletech when I get a chance. I have a Associates Degree from Weber State University and am still attending classes trying to finish my Bachelors in CS: Network and Security Administration. I am married with a 1 yr old son.

[SincereAgape]

Huh. I credential in the NY / NJ area. Wonder if I've ever done you, lol.

I love working with behavioral health people, because they are the nicest providers that you can talk to (when you can catch them). Most of them will take the time to talk things over with you and are generally on the ball when it comes to sending things in. Ya'll just need to get some fax machines though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Thank you for the kind words Raven. We're pretty punctional because we have to maintain our funding and get payed (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) .

[darthmord]

/casts thread necromancy (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

Having read all the way through this thread, I'm kinda amazed at the wide breadth of people and the walks of life we all come from.

It's neat reading a bit about some of the posters here.

Best of all, one of the folks who posted lives near me and we may be getting a local game going. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cyber.gif)

[Cheshyr]

30 male
Electronics R&D
was from Seattle, and will be going back. Presently in Philly, PA.

I picked up D&D from my friend Mike back in 1993-ish. He's been playing longer, and is generally a better gamer. Shadowrun was appealing, but I rarely got to play due to lack of interest among my social groups. Ended up DMing 2nd and 3rd edition D&D for about a decade. Glad to be able to finally play a continuous game of Shadowrun.

[Fezig]

I'm a 22 year old childcare provider, going to school to become an elementary school teacher. For a time I was going for a History degree, but I wanted a paycheck sooner and I've always loved education. I live in the Seattle area, and have for my entire life. I began PnP gaming when I was in grade school at first with my brother and later with a few friends. It is the one chance I get to both unwind and socialize in my busy schedule, and I really love getting to unleash my creative side at the same time.

I have a large retro game collection that my girlfriend doesn't try and take away (she actually loves the nostalgia of having all my SNES games around), I read history and philosophy as well as some good sci-fi/fantasy/punk/whatev fiction, and I am really into sports and classic cars. I currently own a 1968 Malibu and a 1964 Falcon that I'd love to fix up when I have the money. For now though, they are reliable daily drivers for me.

[cndblank]

Dallas, Corp IT drone, married white male, been running SR since I picked up the 1st edition at Gencon.

[Phatom]

33 born and raised in Montana with a Irish, British, Scotland, German, and Scandinavian descent, Brown eyes, dark brown hair( looks black), 5'10" 135 pounds, other then play SR 3rd over AIM I go fishing, hikeing, camping, and reading Sci-fi and fantasy books other then that I live a rather boring life unlike you all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rotfl.gif)

[NeoSilver]

24 years old, with the lousy luck to be stuck between jobs right now. Previous employment was for a telephone answering service; I worked the graveyard shifts on weekends. (Essentially I took messages for various business and services after they closed.) Well versed in human interaction, database entry work. I happen to hail from Walla Walla, Washington. Well-versed in SR3, though my introduction to it was the SNES game years ago

I'm also one of the newer (If not the newest) members here. So yeah: Hi.