10 things I know you don't know about Strider

Oh hey, just spending Spring Break with my girlfriend, doing all sorts of shit that has nothing to do with the internet. Lemme get back onto Dtoid real quick and see what's- holy Spanish-American Jesus working 3 jobs Christ that's a lot of list posts.

But that's a good thing. You probably don't know a lot about me because A) I'm some kind of ninja and B) I don't talk about the details of my existence a whole lot. I mean, I sure as hell talk about myself but do you really know me? Truly? Truly truly?

No you don't, because this is the internet. So let me churn this one out quickly so I can get back to my girlfriend.

1) I'm super straight edge about most of life's vices
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty high. High on life. I'm too kick butt about how being sober and clean about drugs and stuff to really stop and consider them.

But in all seriousness, there have been plenty of chances to try some of life's sweeter things. I went to a Catholic high school, so drugs and alcohol are bound to be there. I hear my valedictorian is a coked out stripper now. I go to college but never touched the stuff. I have plenty of friends who smoke. But who cares, right? I do have one big addiction and we all know what that is.

Dicks.

No, I'm kidding. Video games.



2) I consider myself terrible with money
Sometimes, I think I should lock my money away in a place with a one-way opening door. That is air-tight. I'm terrible at keeping that shit underwraps. I'm not saying I believe every two-bit conman who promises me asteroid insurance when I clearly know that I should be buying meteorite insurance. I'm saying I love spending money and I need someone to tell me no.

I don't even make big purchases either, otherwise I'd really scare myself into not touching my money. It's a large number of smaller purchases that eat away at my checking account. Like a $10 lunch at Ruby's. Or $20 for gas after driving all over town. Or $3 for ice cream while I get a $4 smoother later that day.

3) I have a black belt
While Beyamor seems to have a distaste for his own black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I owe my optimistic and generally awesome adult personality to my black belt in Hapkido.

So get this, I wasn't always that loud and proud dude who speaks his mind bluntly and high kicks evil-doers. I used to be shy and quiet through most of my life until high school. Generally, a try-not-to-ruffle-any-feathers kind of approach to life. But than my parents signed me up for Hapkido for some exercise and that bro disappeared.

Not only did it make me slightly more fit and healthy, I gained a lot more confidence in just about every facet of my life, including aliens. Because aliens! I wasn't ashamed of my body anymore and learning self-defense made me feel better about existing in this imperfect world of violence.

ALIENS.



4) I'm an anime weeaboo
It all started with Toonami. Several Dtoiders know what I'm talking about as Twitter collectively watched Toonami return on Adult Swim on April Fool's weekend. For me, my gateway was Gundam Wing, which is forever the only Gundam in my heart. Gundam 00? Too convoluted. Gundam Seed? Too emo. G Gundam? Ok, that was pretty awesome, combining martial arts fighting tropes with Gundam. But it all started with 5 pretty boy terrorists with mecha that were higher spec than traditional military robots and armed with ridiculous fire power.

It only escalated with each iteration of my academic career. Joined the anime club of both my high school and my university. Saw all kinds of anime from touchy-feely shoujo to action-packed, manly violence. I download the stuff straight from torrents, read mangas, and even browse 4chan for my news on subs.

Maybe you already know this but let's be honest. If I'm not playing video games, I'm watching anime.

5) One of my favorite shows is Robot Chicken
So we have Adventure Time and Regular Show as obvious favorites but as a comedy nerd, I started really loving surreal comedy with Robot Chicken. I know nearly every sketch by heart and can at least reference any single one of them.

How about Senor Clean? Or maybe Gummy Bear Trap? The Humping Robot movie trailer starring Daniel Day Lewis and Kate Winslet? Or Street Fighter at the office?

That damn show is an affirmation of all my nerdy and geeky loves rolled into a show that has been successful enough to release 5 complete season DVD's and is still going.

6) I took a ceramics class in high school and really got into it
I even won an art contest with my prized entry. I called it the heavy metal teapot. After learning the basics and coiling clay to make teapots, I stylized it with random and oftentimes dangerously sharp metal wires and topped it off with a chain. After we fired it, I glazed it black with red marks at the base of the metal and I had myself an extremely dangerous looking teapot and I mean both functionally and design-wise. It could probably be used as a murder weapon akin to a mace and I really wouldn't want to run into this teapot in a dark alley.

A lot of fun to make though!

7) When I traveled to Japan, I got sucked into an office party
After working my first part-time job for nearly a year, I conveniently had just enough money to go on my high school's newly announced Spring Break trip to Japan. Imagine a high school weeaboo like me finally going to Japan. Luckily, I went with a lot of friends to keep me grounded in reality.

One night, our hotel stop was picked so we could experience the Japanese love of hot springs. After wandering around in our yukatas, me and my friends noticed a party down the hall. My friends dared me to waltz in and pretend to be apart of the fun, like a vaguely white, Vietnamese teenager could pass as Japanese, let alone one of the employees invited to this drunken party.

Well, I was still doing martial arts, so of course I did it. Not only did I walk in like it was the most natural thing in the world, not only did I manage a broken conversation with an office worker, and not only did I take part in an en-mass janken game, when I walk back out like the god I was, the party somehow followed me out.

So suddenly American high school students were rubbing elbows with drunken white collar workers and talking about how great the place was. Also, there was a man in a cheerleader's outfit.



The hotel staff showed up and told us to disperse because they don't like fun. Also, we were blocking the elevators so it was probably a fire hazard.

8) I have nearly daily allergies
It's the reason why I don't own pets, which I think would be awesome. I'm allergic to animal fur in general. You got a dog? My eyes will water after a while. Got a cat? I'll have trouble breathing if I'm in the same room as them. Even mother nature conspires against me with dust and pollen. I'm the kind of guy of wakes up, takes in a deep breath, and considers whether he should take Claritin for the day or not.

Don't even get me started on high wind alerts. My sneezes are also uncontrollably and impolitely loud. I can't control them but it always startles people the first time and is sure to break their concentration every time afterward. I think it breaks the sound barrier too.

9) I love to eat
I don't know if you picked up on it from number two, but I'm more of a live to eat guy than a eat to live kind of guy. If there's something new to tantalize my taste buds and tummy, I have to get it in my mouth. I love trying new candy like chocolate toffee, Australian licorice, or mint M&M's. If the Kogi's Korean fusion truck rolls around, I have to make plans to see it. I found a pop culture smoothie drinks place called Pop Drinks which is themed from the 80's. My favorite drink there is the Donkey Kong followed by the Jane Fonda Mai Thai. If I so much as pass by an exotic foods restaurant, I have to stop at least once. I've discovered an Egyptian restaurant on my commute to work and I absolutely must stop there one day.

I won't say I'm a particularly adventurous eater the likes of Andrew Zimmer on Travel channel. But if it's new and making a buzz, I'll fork over the cash to try it. Luckily, this also translates to being a halfway decent cook in order to satisfy my appetite when leaving the house is too much of a hassle.



10) I picked up writing because it seemed like the hipster thing to do
I'm Asian. Big surprise right? Well, I was bored by the idea of becoming yet another Asian doctor or yet another Asian attorney. Basically, another statistic in the census report. I told my mom I'd probably be one of those but then came the day where you sat down in the counselor’s office and told him what you wanted to do.

When I was little, I thought I wanted to be a biologist. When I realized I had no fucking clue what a biologist actually does, I decided marine biologist because I think they're marine scientists or something. At least it was more focused. Then I realized that I really loved reading all these magazines I've been subscribed to for years like Gamepro and Electronic Gaming Monthly. Could I really make a career out of putting words onto a piece of paper and having people read it? Let alone having those words be about video games?

I tried blogging a bit and decided, “Yeah, I like telling others what I'm like about video games and what I'm thinking anyways, so I might as well see if I can have a job that involves doing something I seem to derive great pleasure from.”

Of course, these days, it seems like my mother was right but at least I'm not some poor shmuck in nursing school right now. Struggling to pay tuition, planning on paying loans, pushing down other nursing students in an extremely competitive job environment.

Oh wait, that last one fits the field of journalism right now. Well, I'd rather be writing about current events then know how much drugs to put into someone's medication anyways.

- Show me your moves

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