Sandrock74
4th Level Green Feather
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2001
- Messages
- 4,775
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Well...I don't know if anyone will read this or not, but I figured I would make one of these profiles for fun. For anyone who may care, my story begins way back in the odd disco era of the mid-seventies...
I was born in Detroit and spent the first decade of my life there before we moved out to the suburbs. I'd like to be able to say that I grew up on the mean streets, or I was in my first drive by shooting at age 6, or confirm that Detroit looks just like everything you saw in Robocop, but I would be lying. My childhood was fairly uneventful all in all. Like most kids my age, I grew up on a healthy diet of Star Wars. This was the age before video games, mind you...there wasn't much else at the time! Unlike kids nowadays, we were expected to play outdoors. As such, I actively engaged my imagination. Some say I never really stopped. Who knows, maybe they're right? Anyway, my favorite toys in the world were the giant Shogun Warriors robots. These things were HUGE!
<a href="http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/?action=view¤t=shogun3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/shogun3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Seriously, what kid wouldn't like a toy they could barely see over?!?
Anyway, as I got a little bit older, I started to like comic books. Whenever my mom and I walked down the street to the local 7-11, I would beg her for a comic book (or two). My very first comic was the Uncanny X-Men # 122.
<a href="http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/?action=view¤t=X-Men-122.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/X-Men-122.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Just seeing the cover was enough to make me a life long fan of the medium. It was truely one of those life altering moments, since that moment in time influenced a lot from then on. Thats rather impressive since I was all of 4 years old at the time! The adults in my life were all pretty busy people, so no one would read the comic books to me. Following the stories by pictures alone wasn't satisfying enough to me, so I went on to teach myself how to read, so I could better understand what was happening in the issues. I just began with the characters or titles logos, sounded everything out and just went from there. No one had realized I was doing this, so it was something of a surprise to everyone when I began school and already knew how to read! I just assumed thats what all the other kids did.
When I was 5, I had another one of those life altering moments. One afternoon while watching tv, I saw the (very) old Popeye cartoon where Olive Oyl was on a ghost ship and she was tickled. Its hard to describe, but I just knew something was different now. It would take years for anything to come of it obviously, but the whole tickling thing can be traced back to that particular moment. Go figure.
As I got older and the 80's came, I was just your normal school kid who loved the (then) new G.I. Joe toys coming out. That was the big new thing then. There was something else other than Star Wars! I still played outside all the time, kept collecting comics and my favorite cartoon was "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends". <a href="http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/?action=view¤t=1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> I used to always hope Firestar would be tickled during the show, even if I didn't know why. Coincidently, I believe I can trace my attraction to redheads back to this. Chicks with red hair are hot! Especially if they wear a mask and fly around I guess?
1984 was a big year. We moved to the suburbs, got cable, Van Halens album "1984" debuted, Star Wars was officially in carbon hibernation until 1999 and the Transformers came out! Yeah baby! Transformers = BEST. TOYS. EVER. No argument. The Hair bands were getting into full swing and neon colors and skinny ties started becoming something people wore. The girls ratted their hair a foot above their scalps. Wow...the 80's was a weird time.
In 1988 - 1992, I was in high school. I met several people who I am still friends with today. I am stunned to think that that was 20 years ago! Its true what people say, time goes by faster as you get older. By this point I knew I liked tickling but I just kept it to myself, since I had no reason to believe anyone else would like it. The internet was still a few years off.
I had the chance to go to the Joe Kubert school in New Jersey (for comic book art), but I was afraid to move out of state, by myself, so I opted to stay home and go to college locally. I eventually went thru college and by January 1996, I got my first career type of job. I was working at a newspaper, in the circulation department. I was making good money and having fun with my friends, so I foolishly turned my lifelong dream of making comic books into something "unattainable" and it faded into something I wanted but couldn't have. Anyway, I got a promotion to Assistant Circulation Director with a raise and I got a bachelor pad. All was reasonably right in my world.
I made the mistake of letting myself grow complacent. Things were great at work, I was getting regular raises and I eventually was appointed the Circulation Director, while I was still only in my late-20's! I finally got around to getting my own computer at home and I was online bumming around the (now) old tickle sites. I was thrilled to discover that I wasn't alone after all! This still predated the creation of the TMF, but I didn't feel like such a loner in respects to tickling. When the TMF was begun, I was there. I didn't get around to registering for several months thou. I stuck mainly to the art forum for a long time.
My life started going downhill on my birthday in 2001 (just a month after 9/11). I was laid off from my job, but I had saved mucho money, got a severence package and could collect unemployment, so I just coasted thru the remainder of the year, enjoying the chance to relax for a change. I had met the future Ex just before I was laid off (I still think that was too much for a coincidence) and we started dating. She was perfectly ticklish, but absolutely hated being tickled and would never allow it. She's the first person I ever told about my tickle fetish, but she wouldn't budge on the issue. She wanted nothing to do with it (as lee or ler).
As we went on dating, I became close with her son (my future step-son) who was only 3 at the time. His father had run out on them before he was born, so he never had a father. Needless to say, we were inseperable. I always said I was a better father than a husband, and the ex agrees with that, so I guess there's something to it. She and I eventually got married, which, in retrospect, was a big mistake, because we had too many problems to work out first. I had eventually got a job as a warehouse manager for a small but growing company, but I was never comfortable there. The owner and I were just too different.
By 2006, with the state economy being listed as worst in the country, all my friends moved out of state. I was miserable at work and my marriage was falling apart. I was even told by a few people that I just didn't look good. I wasn't around the TMF much. Tickling had become a pipe dream, just like making comic books. To be completely honest, with the exception of fun stuff I did with my stepson, I don't even recall much from between 2002-2007. I was just so miserable.
I had eventually lost my new job, but I was honestly happy about that because of how miserable it made me. I still don't miss it. I do miss the paper job thou...that was fun. The divorce was final in late 2007 and I moved out. The Ex made sure I had limited exposure to her son (basically, when I could pick him up or babysit him for free). I haven't seen him now in just over a year. I miss him terribly. Its a painful feeling when someone takes your kid away.
After bumming around for a bit, totally undecided in what to do with my life, I figured I would just bite the bullet and go ahead to fulfill the dream of that 4 year old boy picking up his first comic book! I was in my early 30's and not getting younger, and with the massive lay offs in my state, finding a decent job is next to impossible anyway. I finally sat down one day and just began all the research into what it would require to make my own comics, distribue and sell them. With the internet in full swing, I found it was (relatively) easier than I thought and a bit cheaper too. I went to the county building, made a company and got to work!
By the end of 2008, my first issue came out, the second should be out by the time this is read by anyone and the third is in production. I'm not making the kind of money that I used to, but I am finally doing what I want. I feel I am on a positive path in life. Also in 2008, I decided I would become a more active poster on the TMF and I began in earnest during the NHLEE. I also attended my first gathering, which fell on the same weekend as my birthday. It was great to meet the people behind the screennames! There still isn't any tickling in my life, but we'll just see where things may lead. I guess I'm here on the TMF mainly for the comraderie and for fun.
Geez, this went on for way too long! Well, I'll wrap it up now, so as not to put you to sleep (too late!). I guess thats all then. Go on and do fun stuff now!
I was born in Detroit and spent the first decade of my life there before we moved out to the suburbs. I'd like to be able to say that I grew up on the mean streets, or I was in my first drive by shooting at age 6, or confirm that Detroit looks just like everything you saw in Robocop, but I would be lying. My childhood was fairly uneventful all in all. Like most kids my age, I grew up on a healthy diet of Star Wars. This was the age before video games, mind you...there wasn't much else at the time! Unlike kids nowadays, we were expected to play outdoors. As such, I actively engaged my imagination. Some say I never really stopped. Who knows, maybe they're right? Anyway, my favorite toys in the world were the giant Shogun Warriors robots. These things were HUGE!
<a href="http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/?action=view¤t=shogun3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/shogun3.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Seriously, what kid wouldn't like a toy they could barely see over?!?
Anyway, as I got a little bit older, I started to like comic books. Whenever my mom and I walked down the street to the local 7-11, I would beg her for a comic book (or two). My very first comic was the Uncanny X-Men # 122.
<a href="http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/?action=view¤t=X-Men-122.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/X-Men-122.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> Just seeing the cover was enough to make me a life long fan of the medium. It was truely one of those life altering moments, since that moment in time influenced a lot from then on. Thats rather impressive since I was all of 4 years old at the time! The adults in my life were all pretty busy people, so no one would read the comic books to me. Following the stories by pictures alone wasn't satisfying enough to me, so I went on to teach myself how to read, so I could better understand what was happening in the issues. I just began with the characters or titles logos, sounded everything out and just went from there. No one had realized I was doing this, so it was something of a surprise to everyone when I began school and already knew how to read! I just assumed thats what all the other kids did.
When I was 5, I had another one of those life altering moments. One afternoon while watching tv, I saw the (very) old Popeye cartoon where Olive Oyl was on a ghost ship and she was tickled. Its hard to describe, but I just knew something was different now. It would take years for anything to come of it obviously, but the whole tickling thing can be traced back to that particular moment. Go figure.
As I got older and the 80's came, I was just your normal school kid who loved the (then) new G.I. Joe toys coming out. That was the big new thing then. There was something else other than Star Wars! I still played outside all the time, kept collecting comics and my favorite cartoon was "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends". <a href="http://s397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/?action=view¤t=1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp56/first_citizenx/1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> I used to always hope Firestar would be tickled during the show, even if I didn't know why. Coincidently, I believe I can trace my attraction to redheads back to this. Chicks with red hair are hot! Especially if they wear a mask and fly around I guess?
1984 was a big year. We moved to the suburbs, got cable, Van Halens album "1984" debuted, Star Wars was officially in carbon hibernation until 1999 and the Transformers came out! Yeah baby! Transformers = BEST. TOYS. EVER. No argument. The Hair bands were getting into full swing and neon colors and skinny ties started becoming something people wore. The girls ratted their hair a foot above their scalps. Wow...the 80's was a weird time.
In 1988 - 1992, I was in high school. I met several people who I am still friends with today. I am stunned to think that that was 20 years ago! Its true what people say, time goes by faster as you get older. By this point I knew I liked tickling but I just kept it to myself, since I had no reason to believe anyone else would like it. The internet was still a few years off.
I had the chance to go to the Joe Kubert school in New Jersey (for comic book art), but I was afraid to move out of state, by myself, so I opted to stay home and go to college locally. I eventually went thru college and by January 1996, I got my first career type of job. I was working at a newspaper, in the circulation department. I was making good money and having fun with my friends, so I foolishly turned my lifelong dream of making comic books into something "unattainable" and it faded into something I wanted but couldn't have. Anyway, I got a promotion to Assistant Circulation Director with a raise and I got a bachelor pad. All was reasonably right in my world.
I made the mistake of letting myself grow complacent. Things were great at work, I was getting regular raises and I eventually was appointed the Circulation Director, while I was still only in my late-20's! I finally got around to getting my own computer at home and I was online bumming around the (now) old tickle sites. I was thrilled to discover that I wasn't alone after all! This still predated the creation of the TMF, but I didn't feel like such a loner in respects to tickling. When the TMF was begun, I was there. I didn't get around to registering for several months thou. I stuck mainly to the art forum for a long time.
My life started going downhill on my birthday in 2001 (just a month after 9/11). I was laid off from my job, but I had saved mucho money, got a severence package and could collect unemployment, so I just coasted thru the remainder of the year, enjoying the chance to relax for a change. I had met the future Ex just before I was laid off (I still think that was too much for a coincidence) and we started dating. She was perfectly ticklish, but absolutely hated being tickled and would never allow it. She's the first person I ever told about my tickle fetish, but she wouldn't budge on the issue. She wanted nothing to do with it (as lee or ler).
As we went on dating, I became close with her son (my future step-son) who was only 3 at the time. His father had run out on them before he was born, so he never had a father. Needless to say, we were inseperable. I always said I was a better father than a husband, and the ex agrees with that, so I guess there's something to it. She and I eventually got married, which, in retrospect, was a big mistake, because we had too many problems to work out first. I had eventually got a job as a warehouse manager for a small but growing company, but I was never comfortable there. The owner and I were just too different.
By 2006, with the state economy being listed as worst in the country, all my friends moved out of state. I was miserable at work and my marriage was falling apart. I was even told by a few people that I just didn't look good. I wasn't around the TMF much. Tickling had become a pipe dream, just like making comic books. To be completely honest, with the exception of fun stuff I did with my stepson, I don't even recall much from between 2002-2007. I was just so miserable.
I had eventually lost my new job, but I was honestly happy about that because of how miserable it made me. I still don't miss it. I do miss the paper job thou...that was fun. The divorce was final in late 2007 and I moved out. The Ex made sure I had limited exposure to her son (basically, when I could pick him up or babysit him for free). I haven't seen him now in just over a year. I miss him terribly. Its a painful feeling when someone takes your kid away.
After bumming around for a bit, totally undecided in what to do with my life, I figured I would just bite the bullet and go ahead to fulfill the dream of that 4 year old boy picking up his first comic book! I was in my early 30's and not getting younger, and with the massive lay offs in my state, finding a decent job is next to impossible anyway. I finally sat down one day and just began all the research into what it would require to make my own comics, distribue and sell them. With the internet in full swing, I found it was (relatively) easier than I thought and a bit cheaper too. I went to the county building, made a company and got to work!
By the end of 2008, my first issue came out, the second should be out by the time this is read by anyone and the third is in production. I'm not making the kind of money that I used to, but I am finally doing what I want. I feel I am on a positive path in life. Also in 2008, I decided I would become a more active poster on the TMF and I began in earnest during the NHLEE. I also attended my first gathering, which fell on the same weekend as my birthday. It was great to meet the people behind the screennames! There still isn't any tickling in my life, but we'll just see where things may lead. I guess I'm here on the TMF mainly for the comraderie and for fun.
Geez, this went on for way too long! Well, I'll wrap it up now, so as not to put you to sleep (too late!). I guess thats all then. Go on and do fun stuff now!
