Island of Misfit Toys... part 1

It's funny how quickly the little things can change in your life.

This year has seen the most fundamental changes to my world that I’ve ever experienced. There are the obvious ones like getting married, and there have been more subtle ones like the shift in my friend base. It got me thinking about the first time I had a substantial shift in my friends.

I know they are only a few states away, but the interests of your typical guy in St. Louis is a hell of a lot different then the same demographic here in St. Lou. I had a pretty substantial friend base in Ohio that included (but wasn’t limited too) nerds, dorks, geeks, dweebs, goofs and oddballs. The fact that my roommate and I were a bit more successful then most of these guys made for us being the nebulous of these lovable misfits.

Over many a bar tab we would have conversations about how they really screwed up the re-release of Star War when Han didn't shoot first, how Magneto sees himself as a savior not a villain, the best way to detain a Bigfoot (which left me with my Indian name Squatcheye, Yeti Sympathizer), and, the various merits of ordering your bride from China verses Russian.

Surrounded by people that played more video games then I did, learned Klingon from online classes, and were on a seemingly never ending quest to save enough money to move out of their parents home, I seemed downright hip.

It was a rude awakening when I moved to St. Louis and realized that you shouldn’t ever say the words “I’m not really into sports”, stating you’re an artist makes people assume you’re gay and the proper response to being called a hoosier is not “Close… actually I’m from Ohio.”

In other words, for the first time since 8^th grade, I was a social outcast.

So I didn’t have a lot of friends. Those that I did meet were in the art community and most of them happened to be women (which, at the time, I didn’t see as much of a problem.)

I did eventually meet my buddy J, (coincidentally in a Comic shop) who, besides being as un-hip as me, also is one of the most loyal and honest men I’ve ever met. He introduced me to a few of his friends, but generally speaking, that “friend of a friend” thing is always there and you feel awkward if that connecting friend isn’t around.

I dated around some too, but I tend to be the guy that women think they should be with instead of the one they want to be with. That white knight. The comfy teddy bear. The guy you run back to when you realize the bad boy you’ve been dating has another girl on the side or still treats you just as bad as the 3 times you were with him before.

Wow… all this back story and we haven’t even gotten close to the point of this little rant. But I’ve run out of time, so I guess I’ll have save the rest for the next post. Stay tuned for part II…