Sunday, April 10, 2005

My Own Hand-Drawn Asylum - Part 1

As some of you may know, I grew up with the sport of tennis on my shoulders. The school bus would drop me off at the courts on weekdays and weekends were spent at the tennis shop where I'd pretty much play matches or find ways to entertain myself. One of my earliest escapes from the mundane was when I woke up as early as I could to catch cartoons. I'd get up as early as they'd start (sometimes sleep in my sleeping bag in the living room so I'd be ready in the morning) which was usually around 6am. I knew just which channels had my Scooby Doo, Johnny Quest, Superfriends, Robotech, Voltron and many others. I also knew just when to turn the channel to avoid watching the Smurfs, Snorks and Littles. During summer vacations we'd usually go on tennis trips (play tournaments in other cities while bringing a bunch of other kids along.) This of course was also a bit of torture but I found ways to pass the time stuck in the car/van/RV by reading comic books. Then again, I think that back then 50 to 75 cents was a cheap way to silence a child for a few hours. Something about the stories sucked me in. I would wind up not eating lunch at junior high school just so I could use the money to walk next door to buy the latest comics. This lasted until close to the end of high school when I looked at the stack and saw "obsession" written all over it. Didn't make diddly squat selling them but it was a need to prove something to myself. Oddly enough, none of my family ever shared those same interests but I do think it helped define my need to escape reality and search for a good story.

1 comment:

Martin said...

That one sounds really familiar Vavoom. For some reason, I'm thinking G-Force but I don't think it is. Damn, that's gonna haunt me. And, I couldn't list everything. Thundercats, GI Joe, Dungeons & Dragons... crap, I can spend a week listing them hahaha (I'm also avoiding the ones that you couldn't pay me to watch.)