Reminiscences Of My Childhood, An Autobiographical Essay

You want to know why I am who I am today?

First and foremost, I blame my parents. They did this to me, you see.

My parents were a weird sort. Not weird like, "Granola and TinFoil hats" weird. Their particular flavour of weird was closer to "Let's strap on hand-made armour and/or hand-made period clothing and re-enact the middle ages using modern conveniences such as bathrooms, running water, electricity, etc."

(For those of you who just guessed I was an S.C.A. Brat, you get bonus points. For those of you who said Renn Fair Brat, close this blog, go outside, close your eyes, and play in traffic. Or deep-throat a cactus, take your pick.)

The S.C.A. was, at the time, the greatest thing that could ever happen to my life. Once a month, I was allowed to get dressed up in costume and run around huge campgrounds and recreation areas, meeting new people constantly, learning about everything from sword fighting to calligraphy and back again. I learned how to cook, to barter, play the djimba and didgeridoo, and so much more before I even hit puberty. I learned of a myriad of alternate lifestyles and religions, all of which seemed awesome and exciting to a child my age. Hell, my S.C.A. name, Kveld Ulfr Des Fjords (Old Norse for "Evening Wolf of the Waters"), was so synonymous with who I was that (at times) I answered more readily to Kveld than Chris!

It was a great time of my life. But the weird influences did not even begin there, and they certainly did not end as we packed up from events.

While I was in the womb, my mother would put earphones on her baby bump and play Queen, Jethro Tull, and Alice Cooper. Immediately out of the womb, my father's influence was added, with Pink Floyd, Heart, Huey Lewis and the News, and more joining my previous affiliations. To this day, I maintain that these are the reasons music has been such a big factor in my life, and the foundation given to me in those formative days has only led my natural progression to current tastes, such as Dommin, Megadeth, and Iced Earth.

As well, through the interactions of my parents and their assorted friends, I was exposed to Elvira, early Doctor Who (we used to man the phones during Doctor Who marathons for LPB), and Mystery Science Theater 3000 (colloquially known as MST3K), as well as other cult features such as Army Of Darkness and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. My father, upon seeing my enthusiasm for these features, proceeded to feed them to me on a regular basis, which included all-night viewings of TNT's "Monstervision" where I viewed some of the greatest (and worst) horror movies ever made weekly, further shaping my tastes for decades to come.

And there's more. My parents and their friends also gave to me what I now consider my greatest assets: my "geek cred", as it were. I watched, intrigued, as men I had known my entire life played the original Beta release of Magic: The Gathering on our kitchen table, learning the rules for the first time. I listened to and watched games of D&D unfold before my eyes. I marveled at my father's dedication to playing and beating (with my mother as his "navigator") Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior 1-3, and more. Star Wars was omnipresent alongside Excalibur and Labyrinth and The Princess Bride. Comics were ingrained in my DNA.

This is all not to say I was not interested in typical things in my youth; on the contrary, I was a fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Masters Of The Universe, Voltron, G.I. Joe, and Transformers, same as every child in those days. I played Nintendo, had (and still maintain) a massive Lego collection, and used my father's flashlights as lightsabers. My childhood just had a few extra... perks.

After leaving the S.C.A. in my teen years (long story, but let's just say my personal involvement ended with my cursing out an entire e-mail list full of adults with language that would make a sailor blush), I found myself the odd man out. No one else I knew was interested in Norse mythology, or sword fighting, or cheap Sci-Fi. They were far more interested in professional wrestling, and cars, and heavy metal. So I tried to fit in, coming to appreciate wrestling (at the time). But the fundamentals instilled in me during those formative years in the S.C.A. never disappeared.

I still believe in chivalry.

I still believe that every man should learn how to handle a sword properly.

I still believe that cooking a feast and eating a meal together with dozens of your closest friends and family is tantamount to what others would call "Heaven".

I still believe in friends being family.

I still believe in faded "Highlander" shirts and B.Y.O.E. (Bring Your Own Everything) parties and multi-day games of Uno and proudly displaying that sword you found that goes great with your persona.

I still believe in my childhood.


Cheers!
-C. Priest Brumley