The Cruelty of Fate, and The Kindness of Strangers

When I was 14, my parents were involved in a very, very serious car accident. My Father nearly lost his hand, and because he's a plumber, roofer and gas-fitter by trade, this was bad. But it was my Mother that copped the worst of it. She broke her neck, or, to be more accurate, basically crushed one of the discs in her neck out of existence. She was hospitalized for six months, and was told by the doctors that she was the only person with those injuries they'd seen that could still move her legs. She did, however, suffer a lot of nerve damage, and to this day can barely move because those nerves keep sending pain signals to her brain 24/7, and it's my job (and I do it gladly) to care for her and try and give her at least some quality of life. But a very nice thing happened that helped her a lot, so if you'll follow me after the jump, I'll tell you how the kindness of gamer-strangers helped her a great deal.

(No) Breakfast at Sweetheart's

First off, I want to apologize to the other contributors, especially Scoot, as this post isn't especially nerdy, but a lot of good things have been happening for me, and this is a story I feel I can tell, as is doesn't sting quite so badly these days. If you're looking for a typical Tao post, feel free to ignore this short story, but if you'd like to hear about how big of an oblivious idiot a man can be, follow me after the jump.

A Reminiscence Playlist: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

A picture of me, taken in '99

To this day, the most defining time in my life was the summer of the year 1999. Just a note for Northern Hemisphere readers, summer in the Southern Hemisphere (I live in Australia) is the months of November, December, and January. And it truly was the best of times, and the worst of times; the best, because I'd just quit high-school, and the world seemed full of possibilities, Christmas was just around the corner, and because I live in a town that's fifty meters from the beach, this makes it a popular destination over the Christmas break, and the town population increases by a factor of ten. What this means is that there are tourist girls a-plenty, and on Christmas day and the week after it, they show off their new bikinis they've been given as Christmas presents; it was a tradition among my drinking buddies to hit the beach on Christmas day at around 11am, beer cooler in tow, and we'd ogle all the lovely ladies and their new attire.

But it was also the worst of times. Mental illness was starting to be the predominant factor in my life (I suffered from severe depression, and also what one psychologist described as "the worst case of Panic Disorder I've ever seen.") I started to self-abuse: I'd start drinking as soon as I woke up (being utterly, utterly wasted was the only way I could leave the house due to the panic disorder), I'd cut myself, then moved on to burning myself. I have to explain why I did those things, as I think we've all seen how self-abusers are treated on the internet; how they're referred to as 'emos' and that they only do it for attention, etc, but I did it because I was in such a dark and painful place that hurting myself was the only way I could feel anything; also, holding a lighter under your arm for thirty seconds, apart from giving 3rd degree burns, focused my mind and brought me out of The Pit, if only for a short time.

My Complicated Relationship With Neon Genesis Evangelion

To say I love Neon Genesis Evangelion (from here on out to be referred to as EVA) is an understatement. It is one of the few things that fundamentally changed my life, in ways I’m still discovering to this day, around 13 years after I originally saw it. However, the only thing I feel as strongly as my love for the show is my hatred for speaking about it.

Anticiwaiting: Is It Worth It?

If you're a human over the age of ten, you know about waiting, in the same way you know about breathing and eating. (If you're not human, than allow me to be the first to welcome you and point out which meatsacks you should kill first, my Metal Overlord.)

My Topless Robot Daily List

Here's a link to the daily list I did for my favorite website, Topless Robot (www.toplessrobot.com) Many thanks to Rob Bricken for accepting it!
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2012/02/the_6_best_videogames_starring_the_aliens_from_ali.php