Yes, shit was cray cray back then.  10 years ago, I was a member of an anime club.  It was called the anime and games club.  My claim to fame back then?  My cousin was one of the founding members (and another founding member is part of Team Mixed Nuts today.)  Our own MFNegatron also met me during this dangerous period of my life.

Durning my tenure at the “AnG” as it was called, I met all sorts of wonderful and crazy people.  I also spent time doing Judo, Kung-Fu, a girlfriend (that would later serve as the basis of a manga), and classes when I could spare the time.  So like most other kids stuck in the junior college trap, I spent about 4 years at SWC.  Most of those years were spent in the company of people like those in the picture above.

I don’t regret it though.  It was because of those fellow geeks that I was able to accept my geek side fully and live without regret or limits for the first time.  Up to that point, I had to keep my powerlevel relatively hidden since nobody could really relate to my geekdom.  We had anime viewings, club festivals, and game days….but we spent a lot of time dicking around in our cubicle.  And people loved to complain about that.

(Fortunately I didn’t mind reaching out to the other clubs in the ASO, so we eventually reached mutual understandings.  For the more stubborn clubs, I would show up in my Judo gi and be up front with them.)

Fast forward some 10 years later, and I’m now a staffer for Anime Conji, San Diego’s first anime convention.  The more that I think about it, the more I realize shit hasn’t changed.  Anime fans are still the same.  Maybe that’s why I don’t mind working with anime otaku, because I’m used to it.

Which brings me to a point.  I am the way I am because I was shaped by all these experiences I had.  Especially with these anime otaku.  That’s why I can speak and write the way I do.  I gained a lot of confidence from all those people in my past.

So if you don’t have any confidence in what you do, write, or say, then it’s time you took a good look at yourself in the mirror and say,

“Fuck it.  What’s the worst that can happen?”

These people taught me to be yourself, and that your identity is the single most important possession.  Don’t lose it.