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About the Author
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Hi.
I’m Shamus Young, a 37 year old software engineer and a happily married father of 3. I’m a Christian, although some might find me a bit unorthodox. In my free time I tend to play videogames, watch Anime, play D&D, and write software of dubious value. I also tend to write about these things here.
Email me: shamus -at- shamusyoung dot com
I enjoy reading the bios of other bloggers, and I’m assuming I am not unique. So, it is for the benefit of other curious folks that I offer this collection of personal trivia.
Ten useless facts about myself:
1. I’m a chronic asthmatic.
This means that I must constantly take drugs to keep the airways of my lungs from swelling up and suffocating me. Most asthmatics have drugs that they take at regular intervals (once or twice a day) to prevent attacks. In addition most have an inhaler, which they huff on to fend off an attack once it has started. I have lived this way since childhood. I’ve had numerous attacks in my life that would have been fatal if I didn’t get to the hospital. The asthma affected my life a great deal, keeping me from being too active and making me constantly sick. I ALWAYS had my inhaler with me, and was paranoid about forgetting it. The medicines have improved over the decades, reducing the severity of the side-effects they inflicted, reducing the dosage frequency, and reducing the total number of different medications needed, but my life was always a struggle to keep breathing without too many side-effects.
Then in 2002 I managed to get some new drugs (Singulair and Advair) and my life underwent a massive change. I used to have several asthma attacks a week. I have not had one in over a year. I don’t carry my inhaler anymore. In fact, I’m not even sure where it is at the moment. I can exercise like normal people. I can do manual labor. The new drugs don’t have any severe side effects.
You know some people are always railing about “evil pharmaceutical companies”? Those people crack me up.
2. I can’t grow a beard.
I’m not sure why. I started growing chin fuzz at about the same age as everyone else, but it never developed beyond that. I might be able to grow a goatee, but it would be rather sparse and uneven. All of the men in my family are quite hairy and able to grow big bushy beards at will, and posess plenty of chest hair, but not me.
My great-great grandmother was a sioux indian. Perhaps my beardlessness is a result of my (admittedly minor) Sioux heritage? A side-effect of all the asthma medicine I took during my formative years? Just a fluke? Who knows.
I wish I could grow a beard. I’d look good in a beard.
3. I was the first male in my family who did not serve in the military.
My grandfather served in the army in WWII, was a POW, got a purple heart. His son – my father – served in the Marines. My mom’s brothers both served. One was in the air force and then went on to work as an engineer on the Apollo program. Most of my various cousins served as well. Some were career, some just served a four-year stretch. Some were officers. Most were enlisted. One served in the first Gulf war.
Once I graduated from High School (1990) I went to the recruiter’s office. I knew that asthmatics couldn’t serve, but I thought they might have some sort of… I don’t know… desk job or something? Sure, I can’t fight, but I can polish shoes and file paperwork with the best of them! Then I was told (although I already suspected) that no, there isn’t any “Army-lite”. I couldn’t get in at all. Took about thirty seconds, and it was all over. Next thing I knew I was outside with a new 1991 Be All You Can Be calendar and no idea what to do with myself.
4. I don’t have a degree.
This is uncommon (but not unheard of) for people in my line of work. I went to a tech school in Pittsburgh for a year. It was very expensive and didn’t teach me anything useful. Most of what I was learning (such as COBOL and RPG) was already obsolete, and the stuff that wasn’t obsolete was stuff I already knew. So I dropped out.
5. I met my wife at McDonalds.
We both worked there. She was a senior in high school, and I was a loser who’d given up on tech school and was still flipping burgers with no real career in sight. She invited me to her prom. We dated until she finished five years of college, and got married the month after she graduated. (Which was in January. Who gets married in January? I did. At least it’s easy to rent the hall at that time of year.)
January of 2007 will mark our tenth aniversary.
6. I’ve known what I wanted to do for a living since before I was 10.
Ask the average teenager, “what do you want to do with your life?” and you will get shrugs and mumbles. Not me. Since the moment I became aware of computers I knew my purpose. From childhood on I have continually worked towards my goal of understanding the arcane languages spoken by computers. I never really wanted to do anything else. I have spent the last couple of decades tapping away at the keyboard, learning how to speak to the machine that I might bend it to my will.
It’s a good gig.
7. I work from home
I’ve had to make some financial sacrifices to get to this point, but the tradeoff is easily worth it. I can’t imagine working in an office again. I don’t throw away an hour or two of each day in commute. I don’t have to wear and maintain a wardrobe of uncomfortable dress clothes which only serve to distract the wearer by being hot & itchy. I control my own workspace, which means I can have a huge desk, an office with a window, a stable machine, a good chair, and a lighting arrangement which will avoid glare. None of these would be things I could control if I worked in a cubicle. I save a lot of money by not needing to constantly buy gas for a commute, eat out, or maintain a second family car.
This arrangement did not come cheap, and doesn’t quite pay for itself, but I think it’s worth it.
8. I don’t watch TV.
This used to be kind of unique, but is becoming more common these days. We don’t have cable TV. I have no idea what is on or what is popular. Once in a while I’ll rent some TV shows through Netflix, but it usually leaves me cold and wishing I’d spent my time some other way.
9. I’m a massive introvert.
I get edgy when I’m in a place with lots of people around. I need very little human interaction to keep me going. For a while before I was married I lived alone and worked in my home. I would sometimes go for several days without speaking to another person. I’d be at the grocery store and try to bid the cashier a nice day, only to find my voice was rusty. I could go for weeks without having a real conversation. I was alone all the time, and someone else actually had to point out to me that this was not normal.
This is not to say that I don’t like people or dislike spending time with them. Introverted does not mean shy or antisocial. I’m pretty easygoing and get along with nearly everyone. I’m happy to spend time with friends as they drop by. I’m always glad to see my family. I just have almost no drive to go out and seek interaction with others.
(And as my wife reminds me below: At one point I forgot to pay the phone bill and the phone was disconnected. Took me a week to notice.)
There are now 92 comments. Almost a hundred!
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88 comments:
4 Trackbacks
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[...] and I headed outside–hubby had some work to do and posts to write–being married to a supergeek with a huge hit of a blog can [...]
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[...] any updates tonight are pretty much out of the question. I’ve been considering doing what Shamus Young over at Twenty Sided does with his campaing. After each game session he writes up the adventure [...]
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[...] Twenty Sided Blog. By adrianextrabold ‘thought it was about time I mentioned video games (:D). One of my absolute favorite video game writers, blogger or non, is Shamus Young. His blog is packed with essays on DRM, gamer’s rights and personal anecdotes; all written in a style often overlooked in video game journalism, warmth. Perhaps the reason why I read his reviews, reviews for games I have no intention nor means of playing, is that he is so down to earth. He generally ignores what the popular press has to say instead choosing to review based on merit, not ’shooped demo screenshots. If you’ve got a spare hour or two you should check it out at Twenty Sided. [...]
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[...] en sí no destaque por su espectacularidad, son impresionantes los planteamientos que su creador Shamus Young desarrolla para la creación de cada uno de los efectos y las bases para que el propio ordenador [...]
Leave a Reply
Hey Shamus,
I would love to see a post on what you think about EA buying up Bioware.
I must say that this was one of the funnest thing I’ve read. I’m like you I’m 38 and a christian as well, but I’ve been gaming for 25 years and your puns and insights were dead on. I really like the “Lord of the Ring” films but you have put a whole new light on them. Thanks for the laughs
One word about your comic: genius.
I think last time I gave that feedback was in 2000 or 2001.
Interesting that you do not watch TV. Neither do I: programs always seem to run too fast or slow for me. Have you tried watching it without sound? That leaves much more to imagination.
Your DM of the Rings is completely hilarious, I haven’t laughed so much in a very long time! So thanks for that. And i liked your bio also, especially the final parts about the introvertedness.. i can really recognize myself in what you describe. Other people are nice and other people usually like me a lot, but that doesn’t mean i like to hang out with people very much. Yeah :) Have a nice day!
Couldn’t you write your bio in cartoon format, too? After reading several pages of your hilarious DM story, I couldn’t manage more than 2 lines of conventional text.
Great idea, why don’t you try and get sponsored? Good luck and keep cartooning.
Shamus,
I am almost 60. Been gaming since I was 12. Started RPG with the first 3-book set Gygax published for D&D, with a few friends back in about 1973-4. Been a while, not sure of dates. Read all of Tolkein, etc, etc, back in the 60′s. Was an avid political activist (anti-war in that era). Learned to mistrust government then. Maybe I’m an anrchist (read Ursula K LeGuin’s “The Dispossessed.”) After stumbling upon your 20-sided website, I thought I might run into you at GenCon, or something like it. Now I guess not. Sorry. My 37-year-old son suffers the same physical malady as you, so I know the problems you have faced. However, Advair makes him put on lots of weight. He also does some RPG even now, as do several other family members. Turned them on to your “DM of” story. We all love it. We cannot thank you enough for your efforts.
I recently found your site when I googled “D&D humor” (somehow it now surprises me you weren’t the first result) and came up with your DM of the Rings comic. I love your site, man, keep it up!
i’ll be marrying in january too… and i think it’s a good time of year to do so.. :)
S’up Shamus i’m sorta new and not new. i am a hardcore gamer and as i was growing up my dad would play resident evil so i grow up with that. i was wandering do you like lara croft and if you do why isn’t she on any of your sites
p.s. sherona migami is my jap name it means fire goddess, my real name is Megan Z. type back when you have the time. oh i also love gaming with grosome stuff in it, and mostley anything else non-gaming
Awesome blog (And I’m not too fond of them), will be regular reader =)
Also, since you said you like libertarian blogs, maybe you’ll be interested in this one:
voxday.blogspot.com
And since he’s also Christian, you can guess he’s quite unorthodox as well.
It’s nice to find an entertaining and decent site.
Highly amusing text. After reading your blog for a couple months now, I must say, I portrayed you differently.
I’ve been lurking around here for a while… the DM of the Rings comics are wonderful. As is the rest of the site, despite my lack of computer knowledge. It’s quite creative.
I’m an atheist but I like you anyway, especially your suggested politics. Best wishes.
Dear Shamus,
for a time you erased tweo Emails, where I stated some politic opinions. Though I can understand it, I want to give you an link for an hopefully enjoyable german point of view.
I would feel honored, when you look at it, and give me a small feedback.
Even Prouder I would be, when it would be worth an official artikel, but I doubt, that you’ll do it.
Have fun:
Lain
You tube:
Volker Pispers history of USA and terrorism 1 of 5:
http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=n4H_E8b-qmo
Hi Shamus,
You seem like a nice guy. I too am fairly radical vis-a-vis the evils of modern democracy in my political views, also a bit of an asthmatic, also have reasonably deep computer grok, also played RPG’s etc since I was ten. I count beans for a local public service department, but it’s nothing to do with torturing, invading, looting or feathering one’s nest, no really! Mainly all we do is administer science grants. I used to be a proselytising athiest, but nowadays I’m prepared to be cordially tolerant in a quid pro quo sense.
In any case, the guys at the local wargaming club said look up your website, it’s LMAO great, keep up the good work!
Cheers & kind regards to your family,
Alistair aka Stefano
Wellington, New Zealand
I’ve been reading here for a few months now, and only recently noticed something about your “Roses are #FF0000, violets are #00FF00.” Violets aren’t green, I don’t know if this was purposeful, but I had to let it out. Also, Dm of the Rings is hilarious.
Hey Shamus! I really loved your review on Silent Hill 2 – I like to read your stuff at all, keep it up ;))
Hi :) Thoroughly enjoyed reading your bio. We’re alike in many ways, I dont game though, I dropped in, in search of the wavatars plugin for WP.
I particularly am interested in the medication which you took for asthma which you say has helped tremendously. My daughter has asthma and we have tried to many different medicines (Singulair and Advair) I’d like to try and make enquiries about it in South Africa and see if its possible to get. My daughter uses the ventilator often and also get asthma attacks regularly.
Well I wish you and your family everything of the best for the New Year.
Regards
Melanie Shepherd
Good to meet you Mr. Shamus Young. I just wanted to tell you that you have a great blog that I was lucky to stumble upon recently and hope you keep updating it. You and I are close in age and I was wondering if you read comics. My passions are comic books, photography and lately, I’ve been nostalgic about old games. I vividly remember playing games like Bard’s Tale with my brother when we were kids and more recently stuff like Bulder’s Quest and other RPGs. Did you ever play any of these?
Shamus, I bow to genius. I have very rarely laughed so hard as I did reading DM of the Rings – Really really hlarious. Thanks man.
darned.. must learn to check if men are actually single before proposing marriage… no chance of your wife leaving you or you having a innocent affair with a norwegian gamer geekess? I promise I won’t tell her!
Heh, it’s a little scary how much we have in common. No wonder I like reading your blog so much, even though I’m not really into video games, and you’ve been writing about them a lot lately. Me: also Christian, libertarian, entirely introverted (though with two RPG groups now, that changes somewhat), knew what I wanted to do before I was ten (write). Can’t grow a beard, either, though I don’t think I’ve met my husband yet, so who knows? Could be Taco Bell. And I’m still missing one stupid credit for my degree (professional writing). I should probably fix that.
One thing–sometimes when I’m at work I can’t access your site. Do you still have some ISP addresses blocked? I think we use some sort of security thing that changes them. I’m always sad when I can’t check your blog while at work, which is most times I try.
Thanks for introducing me to Basic Instructions, btw.
Hmm…. how do people get avatars around this place? And by the way, I must say I was really surprised to find you were a Christian and ..mmm well 36 and you still love all the best nerdy stuff. ^_^
I love my friends, but none of them are Christian… in fact most of them practice magic. Which bothers me, which it should I suppose. It’s hard somtimes, not having anyone with your faith AND with similar interests as friends.
Hmm. . .okay I seem to have found the secret to your avatars. That’ll teach me to go asking questions without looking first.
[...] and I headed outside–hubby had some work to do and posts to write–being married to a supergeek with a huge hit of a blog can [...]
You look a little bit like Alan Tudyk. It amuses me. Even your posture is the same in this picture. Look.
http://www.fireflywiki.org/Firefly/Wash
I think perhaps you were separated at birth.
ron paul: hope for America
Shamus, thought you should check out this article if you haven’t heard already: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/scientists-prov.html
Hewlett Packard has successfully built memory transistors. This could revolutionize computing.
Mate, I think you’re quite the champion. Your blog writing and comics are awesome and even your about the author page is an inspiration to what other sites should have. Props to you and keep up the good work!
Shamus:
So you think you are an introvert? Then try this….
Q) How do you tell if an engineer is an introvert or an extrovert?
A) If he is an extrovert, he looks at your shoes instead of his own.
(one of my favorite engineer jokes [I'm a ChemE]).
I was originally brought to this site by DM of the Rings (a truly excellent work!) and since its end your writing has maintained my readership.
As I was reading this page I noticed that the link for “I’m a Christian” up at the top (third link down in the post) is broken. I also noticed a grammatical error in the paragraph of the fourth point in the list above, “It was a very expensive and didn’t teach me anything useful.” I think it should be “It was very expensive and didn’t teach me anything useful” or “It was a very expensive school and didn’t teach me anything useful.”
Thank you for your writing, I will definitely be staying!
Howdy! Really enjoyed your webcomic (DM of the Rings). I met my hubby at Subway; been 19yrs now (gack) and 3 kids also. Don’t worry about the beard thing; my brother has that problem (still can’t grow more than peach fuzz). Hubby can grow one in a day; maybe he can send you the clippings to glue on! ;oP
I’d like to put a link on my “MySpace” page (is there another way to say that without sounding idiotic?) so I’ll try borrowing an image to put with it, if that’s OK.
Hi Shawn,
I just want to pop in to say that I am admirer of your work and I came to know it through Fear The Boot and attending Fear the Con. I am attempting to start my own web comic project. Any adive you could impart on this would be appreciated. And if not then just wish me luck man.
Take Care
I’d love to hear your reaction to hearing that Spore was leaked, and the relative playability of the game, considering it can’t access the Spore servers. I think?
Hello, Shamus!
I just wanted to say that you are one of my favorite persons on the Internet! I am ashamed to admit that I’ve never commented on any of your posts before, being a lurker by nature (I’m slowly working on changing that, though–not that my existential drama is of any interest to you or the good readers of this blog).
Anyway, I’ve been reading your blog for quite some time now. I started when DMotR was still a work in progress and have remained your faithful reader ever since. I’m really glad that people like you exist–you make the Internet a better place.
Bio 3, 6, 8, and 10 in common. Both a LiFt and a ReLieF, Your STufF … thanX … hopefully this ‘Leave a Reply’ keeps the OCT’07-OCT’08 chain alive … rOck On …
Hey Shamus
Nice to get to know you in this way too and I must say you are great of what you are doing in AW .. thanks
your DM of the Rings rule! cracks me up every time!
2-3-4-8-9-10
Interesting, I just can’t imagine what more to say. Normal man ? No way. Unique, special ? For sure. Interesting ? For somebody yes, for somebody not. So situation as usual.
We share lot in common, except the fact that you’re almost two times older than me and I’m happy not to be father. I also don’t know anything about religion, we in our country do not believe in god a lot, so I wasn’t raised as believer, so I have little bit different feeling about it. Nice dices at the bottom of page.
You sound very similar to me, except that I’m an astrophysicist. I’m not quite to the level of introvert that you are at, but I am pretty close. I’m not an asthmatic… though I do have to be careful about exercise because my lungs will spasm.
However, love to comic and love the entire site. I’ll keep checking back every now and again.
Shamus,
Be proud of your geekness. If there is one reason to watch TV for those of us that work in IT, it is the BBC Channel 4 series, “The IT Crowd”. I’m just another stupid Yank, but by all means, you need to find these episodes. It’s necessary. Good luck to you, sir.
The Bobster
Spent the last two afternoons reading DMOTR.
Great work, lots of fun!
Cheers
Krakkattuta
I like you am a gamer, programmer, Christian. I’ve spent the last 20 years of my life playing games and generally being geeky. I really enjoyed your recent article in which you discuss the penalties modern games impose on the player. Games ARE harder these days and you are 100% correct in your assessment that games today need more accessibility. My wife is the perfect example of a non gamer who would probably enjoy a game if given the ability to play it. Together we have played Gears of War II and this is a great example of a game that, like Prince of Persia, allows for the player to gracefully enter the world and to be successful.
The “easy” mode in Gears 2 is actually very playable, even for a non gamer like my wife. The great thing about co-op is that each player can set his or her own difficulty which still affords me a challenge.
Anyway, great site and I look forward to reading more of your posts.
good on ya mate
and i can’t stop growing a beard
Congratulations on the lack of cable TV in your home. We made the same choice and I feel my kiddo benefits from it as well (kicking and screaming of course at the inhumanity of it all)
I’ve enjoyed the site and tuning in to the blog .. cheers
//jdl
Kudos on the lack of cable in your life. I feel its good for the kids in this jump-cut strewn program landscape to have more time and choices. How do you approach your children and video games, btw?
Hi Shamus,
this is sarah sofia here. I am absolutely no IT-genius at all (I work as a writer/artist) and I also don’t share your opinion re everything, but what really impresses me, is that you are so honest!!! I love the sense og humour your blog shows and find it very admirable how you taught yourself the things you know and followed your goals!
Greetings from Denmark (a freaky little country, still within this galaxy…)
This is David. I’m a long time tabletop RPGer who got my first taste of 1st Ed AD&D in 1986. I just wanted to let you know about my current project — a web series comedy about professional role playing gamers: GOLD.
http://www.goldtheseries.com
Maybe you decide to write about it (that’d be nice). Or, maybe not. Either way, I’d love you to watch it.
“GOLD” follows the American and British Goblins & Gold RPG teams as they prepare for the World Role Playing Games Championships. Told in traditional narrative style with a mix of drama and subtle comedy, “GOLD” is both a comic look at the American portrayal of sports in television and film, and a loving tribute to the wonderful world of traditional, pen-and-paper style role playing games.
Anyway, we’ve three episodes so far, with four more on the way to round out our first season. New episodes are posted monthly. We’d love you to stop by and check it out:
http://www.goldtheseries.com
Thanks,
David Nett, Executive Producer, GOLD
hi shamus, I just thought I’d say I love the humour in your comics here and on the escapist, you had me in stitchs, so I thought I’d ask you if you fancied submitting anything to Inhale Magazine, a just for the love of it paper comics rag, which is basically just a collection of amateur and proffesional work, which is free publication for some, and the joy of seeing their stuff in print for others, give me a mail if you want more details and what not.
once again, good stuff bro.