The Introduce Yourself Thread

[Mendota]

Okay, I expect about one hit on this thread. But I think it would be good to get to know one another a little bit so we can relate to one another as human beings, not twitching masses of protoplasm in a sea of retching fear.

I am 51, happily married for, gosh 32 years? I have four kids, all attending junior college. Of course, since we had three sons before our little girl came along, some other members of the family accuse dad of being partial. I won't even start telling you of her accomplishments because this would be a very long thread lol. (See, there is no truth in those accusations.)

I quit private practice as a criminal defense lawyer to work for state government recently, and live in my own apartment about two hours away from home. We exchange family visits on weekends, and my wife is up here frequently during the week, too, so it isn't too bad. My wife has a golden retriever and I have a yorkie named Buster who is our fur-child now. I don't really have any hobbies or interests at the moment since moving has really turned my life upside down. It would probably be a good idea.

I wrote a novel and am about half-way through my second. I shopped it around until I got tired of rejection for now. The publishing industry is pretty much in the toilet with this economy. And my book probably sucks. I'm glad I finished it, though. It was a box I wanted to check off on my bucket list. My previous avatar was a worried-looking man. My new one reflects a more positive outlook while recognizing the realities. Mendota is... just a canned fizzy water that was on my desk when I signed up four years ago and didn't feel like putting a lot of energy into coming up with anything creative.

I used to be in the Navy JAG and am a Gulf War vet, and we lived in Sicily for three years when I was in the Navy. I took private pilot lessons, but got a questionable medical report just before my solo, which was the biggest disappointment in my life. I like my job, which is devoted to death penalty defense and state-wide training.

[MarioMangler]

Great idea!

My name is Mario (duh) and I am 34 years old. I live in Upland, California (about an hour east of Los Angeles) where I am a computer programmer and a part time comedy writer. Even though I'm only 34, my wife and I are the youngest "old married couple" on the face of the earth. We have been together since we were 18, and we have now been married for 12 years. We have a 9 year old daughter and a 6 year old son, and the majority of our weekends are spent at either Cub Scout meetings, Girl Scout meetings, Little League games, or birthday parties. It is safe to say that aside from kid activities, we don't leave the house much.

Oh yeah and we're also completely on our own in Southern California. Our nearest relative is 300 miles away. We did that on purpose.

Anyway, in regards to my writing, man I have a lot of stuff out there floating around out there on the internet. I have been an off and on comedy/pop culture writer for as long as I can remember.

From 1997-1999 I wrote Saturday Night Live episode reviews for the website saturday-night-live.com. I even created a website called "Will Ferrell's Greatest SNL moments."

From 2000-2002 I was a feautured writer on the website Saturday Night You (a site where SNL fans can write their own sketches). I submitted about 50 original sketches to the site, and 4 of them were later purchased for various TV shows on the east coast. At one point I even wound up with an agent and everything.

From 2002-2006 I got hooked on the TV show Survivor, and later wound up writing for a website called Survivor-Central. I wrote for the site for four years, and eventually became the single most-read Survivor columnist in the world. At my peak readership I was drawing close to a million readers per week. I even wrote three full length Survivor fan fiction novellas that still exist today, and were recently featured in a Georgetown University study on the link between pop culture and fandom. Towards the end of 2006, I co-authored two chapters in a book called "The Psychology of Survivor."

Between 2007-2008 I wrote a daily pop culture/movie blog through MySpace page, which at its peak was drawing 1,000 unique readers per day.

In 2009 I tried my hand at sketch comedy writing once again, and I am now a featured writer on the screenwriting website Zhura.

I started twitching in the middle of 2008, which happened to be in the middle of a very stressful time in my life where I was staying up endless hours writing my pop culture blog, and surviving on about 3 hours sleep per night. I did that for about four months in a row, I was completely exhausted all the time, and, voila, now I have BFS. It's tough to imagine there wasn't some sort of a correlation there.

Oh yeah, in regards to my username, it's sort of an inside joke. When I was a kid, my friend and I used to have an imaginary "pro wrestling league" where we would make up characters and film matches in his garage. My "villainous" bad guy was named Mario Mangler. Hence my username, MarioMangler. My avatar is a picture from the movie The Karate Kid, since that is one of my favorite movies.

My proudest accomplishment is that I have been to 48 of the 50 United States. All I need is Florida and Montana, and then I can complete the set.

That's it for me.

Next.

[MarioMangler]

By the way, if anyone is curious to read my comedy sketches, here are two of my favorites. Beware though, they're pretty racy. I have a fairly edgy sense of humor most of the time. Both of these were finalists in a recent sketch writing contest:

The Frog Prince:
http://www.zhura.com/script/view/7740/o ... 407giabcH8

Hawkman's Job Review:
http://www.zhura.com/script/view/8869/f ... oLyQccIkDL

[ed73]

My name is Master Ed, Im 35, recently divorced ( kinda think that had to do something with triggering BFS on me ) living with my two pre-teen kids, Nicolás (13) and Mariana (10), yes, Im a hell of a good dad, at least thats what my kids tell me (dont know for sure but i like the idea).

I proudly live in Bogotá, Colombia, yes the land of the best coffee on earth, a great country to live in, but also, as many other countries with some serious problems caused by a minority of disgraceful bastards.

Actually, my life is great ( except the BFS thingy), currently own a small pharmaceutical company and trying to do my best to ensure my kids future.

BFS has been a life changing experience, for the better I think. Its been hard as hell, but I have never in my life been challenged to the point of needing therapy and medication. For me, the greatest victories come from overcoming the biggest crisis. Life isnt about me anymore, BFS changed that forever.

Have a great day,


Ed

[Binno]

Good idea! Take our mind off the other stuff! What interesting people! You make me sound boring!

52 year old deputy head teacher living slap bang in the middle of England. Devoted to my career which I've been working on for over half of my life. There's nothing like the simplicity of children to wipe away the stresses of adult life! I still love it although I believe the stress could be part of the BFS trigger. I value friendship and my family. I have a husband, who also teaches and two drains on the finance university student children. My daughter, 23, is studying Architecture in Edinburgh. My son, 20, is studying building surveying in Coventry. They are good people and I love them dearly. I kayak for a hobby - whitewater stuff all over England and Europe. I have coaching qualifications and am very active in a local club. I'm not religious but I suppose I'm a humanist. The unity of people has tremendous energy and power. Isn't that what this board is all about? Jan

[Angst1986]

Hey there,

I'm a 22 years old guy from Germany. I live in Nuremberg, a nice 500K-soul city in the southern part of Germany, together with my parents. I'm studying computer linguistics and English and I'm doing a part-time job as a software developer, pretty much the way my father did when he was in my age. My hobbies are playing computer games (especially World of Warcraft ) and actually all kinds of technology from cellphones to cars. If I find some spare time or have a vacation I like to go hiking in the forests and mountains. Despite being a sort of cyberpunk I still adore the beauty of nature and enjoy visiting old Roman or medieval ruins which you can find thoughout Germany, especially here in the south. I have seen quite a lot of cities and places in Europe and would like to see more - I hope that soon I'll earn enough money to buy an own car and travel around a bit, and I hope that I do not have any sort of disease that will chain me to bed for my whole life after all. I visit a fitness center twice a week and do some jogging in the summer to keep my muscles and heart in shape, after all I don't move a lot with my job and hobbies.

Unfortunately I seem to be suffering from some sort of generic health anxiety disorder and/or Vegetative Dystonia that can often be a real annoyance. My onset of BFS - wether it's somehow linked to that or not - has made this suffering much worse. My hobbies have now unfortunately shifted to reading medical websites and reports and visiting all kinds of doctors.

Well, that's pretty all about me, nothing exciting actually...

[lyssa]

Hey, i just posted in another forum. Totally missed this thread. Anyway, I'm almost 22, with a BFS onset of about 6 yrs ago. I'm self-diagnosed and only just within the past year found out about BFS. I learned what a "fasciculation" was almost 2 years ago though. I have social anxiety disorder, which has "screwed up" my life in a lotta ways. I've never even worked, don't have a social life, and don't go out much. Populated areas are easier in my case, but i'm rural right now. The BFS is not really maladaptive for me, but i do like reading about other people who have it and their symptoms/struggles. I am taking some classes (psych) and training online to be a medical transcriptionist.

LOL about the "twitching masses of protoplasm in a sea of retching fear." Well, guess i'll go watch my leg twitch :/

[twin2]

I'm bumping this up because I like it. Would love to hear from some newbies.

[twin2]

Hi everyone! My name is Becky. I am a 36 year old therapist from NJ. You would think that would make me immune to anxiety, but sadly, no. For the past 6 years, I have worked with victims of domestic violence and/or sexual assault. I also run a men's anger management group. I really enjoy my work. Prior to that, I spent 8 years in a community mental health center, moving through the ranks and witnessing almost every mental disorder you can imagine.

I have been happily married to my college sweetheart for 10 years and we have two kids. Hannah is 7 and Jack is 5. My husband teaches 2nd grade and gets to spend summers at home with the kids. I love that arrangement, the relaxed atmosphere at home, warm weather, and stress-free kids, getting to be kids. I don't have many hobbies due to work and parenting, but I do read a lot. Especially Stephen King or thrillers. I also like to work out and socialize as much as possible.

I first noticed symptoms of BFS in January of this year. There may have been some signs before all hell broke loose, but it is difficult to pinpoint what and when. I found this board fairly quickly after it all began and am ever so grateful. I visit here nearly every day and try to post to as many posts as I can. I know how important supportive words can be.

Hope to hear from everyone!

[ed73]

Mendota, where the hell are you????

Come back, at least for a couple of days.

Hope you are doing OK,


Eduardo

[Barbie800]

I'm Leslie, 34 years old. Married with 2 kids. My step daughter Kloey is 14 and my son Noah is 2. I work as a secretary for a school district. I got BFS at the end of March 2009 after a very stressful 5 months. I love to fish, watch horror movies, read (stephen king also) spend time outdoors and most of all being with my family.

[highpriority4]

I think everyone knows most of this...

I'm Amy, 28 years old from Northern Indiana (Notre Dame country WooooHoooo GOOOO IRISH!!!!). I have two little boys, Logan is 7 years old and Lukas is 3 years old...2 dogs, a huge black lab named Mr. Beefy & a boxer mix named Brandy. I love anything to do with being outside...I hate being cooped up, probably because I'm in an office all day. Bike rides, walks, swimming, snuggling under the stars with someone comfy, dancing in the rain with that same someone. Both of my boys love football...which is great because so do I...dont stand in front of the TV on Saturday, Sunday, Monday nights, and sometimes Thursday nights...during football season...or you will likely be tackled...and I'm pretty good at it. I'm totally a girly girl...with a firecracker side that explodes occasionally. Recently seperated...and lovin' every single minute of it.

BFS plowed into my life last November...amazingly enough, I was only scared for a very short time...then I kicked BFS's ass YAYAYAYAY!! Nominated "BFS Poster Child" by SuziQ...and I'm keepin the title!!

**H's & K's**
~*~Amy~*~

[simon_w]

Hi all
I am of Welsh extraction and emigrated to New Zealand in 1994. I am a 44 year old family doctor - I work part time in private practice and the rest of the time I am a clinical leader for a large health group. I have a wonderful wife Victoria who is currently pregnant with our third boy. Wills is 8 and Hugo is 4. Haven't chosen a name for the new baby yet - not due until November. I have two older kids from my first marriage who I am also very proud of - Joe (19) and Matilda (16). My passion is my family. I also speak French for fun.
I started fasciculating in Sept 08 and rapidly developed an associated health anxiety which still plagues me. Not sure if it's one step forward, two steps back or vice versa at the moment!
Simon