Haven't Seen Me in a While?
Man, is this really Greg Larson? The guy I went to High School with? The guy I
used to game with?
The guy I used to know at EveCon 5? I don't recall him being called "Grig" or
"Punkie" though...
Since I have had a few people "looking up old friends" on the web, and finding
me, and asking if
I am who they think, and what's happened to me since then. Well... it's been a
life, let me tell
you. I am writing this page so you can catch up. Just choose a year where we
left off, and see if
I am the person who you think I am. :) In high school, I was a nerdly fellow,
who kept to himself
mostly, and left his gothic and twisted thoughts and humor to himself and his
close friends. To some,
what was going on behind the scenes may be a shock to those who have later said,
"Oh, man, I didn't
know..." Well, now you will.
Schooling:
- Lewinsville Elementary - Closed two years after I left. It's now a day
care center and retirement home.
- Longfellow Intermediate - I only wish those two years were just a bad
dream.
- McLean High School - Not as bad at the last place, not as a good or sane
as college
- George Mason University - Fun campus, but I was only there for a few
classes
- University of Maryland - I hung out a lot in the comp sci labs, usually
Bessel or CFAR.
But before you read this, the first few years may seem REALLY depressing. Yes,
it's true, I did go
through a lot, but to save space and so you wouldn't be stuck reading some dull
and boring life
story, I just covered the facts, which makes a lot of this sound far more uglier
than I really
feel about it. So keep in mind that while up to 1993, my life seems like a
horrible calamity,
it wasn't so bad, I learned a lot from it, and I had support from some of the
best friends in
the world, and my family who kept me going. Blessed be to them all.
1987 - The Year of Infamy
EveCon 4
BaltiCon 22
Disclave 87
PhilCon
50
My Uncle, who also had a terrible childhood, refuses to talk about it, and
instead says,
"My life didn't start until I joined the Navy." I kind of look at it in that
light, but
with the recent high-school mates I have been finding in the last few years,
many of them
know only half the story. Some of this may come as a shock to you. At the end
of 1986,
what with my favorite cat dying, my mother deciding our house will never
celebrate Christmas,
turning 18, and spending New Year's with a friend in Houston, it was already
full of ups
and downs. After being guest artist at EveCon 4, I was told I had an
irreversible heart
condition, and unless I had all kinds of bypass work, I would die within 2 years
(this later
turned out to be a grossly wrong assumption and what was years later diagnosed
as a heart
condition that was *not* as bad as that).
Three days later, January the 10th, my mother committed suicide. My father was
away, so I
had to handle everything until my father got back from his business trip. He
was furious, and
told everyone it was a heart attack or a stroke (the story changes with each
person he told),
but then he didn't have to deal with the police interrigation like I did. But I
went along
with the story for a few years, because I didn't want to face that fact, either.
Fairfax
county put me up in a psycho ward for a while until it was determined I wouldn't
kill myself.
During this time, my father began dating again. I lived at my friend Kate's
house for a while,
which put a strain on our friendship and her parent's patience. So I moved back
home, which was
not really much better. I graduated High School in June, and was accepted to
George Mason, which
I planned to start in September. But I didn't have enough money for full
classes, despite my
job and my mother's social security. So I was forced to leave my house to live
with the FanTek
folks: Bruce, Cheryl, Liska, and a Philadelphia girl named Debbie.
Shortly afterwards, Kate cut our friendship off, citing psychological problems
we were both having,
which I won't deny on my end, but losing her as a friend was the most painful
mistake I ever screwed
up. Then Mason screwed up my classes so bad, I was forced to demand my money
back, and three days
later, I lost my job. It was like God wanted to sever my connections with
McLean forever, which in
retrospect, was a good thing. I was jobless for two months, I spent a lot of
time with Bruce, who
taught me a lot of things, like driving, lawn care, and the art of video
watching. Near the end of
the year, I finally got a job working at Crown Books. It was at the FanTek
House I gained the
name "Grig," and kept it ever since.
1988 - Things Improve Vastly
EveCon 5
BaltiCon 23
Disclave
88
CastleCon 1
PhilCon 51
After Christmas, Crown Books wanted to promote me, so I became manager of a
store closer to home in
Rose Hill, Alexandria. EveCon 5 came and went, and if you want to see a FanTek
con from the inside,
live at their house for a while. Fascinating stuff! After a failed fling with
another girl, I met
someone named Joanne who adopted me as a spiritual student, and who later
introduced me to another
girl from West Virginia named Christine Ely. Christine and I fell in love.
Bruce announces he's
running another convention called "CastleCon," despite his earlier statements
that running more
than one con a year is insane. I get involved in the planning of that. I got
my first computer, an
Atari 1040ST, and started writing again (besides for the FanTek Castle). One
story I wrote was "Punk
Walrus Saves the Day", which spun off new stories about the Walrus Punk Rock
Star, and I started doing
readings at conventions.
At CastleCon 1, after a long distance relationship, I proposed to Christine, and
she accepted.
We planned to get married in June of next year. The FanTek house was told they
were near the
end of their rertal agreement on the house, so I moved out and lived with some
friends of
mine, Tim and Anita, and their dog Bull. Tim was also my senior manager at
Crown, and soon I
learned the mistake of having roommates that work with you. Work starts to
suck, and finally
in December, I quit Crown Books so that Tim and I and his wife don't kill each
other. I spent
Christmas in West Virginia to be with my sweetie, and so that relations with Tim
and I cool off.
1989 - Grig Takes a Bride
EveCon 6
CastleCon 2
After coming back from Christmas, I got a job working at a bank, and took some
classes here and
there. Classes were okay, but the bank job blew chunks. I hated the bank since
the first day,
and left it after just three months. I immediately started working for a
cutlery company called
Chesapeake Knife and Tool, a very odd and fun place where I was assistant
manager for two years.
My time and money now cannot afford classes, so I didn't take another semester,
despite my fairly
good grades. I start to plan the wedding, which my father won't help at, and
Christine's family
cannot afford. So Christine and I paid for it ourselves, and we became married
in June of 1989.
We moved into a new apartment in Alexandria, and had an obnoxious roommate move
in with us "only
for a week" that turned into 3 months and $600 in 1-900 numbers before leaving
us in debt. It
was at this time we learned despite the precautions we were taking, Christine
was pregnant. Baby
would be due in early July. Christine quit her job at Kay Bee Toys, and started
working for Sunglass
Hut. We got credit, and started shopping for a car. Things looked pretty good.
EveCon 6 came
and went.
1990 - Grig Gains a Son
EveCon 7
CastleCon 3
After living off of meager income for a while, and with Christine having no
insurance, and me and
my heart problems, our medical bills begin to mount. Good news is, my heart
problems were seemingly
misdiagnosed or cured themselves (I personally think it was the stress of living
with my parents, but
who knows), and all my ailments can be currently treated with medication. Bad
news is, Christine's
pregnancy isn't going so well. Because she has to work standing up, and
couldn't quit because we needed
the money so bad, it causes all types of medical problems. Then the recession
hit the DC area.
Christine finally goes into labor 2 weeks late, and after 40 hours in labor
(yes, that's forty hours),
in a difficult birthing where she and the baby almost die, my son, Christopher
Raven (CR for short) is
born early Friday morning in July of 1990. A day later the doctors are
optimistic he'll survive, despite
severe lung and heart deformities. A few days later, they become optimistic
Christine will live, despite
a 106 deg fever, collapsed lungs, and double pneumonia. Sunglass Hut fired her
because she took longer
than a week's vacation for the delivery. Despite how bad that sounds, it saved
us from paying $40,000
in hospital costs since now she was unemployed. Our hospital bill was enormous.
No insurance, and another
$15,000 in debt. CastleCon 3 went on without me. Christine didn't return to
work until three months
later, where she took up an office job in Rockville. My work, however, becomes
unstable. I got a modem,
and helped start the FanTek BBS. My BBS handle was, of course, "Punk Walrus,"
after my books. From there, the
nickname "Punkie" started. I begin to focus my computer knowledge, and try and
break into the industry.
Our money situation is now horrible, the phone and electricity keep getting shut
off, we're two month's
behind in rent, bill collectors are calling us, and we're eating Ramen and Tuna
for weeks at a time.
Christmas almost doesn't happen, but luckily, the local Koinonia Foundation
helps out, and I found out
just how great my friends really were, because they helped with food, education,
and legal assistance. It
is around this time I got into the Computer Science department at the University
of Maryland, studying
UNIX and LAN administration remotely on the Bessel server.
1991 - Grig Takes on New Challenges
EveCon 8
CastleCon 4
After receiving church donations of food and friends helping us out, we limp
along until Spring, when
I get laid off from Chesapeake Knife and Tool. My first attempt at getting a
new job back at Crown
Books ends after 3 months due to a district hiring zone problem ("You cant have
another full timer,
get rid of him!"). I start back at the school thing, but can't get a job, and
run out of money for
school. I stay with the remote work-study thing at the University of Maryland,
and my first forays
into the world known as the Internet. I kept looking for work, but was either
turned down because
of my education or experience, or in most cases, never called back at all.
Part of the problem is
we have so little money for anything, that we cannot afford a sitter for our son
so I could look for
work. My interviews had to be late at night or with CR present, and this didn't
help. We also had
no car. We did have a car for a few months, but it was in poor shape and then
blew a rod. So this
is the time when I was taking care of my son, now a year old. I also joined a
local comedy group
called "...and the Prune Bran Players," based out of UMD at College Park,
Maryland. This persuades
me to become one of those poor, starving writers you always hear about. I
figured I was already
poor and starving, now I could write, which I had copious amounts of time to do
so. I decide to
take up a writing career, and actually get published in Ellery Queen, Reader's
Digest, Gateways,
and a few other magazines that paid me a few hundred each. I decide to publish
my first book.
I work various odd jobs to bring in some extra cash, but then Christmas brings
an eviction notice.
1992 - Lose a House, Gain a Book
EveCon 9
BaltiCon 27
CastleCon
5
We had 2 months to move out, we were very behind in our rent. We needed to move
out anyway, because
CR is still living in a crib in our bedroom. We move into government housing,
when rent is based on
income, and CR gets his own bedroom. Unfortunately, it's in Reston, far away
from any jobs. But
my grandmother moved back to Sweden, sending me a large check which paid off a
lot of debts, and
got us a used car. I continue pounding the pavement while writing my book.
Christine gets promoted,
but her boss is mean and cruel. She starts looking in the insurance industry
for other positions.
I become head writer for Prune Bran, and my works propel my fame even further.
My book gets finished,
but takes forever to get published. The editor and publisher are at odds, and
fight back and forth.
Finally, just before EveCon 10, it was published, to much fanfare.
1993 - Still a Starving Writer
EveCon 10
CastleCon 6
Disclave
93
My book was an underground hit. I immediately make plans for breaking into the
literary biz, but
stay realistic about my goals. This realism, coupled with the fact I had
applied to over 300 jobs
in two years, suddenly added up to a friend of mine going, "Oh yeah, my company
needs someone in
your area! Give them a call!" One call, two interviews later, I was Assistant
Manager of Cargo
Furniture in Springfield Mall. Four months later, I was Manager. My book
promotion evaporated
under the light of a steady income with bonuses. I quit Prune Bran, partly due
to a real job
that I worked 50hr/6 day weeks, but in reality, the group had more politics than
Rome at the
height of its empire. Typical "band breakup" syndrome. Later that year, like
Rome, Prune Bran
crumbled. I blossom as a manager of crate furniture. Then my house flooded,
ruining a lot of
my work, signed book collection, and all our financial records.
1994 - Grig Goes Traveling
EveCon 11
There is no...CastleCon
7
This was my year to travel. It started out with company trips. First, Virginia
Beach, then Las
Vegas. Then I start getting letters from relatives in Sweden. My grandmother
isn't doing so well.
By winter, she's calling for me on her possible deathbed, so for the first time
since I was three,
I travelled to Europe and visited Sweden.
My grandmother got
better. This was also the year I won manager awards, and we really started to
catch up on
our old debts. I started writing a sequel to my "Saga of Punk Walrus" book, but
with little
promotion, my book sales decline. Our house floods again, and the the landlord
tries to blame
us. The house (and houses around us) were old, crumbling, and unsafe. We think
about moving.
My son is diagnosed with chronic asthma, and we have to get a machine to hook
him up to for really bad
attacks.
1995 - More Traveling
EveCon 12
CastleCon 8
Cargo sends me hopping about the continent again with trips to Cancun,
Dallas, and a dude ranch in San Antonio. Our house floods once more, and the
second floor floorboards start
rotting through. We can't move because we're under a contract, so we start
gathering evidence in photos and
paperwork. I begin to think not only about moving, but about leaving Cargo.
Cargo was nice, but I was sick
of retail. I started looking around, and sending out resumes. I start getting
more involved in the
Punk/Goth community, and discover a lot of my roots, and face issues I hadn't
addressed since before
high school. I start getting into techno. I start getting back on the
Internet, and start making
more connections. My son starts school.
Well, that about catches you up to when this web page started. If
you want to see more exciting things, you have to read the online
diaries, starting with 1996, when I actually started keeping an online
diary.