I don't think I have ever used that term before.  This seems as good a place as any.  I will start with an introduction about myself.  Then I will move on to how I came to Giant Bomb.

I've been playing video games since I was a little kid.  My brother and I received an Atari 2600.  We both quickly learned the dangers of false advertising and blatantly misguiding marketing.  Research became a key process of our gaming hobby.

My brother stopped playing but I was addicted.  To this day I own nearly every single major console (-Jaguar-Saturn) ever released here in the U.S. and have inadvertently become the go-to guy for all video game news and information for everyone I know.  I have been blogging about video games, and other topics, on many different websites and have developed a small, but loyal following of good-natured readers.

An ex-employer hired me on temporarily to help design a low budget portable console which never saw the light of day.  That DID get me access to the last E3 (IMHO) in 2006 though so it was time well spent.  That one event was the greatest video game related experience in my life.  A long time fan of GameSpot, since before it was GameSpot, I spent quite a bit of time roaming around their booth.  I snapped a couple of shots of Jeff Gerstmann and Carrie Gouskos and even spoke with Tim Surrette for a few minutes.  Just for kicks I spent some time in Kentia hall interviewing developers of smaller titles to get my feet wet.  I realized that I wanted into the industry.  I've been working in I.T. for over ten years but I would really enjoy a career in the video games industry.  Unfortunately so do millions of other people.

The closest I got was an interview for a position at GameSpot which I didn't get.  Damn you Chris!  It did give me a taste.  I haven't tried to break into the industry directly since then.  I learned the hard way that you can only get your foot in the door if someone opens it for you.  In other words, it is who you know, not what you can do.

I followed Jeff through MySpace to his Jeff Gerstmann is Still Alive blog and subsequently here, to GiantBomb.com.  I really enjoy his sense of humor and his casual repertoir.  I was very  glad when Brad, and to a lesser extent Ryan and Vinny, signed up.  Sorry guys, Brad has always been the voice of reason when it comes to witholding extreme opinions.

I look forward to participating heavily on this website.  Until the day it gets blocked from work.  Then I will be out of luck.