The story of Raider3 goes back quite a few years, approximately 15 years, more or less. Back around late 1994, I finally got onboard the “real” internet, courtesy of an internet service provider known as Netcom (Before becoming absorbed into Mindspring, and then eventually Earthlink…). Prior to that, I was on just about every online service out there from mid-1992 (GEnie, CompuServe, America Online, Delphi, and of course, Prodigy (soon to become SBC Yahoo!, and now AT&T Yahoo! – There are still servers out there that carry a prodigy.net domain, if you look hard enough.))
(AHEM! Anyway…) I was also active on local dial-up text-based BBSs (Bulletin board systems, the text-based forerunners of today’s countless web-based forums, message boards, etc.) – Most of the time, I’d pick the nickname “Red Raider 3″, or some variant thereof. It had to do with the cars I’ve had up to that point – Three of them, they were all red, and the very first car I was entrusted to drive and pay gas and maintenance fees for was the legendary 1978 piece-of-shit Ford Mustang II, a little two-toned red and white sport coupe I called “Red Raider,” because I wanted to make myself feel better about the fact that my high school’s athletic team was known as the Raiders (nothing to do with Oakland, CA, but the depiction of Ind– er, Native American warriors), and our colors were blue and gold. (Red and white were the colors of a rival high school’s team, hence “Red Raider” – So if you thought I was a Texas Tech fan, the joke’s on you. ^_^; )
When I got to the net, and primarily IRC (Internet Relay Chat – people still do that, right?), I ran into the wonderful (riight..) 9-character limit of the EFnet network, so I became “Raider3″, and proceeded to offer my friendship, way too much information that people cared to hear about, and occasionally made a royal ass out of myself, getting kicks, kickbans, and made a few enemies. (Hence, I’m prone to avoid getting into debates, or ruffling peoples’ feathers.)
When I finally made the rounds on anime/cosplay related forums around 2002, and into cosplay in 2003, I stuck with the handle/call sign by default, as I’ve been using it for just about every email address name since 1994, and I even have a web domain under the name of raider3.com (Soon to be moved to point here, hopefully) – So, for better for worse, I’m Raider3 for good.
I’ve been active in anime fandom to some degree since 1995, and cosplaying since 2003, though not quite as intense as I’ve been in previous years. I may get older, but I refuse to be known as an “Old Fart.” Nonetheless, a little maturity and common sense is always a good thing. I’ve staffed anime conventions for about six years, and now I hammer out the occasional costume, tending to favor “classic” anime and manga. (Black Jack, Osamu Tezuka’s brilliant outlaw surgeon, is one of my signature cosplays.)
I’ve made the rounds, met quite a few people of note, and occasionally tend to be where the action is at times. I guess I’m kind of like the Forrest Gump or Benjamin Button of fandom. (Wish I would get a bit younger – The more I go on, the harder it is for me to keep up with the “kids” out there. ^_^;)
I’m also into most kinds of music (Usually anything from the 1960s up through the late 1990s – Rock, Pop, Alternative, the occasional anime song or game music – I love “chiptunes”, radio jingles (Any of the 1960s/1970s classics from PAMS, TM, JAM, and such make me all goose-bumped. ^_^;), and anything that isn’t required to be blasted at 120 dB to be enjoyed is fair game for me. (Hey, I rely on my hearing for my day job!)
I work, I earn money for what I need, only problem is most of it is earmarked for paying off my bills for the next few years or so. In any case, I can manage to afford this server, brought to you with no ads, or PayPal links for the time being. Work basically gives me a reason to get up every day and not be stuck at home drifting between gaming, sleeping, watching videos and listening to music, and wondering why I’m not out having fun like my other friends. ^_^; Work is always a good thing, because, frankly – Unemployment sucks. I’ve been there, it’s not fun. Bankruptcy is definitely not an option at any stage of my life. I’m working to make it through this so-called “Great Depression 2.0,” and I seem to be getting by for now.
There’s a few points of contact for me out there – Mostly Facebook, LiveJournal, and my blog here, and a little-used MySpace – I try to keep most of my stuff work-safe, for prospective employers later on down the road, but I’m not afraid to speak my mind from time to time. If you’ve met me up close, you’ll probably notice that I’m better at communicating through the written word than speaking most of the time, but that’s just another part of being me. Chance are, if I’ve got something to sound my own horn about, you’ll hear about it somehow.
Thanks for tuning in, and I hope I haven’t confused you more than you were when you came in. ^_^;