Introduce Yourself Here

[UniquePerspective]

On the old boards there was a thread where people could introduce themselves, share their life story, interesting things, etc. I forget exactly what it was called, but I figured it's a good enough concept to bring back for new people to introduce or re-introduce themselves.

I suppose I'll start with me, more or less of a re-introduction.

I'm Jordan, shall not reveal my last name unless I get on the show. I just recently obtained my bachelor of arts degree in Drama this May, and by the end of next week (as of posting this), I'll be in New York City to pursue a career as a theatrical director. 21 years old, college attempts at Jeopardy all failed, so now I gotta try to get on the show as an adult (probably not likely, but that's ok).

[dhkendall]

It was called "Caste of Characters" ("caste" was spelled that way) and was one of the most under-stated threads on the Sony board, rarely on page 1 and usually hard to find. Hopefully this one won't suffer that fate.

Name: David Kendall
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Not as backwoods etc. that you may think.
Occupation: It's complicated.

Long a fan of knowledge and trivia and learning things, so of course Jeopardy! has been a fit for as long as I can remember. Wasn't as dedicated to this until I became a boardie, around the time I first took the online test in 2008.

Interesting stories? Let's see ...

* I have worked as "male entertainment" at bachelorette parties.
* I am considered a leading world's expert in the field of national anthems. I run the popular website http://www.nationalanthems.info which has a lot of information on national anthems, and was a consultant / "proofreader" on the CD of national anthems that was used at the Athens Olympics.
* I've performed standup comedy for many years, as far away as Vancouver, and even performed at the 2006 Winnipeg Comedy Festival
* I met my wife at a Halloween party while I was dressed as Groucho Marx.
* I once slept in the same bed as Gillian Anderson (unfortunately, not at the same time)
* I have been a member of Toastmasters International for over 20 years (currently serving as my club's president). In 2004 I was the first person in the (then) 45 year history of my Toastmasters club to receive the Distinguished Toastmaster award (the highest award a member of Toastmasters can receive - only a couple thousand Toastmasters in the world have that distinction)
* One of my goals in life is to join Mensa - whenever I've taken my IQ test, I'm always just a few points (5 or so) off what I believe is the threshold.
* I was writing computer programs before my ninth birthday.
* When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cartographer when I grew up.
* One of my goals in life is to run for public office. To that end I ran for school trustee last fall, and stood as a candidate for the provincial Liberals for this year's elections. I didn't win the nomination, but I like the process, and actually being a part of a political party.

All of those interesting stories (and more that I didn't have there) I hope will one day make it on my "card", giving Alex the challenge of which one to choose to talk about - they are different from the usual contestant stories I will say.

[--Pete]

Hi,

Born Pierluigi Tilli Grandolfi in Florence, Italy, 1945.

Knew I wanted to be a physicist by the age of 12.

Vietnam veteran, Western Electric Engineering Asso., professional grad student, Boeing engineer (Boeing does not use the title 'physicist' nor 'scientist'), leukemia survivor (I think, but the jury's still out), retired, PITA.

--Pete

[lisa0012]

Howdy! I'm Lisa (I know, shocker). As of 2 1/2 weeks ago I'm from Dallas. I've spent the last four years working on my Ph.D. in school psychology, which means I try to fix kids who are having problems in schools (academic, behavioral, whatever they throw at me). This is my internship year, and presuming I am successful, and finally finish that pesky dissertation I will graduate, have the shiny letters after my name, and get a job.

In my first life I was a teacher. I have also been a Peace Corps volunteer (briefly), and was an Air Force brat.

I am half nerd, half pop culture junkie. I love intellectual pursuits, but am very proud of my vast knowledge about things I should be embarrassed about.

Auditioned in 2009, swam in the pool, hoping to jump in again with school finally getting out of the way.

It's my birthday Sunday. I take Paypal.

[tagNV]

Let's do this.

Hello J! aficionados and trivia lovers, let me go ahead and formally introduce myself. My name is Todd Gross, I was born not far from where J! is now taped (Santa Monica) in March of 1964, the same month J! with Art Fleming and Don Pardo debuted on NBC. I do remember occasionally seeing the original show when school was on vacation or I was sick. I liked game shows well enough, but certainly didn't think in terms of appearing on one.

I was attending UC Berkeley when the current version of J! debuted in 1984 (no College Tournament back then). I remember testing for the show in the early years in the studio...and not passing the test. Since then, I've had 4 auditions, all different: one in Austin (my postcard was chosen), one in the J! studio (no, I didn't get to play a mock game behind an actual stand thing, the set was covered in plastic tarp), one at the infamous Culver City Radisson (from the online test), and the most recent at TCONA...really thought I wouldn't be able to audition when I missed the online test by mistake. The TCONA interview was my first with Maggie, so really glad for that.

As for the rest of my life...well, thanks to our own Rex Kramer, I took up the humble art of crossword construction about 3 years ago. And I've been lucky enough to get two published in the New York Times. The last was published the week WATSON was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine, which made for a great show and tell at the TCONA interview!

By the way, I just got a puzzle accepted at the Los Angeles Times, it's my first acceptance this year!

Anyone still reading this? Now for the less flattering stuff.

I am unemployed...actually, I'm on disability because I can't handle the stress of an ordinary job. I actually spend much of my day in bed avoiding the rest of the world. I had a while there where I was hallucinating pretty bad. I had no idea why it was happening, and wasn't sure if it meant I was losing my mind. At one point, I thought my purpose in life was to deliver a lecture on spirituality I'd "received" from some "higher source." I even thought I was supposed to deliver it naked, to show that I had nothing to hide.

Needless to say, none of this went on the J! application I filled out. Good thing this isn't a Sony owned board.

There's more I could say...but really, don't you think I've said enough?

Peace out.

[hanzz]

Hello all!

My name is Hanzzzzz (more commonly spelled Hans) von Walter. I'm 21 years old, and I was born in Miami but I've lived in the dot of a town Avon Park, FL for the better part of my life. I'm currently a student at Southern Adventist University, where I'm about to begin my senior (and final) year studying biochemistry. Afterwards I hope to go to medical school and eventually on down the line become a surgeon. I also play the trombone, cello, violin, and piano, and I love trivia. Did the geography bee when I was in middle school and made it all the way to Nationals one year, though an impossible question for a 14-year-old was my undoing.

I first auditioned for a game show back in the summer of 2009 at a cattle call for Millionaire in Tampa. I made it all the way to the video interview but, alas, I got the sad postcard in the mail. Several months later I attended my first Jeopardy! audition after passing the online test, specifically for the college audition. No call, but as luck would have it, they literally had another online test a few months later instead of a whole year later. I took and I passed both the college and adult auditions and auditioned for both in the early summer of 2010. I got the call for College J! in September in the middle of a lab and taped a month later. I came in 3rd place in the College tourney and had the time of my life and met the most amazing people.

Everyone here is awesome! Good to see this up and running.

[jepkid97]

Hello all. For those of you who don't know me:

My name is Jack Weisman, and I was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and have yet to move more than six miles away from the lovely city. I am thirteen years old, and the closest thing I have to an occupation is trying to come up with cool ideas/incoming high school freshman. I appeared on Jeopardy! Kids Week on July 9, 2010, where I won $15,000 and a trip to the Galapagos, but was robbed $23,001 by an evil dormouse.

That's about it.

[Asphodel]

I was an intermittent participant at best on the old board, but I need a few more posts to get out of new-member moderation, so...
I'm Alison. I was a J! contestant in July 2010 and won 3 games. I rode the TOC bubble for awhile but it looks like that's well and truly over now. Since I won't be appearing on the show, I figured I might as well share the story I would have told on the air:
When I auditioned for the show, I was in the first group to play the mock game and do the interviews. I knew they were going to ask the "What would you do if you won a bunch of money?" question, so I came prepared: I said, "I haven't told my husband this yet, but if I win big, I'm going to have a baby." It got a good response and was (I think) fairly memorable. So fast-forward to now...I'm actually pretty sad that I'm not in the running for the TOC because (besides the fact that I'm dying to play again!) I'm now about 7 months pregnant and would love to tape while hugely pregnant and be able to tell that story. (And yes, I know Rafferty Barnes is expecting too...but I don't think she promised it in her audition interview!)
I'm glad I found this board just in time for the SHC, which I expect to play in totally undistinguished fashion, just like last year.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Jeff here, from Richmond VA. A one-day champion in January 2011; I guess I have the dubious distinction of being the person who kept Anthony Fox out of the TOC.

I'm probably one of the older winners this past season, at age 52 (at time of taping). I'm actually old enough to remember when Jeopardy permiered with Art Flemming. And, growing up, J! isn't the show I aspired to be on - I wanted to be on Concentration, though it didn't have the same magic after Hugh Downs left. I did manage to get onto the prime-time version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? back when the show was a hot item and they still used the phone game, but was left out to dry on a double-clutch on a fast finger.

For those of you who wonder "How many times do I have to try out to get on this show?", I'll reply "As many times as it takes." My first attempt was back in 1995, when they actually had the LA tests in the J! studio (I managed to time it with a business trip, so it didn't cost me anything out of pocket). I didn't pass that one. I managed to get a tryout in DC in 1997, and passed that, but no response. I signed up for the "field" tryouts again in DC, but never was chosen; when they went to the online test, I took those every year, with no response until last year. Evidently, the game show gods smiled upon me last year.

Even though J! was a big thing for me last year, it was sandwiched by the death of my parents - dad died two months before taping, and mom died two months after taping. She had memory issues (even to the point of not remembering her husband of 57 years had died), but did remember that her son had taped an episode of Jeopardy. Whenever she saw me, she asked the same two questions: "Has the show aired yet?" (No, it hasn't); and "Was Art Flemming a nice man?" (Yes, he was. I did say she had memory issues!)

I'm an accountant by trade, a musicial and former (amateur) rocket scientist for fun. Grew up in northwest Alabama (literally on what was part of the Ivy Green estate of Helen Keller's family, so those questions are always instagets!), spent a lot of time in Huntsville, and an alumnus of the University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) and VCU.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I was wondering if a thread like this was going to show up.

My name is Adam Moss. I am a 3rd year college student at Middlesex County College, one of Jersey's 19 community colleges, double majoring in Civil Engineering and Liberal Arts-History. (As far as I know I won't have my Bachelors until 2018 at least, and I started college in 2009). I live in the isolated borough of Highland Park, known for at least one Jeopardy contestant. (6/3/02: http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=1456 )

I am an avid Jeopardy fan, but someone who could really never try out for the show. I can do well watching TV, but I am not someone who can take a test that well, especially 1 or 2 of them. I enjoy reading the experiences from the posters here and such, but I just don't think I could ever muster an attempt to take it. (Even for someone like me, who was deemed "gifted" throughout grade school, I failed all the state standardized tests so badly that without my exemptions I wouldn't have graduated high school.) It's just easier for me to sit to the side and improve my own knowledge watching the show.

Over the last few months (especially once finishing my CSC-105 class on campus) I have become a major Excel and statistics junkie and have been continuously improving my work and trying to get estimates down. It's fun reading Nick Condon's work and finding ways to integrate his work into my Excel spreadsheets. I am an avid photographer of railroads and highways (see the picture of Boyd Tower in Raritan NJ on my avatar, built by the Central Railroad of New Jersey) and have my own Flickr photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadgeek/. I have been a Wikipedia editor since I was 14, with a vested interest in hurricanes, highways and railroads and am the defacto event planner for Wikimedia Foundation's New York City chapter. I am also aspiring to run for political office in my borough, and trying at a young age. In the meantime I am advocating for expansion of history recognition in this place.

Anyway, enjoy.

[Rafferty Barnes]

When I auditioned for the show, I was in the first group to play the mock game and do the interviews. I knew they were going to ask the "What would you do if you won a bunch of money?" question, so I came prepared: I said, "I haven't told my husband this yet, but if I win big, I'm going to have a baby." It got a good response and was (I think) fairly memorable. So fast-forward to now...I'm actually pretty sad that I'm not in the running for the TOC because (besides the fact that I'm dying to play again!) I'm now about 7 months pregnant and would love to tape while hugely pregnant and be able to tell that story. (And yes, I know Rafferty Barnes is expecting too...but I don't think she promised it in her audition interview!)

You see, you give poor young women money, and all we do is have babies!

My first son was born nine months after I taped WWTBAM, and this one will be about 11 months after Jeopardy! Now I feel nervous about auditioning for any other game shows unless we want more kids.

[Spaceman Spiff]

My first son was born nine months after I taped WWTBAM, and this one will be about 11 months after Jeopardy! Now I feel nervous about auditioning for any other game shows unless we want more kids.

Guess that rules out trying out for The Newlywed Game!

[Bamaman]

I went through a name change when we moved here. I didn't reallyu like the old one so I went with something more descriptive. I'm not very good at coming up with message board names. I use my initials on another one I post on.

I grew up not far from Spaceman Spiff, though he's a few (not too many) years older and didn't know him at the time. The town I grew up in was named for the place Pete was born. Small world, isn't it?

I remember watching the original version with my mother. I've always loved game shows, but never gotten on one. I've taken the on line test a few times, but never advanced past that. I once tried out on the Brain Bus. I passed the ten question audition test, but failed the real test (same as online test) ther next day and didn't get to play the mock game. I did see someone from my test as a one and done player on the show.

[dhkendall]

I am an avid Jeopardy fan, but someone who could really never try out for the show. I can do well watching TV, but I am not someone who can take a test that well, especially 1 or 2 of them. I enjoy reading the experiences from the posters here and such, but I just don't think I could ever muster an attempt to take it. (Even for someone like me, who was deemed "gifted" throughout grade school, I failed all the state standardized tests so badly that without my exemptions I wouldn't have graduated high school.) It's just easier for me to sit to the side and improve my own knowledge watching the show.

I'll tell you what I've told everyone, including TPH, take the test anyways, you have absolutely nothing to lose - heck many people who can't take the test for other reasons (ie they've been on the show before and they're not Jeff Kirby) take it "just for fun", it is that much fun just doing it. And it's not completely unlike playing along at home anyways.

I have been a Wikipedia editor since I was 14, with a vested interest in hurricanes, highways and railroads and am the defacto event planner for Wikimedia Foundation's New York City chapter.

That's something I forgot to mention, I'm often on Wikipedia, sometimes as an editor too. My main focus is this, my "baby"; I'm quite proud of it, especially that it seems to be the "de facto" blank map file used on the fourth most popular website on the entire Internet. Not too shabby!

(I'll freely admit the map itself isn't mine, as I don't have much SVG skills, I basically took an existing map and improved the way it is used, to facilitate the ease of use on the site. Like Newton, Einstein, and others who get accolades for their work, I freely admit to standing on the shoulders of giants.)

I am also aspiring to run for political office in my borough, and trying at a young age. In the meantime I am advocating for expansion of history recognition in this place.

As someone who previously mentioned wanting to hold office on his own introduction, I commend you. While I have been interested in politics since I was in my mid teens, I never thought I could run for politics, as I wasn't a member of any party and (as you can guess) independents don't fare well on the ballot. (I did initially run for school trustee because those, city councillors, and mayors are the only (technically, anyways) non-partisan positions in these here parts (although everyone knows either what party candidates belong to or what party is backing them). It wasn't until after the school trustee elections that the Liberals noticed me, asked me to run, and after examining their positions and finding them a very good match with my beliefs, I became a member of a party, which I think will help my future chances. All this, however, came when I was almost 40 (the candidate nomination meeting came the week of my 39th birthday). I'm glad to see that you are getting involved at a much earlier age, I think you stand a much better shot than I do at actually getting elected sometime in that regard. (I assume you are a member of a party, at least in the youth wing?)

I went through a name change when we moved here. I didn't reallyu like the old one so I went with something more descriptive. I'm not very good at coming up with message board names. I use my initials on another one I post on.

I get less creative over time. My first "nom de geek" was "The Weird Guy" on a local BBS (which I know instantly dates me, as I'm sure several of you have no idea what a BBS is). When I met my future wife, she thought I should change it since she didn't want me seeing myself as "weird". (She suggested "macho guy" - she doesn't really know how the 'net works ... ) I settled on "Canuck Guy" (still my Wikipedia name, as I was using that nick back then). Now, I like "dhkendall", even less imaginative, as it's my first and middle initials followed by my last name. I also like "Anorak" - on the Sony board someone mentioned it as a word meaning both a parka and a know-it-all. I thought it fit me to a tee, but when Sony crashed and jboard.tv started up, I kept my old name so that I don't have to re-introduce myself, my reputation is linked to my previous name. I hope one day to use "Anorak", though, as I still love the name for its apropos meanings.

[billiej]

My first attempt was back in 1995, when they actually had the LA tests in the J! studio.

That was my first attempt, too (I was living in San Diego at the time).

My name is Billie (hence the highly imaginative user name) and am currently living in Maine. I was born here but moved around a lot, returning for high school. After that I moved around some more before returning in 1996 and have been here ever since. I was a game show junkie as a kid and especially liked J! ever since the Art Fleming days. I have taken the test in person about 4 times and online at least twice. I haven't given up hope. 1999 brought another show that I became passionate about getting on; this season I finally succeeded in getting on WWTBAM and had the time of my life.

My degrees are in computer science (BS) and nutrition (MS), so of course I spend my days taking and adjudicating disability claims. I hope to retire while I'm still young enough to go back to being a veterinary technician, a job I truly loved but that didn't pay the bills. I really enjoy coming to these boards because I don't know anyone in RL that is into trivia or puzzles. Plus having my butt kicked daily in the games keeps me humble.

edited to fix typo

[billiej]

My first son was born nine months after I taped WWTBAM

Well someone certainly knows how to celebrate! I taped 9 1/2 months ago, no bonuses (at my age that would be rather disturbing).

[econgator]

When I auditioned for the show, I was in the first group to play the mock game and do the interviews. I knew they were going to ask the "What would you do if you won a bunch of money?" question, so I came prepared: I said, "I haven't told my husband this yet, but if I win big, I'm going to have a baby." It got a good response and was (I think) fairly memorable. So fast-forward to now...I'm actually pretty sad that I'm not in the running for the TOC because (besides the fact that I'm dying to play again!) I'm now about 7 months pregnant and would love to tape while hugely pregnant and be able to tell that story. (And yes, I know Rafferty Barnes is expecting too...but I don't think she promised it in her audition interview!)

You see, you give poor young women money, and all we do is have babies!

My first son was born nine months after I taped WWTBAM, and this one will be about 11 months after Jeopardy! Now I feel nervous about auditioning for any other game shows unless we want more kids.

Yes, but who are you? All I see over there is a picture of Alex and his brother or something ....

[StevenH]

I am Steven Hanley. I am 25 years old, and I'll be 26 in October. I live in metro Atlanta, and have been here for most of my life. My mom is originally from south Georgia, and my dad is originally from Connecticut, so I am half southerner, half yankee by blood, I suppose.

I have been a big fan of Jeopardy! since I was about 11 or 12 years old. My earliest memory of watching it was with my grandmother when she used to visit my family from Connecticut. I was impressed by how much she knew and it really made me want to learn useless information, even though I am really only of average intelligence (I usually score around a 110-115 on IQ tests). I started playing quiz bowl in 8th grade, and played all the way through high school until I graduated from college. I was a decent, but not great player, but I always had fun playing and meeting new people.

I went to Florida State University for my first two years of college then transferred to the University of Georgia for my last 2 1/2. I have a B.S. in Geography. My focus was in GIS and Cartography. Unfortunately, I am not putting that degree to use, as I currently work in a warehouse.

I auditioned for the J! College Championship in the Summer of 2005, in the days before the online test. I was one of nine people in my group who passed the written test, out of a total of 63. I didn't get picked for the show, but it was a most enjoyable experience. I auditioned again, this time for the regular show, in Savannah in August of 2008, and once again, did not get the call. My quiz bowl experience has made me very good at academic categories, but I am still terrible at general knowledge and pop culture. I have a long way to go before I could realistically be competitive on the show, but just getting on is a dream for me.

From playing college quiz bowl I have been around a lot of people who have been on the show, and I joined the old Sony board in August of 2004, and since then have interacted with more people who have been on the show than I can even count. As far as people who have been on the show who I would say that I actually know, there are 2: I have met Mark Dawson twice. The first time was during my senior year of high school when he was a moderator for my team at a quiz bowl tournament. I recognized him immediately from the show, and though I think that he was a little surprised by this, he told us all about his whole J! experience and had nothing but good things to say. I had the privilege of meeting Mark again about 2 months ago, at the World Quizzing Championships. It was just me, him, and one other person there, so we got to talk a good bit. The other person I know who has been on the show is Alice Luo, who was a semifinalist in the 2007 College Championship. Alice and I played quiz bowl together in high school and graduated in the same class.

In my free time I job hunt, play basketball, job hunt, listen to music, job hunt, watch Netflix on my Nintendo Wii, and job hunt. I guess that about covers it.

[Roadgeek Adam]

I'll tell you what I've told everyone, including TPH, take the test anyways, you have absolutely nothing to lose - heck many people who can't take the test for other reasons (ie they've been on the show before and they're not Jeff Kirby) take it "just for fun", it is that much fun just doing it. And it's not completely unlike playing along at home anyways.

Meh, I don't get the thrill of knowing something you're likely going to fail. (I'm very non-confident when it comes to things, its easier for me to go in negative than positive for any test.)

That's something I forgot to mention, I'm often on Wikipedia, sometimes as an editor too. My main focus is this, my "baby"; I'm quite proud of it, especially that it seems to be the "de facto" blank map file used on the fourth most popular website on the entire Internet. Not too shabby!

(I'll freely admit the map itself isn't mine, as I don't have much SVG skills, I basically took an existing map and improved the way it is used, to facilitate the ease of use on the site. Like Newton, Einstein, and others who get accolades for their work, I freely admit to standing on the shoulders of giants.)

Not bad, looks a bit out of date, but its acceptable.

As someone who previously mentioned wanting to hold office on his own introduction, I commend you. While I have been interested in politics since I was in my mid teens, I never thought I could run for politics, as I wasn't a member of any party and (as you can guess) independents don't fare well on the ballot. (I did initially run for school trustee because those, city councillors, and mayors are the only (technically, anyways) non-partisan positions in these here parts (although everyone knows either what party candidates belong to or what party is backing them). It wasn't until after the school trustee elections that the Liberals noticed me, asked me to run, and after examining their positions and finding them a very good match with my beliefs, I became a member of a party, which I think will help my future chances. All this, however, came when I was almost 40 (the candidate nomination meeting came the week of my 39th birthday). I'm glad to see that you are getting involved at a much earlier age, I think you stand a much better shot than I do at actually getting elected sometime in that regard. (I assume you are a member of a party, at least in the youth wing?)

Of course running in Canada vs. the US has some choices. My borough is loaded with Democratic stronghold, and well I do caucus Republican, be-it I will vote for Democrats when I feel there is a smart one running. Running as a Republican in Highland Park is a death wish considering we're outvoted badly. And the independent who ran for mayor last year lost.

[jepkid97]

It was called "Caste of Characters" ("caste" was spelled that way) and was one of the most under-stated threads on the Sony board, rarely on page 1 and usually hard to find. Hopefully this one won't suffer that fate.

I've always wondered (yes, always) - why was caste spelled that way?

I was an intermittent participant at best on the old board, but I need a few more posts to get out of new-member moderation, so...
I'm Alison. I was a J! contestant in July 2010 and won 3 games. I rode the TOC bubble for awhile but it looks like that's well and truly over now. Since I won't be appearing on the show, I figured I might as well share the story I would have told on the air:
When I auditioned for the show, I was in the first group to play the mock game and do the interviews. I knew they were going to ask the "What would you do if you won a bunch of money?" question, so I came prepared: I said, "I haven't told my husband this yet, but if I win big, I'm going to have a baby." It got a good response and was (I think) fairly memorable. So fast-forward to now...I'm actually pretty sad that I'm not in the running for the TOC because (besides the fact that I'm dying to play again!) I'm now about 7 months pregnant and would love to tape while hugely pregnant and be able to tell that story. (And yes, I know Rafferty Barnes is expecting too...but I don't think she promised it in her audition interview!)
I'm glad I found this board just in time for the SHC, which I expect to play in totally undistinguished fashion, just like last year.

Did you end up telling your husband?