andrew blaze - early years information
When I was a little kid I always dreamed of becoming someone cool. I remember watching cartoons and seeing these characters being immortalized in our every day lives. Every kid knew who âScooby Dooâ was. Every kid knew what a âPokĂ©monâ was. Every kid watched and looked up to someone in his or her life. It didnât take long for my interest in television and films to grow. I frequently envisioned myself as a character from a television show.
As a kid I just took for granted that the shows I watched were what they were. I never realized the amount of work that went into those productions. Little did I know that I would eventually take the tedious and exciting path of bringing my drawings to life. I can talk forever about my fascination with movies, music, and animation. Theyâve always been in my life and have played a huge role in making me the person that I am today.
Before I go into detail with how I got to where I am today, I need to back up to the very beginning. I was born on Thursday, September 17, 1992 as âRandy Stairâ. I have resided in Pennsylvania ever since. I was the first child that my parents had. Two years later on September 11, 1994, my parents had a second son who would become my brother, âJeremyâ.
For as long as I can remember, I was always a shy kid. I remember my parents saying how I would bawl my eyes out when they would drop me off at pre-school. I just remember feeling helpless and lost when I was away from them. Every time my teacher would greet me as I walked through the door my head would be down or my eyes would look straight up at the ceiling to avoid eye contact with people. I didnât hate my teachers, I just hated being acknowledged that I existed. I wanted it to be as if I was a ghost in the room; sitting in class and learning, but not having anyone know that I was there.
Iâll never forget about the play that we put on for our parents in preschool. While I donât remember what the play was about, I can remember standing at the back of the stage with my back turned to the audience; in plain sight. I just zoned out. I just started looking around at anything to take my mind off of the nerve-racking situation. My mind was still developing at that young age but I soon began to realize how powerful it can be, and how emotions can get the best of you.
You could say I was a daydreamer; thatâs what the average person would say. As time progressed however, it became something much deeper. For some reason I always liked being alone. In elementary school I would see all of these kids in my classes talking with each other, smiling, and acting like theyâd known each other for years. I would sit feeling confused and feeling like I was missing something. I wanted to cry whenever group projects would be issued. I was always one of, if not the last person to partner up. I felt like a nobody. Here were all of these kids that conversed with ease and wanted to interact, whereas I would rather sit in the front of the class near the teacher. I desperately wanted people to like me, but at the same time leave me alone completely. It was something beyond being just an introvert. I just felt lost.
I started to learn that things couldnât be handed to you in life. You had to make decisions and you had to make friends on your own. I did make some friends in elementary school. Although I made friends in school I never hung out with them out of school. I was afraid to even call them on the phone. Hell, I was afraid to call my own grandmother on the phone fearing my grandfather would answer; I would always hang up on him. The first sad memory that I can truly say that changed my life was when my friend Michael moved away in first grade. It was emotional for me and I really donât understand why because I barely knew the kid. I just remember hugging him and fighting back tears on his last day at school. To be fair he wasnât the coolest kid either. That memory stuck with me for a while for some reason but it had no control over me on trying to make and keep friends.
In first grade I met someone who would help make me the person I am today; Matthew Gilbert. We were both big football fans and enjoyed recording with video cameras; it was the perfect combination. He was the first friend that I felt like I could tell anything to. We made a bunch of videos together on mini DV tapes. They started from just simple plots of two boys that wanted to try and find a friend, to parodies of Wes Cravenâs, âScreamâ. Matt helped me realize my love for the video camera.
Whenever we would hang out I can remember begging him to make some videos with me. I didnât even care what they were about; I just loved to record things with the camera and be able to watch them back on my television later on. I think a big reason why is because I loved to remember the moments we had together as friends and be able to relive them whenever I wanted. It got to a point where he grew tired of repeating the same formula for a video, and we just stopped doing them. I however kept making them with just myself in them.
From the first time I ever picked up a video camera and looked into the viewfinder, to the videos I made with Matt, my love for film never faded. I remember watching movies like âTitanicâ, âScreamâ, âPirates of the Caribbeanâ, and âHarry Potterâ, and just being in awe of them. I got lost in the visuals, the soundtrack, the dialogue; everything. I wanted to be able to make videos like that. I would just walk around with the video camera and fantasize about what was happening; even though it was just me narrating with a camera angled upwards, twelve inches away from my face.
Matt and I eventually went separate ways at the end of ninth grade. He had been in a relationship with a girl for a year or so, and it just limited the amount of time that we could hang out. I just remember feeling enraged. I felt like that girl was more important than I was. I wasnât in love with the guy but I felt abandoned. I havenât spoken to him since. I think the last thing I ever said to him was that Brett Favre had retired; him being a die-hard Packers fan.
I basically just drifted through elementary and middle school. Matt was my best friend throughout those years; no one remotely came close. The biggest mistake I made was not branching out to other students. For some reason I just didnât connect with them; always feeling like I was in the wrong class of kids. I had more friends in my brotherâs class than my own. It eventually got the point that I just stopped trying and caring to make friends. I was always the isolated, quiet, and shy student; and it never changed.
In middle school I met someone who I am decent friends with to this day; James Schwemmer. Like Matt, he really helped influence my life. Although we wouldnât become friends until ninth grade, James and I would share a strong interest in filmmaking. James was the one who really got me into YouTube and helped motivate me to make content of my own.
germansingergirl
areudirty
jacobvanloon
2087
blakekathryn
prguitarman
romaincrisis
janainaart
vaporwave