Video Game Living Cartoon Profile

I picked up the new Douglas Coupland novel: jPod. He's the guy who coined the term "Generation X." Now, he's using the term "jPodders" to describe the late-teens, early 20-something age group--because they came of age after the iPod. Get it?

Anyway, this group of jPodders work in cubicles for a softward giant who makes video games. Part of their job is to write profiles of each character who will be in the game...and when they get bored they write them for co-workers or themselves.

Thought I'd undertake that task today, using questions they used in the book:

Name: Brent McKinney
Name People Actually Use: Brent
Preferred Simpsons Character: Reverend Lovejoy
Favorite Video Game: NCAA Football 2006
Preferred Karaoke Song: Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, but wouldn't sing karaoke no matter how much alchohol was involved
Most Disturbing Trait: Drastic changes in temprament/moods for seemingly no reason whatsoever. Usually, these changes occur because of the presence or absence of people...which doesn't come close to rationally explaining cause/effect.
Preferred Room Temperature: 50 degrees F. Loves any room, any time to be freezing cold.
Most Evident Pathology: Has no use for fashion sense. Really. None. Also, a visible disdain for people who create a market for spam, mobile phone rudeness, internet pornography, and various mass media vehicles (such as certain reality shows, game shows or "trilogy" movies).
Favorite "Knick Knack" In His Office: A commemorative hockey puck from a minor-league game in which the local team played the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey team that eventually won the gold medal. Runner-up: A 12-oz. bottle of coca-cola taken from his grandmother's laundry porch shortly after her funeral.
Do People Notice Him?: Yes. He has a job that requires visibility. In addition, his long hair, poor fashion sense, a tattoos get people talking.
Most Creative Thing Ever Done: Long before the "Left Behind" series came out, he was 80 pages in writing a novel about a group of people who were left behind in the Christian "rapture." His computer crashed and the data could not be retrieved despite serious attempts to do so...and he gave up the project. His wife still jokingly brings this up occasionally when reports of sales of the "Left Behind" series get published. Runner-up: one novel and one children's book in the chute of good ideas. Multiple back-ups will be employed on these versions when, and if, they get written. Third-place: Kept The Diner up and running for well-over three years now.
Favorite Food & Candy: Spaghetti & pizza--pretty much anything Italian. Candy: Peanut M&M's.
Does He Enjoy His Job?: Absolutely yes...so much so that he often has trouble relating to others who don't like their work. He understands why someone might sacrifice personal work happiness to serve others, like their family, but doesn't like hearing that people do that. Feels like everybody should do something they love and can do that with passion...and not call those things "hobbies."

Not exactly sure why the jPodders used those questions or how they'll help in their work. Of course, this all happened in chapter 1 as the author was helping you get to know the characters, so it may or may not have a practical application to their work...but that was the auspicies of the assignment. We'll see how the story goes.

But have fun rearranging my answers if you don't think they're correct, or answer one or two or all of them in the comments as they pertain to you...