Birth to University
I was born to a conservative, middle class Canadian family that gradually became upper middle class by high school — a subtle but important distinction I didn't quite understand. My childhood, spent playing with my brother and doing homework, was loving but too safe — which I rebelled against. When I hit puberty (around 9/11) I had a lot of friction with my uptight Catholic high school and suburban community so after a couple years of partying and top marks in university, I dropped out to become a film director in LA.
My Family
Left to right: my parents, maternal grandparents, brother and grandfather, paternal grandparents and uncles. Notice how my grandfather didn't change his hair or moustache in 40 years.
Childhood Home
This house had more bathrooms than residents.
Childhood Montage
See what this sequence from Cherries & Clover reveals about my psychology.
Early Childhood
I don't remember much about these days, but I sure was excited to meet Santa! I just wish I could still rock those dinosaur suspenders.
Boyhood
When I wasn't riding my bike, Epona, through the forest hunting squirrels with a slingshot (which I never had the heart to shoot), I was talking to friends or girls on the phone or listening to The Backstreet Boys. Around my 13th Christmas, my brother and I finally got a computer that I could use to watch my new Spider-Man DVD about 15 times. I was at just the right age to get a hero complex forever.
High School
I've always changed friends a lot, to try many crowds. I felt separate from the others, but liked it. I wore one Adidas white sneaker with black laces, and one black sneaker with white laces — my radical fashion statement to show how different I was. Nobody tried to bully me, because they knew I wouldn't take it. And once Andrea came around, life was sweet. I had it all figured out, and was eager for life to begin.
Andrea
My stunning high school sweetheart. Wish I still had a picture to post of what she looked like but we lost touch. Though she wasn't the basis for Cherries, many of the scenes in the film were inspired by my slow corruption of this good girl at our Catholic high school.
Catholic High School
This blink-182 music video is like how my high school was.
The 10km Race
On the last day of gym class in high school, we had a 10 km race (6.2 miles). Halfway through, I was gaining on this jock who was maybe half a foot taller than me. So he cheated: he majorly cut a corner. But I refused to cheat, I stayed on the path. And I will never forget the look we exchanged when I surpassed him.
Roadtrip USA
In 2010 I packed up my things and drove to LA with only a compass to guide me. I didn't know the layout of the States so my plan was to just drive south until I hit the Gulf of Mexico and then turn West. It's a fun way to travel if you got the time.
Finance
Geography
History
Law & Politics
Linguistics
Psychology