So you want to know about me huh?
Well, to start, my name is Meagan VanBurkleo. I am 23 years old and just finished my degree at the University of Minnesota – having studied Graphic Design and Journalism / Mass Communications. During the daytime I work as a staff member at Game Informer – covering video-game news, previews and features for the GI website. To mix things up a bit, I cover comics for the GEN, which is my other big passion in life. I primarily collect Top Cow and Aspen titles, but I have been expanding my comic-book horizons as of late.
More about me – if you can’t tell already, I am a geek at heart. When I was introduced to the larger online “nerd culture” I went crazy. I am now extremely active in many online communities and I am very lucky for all of the opportunities that have resulted from those relationships. Among my favorite websites – outside of GEN and GI – are 1337life.com, Destructoid.com, Japanator.com, Tomopop.com, Cosplay.com, TopCow.com and AspenComics.com.
Other nerdy facts: I watch anime and am huge into cosplay. I also can’t get enough vampire novels (even the trashy ones) and eagerly await any geek convention that comes to town. I have a DS autographed by Miyamoto and I get way too excited whenever I see anything Final Fantasy related. I worked at Game Crazy just for the perks. I almost cried listening to the music during a Video Games Live concert. I love female game characters that are hot and kick ass. I have three cats: Donut, Church and Tex. If you area Halo fan you will get the names. I also have a dog named Kairi, which should be semi self-explanatory. My hubby and I have an entire room dedicated to video games, with 17+ systems and over 400 games.
Outside of work and GEN, my non-professional goals are to create art in any way possible. I used to think that I did not know what I wanted to do with my life until I started college. I look back now and I realize that I have always been in love with the aesthetic in life; I just needed school to show me what direction to take. I love painting, drawing, scrapbooking, photography, sculpting and writing. My artistic goals in life are to create, inspire or commission art.
Modeling has also been an artistic outlet for me over the last few years. It is an amazing experience that lets me be things I could never be in reality. Looking back, I was cosplaying before I even really knew what it was. Now, my modeling work has evolved into primarily cosplay modeling – as editorial and fashion work doesn’t interest me much anymore. I take great pride in my final cosplay costumes and photos, and I hope you can tell that it is a real passion of mine from my work!
In the end I am an uber nerd and I love it. I would never have it any other way even if that means that I am not always understood. At least I have a great community like GEN to find other geek friends!
Fast Facts
Music: I listen to anything, although you will most often find me listening to a book on tape or a video game podcast. Most of my favorite music come from video game OST. I am a sucker for Final Fantasy music. Otherwise, I love Enya, Enigma, Delirium, Weezer, Cake, Switchfoot, Queen, My Chemical Romance, U2, Alica Keys, Incubus, Josh Groban, Lauren Hill, Lincon Park, Korn, Mettalica, Nickleback, Nora Jones and anything by Nobou Uematsu!
Movies: I love to watch movies, however I have notoriously bad taste in them. I guess it is not simply bad taste, but rather that I am not picky. Knowing that explains why I love the rash of horrible comic to movie titles over the last few years. Some of my favorite movies include: Memoirs of a Geisha, the Harry Potter series, Back to the Future I-III, Grandma’s Boy, The Wizard, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, What Dreams May Come, Tomb Raider, Resident Evil I-III, X-men trilogy, The Sweetest Thing, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Matrix trilogy, Collateral, Underworld I & II, Short Circuit, Troy, The Island, Minority Report, Crash, Batman Begins, Memento, Interview with a Vampire and the Spiderman trilogy.
Video Games: For the most part I will play any type of video game, so my tastes are quite eclectic. Some of my favorites include the following: Fatal Frame I-III, Resident Evil 4, Kingdom Hearts I & II, the Tomb Raider series, the Zelda series, the Final Fantasy series, Lemmings, The Darkness, Mario Galaxy, God of War, Mario Kart, Drakengard, Guitar Hero, Taiko, Halo I-III, Beyond Good and Evil, Pac-Man, Legend of the Dragoon, Animal Crossing, Pokemon Snap, Rampage, Mario Party games, Donkey Konga, Baten Kaitos, Goldeneye, Gears of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Rock Band, Katamari Damacy, Portal, Dead Rising, BioShock, Viva Pinata, Lost Odyssey …and many more!
TV: I regularly Tivo a strange array of television titles as well. Some of my favorite TV shows include: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Daily Show, Family Guy, Alias, Sex and the City, Law and Order SVU, CSI, Extreme Home Makeover, Americas Next Top Model, Arrested Development, Smallville, Heroes, America’s Got Talent and The Office.
Anime: I am a new anime watcher who is quickly developing an addiction. Some of my favorites include: Fruits Basket, Princess TuTu, Trinity Blood, FLCL, Witchblade, Appleseed and Chobits.
Cosplay: Cosplay has been taking up a large amount of my time (and money) lately. The costumes I have under my belt include: the Tomb Raider Legend default costume, the Tomb Raider Legend Tokyo Dress, Lara Croft’s Catsuit, Jill Valentine, Wonder Woman, Aphrodite IX, The Tattooed Priestess from Fatal Frame III, Mario Sister, Zatanna, Witchblade, Sydney Savage, Elektra, Mamimi from FLCL, Grace from Soulfire, Chi from Chobits and a Warrior Geisha. I still have to shoot a few of the above professionally, which is why they are missing from my cosplay album.
The costumes I am currently working on or plan to make in the future include: Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, Young Lara Croft, The Magdalena, The Necromancer, The Angelus, Madame Mirage, Ember Silva from Shrugged, Poison Ivy, The Huntress, Black Canary, Chell from Portal, Kos-Mos, Ada Wong, BioShock Splicer, Evey from V for Vendetta, Leeloo and Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. I can’t wait to create more! I love to travel and want to cosplay in Japan more than any place in the world. I also hope to attend more conventions next year, such as Dragon Con.
Books: I love to read, primarily fantasy novels or something involving mythology. Some of my favorite books and book series are: Memoirs of a Geisha, Harry Potter series, The Anita Blake- Vampire Hunter Series, The Black Jewel Trilogy, The Wheel of Time Series, Angels and Demons, The Da Vinci Code, The Amber Room, Prey, The Messiah Code, The Historian…and anything with vampires in it!
Comics: I have been reading comics since I saw my first Tomb Raider cover drawn by Michael Turner. I am a Top Cow and Aspen fangirl at heart, so some of my favorite titles include: Tomb Raider, Witchblade, The Magdalena, Aphrodite IX, The Darkness, Fathom, The Necromancer, Soulfire, Soulfire: The Dying of the Light, Soulfire: Chaos Reign, Shrugged, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Anita Blake comics. I sometimes pick up independent titles and other comics with great art. I am a sucker for a pretty face.
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