Lego was the life-consuming obsession of my childhood, the only thing I wanted for every birthday and Christmas. After our home PC was connected to the internet, I soon discovered Brickshelf. One day I stumbled upon Daniel Jassim's A-Wing Carrier and my mind was totally blown. That enormous lego spaceship, so large that it had a hangar bay full of regular sized spaceships, and hallways for minifigures to walk around inside, was the single coolest thing I had ever seen. I realized that Lego, not merely a toy, was a serious hobby that some dedicated adult fans had pushed to a level I never imagined was possible. And though as a kid I didn't have the parts collection (or admittedly, the patience) to build at that level, there was a seed planted in the back of my mind that never went away.

...Now, after many years, I've retrieved all of my childhood lego from storage and started to tinker with it again. I'm told that in the AFOL community this is known as "coming out of my dark ages". It feels good to be back in the light :)