Mark Dudlik

So, I am known for a few things now, it would seem: Design, hating weather tweets, self-deprecation and pandas. The last one may seem immature and girly, which whatever, I’m known for being those things too.

I thought though, that I would share the tale of my panda fascination. My pandamonium, if you will.

It all starts back in 1983…

My mother was a curious half-fish, half-human who lived under the over-protective rule of her father, who was the king of the sea! While traveling with her fish and lobster friend, she came upon a cursed half-man half-michaeljfoxfromteenwolf who eventually brought her back to his house of talking candlesticks and clocks. Wait..no. That’s Mermaid & The Beast.

Okay, seriously though. My family wasn’t rolling in it when I was younger. We had limited funds. So when christmas time came, presents weren’t always possible. But, my mom made sure my little brother and I each got at least one thing, every year. My brother got a Koala, and I got a Panda. Not sure why she picked them for us, but it stuck.

I have at least 26 stuffed pandas and a bunch of other random little things, including a lamp my grandmother made herself. It’s turned into a pseudonym, a ninja-panda for Dojo and getting 15 pictures of a panda someone drew at gangplank, or any time someone sees a panda really. I’m okay with it. I love pandas. I will eventually own a miniaturized one in the future.

So, that’s where my love and obsession with pandas comes from. I love pandas because I love my mom and my brother and they remind me of everything good about my upbringing.

The end.

This is a picture of the first panda I ever got and the (now broken several times, and no longer a lamp) ceramic panda my grandmother made me: They are both over 20 years old.