Hi!

I'm a speedrunner / music dude seeking a meaningful existence as a quality entertainer. I enjoy long walks on the beach to go see rocket launches and short walks in the rain to go see basement shows. Chaotic good.

Game Collection

The shelf holds an extensive archive of Atari 2600 titles, from “ET” to “Pepsi Invaders/Coke Wins,” and the complete Activision library. Gems from NES, SNES, N64 and more round out this wall of fun.

THE LIST

MY STORY

From the first time I came in contact with video games I was fascinated with them. I know it’s corny to say, but gaming really did choose me. The earliest memory I have playing video games is of standing on a milk crate to see over the controls of the Tumble Pop arcade machine at the mall. When I could get some quarters I played Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, and died a lot in Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. One principle was immediately clear — the better you were at the game the longer you could play on one quarter. This was very important when you only had two or three.

It’s an old story at this point, but gaming used to be a lot smaller and spread out when I was a kid. You could only play the arcade games that were nearby. When my dad brought home an Atari 2600 it was a big deal to be able to play a handful of games at home. Since we didn’t have all the manuals for the games, simply figuring out basic gameplay functions was exciting and rewarding. My foundation with gameplay was that of exploring spaces, trying out ideas, and celebrating small achievements. Games I loved on Atari like Pitfall 2 and Raiders of the Lost Ark were big worlds I wanted to simply inhabit without needing anything else from them. I got a Super Nintendo and Mario World for Christmas in 1992 and never looked back. I don’t think I’ve gone more than a month or two without playing SMW since I was four. Later when my friends started getting Playstations and Xboxes I just…didn’t. I stayed behind and doubled down on getting better at the classics, although these days I do enjoy the occasional sojourn into modern titles.

In 2009 a co-worker of mine showed me the documentary ‘King of Kong’ which led me down a rabbit hole of competitive gaming. This was helpful, because at the time I was dealing with the death of my best friend that August. I was active on Twin Galaxies for a while between 2010 and 2012, although in recent years I have severed ties with that organization. My first world records — high score on the NES ports of Millipede and Q*Bert — were achieved in 2010 and are still standing as of 2020. I first got a Twitch/JustinTV account in 2011 and used it occasionally to broadcast some high score WR attempts. My setup at the time was basically nothing — Xsplit running on a laptop that could barely handle it, Atari plugged into a VCR plugged into a Dazzle DVC101, and a $10 Deluxe Computer Microphone from the Dollar General.

Not many of those old videos survive, but in late 2015 I changed my handle to GlitchCat7 and started streaming Mario Maker full time. I got partnered in March of 2017, and ran at my first Games Done Quick event in 2018 with Cool Spot and Mario Maker. Since then I have ran at two other GDQs as well as other marathons, and done commentary for a great many other runs and events. Now entering my fifth year of streaming full-time, I’m incredibly proud of the community we’ve cultivated together and hope to continue this work long into the future.

In addition to gaming, I’ve been a DIY musician and artist for most of my life. My friends and I had a loud goofy punk band in high school, and we grew up into loud crazy adults. Along the way we made a lot of albums, drawings, zines, fliers, videos and other weirdness. Homemade art and music is special to me, and I grew up seeing both the incredible uplifting power of such scenes and spaces, and the inevitable conflicts that arise out of living in such chaos. I’ve performed and seen bands mostly at basements, living rooms, bars, rented dance halls, roller rinks, driving ranges, under bridges and soforth. In 2011 I started my own singer-songwriter project called Cowabunga Breakfast, which is still going fairly strong today. I’ve released about 11 or 12 albums, I kinda forget. I joined Chessie and the Kittens as the bass player in 2015 and we’re still together as well. We’ve released several albums of our own and gone on a few tours. These days I just write songs and play for my own enjoyment, though you can occasionally catch me playing live. Music is just something that I love doing and don’t want to take seriously as a career or “professional” endeavor. It’s just about the adventure and the sounds. I married my wife in 2017; we don’t want any children but we do have an adorable orange cat named Mallow. Streaming, music, art and gaming have brought a lot into my life. I hope to be able to use these mediums to return those same good things back into the world.