Theme of the Week – Open Diary

If you could bring back one person and have a conversation with them, who would it be?

Mike Atari

March 25, 2018

This is a good one... There are so many people that have passed on that I would love to speak to again. And for different reasons. I'd love to speak to my maternal grandmother again. She was a huge influence on my family and she passed away when I was 13. She was only 69.…

My favorite food growing up

Mike Atari

March 17, 2018

This is probably why Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Not only was it an opportunity to see my extended family, but it was also the holiday that my aunt made her spectacular mushroom soup. It is not an easy recipe and took time, but she knew I loved it and made it basically…

If you could change one choice you made in your life, what would it be?

Mike Atari

March 7, 2018

I try to live a no-regrets kind of life, so I'm struggling to think of a choice I made that I would change. Like when I was having trouble cutting it as a computer science major in college and changed my major to communications. I still ended up writing computer software in the end, so…

If you could create a character in your favorite book or film story, what would you be? What would you do?

Mike Atari

February 28, 2018

I am not thinking about this one really hard, but my first thought is to be one of the characters on HBO's Silicon Valley. I don't see myself really contributing to the plot, being an amazing engineer, or anything like that. I just see myself being involved and dating Monica Hall (Amanda Crew). T...

What cause would you be an activist for?

Mike Atari

February 20, 2018

This one didn't take a lot of thought. I've always stated that the environment is the single most important issue. Yes, there are many many important issues, but if we don't have a healthy planet (well, healthy for us), nothing else really matters. The fact that this is such a debated issue is lu...

Do you believe in soulmates?

Mike Atari

February 12, 2018

The simple answer: No. I'm not a spiritual person. I honestly do not care about such things and they hold very little value in my life. I find marvel and beauty in the natural world -- and it's pretty damn magical -- but it is still science and there is an explanation. Magic, god, destiny…

Which of your values do you value most?

Mike Atari

February 4, 2018

I guess the personal value I value most is authenticity. I can't stand people not being who they really are and putting on some sort of show. I don't want to go too much into politics here, but Donald Trump... I cannot stand him AS A PERSON. Looking past everything I do not like about…

When was a time that you stood up for yourself?

Mike Atari

January 21, 2018

There's been a few times that I remember, mostly as a kid and probably getting picked on by other kids. One time as an adult though was during my first professional job. I was fresh out of college and landed a gig as a Proofreader/Junior Copywriter for a direct mail clothing company. I was pretty...

The most surprised I’ve ever been…

Mike Atari

January 14, 2018

I don't find much in my life to be all that surprising, so this theme has taken a bit of thinking. One surprise I remember was my surprise 30th birthday party. I asked for a surprise party because I've never had one and always wanted one. That sounds sad, doesn't it? But how do you…

What is something you did as a child, that you miss doing now?

Mike Atari

January 9, 2018

The first comic characters that I invented were a duo named Fuzzy and Baddbagg. I was in second grade. Fuzzy looked like a fry guy from McDonalds, so he was basically a head of hair with eyes and two legs. Baddbagg was an odd triangle shaped creature that was cross-eyed, stick-figured arms and le...