Well, what can I say, except that I love, loved and will continue to love magic. I'm a hobbyist with a slight potential for later professionalism, and it's been 2 years since I officially started to get involved with magic seriously, before that I only knew a couple of tricks and thought that magic was only learned through special circles of trust and such (but I knew how to throw a playing card pretty well). I guess my passion for it started when I was small, probably 7 or so, when I was in a vacation once and this magician on the same train with me did a trick where he switched the cards in my own hands. I rememeber it so vividly even now when I think about it. However, before that event, I believed that "real magic" existed and I used to wish for it so much every night, but once I saw the trick, I realised that there was a way for me to learn it (besides wishing for it).
By the age of 13 I had an arsenal of (here it comes!) 10 tricks, but I didn't know much, although the interest was still sparking in me. Two years ago, my friend pretended to throw a card ninja-style, and to my surprise, it flew (on the sixth try)! I tried throwing it again and again until I succeeded and needless to say that ever since then I've almost perfected my technique. But it didnt end there.
I guess what really sparked my beginning was my best friend, who shares the exact same interests as me, and when I went in a vacation in Romania (I'm Romanian), he showed me a lot more tricks and together we discussed on how to improve our techniques and all of that. Our learning of magic has been parallel since then and I'm proud of it. When I came back to Canada (I live there), where I live, I started browsing sites such as TM and Ellusionist (yes, I know it is crappy trick-wise but at least they make magic look cool as opposed to the clown/magician image that people have) and looking for magic shops in my area, of which I've found two.
But the fun part is still college, since I'm in an environment which enables me to do a lot of tricks to a lot of people, and therefore improve very rapidly. I'd also like to learn metalism better, but first to improve my magic.
But enough about me, let's talk about the future me and what my philosophy of magic is. First, magic should be kept a secret, and the government should take some action and make laws for the secrets to be kept (and not revealed on youtube by 10-year-olds). My opinion toward the MM is neutral, but I still think he revealed a bit too much for the good of the magic society. I think the changing-animal-into-whatever and smoke-and-mirrors kind of tricks are seriously getting old and boring, so I'm for revealing that (but not new ones!). My view of the magician I want to become is like this: eccentric, yet sleek and cool (mysterious?), in order to be able to create a better atmosphere for magic, and separating myself from circus magic (such as cups, balls, juggling, etc. [I don't mean to offend whover does that here, I have a great respect for it, it's just that I find it fits into a different magician category, more into the circus magician category]). I also like the way Criss Angel and David Blaine advertise for themselves as magicians (although they kinda suck)
Generally, I think that the modern magician SHOULD NOT CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT by bringing unusual stuff and doing magic with it (such as sponge balls), but WORK WITH WHAT HE HAS by taking normal day to day stuff and doing magic with it (e.g. melting a straw or bending a fork), and learn to COMBINE MENTALISM WITH MAGIC, to get the best out of two worlds. Magic is the tool, mentalism is the skill.
I certainly hope this clarifies my views on the current magical situation, and lets you better know the person you're talking with
