Name: David Spanos
Hometown: Oh, boy. I never know how to answer this. I was born in Pennsylvania, then moved to Virginia, Istanbul Turkey (Where I had to leave after a year and a half because there was a terrorist bombing a mile away from my school that blew out some windows), Massachusetts, Florida, New York, and then finally, Los Angeles in 11th grade. As soon as I came to LMU, my parents moved to China, so I’ve been on my own here ever since. Yes, I do spend Thanksgivings alone, but no, it’s actually not depressing. I’m usually always with friends, so I see it as a few “Spanos Spa Days” where I get to walk around my house with no clothes on while screaming to Kelly Clarkson songs as loud as I can. Anyways… I guess I’ll go with Los Angeles with a dash of St. Petersburg, Florida (I visit my besties and family there at least twice a year/where I go for the holidays).
Age: 22
Year: Senior
Major: Screenwriting
Relationship Status: Divorced…I’ll explain. So, as I said, my parents live in China, so I visited them before school started and traveled around China a bit. We were visiting a rural village and what was only supposed to be an ordinary tourist day trip turned into something magical. I met Sherry (I’m not sure if that’s her real name). We got married on the endless rice terraces that stare out above the mountains and fields in the distance. The local village took me in as one of their own. I worked the rice terraces as she made sandals and looked after the little ones. Oh, how the little ones ran about. I had a son. Not by birth, but I loved him as if he were. He’s 35 years old, but the moment he sat in pop pop’s lap, he might as well have been 5 again. Anyways, all was good until I had to leave to go back to LMU. That’s when everything fell apart. Sherry cheated on me. I don’t want to talk about it. Anyways, yeah, I’m single.
What are you involved in on campus?: Brother of Beta Theta Pi and Avid Participator of Activities at The Loft (APAL) ← I just thought of that. Nice ring to it. The Loft should use that. You’re welcome.
Favorite movie: Swingers. Young, skinny Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau navigating dating and nightlife in Los Angeles. If you’ve ever heard, “You’re so money!” or “Vegas, baby!” This is where they come from.
Favorite food: There’s nothing like a slice of New York Pizza.
Favorite place to be on a Tuesday night?: I have a feeling that this was a custom question just for me. So, POWs (Prince of Whales for the novices) is a quaint little dive bar close to school that has karaoke night every Tuesday night. It’s a time when LMU students can gather together in the name of song and dance. Anyway. There’s a Facebook page for the senior class and a couple Tuesday evenings I posted something funny that was whale related in attempts to get people to go. Somehow it escalated and has gotten to the point where everyone expects me to post every Tuesday, and I constantly have to think of innovative whale related material. Wow, I’m just realizing that they should really give me like free drinks or at least a t-shirt or something for all of the promotion I do for them. Does POWs do bottle service? Anyway, go to POWs Tuesday!
What would be your ideal date?: Drinks at a nice rooftop bar, loosen the nerves up and get the convo flowing, then move to a dive bar that has a crappy cover band playing classic rock songs (A jukebox works as substitute). End the night late night at a diner.
Biggest turn on: When they don’t charge you extra for guac…I’m also a fan of sundresses. They’re exquisite.
Celebrity crush: I’m often told by people that I remind them of Charlie Day (Charlie on It’s Always Sunny), but I wouldn’t call him my celeb crush. For guys, I’d say, Jake Johnson (Nick Miller from New Girl), and maybe Keith Richards from The Rolling Stones, purely due to the fact that it’s beyond impressive that that man is still alive and standing. Johnny Cash, Freddie Mercury, and Billy Joel get honorable mention. For girl celeb crush: My mom! To me, she’s the bestest celebrity in my life:) Just kidding. Screw my mom! (I love you Mom, just playing. Keep sending money). My celeb girl crush is Paula Deen. She can butter me up on a biscuit and deep-fry me any day she likes.
Fun fact 1). I have a tattoo of a clown. On me bum. I was fundraising money for children and told people that if they got to a certain amount (an amount I thought they wouldn’t reach) that I would get the tattoo. I’ve never seen people donate money that quickly. I love it though because anytime someone is like, “That was really stupid,” I get to respond, “Oh, yeah? It’s stupid? It’s stupid to help kids that are in need? Then YEAH, I guess it’s stupid.” IT’S FOR THE KIDS. I actually do love the tattoo though because when I’m 40 and stressed about work or my third divorce or something, I’ll look in the mirror and be reminded not to forget about my inner clown. “Don’t forget about your inner clown.” – David Spanos
Fun fact 2). When I was in fourth grade, I had a little theatre phase, where I played Danny Zucko in Grease (Which was funny because Sandy was like 16 and I was 9), The Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, and the girl lion Nala in Lion King (fighting gender norms since a young age, ya feel?)
Fun Fact 3). In 9th grade, I was an actor in a PSA for STDs. My one line was, “Always wear a condom.”
Most embarrassing moment: Singing all of R. Kelly’s “Ignition Remix” over acoustic guitar to my high school girlfriend. Like, I sang the whole thing. I should have stopped after the first verse. But hey, sometimes you just have to ask yourself, WWRKD (What would R. Kelly do?)…Actually, that’s probably a terrible way to decide what to do in situations. Don’t do that at all.
*Photographs by Sam Irwin