Sean O'Neal (city editor, Austin) spent most of his good years playing in several almost-made-it bands and holding down jobs with varying degrees of indignity. Like some other A.V. Club staffers, O'Neal received "the call" while working at a video store. To this day, he hasn't gotten used to the idea that no one expects him to open tomorrow.  O'Neal's writing began in earnest with the seventh-grade humor column "Mindless Chatter," which quickly earned him the nickname "the Dave Barry of Bailey Junior High," a reputation he is still trying to live up to. He would also like to clarify that—despite persistent Internet rumors—he is not the guy from Clarissa Explains It All. (Really.) O'Neal lives a life of quiet desperation in Austin, where he can usually be found getting into clubs without paying.