Welcome to the new home of my blog. I’ve tried a lot of places to write (Tumblr, etc.) and I’ll probably still write wherever the digital wind takes me, but my personal stuff will mostly live here. I’ll also write some business pieces, but mostly those will be given to outlets who want them. If you are someone or some place that wants me to write for you, please send me a note on my web form — it goes to my personal email account.
I’ll start off by telling you that I don’t find myself interesting. I’m not fishing for compliments when I say that, because I really don’t want them, but I just want to share that truth with you. I find other people far more interesting. So, I feel honored that you want to read anything I write and that you take the time to care about anything I have to say.
I love to tell stories and I think the love for telling stories goes back to where I come from. I was raised in a place that had one movie theater that played the same movie for a month for $1, we had limited television and most of our entertainment as children were our own minds. We were also at times very poor, which I do believe has something to do with it. I can’t know for sure, but my hunch says yes. Lastly, I was a smoker and a coffee drinker in my young adult life and both of those drugs foster conversation, especially in extreme temperature conditions. I lived in very cold places and very hot places and I think the extremes forged me into the story teller I am today.
My poor husband has heard pretty much all of my stories. I have very little left to tell him. I’m always excited when I create a new story or experience, of if I have a new realization I can share with him. Sometimes he’s shocked because I tell him something new he hasn’t heard and he lights up.
When I tell people my stories, which for me are ordinary, because they are my experiences and I know nothing else, people find them interesting and ask me to write them down. Many have suggested that I write a book. I tried writing a book, but then I realized that I don’t know what should go in it. I don’t know if anyone would buy it. I don’t want to create it for myself. I have a lot of other art endeavors I would rather pursue for personal gratification. So, I’ve put it off and I recently decided that I’ll write short stories here about my life – past and present and if someone who’s in the book industry comes along and asks me to write a book and offers to publish it, or if anyone wants to use these stories, then it’ll happen, otherwise it won’t. Regardless, I can write short snippets that you will hopefully enjoy and I hope that writing will inspire you to share your stories with me, because that’s what I most want from this. I want to read what sorts of associations you make with your memories from mine.
I’m poorly educated. So, I’m going to make a lot of writing mistakes. I was recently at a lunch where someone used a word incorrectly at the table and someone corrected him. He stopped and looked grateful. The person who corrected him apologized and the person who misspoke said, “No, thank you. I want to learn!”. I’ve always loved one of Twain’s quotes which I’ll misquote I’m sure, but it is something like “I don’t give a damn for a man who can only spell a word one way.” I like this quote because it supports my lack of knowledge and gives me a crutch to lean on and feel good about myself. I’ve used it for years to massage myself with, but really, I want to be uncomfortable. I want to grow and I’ll never grow if you don’t point out where I’m wrong. I may not learn from you pointing things out, but I just may and I will never be offended when you tell me I’m wrong. Either with an idea, how I wrote it, or anything else. So, please, tell me. We grow as people together when we find ways of being comfortable sharing ideas — no matter what they are.
My first project I want to kick off, because it amuses me is to tell you about all the jobs I’ve had in my life. Those are good stories. I’m sure you have many of your own and I can’t wait to hear them. Please leave them in the comments or write your own on your blogs and link back to them so we can read them.
I’m excited and I hope I can keep this up. I’m sure like all things I start off doing, I will take off sprinting and will pump out stuff frequently and eventually interest will have an ebb and flow to it. Just please don’t let me give up. If I stop writing, please nudge me.
Btw, the featured image for this post is by an old friend Andrei Zmievski who I hired to shoot my birthday party years ago. This was one of the happiest nights in my life. Many of my close friends came together to eat crepes and we watched an amazing performance by my friends Scotty and Katrine. I love how photos allow you to time travel.