As an introductory post, I suppose that I should do what introverts hate doing - talk about myself. Everyone does an about-me, don't they?
I was born with standard sex characteristics to two twentysomethings several decades ago, then spent the following decade or two of my life getting myself into and out of trouble. In my lifetime, I have been assigned to various generations, including Gen X, Millennial, Gen Y, The Oregon Trail Generation, and the MTV generation, which should give you an idea of about how old I am. I did, indeed, have an analog childhood and a digital young-adulthood.
I enjoyed getting lost in the nearby woods and swimming in the perpetually cold river, climbing trees, building forts, collecting rocks, and making potions with my best friend. I was an awkward, skinny child that had trouble with the concepts of traditional learning and received an ADD diagnosis during that time. I likely caused more than a heads' worth of grey hair in my teachers during those years.
I was hit with a couple of queer sticks after that, and I've turned out to be a non-binary person that uses the standard gendered pronouns just as easily as "they," and I find people attractive regardless of gender. What this means for me is that I care little about gender in most ways other than a sense of anger about what that means (e.g., women are unable to walk around shirtless without being seen as obscene, men are not allowed to be emotionally vulnerable, and so on).
I've done several things with varying degrees of professionalism, from food service to Grown Adult Jobs that are easily relatable to the movie Office Space.
I read a lot and always have, ever since I was able to piece together the sounds. This included the typical childhood books like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and National Geographic magazines, and some of the less-typical things for children like Shakespeare and Grey's Anatomy (yes, really, though I can't say I understood much of it as a child). As I grew, so did my literary tastes, which grew to include quite a few genres, from sci-fi and fantasy to more weighty works like Herodotus. As a result, I also write nearly-obsessively, and have several actual novels on the go. At the moment, I'm in a slump, and have been writing poetry to keep my foot in and my head on.
I've been engaged twice and have had serious relationships in the past with people of both binary genders. I've not had the occasion to date a trans person, but am not against the idea (in fact, trans folks, and anyone else - I need a cuddle, please). I've been hurt physically, emotionally, and on some bone-deep spiritual level that left me wanting true, down-to-earth love without all of the mind-games and hurt - like friends, but with love and hopefully sex. Unhappily, what this means is that nobody will want what I do, and I'll be single, unloved and celibate for the rest of my life. It's comfortable, if chronically lonely. I'm fairly unattractive as a romantic interest, so that's the likely deciding factor at this point.
My writing style is all over the place, and I'm certain that I've picked up some interesting but bad habits from my favorite authors (e.g., footnotes from Sir Pterry, a weirdness in style like Thompson), but likely none of their talent. The poetry that I write is written as a challenge to myself; I am far more comfortable with free verse than I ever will be with structure, meter, and rhyme. I have also begun writing this at a very dark time in my life, so what is currently leaving my brain tends to be on the darker side. This will, as a result, not be everyone's cup of tea and that's okay.
My recent writing has been influenced of late by having a beach nearby and a friend that is happy to create good memories with me in and around the water. His attitude seems to be - and seems to encourage in me - the idea that what will be will be. This has influenced my writing style, as well, thus the theme of this site - you have floated into my life, and while you may float away, I am happy to have you here with me now.
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