I do not like talking about myself. Normally I am a very private person. Getting to know me is not something that happens easily. So trying to determine what I can say and what I should say about myself is an interesting exercise.
Putting my works out here on the web for complete strangers to read is not something I had ever envisioned myself doing. But the more I wrote, the more I found myself wondering what exactly I was writing for. So I decided to find a home on the web to share my meanderings with a wider audience.
I do not know how much insight into me you will gain from reading what I post here. Writing in general, for me, is an expression of an idea. Essays and poetry are for me the written expression of a thought or a feeling. Given how fleeting and ephemeral thoughts and feelings are you cannot expect to get a complete picture of me from what I write here. And sometimes the poems that I post illuminate thoughts that are now long gone. The thoughts that I examine in the poems I post here are almost certainly not what is in my head now - the moving finger writes; and, having writ, moves on. The point of posting on this blog is not to offer any insight into me, but to share what I have written. So what should I say about myself?
With the above in mind, let me put myself in context. Since I believe that writing in general and poetry in particular needs a context, a frame in which to view the art, then I need to talk about myself. I need to supply those that read my works some idea of where I get my inspiration from. So, without further eloquence...
I am a middle-aged, divorced father of two young adult daughters. I have been writing poetry and prose of one form or another since seventh grade. In my younger years I was a fan of Heinlein, Clarke, Bradbury, and Asimov and every term paper I wrote in high school related in one way or another to The Lord of The Rings. I have served in the Air Force, traveled to a few foreign countries and found something interesting and exciting in each. I have loved and I have lost and I do not regret a moment of the time I have spent on this earth. My experiences have made me the person I am today and while I see room for improvement, in general I am happy with who I am.
Writing has fascinated me since I was in first grade, copying a story from the blackboard. To this day, I remember the whole text:
Way down south where banana plants grow
a grasshopper stepped on an elephant's toe
said the elephant with tears in his eyes
go and pick on someone your own size.
It wasn't the story that I found compelling but rather the fact that I could copy it, put it down on paper and it was the same story. I remember looking from the blackboard to my paper and back again, intrigued by the whole process. That words were a way of storing an idea, of letting anyone else that could read know what you were thinking or wanted them to know was a revelation to my young mind. And so my fascination with words and writing began.
Writing and the idea of exploring new places, discovering new ways to see the world, are the two things that have endured in my life. Other hobbies have come and gone, other passions are now passed, but I still confess to the paper and the pen.
If you want to know more, here are two links. The first is my Facebook page. The second is to my gallery at National Geographic's Yourshot photo sharing site.
My Facebook Profile
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