Dear World,

      If you're like me—and I know I am—then you don't like to have your time wasted. To save you from squandering any more of your life here, read this:

      I am not a very interesting person.

      You see, I've never eaten a corn dog. I can't sing. The airplane is my favorite method of transportation and I love airports, especially during holidays. I secretly enjoy when the power goes out. Too many things are scented for my taste (well, smell). I love Christmas and thunderstorms. I'm a nostalgist.

      The concept of trying to be "cool" was ignored and avoided as I grew. There wasn't a day during elementary school in which I didn't hold a lunch box. I collected comic books and Star Wars action figures during my early teens. My first favorite band was The Beach Boys. I can't swim.

      As for this site, you should be warned of its brutal nature—harsh to senses and intellect and unforgiving in its blunt progressions. Beware! Inside lie airy hopes and unforgotten everythings, the truths about Santa Claus, and the wandering thoughts of a strange, avoidable author.

      In other words, this blog is a personal one and uninteresting to all but those concerned with me.

Unfortunately yours,
 

P.S. For those of you who will never return, have a wonderful life.

To Everyone Else,

      Let's get a little more organized. I was born twenty-five years ago in a very small town in North Carolina. I grew up with PBS and cartoons of the 1980s, fishing at the lake with my dad or grampa, and reluctant trips to church on Sundays. My parents gave good effort to raise a good person, yet I ponder the result. I have great nostalgia for my youth. I cherish the time spent with my cousins up to this very day. They were the only like-minded peers I had until the fateful day I learned what "school" is.

      As it turned out, elementary school was easy as a breeze and went by just as quickly. I was always the skinny nerd who could draw. Most thought of me as a friend (which wouldn't be apparent from all the Valentines addressed to "Brain" every February). Though I wore huge glasses and buckteeth, I can't say it was a disadvantage other than what was brought about by my fixed diffidence.

      As I said, the area in which we live is less than crowded. When sixth grade came to an end, the senior classes of both elementary schools combined to form the seventh grade at the high school. Many new friends were made and some lost throughout the six years spent at South Stanly High School. I have many memories of that time and place—some good, some bad. Occasionally I remember fondly, but overall I am undecided and indifferent about my public school career. We could move into areas of academic regret and social loss, but let's not.

      Here I am seven years after graduation, finally making my way out of the indecision that I found myself wading through for so long. I said previously that I wish I knew what exactly lies ahead. That's still impossible, I'm afraid. Yet now, because of certain things, I find this world to become less taxing. During the past years I've read, studied, and thought a great deal about myself and the world, and any relation there is to be had between the two. I'm coming into a greater peace than I had a while ago, although I'm still troubled at times by many things. But everyone has their quandaries of the mind and troubles of the heart. Hindsight is 20/20, right? Sometimes I wish it weren't.

*   *   *

It's funny. Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.

The Catcher in the Rye is still my favorite book, even though it has never been read, talked about, or criticized by anyone other than me (I don't care if it's hated for all the right reasons, OK?). I relate to Holden on several levels—some would say his mental instability, which I wouldn't bother much to defend. I'm speaking, though, of his hate of society—its falseness and its ability to be constantly unaware of its own immorality, iniquity. Holden wishes everyone to be loving and caring towards all others, doing away with their "phoniness" and living as genuine beings. I find myself very similar. But, I repeat myself. Mr. Caulfield and I differ greatly in one aspect: movies. I really like movies. I was a huge Star Wars fan as a kid. That affection for film has carried over into my present years in different forms. I don't watch very much television, however. I enjoy early episodes of The Simpsons, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and any shows in which guys are hit in the groin and little kids get hurt. I do believe that Tom and Jerry is the best cartoon ever, with The Andy Griffith Show the all around greatest. I also find myself parked at the National Geographic Channel whenever I cruise through the stations. History, documentaries, biographies, and the like are generally nice, especially if they involve dangerous, adorable animals. I've been an avid gamer, too, since I first received the NES in about '87 or so, but that interest has declined as I've aged. Tetris never gets old, though. I still play my Playstation 2 and Nintendo 64 sometimes, also (Goldeneye forever!). If you haven't realized it by now, I'm a dork aspiring to be a nerd.

      As mentioned above, I could draw pretty well as a child. I still like to sketch every now and then. I'm working on getting some of my past attempts on the site. I mostly sort of doodle and simply play with the material; I've never really tried any serious art. I stink at painting. As for writing, I once had a page with some of my poems, but they were old and just plain awful. Maybe if I attempt writing poems again someday, and they turn out decently, I'll share again. Recently I have scratched out tiny stories. I like to write simply, using regular words in new ways. I've been working on other writing projects as well. Details later.

      I bought a cheap digital camera in 2003 and quickly fell in love with picture-taking. I'm no artist, but I greatly enjoy taking and collecting photographs. It probably has something to do with my relationship with nostalgia. Photos can capture great moments and places in time. Some of the pictures I've taken are shared here.

*   *   *

I have an associate's degree in Internet Technology. At its completion, however, I realized that the ever evolving and ultra technical world of networks and the Web isn't for me. Maintaining my site and running a few others is enough for my expressive desires and personal pseudo-artistic release. I found myself on the campus of Pfeiffer University in the spring of 2005. I graduated two years later with a B.A. in History. I'm deciding what to do now.

      In May 2004 I met a girl named Lindsey and soon fell in love with her. She's smart, capable, caring, and down-to-earth—just what I need and want. We were married in Virginia on May 20, 2006. Our wedding is chronicled by both of us here.

*   *   *

As for this site, it is merely a release and practice, storage and reflection. I am a closet blogger. I've published my thoughts online since 1996, but rarely tell anyone about this site. Although public, it is mainly for me, my family, and friends. I am not a writer, nor a photographer, but I do enjoy these things however commonplace and ordinary in quality. I include too many semicolons and dashes, so get used to them if you plan to read my crud. I also employ lots of sarcasm, subtlety, understatement, hyperbole, cynicism, and so forth. Do not take everything literally, unless you enjoy being stupid. Retard.

If you need something or want to complain of your wasted time here, please don't hesitate to send a piece of e-mail or write to me via AIM.