: About Me

Is this where I tell you all my perspective age, where I'm from and what I do for a living? If it is then I guess I should say that I'm a young lady in my mid twenties. I live in a small, Midwestern USA town not unlike many other small, Midwest towns. It's a main street culture trapped in a Wal-Mart attitude and then intertwined with modern ideas and an internal progressive/conservative tug of war. At the end of the day it's home, and my filter for the world.

I'd love to say I'm a drifter and I do whatever I need to get by. I like to glorify the Gypsy's way of life, but I'm sure it's not as fabulous as I'd like to think. The truth is, I'm a Certified Nurse's Assistant. Although I have an official job title, I do tend to drift from job to job. I have an internal restlessness I have yet to master and control. I used to blame this on youth, but all my friends are turning into adults and I'm still restless. I've worked with developmentally disabled people, geriatric patients, and veterans. I like the health-care field, but it's not my passion.

My passion is writing. With all the changes I've been through in my restless soul, writing is the one thing that's always been constant. I've gone through family changes, friendship changes, changes in school and I've never had a boyfriend last longer than 4 months. But, I've been a writer ever since I learned how to spell.

As a child I always loved English and book reports. I was addicted to the written word as soon as I could read and put a pencil to paper. In Junior High I went to Young Authors conferences and I entered and won my first essay contest. In high school I tutored my peers and excelled in English. But I never realized how much I loved it until College.

I quickly realized in College that my restless side made it impossible for me to do a good job with research. When it came to writing that wasn't creative, I just couldn't focus. This prevented me from getting a degree, and in the end I dropped out. That's how I ended up being a Nurse's Assistant with a deep passion for writing.

I'm currently living a toned down version of my former life. I've recently taken an inventory of what's important to me and what should be put on the back burner for a while. I'm deciding to go back to school as soon as I can, and I hope to pursue that elusive dream of mine to be published some day.

Thanks for reading this mundane description of my life.

My passion is ...

the written word.

I know too much about ...

nursing homes.

My parents always told me ...

to be myself and people will love me for who I am, not what I am.

My childhood ambition ...

to be a docter, mother, writer, swimmer, and a wife.

My favorite memory ...

the first time I felt butterflies in my stomach for a member of the opposite sex.

Why I write ...

because I can't not write.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

life

My first job ...

teaching swim lessons at the local pool.

My best moment ...

was when I decided not to abandon my own ship.

My inspiration ...

My mother. I know, it's corny, but it's true. She's a paradigm of strength and wisdom.

Society & Lifestyle > Gender Issues Assessing whether real men cry

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The first time that I can remember seeing a man cry I was 16 years old. The man had a white beard that so long he could have been an impostor for Santa Clause. He had piercing blue eyes, and he was wearing a suit. He stepped up to me, looked directly into my eyes, grabbed one of my hands with both of his and softly said to me, "You have my sincerest condolences." The man was one of my grandfather's best friends. His nickname was Red Beard, and as the color drained from his beard, due to age, he became known simply as Beard. He's been an extended part of my family for as long as I can remem...

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