So this is the standard “about” page one typically finds on blogs and whatnot. Since it also tends to be the least visited page, I figured why name it “About” … name it something folks would click on. And then they will either read the “about” page content or they will just get irked at having been duped into clicking on an “about” page and move on to another page and check out something else.
So, what to say. I decided to create this site as a means to get back into writing for the sake of writing; no end goal (though I am sure the riffs will generate seeds of creativity that I will expand upon), no real purpose (other than writing), no real expectations. I have a slew of handles online, though for this site, you may call me G.M. Smythe. And no, that is not my real name. I swear.
I grew up on the planet Earth. A lovely place for the most part, though as with any planet there are the areas that one should best avoid. I decided to set down roots in a higher elevation region of the planet, on a continent referred to as “North America”, in a region referred to as “North Carolina”. Which is ironic as it is considered to be in a southern region of North America.
I have been writing off and on for longer than I can remember. I actually wrote a play in school at the age of nine … it was an eight page play about the colonization of the “North America” and the first turkey dinner the colonists had. Even though it was far from historically accurate, it got me placed into the Gifted and Talented program in grade school and taught me a valuable lesson; if you do extra work on the side, do not show your teachers because it will lead to even more extra work that is no longer optional. This is not the most important lesson to be learned in life as a kid, but it ranked up there.
The most important lessons I learned as a kid (and really probably as an adult as well), I learned from my dad when I was ten or so, and there are two of them. Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it is all small stuff. Really. This was 20 years before it got usurped into a self help book of the same title. Too bad dad didn’t trademark it.
I went to school pursuing a science degree (biology, specifically, with the intent of becoming a mad scientist until I found out the pay grade for the average mad scientist is really sad) and graduated with said degree (as well as anthropology … hey, people are weird, and I figured it would help me better understand folks … and in a lot of ways it has).
And then I did nothing with it. Oh, I mean I roasted coffee for four years (“It ties in with the ethobotany aspect of my anthropology degree” was the rationalization at the time), but in reality, I really did not use my degree. I actually ended up working with computers. Go figure.
Anyway, having had my position with a business coaching company eliminated, and trying to figure out what to do next, I decided I would put this site up in as a means for a creative outlet. Just for grins. I mean, what the hell, why not?
So there you have it, more or less. Living in the mountains, with a pack of furry overlords most folks refer to as “dogs”, writing random craziness, and figuring out what the next step in this journey of life is.
Man, I hope it does not involve a cubicle.