Unexpected Denouement

I was originally planning on updating my About Page, but thought wisely and published this in the form of an aside.  It might be considered to some to be an unexpected denouement, or a sudden and unplanned change in what is often referred to as regular programming.

This is me.  This is what I do.

I am a writer.
Before my father passed away, he told me that by the time I was walking and talking, I was writing.  It started when I was around age 6 as scribbles, riddles, and rhymes.  Random, obscure, and often without punctuation words would be scribbled on little bits of paper.  My parents would often find little notes scattered on my bedroom floor.  From a very early age I was a budding writer, though for whatever reason, through the years I kept my writing a bit of a secret, as I never thought it was very good, at least not nearly good enough to be shared with anyone else.

As a writer, I write in Moleskine notebooks, almost exclusively, and always in blue ink.

I am a photographer.
Around age 7, my father brought home a Polaroid instant print camera and several boxes of instant print film.  I took pictures of everything with it, and my father promised me I could have 1 pack of film per week.  Arguably, my father was the person who bought me my first camera, and practically either purchased or helped me to purchase, every camera I ever owned, until he passed away.  When I was 12, he gifted me his 35mm Canon SLR, which he had purchased the year before I was born.  My father used this camera to document my life, from birth, so for him to gift it to me was an honor.  I took that camera everywhere I went, and despite its age and wear, it was my prized possession.  Unfortunately the camera no longer works, and due to its age, I cannot find the parts necessary to repair it, though it is a permanent part of my personal collection of vintage cameras.

My father had a collection of photo albums filled with pictures I had taken over the years; many of these images I must have completely forgotten about since they were taken so long ago.  It wasn’t until recently that in going through some of his belongings that they surfaced.  I literally had no idea that my father cared so much as to have duplicates of some of my photographs printed and stored in archival albums for so many years.

Today I use a combination of both high-end digital, as well as medium format film to create my images. Most often, I’ll use my Canon DSLR, though on occasion I also like to shoot (and experiment) with 120 medium format film.  I have my very own, very unique style, especially when it comes to post-processing.  I have been asked countless times how I post-process my photos, specifically how I create the effects and signature coloring.

I am a website designer.
When I was in college, I was undecided as to the direction of how I wished my life and career to be.  As such, I studied a myriad of different subjects.  Those subjects included English, Computer Science with a focus on Information Technology and Internet Design, and Emergency Medicine.  When I was in college, the Internet was still in its infancy, and a college-level course in design was based almost entirely on HTML.  I studied computer programming, C++, Delphi, and Visual Basic.  I design everything from scratch on my blog; the pinnacle culmination of my writing, photography, design, and anything and everything else that I deem fit to share.

For many years, I was an Emergency Medical Technician and Firefighter.
I spent many years working as a paid EMT and Firefighter in many different places; places as remote as West Virginia, and New York City.  I was involved in emergency services since I graduated high school at age 18, and I of course saw so many things.  I experienced life and death first-hand from a very unique perspective and the experience changed the way I look at life and how everything can literally change at a moments notice.

Whenever I tell someone that I worked in New York City for a period of time, they ask if I was there when the towers went down on 9/11.  At the time, I was working elsewhere in New York State, not in New York City.  I have talked to emergency responders who were called to respond to the aftermath, and their stories are truly heartbreaking.  I can only imagine what they went through, and continue to go through so many years afterward.

This is me.  This is who I am.

My personality type is INFJ, the quintessential mediator, diplomat, or writer who seeks idealism, harmony, and equality.  Dedicated, hard-working, passionate, and energetic, and impractical.

I grew up like most other kids, except that I had an unusually high IQ which was tested repeatedly and well-documented.  Unfortunately, my parents were overjoyed over this fact and told everyone they knew.  As a result, teachers hated me, my grade school principal hated me, and I was often treated like a special case and had very few friends in grade school.  I disliked team sports, preferred to seek out my own fun during recess, and typically sat at the girls table at lunch.  I’m still friends with almost all of the girls from my 8th grade class, even after all these years.

My parents took me to meet with famous people, such as Charles Kuralt, and Allen Ginsberg, who later on when I was in 11th grade, told me that one day I’d be a well-established writer.  My weekends were often spent at the library researching all sorts of obscure engineering and Scientific things, once I finished my homework.  I grew to love being someone who has a vast knowledge of really obscure things that nobody else I know ever thinks about.  In fact, I was a complete nerd before it became vogue, and in all honesty, the time I spent in high school I wasn’t being challenged nearly enough.  Sadly, it wasn’t until adulthood that my intellect, wit, and talents really became respected and valued.

I am very introverted, to the point where I often feel distant and faded into obscurity much like a ghost within a fog.  I tend to build very strong life-long relationships with a very small number of friends.  I suppose it was worse when I was a child, because I have always had my own special way of doing things, and my reasons for doing so were often ducked-out in a row.  Aside from the very close childhood friends, not many people tolerated this part of me, no matter how harmless it actually was.

I have always been fascinated with the way things work, especially industrial things, but most of all, freight trains.

Colophon
This post was inspired, almost entirely, by the About Page of Diary of a Deluded Heart.  If you haven’t read this page, go there right away; it’s brilliant.

Asides
130 Journal Writing Prompts! | Playful Beginnings: My Writing Career