Introduction

Hi everyone, well actually no one because I know that at least for the moment there is no one at all reading this. But to those of you that eventually and perhaps unfortunately (for you) stumble across this page, welcome to me.

Confessions of an Everyman. That is where you have found yourself and that Everyman would be me...perhaps that is aggrandizing myself a touch, but I think that for the most part it is accurate. I am neither stunningly handsome, nor a ugly chud. I believe myself to be quick witted (at least after my morning coffee) and physically able, but I am not the hero type. I don't get the girl and I make clumsy mistakes...

Of course, I don't find myself in extraordinary circumstances very often, unless you count life in general as extraordinary, which I suppose that sometimes it can be. But sadly (I think), there are no vampires or other beasties I fight, no grand adventures to take part in. At least not of the epic Tolkiensque type...

So what kind of things will I post about here. I'm really not too sure yet. Tidbits about my life...opinions I have about various topics. Perhaps the odd concert review.

So pretty much nothing that will be of that much interest to most people. On the outside, I'm a bit of a punk. Literally. Lots of tattoos, pompadour, wallet chain...

But dig a little deeper, and you'll find that I am a man of varying tastes and interests. In many ways, I'm a geek. I am a huge fan of Joss Whedon, I own several hundred comic books, some collectibles, and even though I have no skill whatsoever, I like to play video games, and I love fantasy art. I was reading Robert E Howard and Stephen King by the time I was 11. And I still love to sit back with a good book and read. I have a fondness for the sword and sorcery type story. Conan is still top of the heap for me, but I love works by Michael Moorcock, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, and a host of others including Spider Robinson, Piers Anthony, Tanith Lee, Douglas Adams and Lloyd Alexander.

To some degree I am also a musician. I have been playing guitar since I was 11. Of course, that doesn't mean that I am any good. I am a hack. But I can strum out a few tunes and have even attempted to write a few myself. I can also play bass a little bit.

I like to think of myself as a poet too. As a teen I wrote a lot of the usual angsty crap that teenagers tend to write. But also wrote a few things inspired by the sci-fi I was reading and watching. And as I got older I began to read Charles Bukowski and Allen Ginsberg. And that heavily influenced my style of writing. To this day I write in a way As it Comes Out sort of style with no consistently at all. Am I any good? Meh. I think that I have my moments where I write some damned good things. And then I also think that about 80% of it is total garbage.

I love tattoos. And I hate them. I love having them, I hate getting them. I hate that everyone has them now and that few people care about the history of tattooing, that it has become nothing but a fashion statement. I recently met a great tattooer. Sailor Jerry Swallow. A legend. Been tattooing for 50 years and has some amazing and cool stories about the old days. He trained under real real old school guys and is a master. If you care about tattooing, he is a man to get tattooed by for sure. He is excellent at both Traditional and Japanese styles...

I have a full Japanese style sleeve. It's not really traditional Japanese. But sort of a take of Japanese style. There are still a few bits to finish on it, but it is nearly complete. And I have started my other arm, which is going to be a traditional arm. All old school stuff. I have a large anchor, a swallow, a big jaguar head and my piece done by Jerry, a skull and sword with a snake. Classic...

As long as I can afford it I will keep getting tattooed...and as long as I can stand the pain too!!

Hmm, what else do you need to know...I'm certain that if you have made it this far though this mess you are eager for it to be over. So maybe I'll just leave it there for now.

I lied. Music. I love music. I have it on constantly and depending on my mood I will listen to a huge range of thing. I like punk(in all its various genres: ska, hardcore etc), metal and blues are good. Jazz is awesome...some classical. Generally, I like to think that I'm a fan of Rock N Roll. But I don't limit myself...though I will say that I hate Top 40. And I have my guilty pleasures too, but you'll have to ask about those...

I'm a laid back kind of guy too. You won't find me hitting the bar every weekend, or heading out to a club. If I want a beer, I'll go to a pub. I like just hanging out with friends and having a chat as I have my pint. And I love to cook. If it wasn't for having to clean up and do all...those...freaking...dishes!! I would love to have people over all the time and make awesome dinners for them.

I have few people that I really call friends and I like it that way. I'll never be the life of the party, but I will gladly listen if you need me to and I am always willing to help out in any way that I can.

So there you go. I am going to stop now. I could keep going but then you would probably be bored into a coma.

So that's me...in a nutshell. A large, large nutshell, with an index...and several footnotes.

Come back soon for more riviting stuff...ha ha.