"Sometimes I see me dead in the rain."

I want to begin by saying that I feel extraordinarily embarrassed for even having started a blog. Assuming anyone wants to read anything I have to write feels rather pompous, first of all. Secondly, but perhaps more importantly, I am not sure I even have anything to write. But the facts are these: I need to practice writing in general but also for people. While I may end up looking back on this blog and become overwhelmed with shame for the way I write or the content I have decided to explore, we do what we must to overcome our fears. I have one request, however: Please never make me hold a spider.

I think it would be appropriate to provide context for the postings to come. While I have written a pithy "About Me" section, I think most of us would agree that our lives often feel anything but pithy. Also, it is always interesting to see what aspects of our lives we feel take priority when we begin to talk about it. What comes first? The aspect of our life about which we feel the most proud. I am a student. I am a graduate student in English at California State University, Long Beach. It is my second home, and sometimes it even feels like my first. I have never known a place that can make me love me as much as it makes me hate me. With this said, there may be blogs regarding learning, literature, grammar, professors, students, essays, struggles, epiphanies, broken pens, grades, highlighters, clock watching, table tapping, inferiority, superiority, and so on.

I am a dairy-consuming vegetarian. I am also working hard to live a healthy lifestyle (though I refuse to live without occasional indulgences). I do not want to fool you into thinking that this has always been the case. I became a vegetarian on February 1, 2009 and I started getting serious about living a more healthy lifestyle as recently as June 1, 2009. No, no, I am not on a diet, though I am losing weight. I am merely taking a serious look at how I decide to fuel my body. Incidentally, there may be blogs regarding weight loss, health, fitness, vegetarianism, diet, and so on. I believe it is important to proclaim I am a vegetarian and I am healthy and active. I do not desire to redefine those aspects of myself.

I am a reader, a painter, and a writer. I do not read nearly as much as I should, I paint the worst art you have ever seen, and, well, you can officially make your own judgments regarding my writing. But all of these things make me happy. Death Cab for Cutie and J.D. Salinger also make me happy. The fact that my cat, Donny, is sleeping on my feet right now makes me happy. My fish, Walt, makes me happy. That said, I will probably also write blogs about various aspects of my life that make me happy. And sad. And mad. Disappointed. Depressed. Frustrated. Excited.

Honestly, I could write about anything here. It is hard to say what will eventually be included or excluded. Poems. Narrations. Gripes.

Your guess is as good as mine.