 | About Me. (Cross-posted from Bulletin)
Current mood:  thoughtful Note: This is going to be all about me. So if you don't want to know about me, it is best if you not read this, because you're gonna be disappointed. Though I will say, I've led a pretty interesting life, believe it or not.
Hello, all of you reading this.
People always do those "about me" forms, and those forms actually do a decent job of letting people know who one is at the moment as well as key moments from one's life.
I personally just don't like them. Clarification: I like reading them, not writing them.
So, I thought I'd try to do a little free form writing to fill in some gaps that might be in your knowledge about me. All of you will learn something about me from this. Well maybe not Belinda, but the rest of you will, I'm sure. Even you Wesley. Some of you know me extremely well (Belinda, Wesley, Ricky); some of you were best friends I lost contact with (Jason "Johnny" Fromm, Paul "Cardinal Stump," Phillip); some of you I knew well in law school (Anna, Amy (if she ever adds me hah!); some of you I was just acquaintances with in law school, (Kimberly, Jennifer, Chris, Katie, Rachel); some of you I knew through RA work at APSU, (Scotty Dale, Naydia, Jason, David); some of you I was good friends with at APSU (Nicole, Michelle, Jessica); some of you I know almost exclusively through the internet (Ben, Kayte); some of you I only know through mutual friends (Nick "Capt. Lame," Erica, Elizabeth, Greg, Amanda, Nick, Devin); some of you I'm not sure how I met(you know who you are, oh, unless you weren't on my friends list when I wrote this, in that case I may know how I know you, but this is all I have to go on right now).
The best part to start with any story is the beginning. (I have an English degree, so I'm pretty sure on this point. And don't go throwing Pulp Fiction or American Beauty at me, they're exceptions.) Ahem, anyway, I was born Dec 16, 1980 in Newport News, VA. Shortly thereafter I was adopted by Lawrence and Anna Powers. My grandparents. Now, my mom, Anna, wasn't my biological grandmother, but had married my biological grandfather Lawrence. I've always considered them my parents, even though they told me "the truth" at a very young age. (4-5? I can't remember not knowing.) The fun thing about this, is my biological mother is my legal sister. Her other biological son is my brother and my nephew. Freaky! My mom and dad were living in Detroit when I was born, and that's where I spent my first 6 months of life. Shortly thereafter the decided to move to middle Tennessee. I have no idea why they chose that area. (My mom was from East Tennessee, dad was from the Virginia mountains. They were married in Miami, Oklahoma, and lived in Michigan. I guess the job market was good.) Anyway, we settled in Cross Plains (30 miles north of Nashville). My dad was a long haul truck driver, I'd only see him a weekend every couple of weeks, while my mom stayed at home, and even ran a little babysitting ring where I got to know a lot of other kids. I went to East Robertson Elementary, until 2nd grade, when I guess the job market wasn't that good anymore, because we moved to East Tennessee in 1988. I've moved a lot in my life. Including college moves and everything, its.. umm 13 different residences I can remember. (Belinda has had 3, oh and we're getting ready to move again.)
All the moving made it hard to keep friends (no MySpace back then. Also, I've found that people I remember, and who've had a big effect on my life don't remember me. A bit disheartening. I don't know if that's just a good memory on my part, or the fact that after I've left a place, the other people stay, so they're just missing one thing, while I'm missing my whole world, which leaves a bigger impression? I don't know. More on this later.) So, while it was hard to keep friends, I was pretty good at making them. I'd like to think those of you who know me with any degree of depth think of me as funny, affable, and generally nice to be around. Seriously, to know me is to love me. In school I did well, but I hated it so much. (I still hate the school system, and I'd say just scrap it and start over if it was at all feasible.) Eventually, the job market got better in middle Tennessee and we moved back. This would have been in 1993, 94? Somewhere around there. We ended up moving back to Cross Plains and I ended up going to the same school. It was very surreal seeing all these familiar faces, just a bit older. None of who remembered me. (Except Paul and Philip, of course, thanks guys.) All of whom I remembered. Though it was fun telling people personal information about themselves I remembered (middle names, birthdays, etc) and them thinking I was psychic. Everyone had changed so much, but I felt the same. This period of my life was hell. Walking around people I knew that didn't know me. I recently had a thought that Heaven was just a big party, and everyone you ever knew was there to talk about old times, if that's heaven then hell would have to be being surrounded by people you know who don't know you, or don't care to know you. Like that Green Day song: "Nobody likes you/everyone left you/they're all out without you/having fun." I ended up talking my mom into homeschooling me, just to escape that place. Of course, my mom wasn't in the best of health, so we never actually did any of the home-school work. I officially became a middle school drop-out leaving in the middle of the 8th grade. After dropping out, life was good. I didn't do anything except play video games and goof off on the computer. Eventually I made my way to a comic book store, and started buying and reading comics. Then Magic: The Gathering came out, and boom, friends fell from the heavens. JasonF, JasonT, Chris, and a cast of dozens at the comic book store nearly everyday. Still the Jasons, Chris and I were the core, and we spent a lot of time hanging out and playing video games and what-not. I was the youngest, as the rest of them had just graduated High School or were about to. My second job ever was at the comic book store, and the 30% discount on comics was very helpful. Soon, it was 1999.
Nineteen Ninety-nine was a big year in my life. I took the GED in the Spring. (I wasn't allowed to take it before I turned 18, or else I would've. I think at least 40% of high school freshman could pass that test on the first try, but society feels the need to have them waste 4 years learning stuff they already know or don't need. Sorry, tangent.) My mother also passed away in the summer of 1999. That sucked. She was the one who wanted me to get my GED, and I'm glad I did. She had gotten hers when I was younger, and she was very proud of it. My dad at this point was trying to force me into work. I mean, it makes sense. I was 18 and didn't have a real job. Wanting to avoid hard labor, I talked him into letting me look at colleges. The closest one was APSU, and after taking the ACT, I was in. I had to take remedial English and math, as well as 2 years of Spanish to make up my "high school deficiencies." Eh, it wasn't too bad, though I'm still not good at math.
My best friend in college was Brian Curtis, and though he's on MySpace, I haven't added him yet because of how he treated a mutual friend. I may add him one day, but that's neither here nor there. Brian was the greatest roommate ever, because he was never there, but when he was there he'd clean. Brian became an RA, and Jason and I shared a room for one very odd semester, before I became an RA. Becoming an RA happened at the right time, because during the summer between rooming with Jason and becoming an RA, my dad passed away. (This would be 2002, we're almost caught up!) Being an RA meant a free room, plus a paycheck, and that was extremely needed. David Baron, thanks for taking a chance with me. I know Brian recommended me, so thanks to you to, even if you're not reading this.
As my APSU time was winding down, I started thinking about what was next. I had no idea. An English degree? What the hell was I thinking? Anyway, Belinda was working with someone at the time who was a law student at Vanderbilt, and listening to Belinda tell her stories, I thought I'd give it a whirl. I applied to three law schools. Vanderbilt, University of Tennessee, and University of Georgia. I was wait listed at Vanderbilt, offered a scholarship to UT, and ended up choosing UGA. I used to worry that I'd made the wrong choice, but based on the friends/experiences I've had down here, I didn't. (This logic fails to account for the friends/experiences I've missed in Knoxville, but don't cry over schools not attended, or something). Belinda and I got married in January of '04 as she was finishing up her Masters in Social Work, and I was playing a lot of FFXI. We moved to Athens in June of '04, and I've lived in the same apartment ever since. (I think that puts this apartment into 2nd or 3rd place all time in length of time in one place for me.)
Graduation was in May, the first graduation of mine I'd attended. (no high school, and skipped APSU.) Eh, it was ok. I tend to think of graduation ceremonies as a waste of time and resources, but whatever, it makes a bunch of people happy. Besides it got Wesley and Nicole to visit, and I got to meet Greg, so it wasn't all that bad. After graduation, I started freaking out over the bar. A lot of you know what I mean. Honestly, I felt good going into the test, and afterwards I was ok, but the further away from it I get the more worried I am. Its not like I have a job I'll lose if I don't pass, I just don't wanna be the guy everyone knows who didn't pass. If I do fail though, Belinda and I are going to move back to Tennessee where I'll start studying for its bar, and looking for a job up there. And that's pretty much where I am.
Oh, a few random facts: I love baseball, if I was better with numbers I work on baseball stuff all the time. Braves are my favorite team. Hockey its the Predators, and football its the Titans. I don't really pay attention to college sports, but I'll watch college football if its on, but I don't have an attachment to any team. People are usually surprised when they find out my musical taste. I actually like Heavy Metal/Hard Rock. Angry music some call it. I don't know I guess it doesn't mesh with my personality. I can remember getting angry only once in the last 10 years. Of course I could just being having rage blackouts. Haha. OK, wow, I've written a lot. If you've made it this far, I owe you a Coke. Come pick it up whenever you want. If you need directions, send a message, or if you have any questions send a message. If you were involved in any of the above anecdotes and want to make a correction, send a message. If you think you just wasted a big chunk of your day reading this, don't send a message. Why waste my time too?  | Currently listening :
Year Zero
By Nine Inch Nails
Release date: 17 April, 2007  | 1:59 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove |
melancholy 
optimistic 
