(no subject)
I have been thinking recently about where I am. How I got here. The things that made me who I am today.
I think back to some periods of my life and I can't even really remember that person. I was so different. It's like being in a stranger's body but with that other person's memories. I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day. In an effort to try and understand, I have decided to write a series of posts on things that I feel like have been major influences in my life. I am going to try to go roughly chronologically, but that may fall apart at some point.
From the time that I can remember (and I can remember things pretty well back to when I was about five), I was always very interested in the paranormal. I loved reading ghost stories. I loved reading period. My mom read to me a lot. I can still remember some of the books taht she would read to me: The Whingdingdilly (which I have never met anyone else who has read), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and the Runaway Bunny most notable among them. Once I learned to read on my own, I read voraciously. Bobsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, and the Babysitter's Club were all frequently read, along with any ghost stories or other paranormal stuff that I could get my hands on. At fourth grade, they administered some sort of standardized test at school to determine what reading level we were at. At that time, I was reading at a college level. In keeping with paranormal interests, I read a lot of Christopher Pike. I read some Stephen King too, but never really managed to get into R. L. Stine. Things rocked along with not too many changes until sixth grade, when a friend introduced me to the DragonLance Chronicles. Wow. Holy crap. It blew my sixth-grade mind. From that time on, I consumed fantasy books like they were water to a parched desert traveler.
What did I see in them? It's probably no surprise to anyone, but I was a fairly lonely kid. I didn't have a lot of friends. I was not athletically inclined. I was not overly friendly. With the books, I could just withdraw completely. They let me be off in my own little world. I suppose it's not really surprising, in retrospect. What is somewhat surprising is that my tastes have changed. I still enjoy reading the occasional fantasy novel. A battle for my favorite modern author would likely end in a draw between Jacqueline Carey and Neil Gaiman. I suppose they're both fantasy of a sort, but nothing like DragonLance or Forgotten Realms. In eighth grade, I was in the bookstore one day when I saw a book called The Truth About Witchcraft Today. I bought it and read it and... wow. It was sort of like reading DragonLance for the first time. Stuff just clicked. I think I cried. It was like something had been missing inside of me, circling around, never really found and then it was like coming home. I'd always felt on the outside. I was not raised in any particular religious tradition (not even the sort of secular Christianity that a lot of people nowadays are raised with), but this just made sense to me. It still does, but it's all mixed in with other things, bits and pieces of other religions and schools of thought.
I think back to some periods of my life and I can't even really remember that person. I was so different. It's like being in a stranger's body but with that other person's memories. I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day. In an effort to try and understand, I have decided to write a series of posts on things that I feel like have been major influences in my life. I am going to try to go roughly chronologically, but that may fall apart at some point.
From the time that I can remember (and I can remember things pretty well back to when I was about five), I was always very interested in the paranormal. I loved reading ghost stories. I loved reading period. My mom read to me a lot. I can still remember some of the books taht she would read to me: The Whingdingdilly (which I have never met anyone else who has read), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and the Runaway Bunny most notable among them. Once I learned to read on my own, I read voraciously. Bobsey Twins, Nancy Drew, Sweet Valley High, and the Babysitter's Club were all frequently read, along with any ghost stories or other paranormal stuff that I could get my hands on. At fourth grade, they administered some sort of standardized test at school to determine what reading level we were at. At that time, I was reading at a college level. In keeping with paranormal interests, I read a lot of Christopher Pike. I read some Stephen King too, but never really managed to get into R. L. Stine. Things rocked along with not too many changes until sixth grade, when a friend introduced me to the DragonLance Chronicles. Wow. Holy crap. It blew my sixth-grade mind. From that time on, I consumed fantasy books like they were water to a parched desert traveler.
What did I see in them? It's probably no surprise to anyone, but I was a fairly lonely kid. I didn't have a lot of friends. I was not athletically inclined. I was not overly friendly. With the books, I could just withdraw completely. They let me be off in my own little world. I suppose it's not really surprising, in retrospect. What is somewhat surprising is that my tastes have changed. I still enjoy reading the occasional fantasy novel. A battle for my favorite modern author would likely end in a draw between Jacqueline Carey and Neil Gaiman. I suppose they're both fantasy of a sort, but nothing like DragonLance or Forgotten Realms. In eighth grade, I was in the bookstore one day when I saw a book called The Truth About Witchcraft Today. I bought it and read it and... wow. It was sort of like reading DragonLance for the first time. Stuff just clicked. I think I cried. It was like something had been missing inside of me, circling around, never really found and then it was like coming home. I'd always felt on the outside. I was not raised in any particular religious tradition (not even the sort of secular Christianity that a lot of people nowadays are raised with), but this just made sense to me. It still does, but it's all mixed in with other things, bits and pieces of other religions and schools of thought.