I am not a trained writer. Seriously I kind of suck with the rudiments of written word. But through the years I have developed a bastardized style of prose that I am actually pretty proud of. Remember I am just a country boy who was destined to be a day laborer. Here is my first attempt to tell a story.
Below is the Foreword I threw together December of 2006. Which is also the last time this was edited. Please feel free to give me advice.
Foreword
Dear Reader,
In the hope of calming my own worries of the claim of pretentiousness and readers missed meanings I bring this foreword. I guess when one writes about himself, using events that happened in one’s life, a disclaimer may be needed.
You may know me well, you may not know me at all, you may know me as the obnoxious drunk at the end of the bar, either way after you read this you will know a little about me. Not all the events are true or happened in the way they are presented. But I tried desperately to hold themes together on experiences I personally have had. If you are in this story and disagree with my presentation of you as a character, my apologies. I can only say that these are my perceptions and I wholeheartedly encourage you, and everyone, to write their own story about events in their life. It has been very rewarding for me.
I wrote this story and share this story because I fucking care. I fucking care about the world around you and I. If I can make the editorial mistake of telling you what to take away from this story it is this: take control of your life. Confront the problems that creep up day to day before they consume how you define yourself. Challenge convention and lazy comfort. Really get into yourself and find those things that you truly enjoy. There is a lot of beauty all around this world.
But too many have wasted away, too many have let doubt and cynicism corrupt, too many have let the fear of the unknown limit their own happiness and acceptance. I assume in everyone’s head there are to do list that are for the betterment of oneself. Little goals one makes for the future with hope. The key to life is to work on these to do lists everyday otherwise you become hateful both outward and inward. For some it ends with the saddest act of all.
Anyways this is a story about a dude who sometimes spends too much time in his own head, instead of enjoying all those beautiful things around him.
To Ralph Ellison. The inspiration for it all
and
To those friends who couldn’t bear another day