Me: born in Rochester, PA...not even half as interesting as
Rochester, NY...family poor and each parent had a child
before me. My mother and father met in the asylum...father
in for suicidal-depression, mother for paranoid-hallucinatory
schizophrenia. Three months after meeting they wed...
another twelve months for me.

the family moved to Ohio. The topmost of appalachia with all
the hills and accompanying dwellars. In a trailer park, I
lived for 9 years...my life spent running through the woods,
fighting bb-gun wars, riding my bike for miles. I did little
interesting then.

Mostly I read the Bible...I was so adamantly Christian no one
today believes me. I take offense at the Bible fairly early,
Genesis 1:28, and quite often afterwards now. But I loved
it then. Jesus was amazing and the stories were nothing but
believable and right.

I read alot of books...before I moved from the Trailer Park,
over 500 went through my hands. Emily Dickenson and Samuel
Taylor Coleridge both found my lap a cradle. I nursed each
until there was nothing more to read by either. Then, I read
much of each over.

When I was 9, I took up to write a novel...a fantasy book after
Tolkein, I'd only seen the Hobbit cartoon film. I finished
it and the hundred plus page, hand-written and revised
manuscript went through the hands of my friends and eventually
it never returned...I had a copy, not certainly, but destroyed
it. Somewhere lost with many other manuscripts young artists
found unacceptable.

My family moved out of the Trailer Park...finally! I was bored
with all my friends (as few and desperate they were). I was
bored with the surroundings. I took up organ and piano
lessons and began to compose music. I picked up music theory
rather quickly. My music teacher was an idiot. I fired her.

Being alone, from the distractions of the Trailer Park - my
family moved into a farm & orchard area - I had endless time
to explore anything I wanted to. Music, novels and art (but
only lightly) all passed through me...most of my time there
I was ill. Hardly, an invalid as I was as active as ever.
The pesticides took their toll.

During the next 3 or 4 years...I wrote over 800 poems. Alot of
them were excellent. I discovered one about 4 years ago and
read it to a friend (a talented and well published writer).
She was appalled to learn I'd burned over 250 pages of similar
work. It was childhood experimentation in the shadows of
romanticism and seclusion.

In 7th grade...my second novel was begun...the first four chapters,
over 50 pages, finished, I braved showing it to my parents,
who didn't approve of the theme. A half-rate distopian
adventure involving much pollution and radiation and people
living in it. Quite like "Animal Farm" but poorly done, not
thought out at all. I hadn't read any Orwell at the time nor
any other distopian literature. I didn't take my family's
criticism well...being self-striking, I destroyed the
manuscript.

Otherwise, I climbed up many trees and swam alot as a youngster.
I belonged to a swim team and competed with state level
athletes. I'm still of the belief that most of them did
steroids. My belief found much support when a couple of the
best lost scholarships for it and another couple died.

I played in a few bands...playing bass guitar with a Christian
Rock Band...I was one of two atheists* on permanent roster.
The other was the lead singer and lyricist. After recovering
from the speed rock, I played punk for awhile.

* - my views have changed again...there is no reason to
postulate a god, but there isn't still any necessity
denying the postulation. For science, god isn't at all
reasonable, but cannot be excluded from possibility.


If there is a Judeo-Christian God, he seems nothing but
a disgustingly spoiled war god to me, nothing worth
worship or even respect, just fear.

That was life through highschool...it's not complete but includes
most of what is noteworthy. My emotional states through it all,
ranged from nil to exasperated frustration. Mostly, a life
building my self-esteem and ego, neither need any more fire
added.

*****************************************

Punk music passed and I began to play in a progressive band...a
duo with transient drummers. I went to college and hated it.
I did little aside from compose during this time. I regretted
not having studies piano longer than I had, not my decision to
dump the hack-hag.

Most of my writing in the last year of High School and first
year of college was satire. I read nothing but satire through
that time...I include distopian literature in this. I wrote
a few papers about Satirical Cartoonists, especially interested
in Gabriel from the London Communist magazine I can't recall
the name from.

College was one mis-giving after another...I tried for so much
when I started and kept a 24 plus hour a quarter schedule.
After two-years, I decided I didn't want anything that I was
doing. I was studying English and History and Music. The
English department irritated me.

Though I was still going to school the next year I had quit...
And I ended up studying philosophy and linguistics. The
music was getting in the way. I stopped composing and began
writing again. My poetry was up and running again

The year I was to graduate...I got a job at an advertising
agency, advertising is evil. That job didn't last long and
when it ended 4 Sept. 1996, I went full ahead into all my
creative endeavors...most the poems, all the art and any
prose you see will be from then till now. I've slowed down
a bit.

********************************************

In the next month...there are a few paintings I plan to complete
a few more paintings and write some...a trip to Madison, Wi.
and Toronto. Then, I'll be moving to Madison and ending my stay
in Youngstown.

andru