Shawn-ation

My name is Shawn. I know. So profound. You feel like you’ve just drank water from a fire hydrant. I wouldn’t suggest it. Okay, so maybe I’ll tell a little more about myself. I grew up in Baltimore, MD. Well, until I was like 9. Then I moved to Carolina Beach. Talk about a culture shock. In Baltimore, I used to be cool. No really, I was. Remember when you were younger and always wanted to sit in the back of the bus because it was cool? (Side-note: not in middle or high school because then those people where jerks). Yeah, that was me. I was friends with everyone. I had a girlfriend (you know how it was, will you be go out with me, check yes or no. I checked yes.) Anyway, like I said, I moved to Carolina Beach when I was 9, and it was a huge culture shock. I moved from big city to a small island community. My first day of school was horrible. Recess rolled around and I was like “Hey guys, let’s play soccer!” “No, no,” they said, “we play basketball. We know not of this ’soccer’ you speak of.” What in the world was basketball? I thought there where only three sports in existance: soccer, baseball, and lacrosse. Needless to say, even to this day I’m no good at basketball. It may have something to do with the fact that I’m only 5′-4″ on a good day. I didn’t have too many friends here. Apparently these people had grown up around each other and where much better friends and didn’t care too much from some Baltimore punk. That’s alright. I got mine. When they all signed up for the new soccer league on the beach, no one could stop me.

But anyway, I grew up at the beach. For the first few years living there I boogie boarded, and refused to surf. My dad had bought me a surf board before I moved, but it took a few years before I even tried it. However, once I learned, I became a surf bum. My summers where like this: wake up in the morning, surf for a few hours, work, surf for a few more hours, go home. I also had the best job anybody could have asked for. I worked at a snowball stand on the boardwalk at the beach. It was awesome. My boss owned a pizza shop as well, so I had free snowballs, free pizza, and free donuts (If you are ever in Carolina Beach, you’ve got to try Britt’s Donuts. You will never want another donut again). I got free donuts because I traded donuts for snowballs. And to top it all of, it was at the beach. Girls in bikinis, friends chilling out in the store, snowball fights, some snowbird and townie flings (check out the song by Further Seems Forever “Snowbirds and Townies:” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2R45rdYKgw. Very much my life. And if you are a Dashboard Confessional fan, that is Chris singing. It was his band before Dashboard). But back to the job. It was awesome. By my last summer working there, my two best friends worked for me, and I ran the store. I miss those days.

Now I’m older. About a quarter of a century to be exact. I’ve finished high school, got an associates degree from UCLA (University Closest to Leland Area). Okay it was Cape Fear Community College, but if you live or lived in Wilmington, its UCLA or FSU (Front Street University). I’m working for a cabinet company doing all the architectural drawings. It may not seem like much, but it actually is. We have homeowners and architects meet with us, building homes in the millions of dollars range, and it’s my job to take their ideas and put it on paper to look as close to their finished products as possible. I’d want that too if I were spending a quarter of a million on cabinetry.

I’m also a musician. I write my own lyrics and songs, play guitar and bass, wanting to learn keyboard. I have a band. We don’t have a name yet, so don’t ask. This is probably my third or forth band. I’ll probably post some lyrics on here and maybe some links to my songs when I get them recorded. Expect to see a music column from time to time where I critique new releases or rant and rave about various aspects about music.

I still surf.

Last time I tried playing soccer I sprained my ankle at the first practice and couldn’t play for the rest of the season.

I’m trying to be a writer. I have a few book ideas already written, some work done on a fantasy novel, but I may restart that, and a few short stories I may post.

Oh, I’m a dork, too. I play Magic: the Gathering, Pirates!, D & D, Warhammer 40k. I’m also playing through Oblivion and hope to link up some mods soon.

But in general, this is me. I hope you enjoy!