Salem

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When I was a kid I used to play in the shadows, disect small reptiles, amphibians and animals. I had an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and I loved life in general. I was quiet, observant, watchful.

When I went to school for the first time, I was a friendly, albeit silent, kid. I think I intimidated the other kids a bit because I was always "sizing them up", and so, I got picked on a lot. Actually, other kids made my life Hell all the way up until High School, when I finally decided I had had enough, and took a stand for myself. I was tired of getting pushed around and beaten up in the back of the fields all the time.

When I got older, my parents separated and my life went to shit. Not because my parents were breaking up, but because neither of them knew how to deal with it, and I guess they didn't realize they were both taking it out on me. My Mom dealt with her pain by working out constantly, drinking a lot, partying all the time... My Dad curled up on the inside of a bottle.

I really just love to be alive. I love the energy of it, the way it feels, the way it is in everything. I love the night-time because everything is so peaceful, so quiet, yet strangely wild and mysterious. Things revert to their primal selves in the night. Things are more real. More... raw.

"If I think more about death than some other people, it is probably because I love life more than they do." - Angelina Jolie

I find that I'm strangely intrigued by people on the street. People I pass by in life. A moment of eye contact can change your life.

"Keep a memory of me, not as a king or a hero; but as a man: fallible and flawed." - Beowulf

I don't smoke, and I don't date people who smoke (cigarettes or pot). It's a choice I made and it's a dealbreaker. No exceptions.

"Don't take life too seriously. You'll never get out alive." - Elbert Hubbard
I love to laugh, especially at myself. The genuine laughs, the kind that bubble up from deep within your belly and ripple out of your mouth uncontrollably. The kind that suck the air right out of your lungs and leave a deep, slow burn in its wake. The kind that leave me in a silent, shivering heap because I'm too weak to stand up. And I am very much the type of woman to burst into spontaneous laughter about something that happened yesterday, or last year... maybe even in my imagination.
"Write that down." - Van Wilder

"Some things just don’t get through into this world, although they try." - Suzanne Vega
Pictures fascinate me. A moment captured in time; memories stamped on paper. It's funny how one single frame of ones life can tell such immense stories.

"I like music because it is the paradigm through which I view and understand all things" -DJ Shadow
Music; ahhh, the love of my life. I honestly can't go without it. I love songs that whisper into my ear and speak to my soul. I don't stick to one genre of music or another, I change and grow as a person almost on a momentary basis. I'm very amoeba-like in that I gather information from my environment, and the people I meet, and I interpret them to suit me, and I'll either filter them out or add them to my identity. I suppose a lot of artists do this?

"Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around." - Stephen King
My general philosophy on having a 'creative mind' is that you don't choose which medium your ideas or emotions come out as... They decide that. To me, being creative means being able to use a couple of methods of getting your idea out. I use writing most of the time just because I'm good at it, and that's the way my brain receives things, but I also paint, draw, sing, dance, etc etc etc I just have a lot of respect for ART in itself, no matter WHAT form it presents itself in.

Which reminds me: I'm a WRITER, looking to break into the business and pick up as many side projects (other than my novel) as I can so if you need a writer for ANYTHING, please let me know. Thanks.

"I am inside you, and all around you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood…and I am there... lift a stone…and you will find me." - Stigmata
I can find beauty in anything, and everything. I'm not one of those annoying people who preach about the loveliness of life while you're mourning a breakup or something, but... Honestly I can find a silver lining in every rain cloud. I refuse to let negativity govern my life.

"I'll make it to the Moon if I have to crawl" -Red Hot Chili Peppers
I plan on traveling a lot, hopefully sooner than later. I don't want to live my life being sheltered and would like to see the rest of the world. I think traveling and learning about other cultures is one of the greatest adventures one could ever partake in, and I would love to be able to do that with someone I cared about. Not to mention the FOOD!!! I've learned since moving out on my own that everything tastes good if you melt cheese on it :D

"You can have anything you want, but you better not take it from me" - Guns N Roses
I'm 22, but the writer inside me feels like she's in her early 40's. I have a little baggage, sure, but I like it... It means I've had adventures, loved and lost, conquered and fell and picked up some lessons along the way. Nothin wrong with that!! I think the important thing is that I don't let it interfere negatively in my day-to-day life, and the lessons I've learned are used in a constructive way. So uhh... werd.