002//orca

I spent forty-five minutes with my mouth wired open today. Needless to say, my jaw is a little sore, but lying under the precision of that drill, the National in my ears, I had time to think about what my first article would be on. I think the first thing I need to do is properly introduce myself. I mean, why would you want to listen to me, or take me seriously if you don’t feel some sort of connection with me.

I was born in the middle of the 80s, amidst the Smiths, the Cure and probably the tail end of the whole new-wave thing. The Police had already split (no surprises), big poofy hair was stylish, and I was born into a world that I didn’t seem to mind. I think the reason I didn’t cry much as a baby (my parents let me know this, I can’t remember for the life of me) was because I was a pretty big fan of life. My parents say that I could sleep for hours on end (still love it) and that I loved it when they’d play music (sometimes love it). Music was the biggest thing in my life since I can remember; both my parents are musical, and I’ve been surrounded, influenced and in love with it for my entire life. The first band I can really remember falling in love with was the Beach Boys. I have this vivid memory of my Dad and I driving around the city on a gray day, listening to Pet Sounds. I am taken back to that memory every time I hear “Sloop John B”. The other major influence on my life has been my involvement/subjection to the church. My parents were both raised in the Mennonite church, and I too followed the trail. I think I technically became a Christian at the age of five, when I asked my parents how I could get “the power.” Confused, they asked me what I meant, and when I told them that I wanted the power that my two (heroic) older cousins had, I think they got what I was trying to say. Then again, they also said that later I said, “I want the power to fly”, so I mean, who knows where I was coming from. Either way, That Christian influence has been in my life for its entirety. I haven’t always been a great follower (see High School) and I’m still not any sort of spiritual guru (who really is), but I can safely say, for probably the first time in my life, that I do actually love God. That concept was always very strange to me: How can one love something/someone that isn’t flesh and bones? How can you love something that isn’t tangible, or even non-existent? I think I’ve been trying to figure out those questions for my entire life. Hopefully, through this, you’ll let to follow me along the way; I’m all about community.

On a less serious note (yet still grave and serious), my mouth really hurts.