Unlike most writers who seem to have always felt the urge to write as an innate part of their personality, I never felt the “need” to write until my college English classes.  It was a unique set of circumstances that included both my enrolling in an honors composition class and my musical movement from original bands/music to “sideman” status (where I had little say in the final product) that led me to the written word as the expression of my artistic qualities.  While those situations have changed, my (then) newfound flirtation with writing has stayed with me throughout the following years, where I continue to make the most of what “talent” I have (mainly in the digital realm of the Internet).  These factors converged in the fall of 1999 when I took the aforementioned course, developed the first rudimentary version of “Ian’s Average Webpage” and began writing the “Musings of a Jaded Personality".

     The "Musings of a Jaded Personality" was the name I gave to my first attempt at a (we)blog, running from the startup of my site in November of 1999 until May of 2000 (with a "closing" message added in February of 2001).  At the time I was dealing with several issues concurrently, and I felt that addressing them in a public forum would be the best way in dealing with said issues.  Sadly, the very success I received from the airing of my daily life turned out to be the last nail in the "Musing" coffin.  With much less of a need to vent my frustrations (as well as Stephanie moving to New York in the summer of 2000), the time between Musings lengthened and eventually the form itself faded in the spring of 2000.  I've kept the "Musings" up as an example of both my growth as a writer and as person.  Revisionist history does not suit me... (although after glancing through them as I reformatted the pages, I couldn't help but wince at both my viewpoints and expression of certain topics.  Please remember, this was early work)

     However, the need to express myself in the written word still called to me, surprised as I was to hear from it.  This has developed in two forms:  The first, which I termed "Visual Verbalizations," was conceived in August of 2001 and is a forum for longer, more stylized pieces of writings - whether they be fiction, a review of a certain piece of art (book, music, cinema) or whatever else may come.  The second is my new attempt at a daily journal.  Due in large part to the assistance/ego boosting of my dear friend Elizabeth McKeever (who was also a source of inspiration for the original "Musings" as well as the donor of a free invitation code) my livejournal was born in March of 2002.  I hope to have learned from both the successes and failures of the "Musings," and continue my self-expression for a long time to come...