An introduction, of sorts

I am a recent immigrant to this journal called Dreamwidth. I boarded a coffin ship that set sail from the overpopulated and decrepit land known as Livejournal. I have come here searching a new life and new opportunities.

I'm using the alias Nemo, but who I really am isn't much of a secret. Nemo is Latin for "no one", an Oromo word meaning "The Man", a Greek noun root meaning "grove of trees", and the the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, among other things.

I enjoy short walks on polluted beaches, candlelight dinners by myself, and if I had one wish I would probably ask for gas money.

I'm amused right now that as of this post, I have ten interests that are shared by no one else.

I'm hoping to enjoy this fresh new start, since I've become incredibly bored with blogging (as it is).

Nemo dat quod non habet

Who Are You, What Are You

A short history.

I was once a boy. I was born and raised in the state of Michigan. I've lived most of my, so far, short life here. Other than a (largely forgotten) troubling childhood and an incident involving a tombstone, my life was a pretty nondescript suburban one. Perfectly middle class and thought to be quite intelligent, though I never had any desire to be the best I could be.

I ended up going to college out-of-state, in the dark wasteland its pale inhabitants call "Ohio". I went to a liberal-arts college there, got a decent education in literature and religious studies, and absolutely loathed the people there. Even to this day, it still amazes me just how horrible undergrads can be. I feel bad for parents who pay for that education.

Anyway.

After that experience, I hopped over to Japan and taught there for a while. I was situated in a city in the Tohoku region of Japan--the cold, frigid, rustic north--and despite the problems I had with the Japanese educational system, I loved it over there. Even now, I miss it.

I'm back in America, waiting to hear on a job I applied for in Turkey. I've been trying to find part-time work until that starts, and when I'm not doing that I'm usually re-connecting with friends I haven't talked to in a long time or working on the various fiction projects I have.

I miss having good conversation. It seems, to me, that most people have retreated to their own little pools. I miss the larger forum, where people had interesting ideas instead of being slavishly devoted to an ideology.

Who wants to live in an echo chamber?