Who is The Pen?

My parents divorced when I was five years of age, a year later I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. I remember the hot baths, soaking my knees in the bathtub to reduce whatever could be reduced in pain. I don't remember the pain, but know I went through a great deal of it in youth. I was always very timid, modest and reserved, throughout most of my school years. It wasn't until my senior year in high school I opened 'my wings' and joined drama and music. I went on after high school to six years of college, wherein I received my BS in Liberal Studies, minor in music. The only reason my major, rather Bachelor's wasn't in Fine Arts is because I refused the thesis of undergraduate studies. I was not willing to simply write an elongated essay on the life and times of a famous composer of the past. I wanted my music performed in public, as I was set on the composition of music.

I took a total of less than 20 hours of piano lessons, where in that time was featured on the local news in a piano recital for the local community college. I am a self-taught pianist, and damn proud of that. I went to college to figure out why my soul was calling me to this instrument and why music was and had always been my saving grace. I turned to the persuasions of Nine Inch Nails in my early teenage years. Trent's sound was unparalleled and awe-inspiring. I was hooked immediately. I recall listening to The Downward Spiral at age 16 and feeling emotions I had never been able to feel before. I felt freer, enthralled in the emotion rather than the bullying I endured until my senior year. I was teased and faced my share of physical bullies for being friends with someone who was more feminine in his ways. I had one true friend in him. To this day, I haven't spoken with a single person from my high school class in over 10 years. Respect is earned. Very few earned mine in school.

I have since high school been a writer-at-heart. I love words! I love using language to convey emotion; to demonstrate the internal struggles of the remitter. Words should not scare us, but enjoin us. Language is a barrier we should argue to make a lesser amongst. Why is English not required as an understood language to enter this country? If I was moving to Mexico, I would learn the language of the place I am seeking as my home. Am I completely off-base here? I appreciate all languages, but when did we start offering welfare before someone even enters the country? If I'm being 'forced' in-a-sense to learn a secondary language in order to stay relevant in the workplace, has not our very own government been responsible for putting such notions in place?

I didn't move to Mexico. There seems to be very little responsibility anymore. People get away with amazingly asinine things these days, as does our government. I spent six years earning a certificate. I have never used it, not in 13 years. I'm not bitter or upset about not using my degree. I went to college to study what I loved. And I studied the hell out of it. I found my God in music and invite anyone to listen to Andre Watts playing Franz Liszt's Sonata - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=andre+watts+tokyo&qpvt=andre+watts+... - and tell me you weren't moved in some way (I always am teary-eyed 5 minutes in). My meditation was found in music and for six years I was immersed in Choir, City Chorus, Musicianship, Theory, Composition and performance. It was an amazingly difficult time, but a time that allowed me to open up and embrace what I truly was passionate about. This June it will be 13 years since I graduated from college. Oregon State University was home for three years and I miss it often. College taught me so much, even that a Dean can deny you a major for defying his demand to write a summation on a famous composer. How fucking boring. As a student of Classical music, we all know about the composers of the time. It was unsettling to accept a regurgitation of known departmental and institutionalized facts.

Fast forward to present day...two children, both the loves of my life. Now days I sit at the piano whenever it strikes me, and I've never lost a beat, gained many more. Such strange paths we all lead. Mine has led me here from Popular Liberty and before from The Daily Paul. I have contributed to RedState.com, Fox News, The Albany Democrat Herald in Albany, Oregon and am determined to contribute as long as I'm able. I am a writer and musician at heart. I come here as someone quite fond of liberty. And is there any better reason to stand for liberty than your children?

Peace and Love always.