So...
Many of you may be wondering where I have disappeared to over the past few months. Valid question. May I recount for you briefly the disasters/chances at true metamorphosis I've experienced in the summer of '09:
#1) In Early June, STLP, otherwise known as the entertainment company owned by myself, windchILL, Apollo's Sun, Wellis Fool, Gard, and El*A*Kwents permanently disbanded after six years and a promising set of recent releases including Before the War, the culmination of all STLP stood for. The blow effected everyone deeply at the personal and professional levels, and created a sort of ebb that finally receded sometime mid-summer, once all parties were able to regroup and formulate new battle strategies.
#2) On June 7th (well into summer term), YBEC asked me to return to the classroom as the English teacher for the '09-10 school-year, adding that I must take two summer classes in order to maintain my teaching certificate. I immediately suspected an underhanded scheme to derail my career, which inevitably turned out to be true: once I had scrounged the money for class, it was too late, and I was notified of my termination. Seems like three years of radically improving young lives will never match up against a few blossoming egos hell-bent on familial domination (for more information, and bitterness send me a comment and I'll reply. Actually, don't, because I really don't care about political bullshit, anyway, and I'm no longer a slave to Central, PA or corporate greed... Then again, that's what they all say.)
#3) I had been living with my girlfriend--a somewhat neurotic, but excessively deep and loving hippie from York County--for the past two years. The dissolution of STLP seemed to be the solution for new and fertile ground in our relationship; we had been experiencing a beautiful and stress-free three-month period in our lives together that I erroneously attributed to a surge in my free time. But, alas, the facade crumbled as she unexpectedly announced to me three weeks ago that she no longer felt that a relationship was beneficial to either of us, and she wanted some time to think about her future, alone.
Homeless, jobless,and girl-less--yet ultimately free--I retreated to the confines of my subconscious for some necessary meditation and reflection. Friends offered suggestions or quick fixes. Possibilities revealed themselves only to prove shams. Finally, after a dreadful week, I received a phone call.
Emily, my middle-school/high-school/part of college/part of post-college sweetheart unexpectedly and bravely welcomed me to her home in Portland, OR. Of course, I declined. Who in their right mind would leave their girlfriend of three years to move 2,800 miles away to a new city with no job, no family, few friends, and a simple wish to succeed? Well, after two weeks of deliberation it appears the answer is: ME.
Next week I will drive across this vast machine we call America, and plant my flag in the middle of the Pacific Northwest, hoping for new endeavors and opportunities that could lead to true actualization. I apologize to those of you who have been wondering where I descended, but I assure you that I am back like never before. And that's my word.
