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Author: Christopher A. Kess
Writer, et. al.
It can not be this difficult to paginate a document in sections without Word. It just can’t.
Yesterday was National Selfie Day. I ran into some snags getting my selfie posted on Instagram, so I’m posting it now. Lately, I’ve been accompanying pictures on Instagram with the backstory. The backstory for this picture got too long to post there, so here are the selfie and the story.
In the late 90’s, I was a mid-20’s-aged aspiring writer (among other artistic interests). Emphasis on aspiring. I had zero direction. No degree, no formal training, certainly no MFA. I’d had a passion for writing going back years. I was a rapper and poet by late in middle school and into high school. Most of what I wrote, outside of school and rapping around the way, ended up in the drawers and closet in my bedroom. A few of my poems saw the light of day, long enough for me to read to this girl or that girl over the telephone, a plus in courting; I was chubby, so to say. I needed every advantage. In 12th grade, I joined a Black student organization. Creative expression became an important component of the group and we did a few readings. I did my best to get over my shyness, my reluctance to share what I was writing. I thought I was starting to come into my own creatively. I started nursing dreams of making a career out of my creativity, or at least my strong proclivity towards the humanities.
And again, started at a decent time. After taking a brief nap. Maybe I’m starting a new pattern, writing earlier in the evening after a nap. That can work for me. For now.
Almost unbelievably so, I started writing at a reasonable time. That was after eating and falling asleep right next to my notebook and laptop. I didn’t sleep too well last night and during the day at the office, we were moving network cables from one cage to another. It only took a couple of hours at most, but it was deceptively strenuous. At least we got it done. There are many stories from when we put those cables in there 10 years ago. I wrote about that one of the days during the month. I’m grateful that I get to carry so many good stories with me. When it’s all said and done, when we’ve moved on and we’re looking back, that’s what we’ll have. As a writer, it’s my stock, it’s my gold. I’m grateful for that.