born to a lower middle-class family, i was moved almost yearly in my father's quest for the perfect job. though we never experienced abject poverty, money was always tight. my parents were nearly stereotypical; a mother who was concerned with the home and appearances, a slightly distant father who spent most of his time at work. throughout my childhood they tried to instill in me the typical middle-class values, but finding the concept of conformity abhorrent i would have none of that. in my early teens i discovered the joys of a number of herbal and chemical substances and i bounced back and forth between a few different addictions for most of the rest of my childhood.

i don't actually remember losing my virginity, but it probably wasn't all that important at the time. in my late teens i met my ex and we stayed together through one child and most of a decade until she finally realized that i probably didn't have the rosy future she had imagined. she left. afterward i bounced around from one job to another, from one woman to another, from one drug to another; until my work experience allowed me to start a small construction business of my own and my experiences with women and drugs convinced me that i'd had enough of both.

these days i still keep on the move. a very few close friends and a number of passing acquaintances keep me amused and grounded. business is good and with no woman to spend my cash, my nest egg slowly grows. living alone allows me to exist in the present, only slightly concerned with the future and attempting to ignore the mistakes of the past. it ain't nothin' flashy, but it keeps me sane.

as i read back over this summation of my life i realize that it may sound a bit pathetic, but it wasn't. a man's life should should be his greatest piece of art and, as surrealistic as mine has been, my life deserves a place in the louvre. i've also realized that this is not who i am, only the framework over which i have constructed myself.