I never considered myself a writer growing up. I considered myself an amateur artist. When I drew something, people would ask me if I’m an artist, and I would deny it. I’ve never been quite comfortable with these types of labels: writer, artist, whatever – but for tonight, I’ll consider myself a writing artist.

I love art. Always have. My mother has said that I have drawn since I got a pen in my hand. I can confidently say Levi is the same way. I wanted to draw everything, anything. I learned how to draw people, the sky, some nature, mostly people though. I explored ways for me to learn how to be a better artist, all the while not considering myself one. Some people took foreign language all through high school, I took art. I stopped my first round of university, but took at least one art class when I transferred to PSU. Then, I added Art History as a focus. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel there was time to take other art classes – especially with the pre-requisites.

So, I never considered myself an artist, and I always wanted to write, and so?on, the writing took over as the more regular task. I’ve heard for years the adage, “If you want to write, you need to practice, so do it every day.” I’d toy with the idea, but never really stuck to it. I write regularly through the year …. well, you can look at the archive for the past three years and see the regularity!

I write to explore ideas.

Several months ago this author was being interviewed on NPR. I think she might have worked in publishing. Maybe she was a publisher? Or an English teacher. She wrote. For a living, and corrected other people’s writing. She told the interviewer that she didn’t consder people who wrote for ideas to be writers. But, if someone wrote because they liked words, it was okay.

Well, that’s my interpretation of her rant.

I am a writer. I love lilting alliteration lying languid on my tongue, tripping over tantalizing syllables as they salsa surrounding serious thoughts. I somtimes find myself rhyming silly rhymes, not as sensible and thought provoking as Dorothy Parker or Emily Dickinson, and certainly not as weighty as Robert Frost – but fun, for me, nonetheless.

Words do fascinate me. Life is like a game of telephone. You try to convey an idea, and you think you’re clear, but someone always has a question. So, how can we use these written symbols to better convey our ideas? And, why do we want to convey ideas? Some people want to convey ideas for change. They want to change schedules, change routines, change lives, change society. So, on one hand, you can argue, quite successfully that words are used to convey ideas … ultimately for a better society. So, what’s so wrong with that?