First there was the WORD

Thanks for humoring me. Ginger, thanks for the idea, and for getting me hooked on Damien Rice, and all those other things I owe you for.

So I'm 25, live in Baltimore, am a college graduate and according to Time, a "twixter." That lable makes me think of the old "Oh yeah..." Twix commercials from back in the 80's, you know, the song from Ferris Buller's Day Off, no real words just "Oh yeah . . . chick-a chick-ahhh . . ." very rad for back then. Wow, isn't it nuts? Now 99.1 is on 105.7 and 90's music is getting played on classic rock stations? Yes my friends, that strange and terrible thing called time is continuing its relentless march and we are getting older. But, you won't hear me bitch. I mean, did anyone really enjoy being a teenager? If those were the best days of your life, well, most of your brain cells probably went out with MC Hammer and Seinfield. Does anyone else enjoy this whole aging thing? I for one love being 25. I'll admit 26 sounds scary, but hell, even that's younger than 30. Remember when you thought 23 was old?

I am an unemployed traveling mooching writer. Bohemian? Absolutely. An asthete? 100%. I've held more jobs than anyone I know my age, and quite a few older than myself. I've been a janitor, fry cook, painter's helper, construction worker, English teacher, telemarketer, wrestling coach, gourmet cook, gas station cashier, pizza boy, camp counselor, kitchen manager, professional political activivist (see telemarketer), stock boy in a warehouse, cotton candy vendor at a zoo, computer lab manager, waiter, geriatric food specialist, bartender, mall kiosk calender seller, caterer, editor, dishwasher, book seller, grill cook, journalist, and TEFL teacher in Rome.

I've been from one end of I-95 to the other, from Fort Kent Maine to the Florida Keys. I've been to Los Angeles once and was not impressed. I've been to Rome where I ate pizza with my uncle who lives in Los Angeles, and was impressed. I fell in love with Venice and slept covertly in an all girl hostel run illicitly by a small Chinese woman fleeing at dawn through the six inches of water covering the cities cobble stone "streets." I've seen true poverty and true happiness. I've seen a little wealth, and a lot of ugliness. I've seen beauty that defies words, film, or canvass.

I am a brother, a son, a friend, a mentor, a teacher, a student, and sometimes a lover.

I own a black lab runt with one eye named Othello.

I have scars.

Horses don't like me.

But children do.

I am Dan Brown.

Nice to meet you.