(my life up till now)

I grew up in a tourist town called Vernon, in the heart
of the BC desert. There are lakes and ski hills and
woods. 



My childhood was typical. Summers in Rangoon, luge 
lessons ... No, seriously, um, what did I do. We
played war games a lot -- me and "the boys," which is
the collective term given to my three brothers. 
All of them have names with the letter N in them.
(JeordyN, CliNt, and LaNce.) My parents are both neat. 
My dad has a violent hatred of all modern music, and
drives a truck for a living -- a job which involves a 
high degree of physical labour. As a result he is in
the best shape of any in our family -- a source of
constant guilt and shame to the rest of us. My mother
is a poet, political redneck, and natural medicine
advocate. She works and goes to school at the same
time, enjoys ska music, and has flaming red hair. 
 

 
I went to public school for a bit and homeschooled for
a bit. Grade 11 was the year I discovered theatre, and
became a hotheaded little drama writer. I thought I
was a goddess. People said great things were in
store for me.



After graduation I spent the summer working on the 
muddy shores of Mabel Lake, playing counselor and
drama coordinator. I grew up in many ways and crashed
towards immaturity in others. Someone I worked with
stole two of my Green Days cds. I never liked Green 
Day very much until those cds were stolen. 



On my 18th birthday I moved to Victoria to further
my life as a goddess of literature and fulfill the 
expectations placed upon me. My first home was a
damply depressing basement suite, shared with
two roommates, Kass and Lisa. I worked as a fast food
whore at A+W, and freelance writer for Youth and Family
Magazine. Fast food .. My soul cried out and my writ-
ing strengthened. I was no longer considered a goddess
but instead, suffered a variety of verbal abuse from
management and consumers alike. I became hardened. In
December Lisa and I moved to the legendary Green St.,
home to an assortment of musicians, soccer players,
and alcoholics. I quit A+W and wound up at Chapters
Bookstore. I thrived. But I quit for the summer to 
work at the camp again, where I fell in and out of love
and oddly enough, was viewed as a badass. I taught 
others the art of fine hard liquoring and an adult 
personality began to form. 



Autumn found me back at Green St. and enrolled at the 
University of Victoria. I learned to stop using cliches
and I learned to judge people. A drunken evening with
roommate Matt heralded the begining of a relationship
between the two of us, and I must say, the best relat-
ionship I have ever been in.



(A long time, winter is passed .. Summer is here
again ..  ~the Headstones) And once again I work in
a dreary job unbefitting a future goddess and tyrant of
Canadian fiction. Just wait .. Just wait. I'll be back
in school in a few months, and that much closer to 
epiphany.