Howdy, steemit!

I'm an #appalachian young professional living in the mountains of eastern Kentucky. I've been interested in both alternative social networking and cryptocurrency for some time now, but am only just diving into steemit. I'm excited to see what all the buzz is about, to meet new people, and hopefully to make some SBD in the process!

Had a nice hike this morning and thought it'd be a good chance for an #introduceyourself pic! Nothing like some nature to clear the head.

So, why am I here?

First, I'm bored with my current social networks and want something new. I've always socialized on the internet, and this is definitely not the first time I've gone through this process.

It all started with AIM, which was wildly popular among my friends back when I was developing my social identity. It wasn't long after that I became a mod on my school's underground forum and an admin on a gaming server my friends and I used to run. These outlets kept me occupied for a good handful of years, and I loved the ability to create and change interactive digital social spaces. I was way too cool for MySpace when it hit the scene, but finally caved and got on Facebook before graduating and moving away from all my friends.

Then came the blogging bubble, which led to my first Tumblr (and my second, and my third, and...), and my first Blogger travelogue, which actually had a huge impact on my career. These platforms offered far more of the creative development I'd loved in my early days of digital socialization than did Facebook, which was slowly devolving into an ocean of piss. I tried to make Google+ and Ello work for me, but never really fell in love, and wasn't there a platform called Agora for two seconds? I seem to remember a libertarian friend back in college raving about it.

Nowadays I've uninstalled Instagram and Snapchat, avoid Facebook at all costs, and only use Twitter for events and absurdity. Long story short, I'm ready for something new.

I built my first computer out of hand-me-down parts. It was NOT a looker, but sure did teach me a lot, and opened up a ton of doors. Thank fuck for Moore's Law, and its fascinating ability to move people and communities beyond the realm of computing!

Second, I've been in a writing kind of mood. Already this spring I've churned out a whole new chapbook worth of poetry and have finished off my most recent journal, but I've still got creative inspiration left over. I need something new to do with it!

Unlike social networking, I can't remember when I first got into writing (I guess you typically learn language before you learn how to use a computer, right? At least back in my day!). They used to make us do writing portfolios in school every few years, which always felt more like a gift than a curse to me. "YOU MEAN SOMEONE'S GOING TO READ WHATEVER I WRITE," I thought, before cranking out 30 page "short"-stories heavily influenced by whatever cyberpunk anime I was into at the time. I think the power to create was really what drew me to the form, and again, like I mentioned with running forums or gaming servers, the ability to create shared experiences with other people really got me excited.

My passion for creative writing later evolved into a love of essay and rhetoric. The essay's ability to structure information so clearly and effectively really blew my mind, and the fact that it could create change in the world beyond words kept me coming back. Ideally, if you've done your job, the reader will be transformed by the end of the essay, usually by knowing or believing or thinking and feeling something new. It's so powerful I'm surprised it's not illegal!

But then I started to go off the deep end, and I took my writing with me. Things like love, death, weird philosophy, mental health, the War on Terror, the Financial Crisis, and queer theory and experience really changed me, and in the process I developed a strong attraction to poetry. I love it for exploring new ideas and experiences, and for creating change in people outside of the heady, rational realm of the essay. Poetry's been great fun, but I think I'm ready to try to make sense again, and that's a big part of why I'm here.

My first three manuscripts. Still trying to figure out wtf to do with them!

TL;DR: I've got some things to say, and I think steemit may be the place to say them!

What's next?

I'm really interested in superorganic development in the Uncanny Valley, which is to say that I haven't found the right words to describe what it is that I'm chasing, but it's got something to do with technology and society and human evolution, as well as political economics and cultural change. I also live in a really pretty place and do cool things and am hoping to connect with new people in new ways in order to do all these things better. I hope you'll follow me, let me know what you think, and help us build this steemit community together!