I’m a writer and photographer living in Oakland, CA. This is my personal blog.
My writing is a mix of poetry and memoir but I also write essays, scripts, and some stuff that is unclassifiable. Hence the creative categorization that you see. Much of my writing is informed by my experiences as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.
I have three yoga certifications: Bikram Yoga, Tony Sanchez Yoga Academy, and Ghosh Yoga Calcutta. From 2002 to 2018, I owned, managed, and taught at a hot yoga studio, Still Hot Yoga, in Atlanta, GA.
My early career was in theatre, having worked as a lighting designer, technical director, and performer. I began acting as a teenager with The Woods Hole Community Theatre and my professional career included stints with The San Francisco Mime Troupe, Seven Stages, and CORE Dance, among many others.
My Projects
I’ve got a lot of projects because I never was able to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. Or I never grew up. Or I’m experiencing a mid-life crisis. I didn’t understand what Curly meant when he said the secret to life was “one thing.” I’m a dilettante. I’m scattered and smothered (by restless ideation). Below is a list of some of my projects.
Substack Newsletter – I began this as a way to come out to the world, including some people from my long-ago past, as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse. I told my story in a rambling and creative manner and by doing so I felt the release of great weight. It was an experiment that became the first draft of what will eventually become a short book. I still send sporadic stories but the focus has become less specific. I am on the fence about continuing it. I’d like to, but I feel the need to find a focus for it. Meanwhile, all the original content is still available.
Medium – I’ve been writing on Medium for several years. I like to joke that they should rename it Mediocre because so much of the writing is poor and click-baity. Medium itself has been kind of a joke in some online writing communities because they change their mission and business model completely every two years. That makes them look like maybe they don’t know what they’re doing. On the other hand, I’ve gotten more exposure to my writing on Medium than anywhere else. Better still, I have made money from my writing there so I’m sticking with it.
Behance – A sampling of some of my illustrations. These are just for show. This is Adobe’s version of a social sharing site for graphic designers.
Adobe Portfolio – Currently, this is just a mirror of Behance but I think it can be more than that. Not sure it’s worth the effort to figure out.
Patamystic.Art – My little store where you can buy some of my shit and download free stuff. I’ve got books (print and PDF), stickers, fonts, and soon-to-come clothing.
Exist Otherwise Literary & Art Journal – I edit and publish a small online zine, inspired by the gender non-conforming artists Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. Published bi-monthly with contributors from around the globe.
Frighten the Horse – An even smaller literary journal that I’m about to launch. I haven’t started promoting it yet.
Smugmug – Some of my photography. Prints can be purchased. I’ve got some digital art here but I may be moving those to… I don’t know.
Viewbug – More photography, not for sale. This is a weird photo-sharing app/site that I’m not sure has any value. It’s a silly business model pretending to be social media. I don’t use it much and only have a handful of photos on it but every week I’m being given some new ‘award’ for my photography. It feels like a grade school contest where everyone wins a prize for anything they submit. I’ve ‘won’ 76 ‘awards’ for my twelve photos. I think I only keep it active because it strokes my ego. What can I say? I’m a third-grader at heart.
Bandcamp – I make music! Not really. I mean sorta. I’m interested in making music and I’ve composed a couple of short songs but they’re kind of silly. There’s a full album on here but the ‘songs’ are all very short. Just having fun, in the hope that I learn how to do it better.
Patamystic Gas – I have a podcast! It’s weird. But you might want to keep an eye on it. I’m going to be publishing some of my invocations here. It currently has some of my experimental writing being read by a machine boy.
Soundcloud – Before I started my podcast I was posting some of my poetry and music here. I’m trying to decide if I should consolidate my audio stuff or keep it cross-posted to these different sites.
Vimeo – A few silly things. More interesting stuff is in the works.