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Tuesday, February 12, 2013

So, I started a blog...

That's interesting. The closest I've ever come to writing a blog before in my life was when I used Myspace back in the day, and those were few and far between. Other than that, I have occasionally posted the lyrics I write on my Myspace or (later on) Facebook. For clarification here...I do not actively have a Myspace account. Yes, it exists out there in the internets, yes my name is on it...no, it has not been updated in years. I haven't deleted it because I enjoy being nostalgic, and I'm far too lazy to copy all of the messages which I consider important to my life into a Word document or some such thing. Now that that's out of the way. Here we are...in my blog...I suppose I can start by explaining my name here, and the title of my blog.

The Spider Monk
This name has an old history behind it, although not a particularly long or interesting story (imo). When I was in middle school and high school, my parents paid for me to go on these week-long camping trips during the summer, which were run by the summer camp at a local private school. The first year during which I attended one of these camps, we went to an area with river-rafting (class 4 rapids, awesome!), hiking, river-walking, etc. On one of the hiking trails we explored, there was quite a large pile of huge boulders that we could scramble all over. The camp leader/counselor (whatever he was called) Eric had us all put on helmets and pretty much go anywhere we wanted in this awesome maze of rocks. I was instantly in love with rock scrambling and such, and still am to this day. I seemed to be the most agile and flexible of the group, and a bunch of the other kids decided to call me a "spider monkey. Not like the actual animal spider monkey, but more like half spider, half monkey."

SO. When I first started playing video games on my dad's Windows 98 laptop (haha), I called myself The Spider Monkey. I thought it was somewhat clever. Then I got my very own Xbox. But generally, games did not allow a name as long as "The Spider Monkey" so I just let it get cut off at "Monk," and of course thus considered myself an evil genius. When I later on got an Xbox 360 and an Xbox Live account, that name carried on, because it was actually available to use. It is still my gamertag to this day, though more than once I have considered changing it to a variety of other names. So thaaat is the story of that name. I told you...not very interesting. And I'm sure I could've told the story in much fewer words. But TOO BAD FOR YOU :)

On the Dark Side of the Moon
This is sort of a collection of a few different interests/things of mine. One is fairly obvious, if you listen to good music...I do very much enjoy myself some Pink Floyd, though usually on a random spur every once in a while. The other meaning behind this title is much more personal.

I have a very very close friend whom I have known for 9+ years now, who lives across the country from me. Henceforth (been waiting my whole life to use that word appropriately...and now I just killed the perfect moment with these parentheses...damn my addiction to asides in parentheses!) I shall refer to her as Ventus (nevermind the masculine ending...). At one point a couple years back, we were talking about some sort of epiphany one of us had had about life, and we got on the subject of our friendship in general and how thankful we were for each other. She told me a little story that I don't need to repeat in full, but essentially it ended with her new nickname for me being The Moon, because I am always there for her no matter what, just like the moon is always going to rise in the sky again no matter what. I later on discussed with her which element of nature always reminded me of her, but I think I'll leave that a mystery for now, gotta have a little intrigue, right?? :P

So, there you have the reasons behind that title. I'll admit there's a part of me that secretly adores the whole dark/kinda-creepy-but-not-really vibe that a title like that gives off...In no way am I trying to say I'm only going to blog about depressing shit happening in my life (though that's bound to happen once or twice) and that is why I like having a dark title. I only like the darkness aspect because, to me, darkness is akin to what is within us. I don't mean that in a bad way. There is a whole lot out there in the world to go and see, and by all means, if you can, do it. Go see the world. But there is a whole other world inside ourselves, waiting to be discovered, just as huge and mysterious, and I think most individuals in today's society do not ever explore that in their lifetimes.


Which brings me around to a (hopefully) brief and simple explanation for why I've started writing this blog. I was inspired by the blogging of someone else, which I have only just started reading. Nearly every post from this person reminded me of how cathartic it is for me (and people like me) to just write. It IS how we get it out of our system. I can talk to my closest friend for hours on end about one topic that is upsetting me or bringing me down, and come away from the conversation not feeling fulfilled at all, or any closer to a solution; but as soon as I sit down at home and write down whatever's on my mind in my journal, I can feel the peace spread through my mind, like little tendrils of calmness. It doesn't always solve the problem, in fact it usually doesn't, but it does help immeasurably, and I've forgotten what satisfaction it can bring to share these experiences with other people. It remains to be seen just how much I will reveal about myself on here. I haven't laid any ground rules, or put any specific situations from my life on a blacklist to never be spoken of here, so I am just going to go with the flow, and see where this goes. Perhaps, too, the knowledge that there might be others out there in the internets, waiting for my next post, will help me write more regularly. Here and in my journal. I also have had a lot of inspiration lately to write new lyrics, which is a pastime I have not frequented for several years now, so if I get any completed chunks down on paper, I will most likely share them here for you all to read!

Damn. Look at this. Even when I'm talking about nothing particularly important, I go on for paragraphs...I think I have a problem. :D Good night!

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