The Guy
As you likely have surmised, my name is Brian. I am a resident of Peoria, IL and I write a lot: Books, songs, essays, journals, short stories, and whatever else might find its way across my brainwaves. That's what you'll find around here.
I am a solo creator, but I hardly do this alone. I have a partner (hi, Sarah) who listens to most everything I think out loud, and who contributes directly to my songs by way of her voice, violin, and extreme musical acumen. I have a brother (hi, Kevin) who also contributes to my songs by way of his voice, guitar, and extreme musical acumen. I rely on Bear to host this space for my writing. I rely on Amazon to manufacture my books because no one has been willing to publish them (the books are good, I swear). DistroKid and Bandcamp distribute my music, and Adobe Audition allows me to self-engineer that music.
I am not on social media. I chased what social media was giving me for years --nuggets of attention that led to nothing except my addiction for more of it. It left me disappointed, disillusioned, and leery of anything outside of the act of creation itself. Left in the wake of that experience is a rejection of a world where advertisements, "suggested posts," and doom scrolling reign, and the impossible challenge to develop something that stands apart from that world.
I do everything around here. Apart from the exceptions listed above, I am a one-person show. Nothing is automated. Nothing is AI. Everything you hear/read comes straight from me. I have no financial or corporate backing of any kind. The few services I do use (listed above), I pay for out of my own pocket. Everything I do is done with keeping the smallest overhead possible in mind.
I despise advertising. I don't know that I inherently hate the spirit of advertising (telling someone about something that they might be interested in), but I definitely hate the way our capitalistic wasteland wields it. It's invasive, omnipresent, and has no concern with the catastrophic damage it causes. It's an existential crisis for me to even have an email list, but I can sleep at night knowing you have to sign up for it, and you can easily unsubscribe at any time. I strive to be like a great mountain: Always ready to welcome you, but you have to come to me. I think we might feel differently if Mt. Everest showed up at our door telling us about what sales it currently had going on.
Washington Irving said it best, so I will defer to his words:
The following writings are published on experiment. Should these writings, however, with all their imperfections, be well received, I cannot conceal that it would be a source of the purest gratification; for though I do not aspire to those high honors which are the reward of loftier intellects; it is the dearest wish of my heart to have a secure and cherished, though humble corner in the good opinions and kind feelings of my countrymen.