If we
learned one thing from my previous entry it is that I have always followed the
tune of my own harpsichord, which seems to answer my cliffhanger question. My early childhood experiences do indeed
indicate freak, and this category had both a positive and detrimental effect on
my psyche.
Now,
having established that I am a variation of freak, allow me to elaborate on my
so-called creative side, which eventually led to my nickname and blog title.
In 9th
grade, a cesspool of hormones and wickedness, I wrote a violently lurid story
with an utterly inane title. “The Tide
Thus Falls” centered on an FBI agent who went undercover as a high school
student to locate and capture a dangerous man.
She, of course, had a personal vendetta to settle. Sex-kissed melodrama, with a voyeuristic line
of kink running throughout, this tale is lost to time thanks to a friend’s
faulty locker and my own stupidity for not making a second copy. Interesting note, it was allegedly passed around
like a high school whore but only a couple of souls were brave enough to
approach the freak teen author.
Jumping
ahead to the late 1990’s/early 2000’s, I was forever dubbed “freakboy” by a
dear friend whom I shall call The Elusive Miss P. There was no ceremony or notarization
involved, TEMP simply used “freakboy” as my name in her e-mail address
book. I liked it, it stuck, and I have
never asked her why she chose the name she did. I suspect
the moniker came about after one too many tales involving either evil twins
& hot charcoal or mixed-up underwear & twisted doughnut tricks, but I
suppose she could have had her own reason.
“Freakboy”
soon begat “The Freakboy Zone”, a ‘zine I briefly contributed to N*. For this fleeting time I found a creative
outlet with like-minded freaks, and I mean that in the most life-affirming
way. My ‘zine’s title was appropriate
since N* was mainly about comic books and I stood out a little as a former
comic book junkie. Thankfully I could
write about my earlier addiction to DC and EC Comics, among other eclectic topics.
Over the
last several years I have e-mailed family,
friends and other a series of what could be called life-essays. Topics ranged from a nosey librarian to
bizarre feline behavior to my obsessive love for “Valley of the Dolls” and “Beyond…”. In the subject line “tales from the freakboy
zone…” could always be found. In
hindsight, it was a form of pre-blogging, so this is why my blog shares that
particular title. I may have to blow the
digital dust off a few of my favorite e-mails for later entries.
Anyhoo…introductions
are over and some questions have been answered.
Now it is time to see what I can do with this blog and where it will
take me.
Be well, readers…and Freak Out,
JLH
P.S. Blogs seem to be ideally suited for short
stories and serials. No promises, just
thinking out loud through typing.
Digital dust is one thing, it's the digital dust bunnies that will sneak up on you in your sleep and get their fuzzies all up in ... and ... I'm sorry, what was I saying?
ReplyDeleteOoh I wish I could have read “The Tide Thus Falls".. that does sound an interesting story... And very you in the nicest possible way. Be interested in who you would have cast in it .. and thanks for sharing more of your story.
ReplyDeleteFrom time to time, I almost consider revisiting that lost story, maybe with a better title, but I'm just not quite brave enough.. yet!
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