Austin Archinal

I'm still a teenager, but I'm on the end of the spectrum. Walking out of the door of the teenage years, the teenage world, and looking back thinking about what exactly happened in those years. I spent them in middle school, high school, and just dipped my toes into college. But what has it all meant? I don't know yet, but I'm now looking forward into adulthood, into the "real" world. It's inevitable that each person reach this point sooner or later, but I wish I could pause for a moment and live here in the between space.

The summer before I started high school, I took summer school classes to get Speech and Health out of the way. On the next to last day of classes, I walked out into the bright sunlight of the summer day, saw a flash of purple light, became very dizzy and passed out. I awoke in the hospital learning that I'd had a seizure. I was subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy, which has since been a large part of my life. I was prescribed an anti-epilepsy medication which didn't work very well at preventing seizures but did succeed in making me very angry. The second one also failed to stop the seizing. The third one, however, proved effective. It also gave me some bizarre, and very ornate, dreams during my sleep. I've been cataloguing these dreams on a weblog ever since.

I appreciate the complexity of the English language and its accompanying set of grammar rules, but I do enjoy breaking them apart when writing. You know, for artistic purposes. My favorite writers include but are not limited to: Cormac McCarthy- who does a tremendous job of giving beauty to darkness, decay, and destruction- Edgar Allan Poe- whose torment and anxiety provide the basis for art and love to flourish- and F. Scott Fitzgerald- who uses elegant and extravagant motifs while flawlessly depicting the human condition. To say they are the inspiration for my writing, however, would perhaps be a slight to their great achievements.

I currently study at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. It's a small liberal arts college in a small town. But it's near Austin- the city, that is- and I like that. I appreciate music a great deal, though I cannot play any instruments or sing. I'm pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in English and am enjoying college life a great deal, both of which are to be expected.