2002-10-10

My First Entry. How intimidating. I guess I'll stick to convention and just introduce myself. Robin Smith is, believe it or not, my real name; so hey stalkers! Bring it on! I've never had a stalker, and I must say I'm feeling a bit left out. I live in Ottawa, Canada. I'm an art school dropout (I managed to escape with a shred of talent and taste, or so I like to think), working for the Man here in the nation's capital. I work with briefing and correspondence documents for the federal government. I spend my days hunting down errant apostrophes and harassing public servants who don't turn in their briefing notes on time. It's just as exciting and glamorous as it sounds.

In my spare time, I get lots of tattoos and read lots of books. I'm still relatively new to the area (I moved here from Calgary in the fall of 2000), so if anyone out there knows of a really kick-ass tattooist in Ottawa, Toronto or Montreal, please give me a shout. I've had some work done by Lynn at Living Colour here in Ottawa, and I've seen amazing work by Scott McEwan from Toronto - I've been trying to pin him down for an appointment. I've also heard good things about New Moon Tattoo, but honestly, the work I've seen from them hasn't really turned my crank.

I read a LOT, as I mentioned. Mostly Victorian novels. I love George Eliot with a passion, and Charlotte Bronte; and I'm gaining a solid appreciation for Dickens and Hardy. For fun, I read the light stuff, like Mary Elizabeth Braddon and Charlotte Yonge, and Jane Austen of course (although she isn't technically a Victorian). I also love Canadian lit, Margaret Atwood and Timothy Findley in particular. I went through a pretty big sci-fi/spec fic stage when I was younger, and I still read Douglas Adams, William Gibson, Charles de Lint and Terri Windling (and the whole interstitial arts gang), Philip K. Dick, etc.

I'm starting this journal because I love to write, and I'd like to get my writing OUT THERE in some form, even one as informal as this. I journal compulsively; I've done so since I was in elementary school; so this is a good outlet for me. So, yeah. I'll add more information as I think of it. Enjoy.