Brief history of my life so far
Born in Gravesend, Kent, England on 14th June 1975. Youngest of three children. Father is from Australia, mother from Manchester, England. Family moved back to Australia at end of 1976 and settled in Figtree, Wollongong.
Attended Lindsay Park Primary School from 1981-1987. Shy but generally well-liked. Plenty of friends, enjoyed soccer, cricket and Dungeons and Dragons. Wet bed frequently. Chronic sweaty palms made school dances a nightmare. Happy childhood, good family life and stable upbringing. Well cared for with good parental role models.
Represented South Coast regional cricket team in 1987. Convinced I was the next Don Bradman and would play for Australia when I grew up. Smashed neighbours window with golf ball while practicing with a stump (Bradman-style) in back yard. Denied same to parents.
Attended Figtree High School 1988-1993. Continued to wet bed. Many friends but still shy and scared of girls. Missed 3 months at start of year 7 when family took a trip to England and Europe. Great experience, kept a diary because I had to as an English assignment. Constantly listened to Billy Joel's The Bridge on sister's walkman during long car trips. Too young to appreciate the history of the place.
First kiss in year 7 at end-of-year dance - never spoke to her again. Hit puberty at 14. First orgasm sitting at desk in bedroom. Felt wonderful but kind of gross. But mainly wonderful. Continued to be extremely shy with girls despite liking them a lot. Almost got a girl friend a few times but never quite made it. Finally stopped wetting the bed at age 15. I was starting to think I would be married and still wetting the bed.
Continued to spend copious amounts of time playing Dungeons and Dragons to the dismay of my father who thought I should be doing more school work. I like school but never applied myself to the work - it was more a place to see friends. Lost interest in cricket at age 15 after realising I may not be the next Don Bradman after-all. Standing in a field all day getting headaches from the sun lost its appeal for some reason. Continued to play soccer and was skilful though couldn't run fast. Started camping frequently with group of friends. Spent many school holidays on week-long hikes into the bush. Some of the best times of my life.
Began mucking around with video camera with friend in Year 10. Formed a comedy group called "The fb's" and thought we would be Australia's Monty Python. Also formed humorous/mysterious poetry group with friends during a week of work experience where none of us chose a job and so sat in a classroom for 5 days. Named ourselves "The Initiates of the First Poetic Circle" and garnered minor notoriety by leaving poems on scraps of paper around school grounds. I was called The People's Poet after Rik from The Young Ones. Later wished I'd chosen an original name.
During Years 11-12, parents marriage began to breakdown unbeknownst to me. Became aware of this at end of Year 12 when they separated. Repression shielded me from the psychological effects of this for many years. Scored 62.5 in the HSC which seemed ok to me but disappointed my father. He was probably right in thinking I could have done much better if I hadn't spent all my time playing D&D and watching movies. Applied for Arts degree but got accepted to Science degree at Wollongong Uni. On day of enrolment had feeling of overwhelming certainty that I was doing the wrong thing. Had coffee at caf and thought about it. Then left the university and went home.
Spent 18 months on the dole during which I had my first episode of depression, though was unaware of it at the time. Spent long nights watching movies and drinking homebrewed beer and sleeping lots during the day. Wondered why I seemed to have lost all motivation, interest and enjoyment in life. Read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig which had a profound effect on me. Stimulated my interest in thinking and philosophy and the internal landscape of the mind. Set me on the path of self-exploration.
(to be continued cause I gotta sleep now.)
Born in Gravesend, Kent, England on 14th June 1975. Youngest of three children. Father is from Australia, mother from Manchester, England. Family moved back to Australia at end of 1976 and settled in Figtree, Wollongong.
Attended Lindsay Park Primary School from 1981-1987. Shy but generally well-liked. Plenty of friends, enjoyed soccer, cricket and Dungeons and Dragons. Wet bed frequently. Chronic sweaty palms made school dances a nightmare. Happy childhood, good family life and stable upbringing. Well cared for with good parental role models.
Represented South Coast regional cricket team in 1987. Convinced I was the next Don Bradman and would play for Australia when I grew up. Smashed neighbours window with golf ball while practicing with a stump (Bradman-style) in back yard. Denied same to parents.
Attended Figtree High School 1988-1993. Continued to wet bed. Many friends but still shy and scared of girls. Missed 3 months at start of year 7 when family took a trip to England and Europe. Great experience, kept a diary because I had to as an English assignment. Constantly listened to Billy Joel's The Bridge on sister's walkman during long car trips. Too young to appreciate the history of the place.
First kiss in year 7 at end-of-year dance - never spoke to her again. Hit puberty at 14. First orgasm sitting at desk in bedroom. Felt wonderful but kind of gross. But mainly wonderful. Continued to be extremely shy with girls despite liking them a lot. Almost got a girl friend a few times but never quite made it. Finally stopped wetting the bed at age 15. I was starting to think I would be married and still wetting the bed.
Continued to spend copious amounts of time playing Dungeons and Dragons to the dismay of my father who thought I should be doing more school work. I like school but never applied myself to the work - it was more a place to see friends. Lost interest in cricket at age 15 after realising I may not be the next Don Bradman after-all. Standing in a field all day getting headaches from the sun lost its appeal for some reason. Continued to play soccer and was skilful though couldn't run fast. Started camping frequently with group of friends. Spent many school holidays on week-long hikes into the bush. Some of the best times of my life.
Began mucking around with video camera with friend in Year 10. Formed a comedy group called "The fb's" and thought we would be Australia's Monty Python. Also formed humorous/mysterious poetry group with friends during a week of work experience where none of us chose a job and so sat in a classroom for 5 days. Named ourselves "The Initiates of the First Poetic Circle" and garnered minor notoriety by leaving poems on scraps of paper around school grounds. I was called The People's Poet after Rik from The Young Ones. Later wished I'd chosen an original name.
During Years 11-12, parents marriage began to breakdown unbeknownst to me. Became aware of this at end of Year 12 when they separated. Repression shielded me from the psychological effects of this for many years. Scored 62.5 in the HSC which seemed ok to me but disappointed my father. He was probably right in thinking I could have done much better if I hadn't spent all my time playing D&D and watching movies. Applied for Arts degree but got accepted to Science degree at Wollongong Uni. On day of enrolment had feeling of overwhelming certainty that I was doing the wrong thing. Had coffee at caf and thought about it. Then left the university and went home.
Spent 18 months on the dole during which I had my first episode of depression, though was unaware of it at the time. Spent long nights watching movies and drinking homebrewed beer and sleeping lots during the day. Wondered why I seemed to have lost all motivation, interest and enjoyment in life. Read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig which had a profound effect on me. Stimulated my interest in thinking and philosophy and the internal landscape of the mind. Set me on the path of self-exploration.
(to be continued cause I gotta sleep now.)