One of my favorite words is scuttlebutt. Sounds cool, and describes the nature of the stories I will tell here. If you're looking for nuanced essays on the search for identity and belonging ... ZZZZ. I would rather stay up well past my healthy bedtime exploring life's unnerving ironies. The glossed-over secrets and hostilities that lie just below surface civilities. So I write to escape, to give form to my hyperactive imagination, and to entertain you fine folks.