I will be 50 this year. I spent the first 10 years of my life in Brooklyn and then moved way upstate to a town of 800 in the Thousand Islands. Because of my promise I was sent to a boarding school near Syracuse. I was a scholarship kid on merit. It was a pretty positive experience. We had a dress code and the dorms reeked of pot. My first concert was Black Sabbath and Mountain. My second was breaking into Jethro Tull for the Thick As A Brick show. I have always been seriously underestimated athleticly. I am very (strike that, was very) quick and faster than most. I was the stealth student. I hung out with the lowlifes because they were more fun and had better dope. My SATs were a major surprise to the other people in my class (SATs were posted). I went to college in Buffalo (great party town, SHIT weather). During the summers I worked (begged for and was lucky to get) construction. I started out premed/psych. Old man wouldn't pay if I majored in English. Can't say I blame him. Dumped premed plans when I realized it was gonna be work. Took the courses anyway, just didn't care about the grade. Realized psych was total religion. Also realized it was a cake degree. Had a great fucking time and learned what I wanted to. Dissected a monkey and lectured on left hemisphere language ability. Played intramural football on an elite team (200 team league, no school team, all-county teammates). Moved away, anywhere South, which ended up being Lexington KY. Strange town. Shit pay in construction but a cool party place. Punk club opened, Club Au GoGo owned by a transvestite heir with endless cash. Heard Johnny Depp mention ole Bradley in an interview once. Quite the character. Moved back to NY. Westchester Cty. Got more experience and became a contractor at 28. It doesn't suck to be a quality contractor in one of the richest parts of the world. Any reasonably competent tradesperson can work for themselves and make very good money. A little more savvy and go for it attitude and there is no limit. Second wife done right. 16 yr old daughter may just be smarter than me. A dancer and pretty too. I am well armed. Was always of a mind to be left alone. You don't owe me, I don't owe you. Ran into Ayn Rand at a point when she pretty much just encapsulated what I thought independantly. Stopped believing in god when I realized there weren't really flying reindeer. That shit just didn't work for me. When 47 people are telling you that their way is the only way the odds are that they're all full of shit. Same for psychotherapy. Same for a lot of things.
Finally, I love it here. This place leans no more left than any other group that tends to this age group. Most people are able to articulate their ideas, no matter their merit, more than fairly well. There is also a punching bag faction that just keeps coming back. Most of all, I like the opportunity to write and be read. I've had a few great lines here (and read a few)and they never would have existed at all if not for the Shroomery
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