Profile

Add this user to your friends list  To-Do List  Memories:  Tell a Friend!  Search This Journal  Nudge This Friend
User:gooddamon (9362457) Paid User
Speculations
Documenting an ongoing argument with words
Name:Damon Kaswell
Website:http://www.milkingthebean.com
Location:Eugene, Oregon, United States
Birthdate:1976-03-29
E-mail:
LJ Talk:
Bio:I was born and raised in Eugene, Oregon. I love the Willamette valley, and hope to be buried here. Preferably not tomorrow.

In my day job, I'm a computer technician. My real job is writing speculative fiction. I hope one day to be paid for it.

On the written word:
I've come to love writing within the last few years. Most of my life, I've enjoyed reading, and in high school I wrote poetry. But my first loves were always the science fiction and fantasy stories I kept in my head, and never put on paper. That changed about three years ago, when my wife started writing seriously, which inspired me.

One day, I sat down and pounded out the first page of what eventually turned into a 110,000 word novel. I don't know if this book will ever see the light of day, but I wrote it, and that's good enough for me.

These days, I primarily write short stories, although recently I've started working on another novel.

On how it feels to write:
The mechanics of writing come easily to me. I don't struggle over punctuation, spelling, grammar, or whether my infinitives are split. This doesn't make writing easier, it just makes me a good copyeditor for my own work.

The things that really matter - plot, dialogue, narrative flow, voice - do not come so easily to me, but the challenge of getting them right - of continually improving - is much more fulfilling. I hope it never gets too easy, because that will be the day I stop improving.

My bibliography:
I have three stories published or due:
"Our Last Words" - Writers of the Future anthology, Volume XXIII (September 2007)
"God at the Bottom of a Cup" - Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine, issue #32 (due January 2008)
"End User" - AnotheRealm (due January 2008)

On being a nerd:
I've had a lot of interests in my life. I've studied theater arts, I've learned how to tango, and I'm deeply interested in politics. Most people don't consider those nerdy pursuits - but then again, most people don't obsess over things endlessly. If you define nerdiness as a compulsive hyper-interest in a scholarly or obscure subject, then I've been nerdy about a lot of things, even those generally considered "cool."

In a more traditional nerd vein, I've got a long-standing love for computers, I play roleplaying games, I read sci-fi, I collect comic books, and so on.

My life by decade:
I was born in the seventies. Fortunately, thanks to the happy coincidence of being only four years old when it died, I have no memory of disco.

The eighties were rough times for me. I truly became a nerd, and it wasn't yet cool to be one. I helped run a BBS when I was 12, I consistently scored higher in math quizzes than my schoolmates, and I spent a lot of my time in A/V, the computer lab, and theater tech. Fortunately, in 1989 - at the ripe age of 13 - I discovered Trent Reznor, and he changed my life.

The nineties saw me go grungy and goth - along with every other 14-to-20 year old in the country. Type O-Negative for the times I needed to go all in black and obsess about death, and Nirvana when I needed to yell, scream, and head-bang. And, of course, Nine Inch Nails when I needed to do both. I grew my hair long, dyed it black a couple times, and put on nail polish. At grungier moments, I tied flannels around my waist and dived into mosh pits. Ahh, memories. I also voted for the first time (Democrat across the board), and met the love of my life, [info]floatingtide.

Which brings me to now: I am 31 years old. I've settled into my writing endeavors, and abandoned my brief trip through angst - it's not a happy place, I don't recommend vacationing there. We have a baby, and I own my own home.

I guess that means I'm an adult now. But I still don't dress like one.

Physicals:
  • 31 years old
  • Male
  • 6'3" and some change
  • 200 lbs.
  • Blue eyes
  • Dark brown hair


Mentals:
  • Agnostic (tending towards pantheism)
  • I accept the basic tenets of biological, climatological, and economic science, which apparently makes me a tree-hugging, God-hating, liberal, commie, pinko scumbag.
  • Logic puzzles rock.


Politicals:
  • Socially, I'm very much a liberal (as if you had to ask). I think homophobia is stupid. I believe in reproductive choice. I think there needs to be a social safety net, and the measure of a just society is how well it treats its most disadvantaged members.
  • The Iraq war is leading us steadily into WWIII.
  • I sincerely hope America can survive another couple years of this shit.


Socials:
  • Married, quite happily.
  • We have baby. Baby trumps social life.
  • As social activities, I like movies, dancing, and writing. Yes, writing.


Current nerdy/obsessive behaviors and hobbies:
  • Argentine tango.
  • Tabletop roleplaying games (preferably with actual storytelling).
  • Tinkering with computers.

  • Messing around with Linux.
  • Comic books (alternative/adult).
  • Comic books (some mainstream, a guilty pleasure).
  • Anime. No, not the tentacle stuff, you filthy pervert.


Remember:
There is no way to Tao. Tao is the way.
Memories:2 entries
Pictures:over 100 public
Interests:38: anime, automatons, bon mots, books, carnivale, comics, computers, creativity, cyberpunk, dark comedy, dark fantasy, fantasy, flash fiction, free speech, geeks, graphic novels, horrible scifi movies, linux, martial arts, movies, mythology, neil gaiman, philosophy, pizza, politics, polyphony, rasputina, reading, roleplaying, roleplaying games, sci-fi, science, science fiction, sleeping, speculative fiction, spontaneous dancing, tango, writing
Friends:
People79:alg, aliettedb, amberdine, ann_leckie, blakehutchins, bridget_coila, bruce_h_r, cammykitty, cathellisen, chanphenglew, chibicharibdys, dandyfunk, danjite, david_de_beer, debbiemumford, deedop, devonmonk, diannarodgers, divadrummer, dokein, dragonkal, dsmoen, ellameena, ellen_datlow, ericjamesstone, etcet, feedthequeen, floatingtide, frankwu, girlgeniuscomic, grndexter, jaylake, jess_ka, jimhines, johnjosephadams, joshenglish, jubietta, kara_gnome, katetofone, kblincoln, kenyonsf, ladnews, laughinglioness, lou_sytsma, mallory_blog, mc_questionmark, miladyinsanity, mkhobson, mme_publisher, morriscat, nancyfulda, nihilistic_kid, nitemayr, oceansilver, pnew8, podcastle, rachelmcg, rhonawestbrook, robvagle, ruralwriter, saycestsay, sci_fi_writer, scott_lynch, seaweed_shark, secretpink, selkith, seventorches, sfeley, silk_noir, stvgskll, supaluv, systemcrasher, tangojean, timalyne, truepenny, urbanpagan2, velourmane, wheatland_press, wistling
Communities5:asim_discussion, f_and_sf, genreneep, shortshort, specficmarkets
Feeds1:shouldhave_said
Mutual Friends:63: aliettedb, amberdine, ann_leckie, blakehutchins, bridget_coila, cammykitty, cathellisen, chanphenglew, chibicharibdys, dandyfunk, david_de_beer, debbiemumford, deedop, devonmonk, divadrummer, dokein, dragonkal, dsmoen, ellameena, ericjamesstone, etcet, feedthequeen, floatingtide, frankwu, jess_ka, johnjosephadams, joshenglish, jubietta, kara_gnome, kblincoln, kenyonsf, laughinglioness, lou_sytsma, mallory_blog, mc_questionmark, miladyinsanity, mkhobson, mme_publisher, morriscat, nancyfulda, nitemayr, oceansilver, pnew8, podcastle, rachelmcg, rhonawestbrook, robvagle, ruralwriter, saycestsay, sci_fi_writer, seaweed_shark, secretpink, selkith, seventorches, sfeley, silk_noir, systemcrasher, tangojean, timalyne, urbanpagan2, velourmane, wheatland_press, wistling
Also Friend of:10: anne182, autodidact, dbara, j_cheney, lt260, morrghan92, onyxhawke, rolypolyfish, soniahelbig, stonetable
Member of:4: f_and_sf, genreneep, paidmembers, shortshort
Account type:Paid Account

(more details...)


Create an Account
Forgot your login?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…