-ONE-

So I don't know what this is going to be yet. I think it's a column, but
those are usually pretty interesting. I can be interesting but I don't
have any illusions about hundreds of people wanting to hear what I have
to say.

What do I have to say?

My name is Ian Taylor. Nice to meet you. I'm a 26 year old Leo (not
necessarily believing in Astrology) and I live in Boise, Idaho. I'm the
oldest of three children and I had a pretty normal childhood. I ride a
bike, play frisbee and racquetball, and I'm trying to become a
vegetarian and mostly succeed but no one is perfect, right? I work at a
day care part-time while I finish up a degree in English. I act in,
produce, and direct plays and once in a while I make movies but I mostly
want to write. I wrote short stories all through elementary school that
were cobbled-together scenes I liked from movies I had seen that week.
In junior high I worked briefly on a newspaper but creative writing fit
me more. I started to write and draw my own comic books. There is an
unfinished "Secret Wars"-style crossover lying unfinished in a closet
from when I ran out of steam on those stories somewhere in high school.
Makes me feel like Chaucer or something. I have also written some
one-act plays, short stories, and movie scripts. There are some writers
I like that I try to emulate sometimes but know that I don't come close.

They are, in no particular order:
Theodore LeSeig (Dr. Seuss)
Stephen King
Michael Chabon
Warren Ellis
Hunter S. Thompson
Fareed Zakaria
Joss Whedon
Nora Ephron
Howard Zinn
Harlan Ellison
Kurt Vonnegut
Chris Claremont
Mark Twain
Grant Morrison
David Auburn
Jamie Lee Curtis
Robert Munsch

So if you end up not liking any of these writings, you can blame them
for making me want to try.

In upcoming editions there will be short stories, thoughts on cool books
or movies I might have read or seen lately, things on my mind in
general, and I'm going to try and get political as well. Then, as can be
seen at the bottom, I'm going to list things I've been entertained by
lately. Not as any sort of expert in the area, just as someone with a
brain and fingers to type stuff with. Maybe you'll like them, too.

These columns will not be polished, English class-style writing. This
stuff will be written down as it comes out of my brain and those of you
who are better writers than I (which there must be many) can just keep
that in mind before thinking that I suck and should never sit in front
of a keyboard again.

So we begin...
-IT-


I've been reading:

1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon
2. Shopgirl by Steve Martin
3. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
4. The Gunslinger: The Dark Tower I  (Revised Edition) by Stephen King
5. Against Love: A Polemic by Laura Kipnis
6. Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word by Randall Kennedy
7. Ex Machina by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris

I've been listening to:

1. Come Away with Me-----Norah Jones
2. North-----Elvis Costello

I've been watching:

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
2. Easy Riders, Raging Bulls
3. Osama
4. The Fog of War
5. Return of the Jedi (DVD Edition)
6. Empire of Dreams (Doc. on making of Star Wars Trilogy)