750 posts - I am now a Member. I thought I'd use the occasion to, like several people have, give a brief history of my life. It'll be much abridged, however, because, y'know - 46 years. The only thing I'll say about my childhood is this - contemplated suicide at 9 or 10, parents divorced at 12. High School was - unpleasant. Moved twice. Met my future wife at 19, but I was dating some one else, and she was engaged to someone else. Homeless (for a short while) at 20. I've pretty much been a straight arrow all my life - no drugs, not drinking (alcoholic mother showed me the error of that), no smoking (tried chew once when I was 14 - it still burns my cheek!), no sex until I was almost 21, and then only with one woman. I was happy enough, just leaving my family, that I really didn't plan for the future. I didn't finish college, I didn't take my jobs very seriously - in terms of where I was going. I'm a hard worker, but I made no plans for advancement. I didn't think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I just - drifted. Got married in 1990. I worked in restaurants for 10 years, and finally got tired of it. I decided to look for work elsewhere. That didn't go well. After 10 years in the restaurant biz, no one wants you starting over in their job. I worked as a bank teller for a bit, a - hmm, forget what the job was called, but I worked for the government cleaning weapons coming back from the first Gulf War (1991), tried my hand at real estate and cable repair, but those fizzled. Basically unemployed or under employed for about five years in the early '90's. Then my wife lost her job after 18 1/2 years - 1 1/2 years short for minimum retirement. We had money, so we just coasted (again), and after about a year, we started looking for work. I managed to find a job fairly quickly; she did not. Since 1996, I've worked continuously, doing a variety of jobs. But, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, while beautiful and wonderful, was expensive. So, when the company I worked for sold out, I decided it was time to move. My dad suggested Reno, as the casino's were always hiring. I went up on vacation just before the company closed down, and we both got hired right away. I couldn't start until after the last day at my old company, however, so I had to make them wait. The move up here was awful, and it should have been a warning to turn around, and go back to the Bay Area, even if I had to live on the streets again. Long story short - 12 years in Reno, and I continue to go nowhere job-wise. I've thought off and on about writing, but, my fear of success gets in the way. I turn away too easily after any sort of set-back. So I struggle with the urge to become a writer, but afraid of trying. Since July, I've been making another effort to "go pro" as I think of it. It hasn't been very successful. The three highlights in my life are my three best friends. My family were just people that were around when I grew up. I hardly see them anymore unless they force themselves on me. My friends are my wife, of course - Winter Lotus for those that don't know. My best friend Richard, whom I met in 1978 when I was 13. He died suddenly in 2008. It - that was the closest thing to destroying me. My other best friend, whom I call CM or C-Monster. Our relationship's kind of weird, and moving up here it's sometimes gotten weirder. The episode "Party of One" sums it up kind of. She's not big on making telephone calls, or chatting on IM - but she does send me e-mails when she can, and actual letters - we send lots of letters back and forth, and she helps me out with my writing fears, and she's always there for me . . . But sometimes, the lack of telephone calls and IM makes me feel a bit - cut off, like she doesn't really care. But, I try and remember she was like that when I lived twenty minutes from her. Well, that's my life in a nutshell. There's much, much, more, of course. Nothing real horrible, though, not like what some people have gone through on here. The people of Reno aren't really my type of people. I like very few of them; most are just rednecks, or bigoted jerks, or right-wing fanatics. Nothing in common. The funny thing is, some are actually nice people, just their beliefs drive me away. The only people up here that I've liked were two Polish girls that came here to work for two summers in 2007 and 2008. That's another thing about me - I'm easier at making friends with women than men. Aside from Richard, from Junior High on, my friends have been girls. Drove my wife crazy at first - she was a bit of the jealous type. But here - here I find acceptance. Here I find entertainment. Here I find joy. Here - I find friends. I won't say this is the best thing that's happened to me in my life (that might be stretching it), but it's definitely the best thing to happen to me since I moved up here. So, thanks again. Even if I haven't written to you personally, or responded to your post, I've probably read them all, at least in General, and I like to think we shall always be connected by ponies. OK, now everyone post - TL;DR!
I'm sorry to know how hard your childhood to early 20s was, and how life in Reno is as well... I hope for the best, for the publishings and sales of your writings though. I'm sure you can achieve "going pro"... your posts here, in my opinion, are more than enough proof for me. If you ever write a book, tell me... I will be certain to buy it once I get the money to do so/immediatedly if I ever see it in a bookstore. Best of luck for your writings, and I do hope you can gain the money to move from Reno then!
I respect anyone that can go through a rough life and come out a better person at the end of the day. That takes guts. Good job, Dwynter. =]
Thanks for sharing, and for using these experiences to spread wisdom and experience throughout the forums. You're awesome, man! I think, when it comes to writing, you should go for it. I mean, clearly it's something you enjoy doing and have the ability for. Just my opinion though.
It is something I enjoy, and, not to toot my own horn, but I think I'm pretty good at it. I haven't had a third party opinion yet, just friends, although Carrie is quite critical, and often points out blunders I've made, and grammatical errors. I wrote a Doctor Who fan fic once which, looking back on it, was stretching common sense a bit beyond normal proportions (even for Doctor Who), with this comment: "Uh-huh." Any ways, it's just a matter of getting over my fear of rejection, and my fear of success.
Hmm, that's what editors are for, everyone needs another perspective/opinion at times. But, fear of rejection, and success... that is something that must be overcome, I'm sure that you will succeed and will enjoy your success.
Dwynter, I really don't know what to think. It's great you're with you're still with Winter, it's great you've got that. I'm just really sorry to hear about the situation you're in right now. Doing anything in life can be hard without the encouragement of friends. I know I'm not exactly a replacement for friends in real life, but I'll try and drop you a message every now and then, and see how your writing is coming along. You're a good guy Dwynter, I'm glad you're part of this community. I look forward to hearing from you soon, I mean that. Much love, cometgoat.
Hello Dwynter, just reading your life, maybe that should be your book? its full of twists and turns, good luck and bad luck and being in places with the wrong equipement aka ADVENTURE! I'm not a hugh fan of reading from the computer screen (headaches) or from sheets of paper, but give me a good book....you've lost me......mind you, i have a Tom Holt and Steven King book waiting me, just meh at the mo.....damn theses ponies. Nothing wrong with writing, so please continue to do so, I might give your work a nosey soonish. I wished I faniced myself an auther, so many ideas in my head...based on my life.....well, stages of my life From XS Zombie Hunter from my early teens years (me vs the world) to Redelder of the later teens (Skys the limits) to Stainless Titanium, me now really (Life is this, hard and stange and full of more bad then good things) althou I'm not sure how or where Guy, Soldier Fourone and Toyota Evolution Came from. There is also Hex, Pentoct and Eclipse for the bronies :3 But i'm high class at procrastination...so it comes all in drips and daps over all of them. Think i get it from my dad ¬ ¬ But i diagress, i think we have meet a few times in the chat box, where i lurk, throwing ponies and fighting with the one who calls themselves Pinkie Pie Stainless Titanium keep up the good work
TL;DR. Dwynter, if you post it I read it regardless of the length. Thank you for sharing. I'm glad that you found this place. *hug*
A very interesting read, and I think I speak for all of the staff when I say it's great to have you here on the forums ^^ I certainly look forward to seeing you around.
Well I'm glad you're happy being here with all of us, I really think MLP brings out the best in people if they choose to embrace it. As far as your writing goes, I can't give an honest opinion as I've never seen your writing, but if it is something you enjoy doing, and would like to do it more often, get better at it, and have other people appreciate it...then go for it! I used to like drawing when I was little, and I was considered "good" by most of my peers, my teachers and my parents. But as I got older I noticed that other kids were getting better with their artwork, and I didn't think mine was as good. So I stopped trying, and that was late elementary/early middle school. I didn't draw again til I was in college, my last two months there my roommates had graduated and I had the apartment to myself. I was watching the dvd extras on one of the Family Guy Star Wars dvds, and there was a section where they taught you how to draw certain characters. It taught me a few new tricks, and seemed pretty simple, so I decided to have a go. My first drawing turned out decent, so I did another...and it went from there. However, I had almost abandoned it again til I came here. I really enjoy MLP, I really liked the idea of drawing ponies, and everyone here is very kind and haven't said that they suck lol, so now I've been drawing more and more. You shouldn't give up on something you enjoy doing, even if you don't think you're as good as everyone else in your class. Because in the end, it might not be your drawings that aren't good, it might be that you're just judging yourself too harshly, and you'll end up going many years depriving yourself of something you enjoy. On that note, I leave you with some quotes that really...I dunno...inspire me. "Most people would rather be certain they're miserable, than risk being happy." ~Robert Anthony "If ya dig it, do it. If ya really dig it, do it twice." ~Diesel
Dwynter thank you so much for sharing this with us. I like you, Dwynter, I really do. You brighten up this forum, and I've never seen you say a bad word about anyone. Some consider you the 'daddy' of the forums, but honestly, I see you as equal as all of us. As a friend, not a father. Someone to talk to, but also someone who may need help, and I'd be glad to be that help. You're a great guy, and that's why I read that post with much fascination and interest. One thing that stood out for me is the loss of Richard. We talked about this in the private message you sent me. Again, I'd like to thank you for that, especially on the grounds that nobody told or suggested you do that, you did it off your own back, and that means a lot. Only a select few people have managed to get through to me with the loss of my stepdad, and I'm telling you now, you are one of them. Your words carry much gravitas to me, and that's why I'll always be there to listen to you, just as you are to me. I hope you have a long and prosperous life ahead of you, Dwynter, you deserve nothing less. You have a wonderful wife (who of course is here as well), a positive outlook and a community of friends who love and respect you. Again, thank you for this thread, Dwynter. Thank you.
Well, thank you for all the replies. I saw some people I expected, but quite a few I didn't expect. I don't know if I gave the impression I was going to give up writing - I'm not. I'm just waffling on whether or not I should attempt to go pro. Since I didn't have much drive when I was younger, I didn't push my writing. In fact, when I started writing more profusely, I rather surprised CM - she didn't realize I had these stories in my brain. I've got one entire story written up, it's a young adult story, and by the time I finished it, I didn't like it too much, but have since come up with some ideas to make it better. Any ways, I'm really glad you all think I'm wise and such, and I promise to keep right on helping any one that needs help. I won't always have answers, or the right answers, but I can promise to always be there for you, even those of you that I haven't spoken much with. Feel free to PM me, or even e-mail me, or stop by for a visit if you're in town (heh, yeah, right). Lupr, Thanny - I talked with you because I saw you had troubles that I could relate to. One of the hardest things about problems, is the feeling that you're alone, that no one knows how you feel. And, as hard as it is to believe in the middle of your pain, you aren't alone, not ever. Others have your problems, others can share the burden, others can always help. And now - something pony related. Friendship is rare enough to me to have always seemed special. Therefore, when I saw the title of this show, "Friendship is Magic," I knew it was my calling. Because like my sig says, the idea that two strangers, from the far corners of the world, with different backgrounds, different ages, different beliefs, can somehow still enjoy one another - that, my friends, is magic.
