Greetings to the world. This being my first post, I suppose introductions are in order. Real names will be kept out of this in order to protect myself and the people around me, but I can at least give you some pseudonyms.
My name is Shannon, and I am married to an amazing woman named Sarah. I'm 24, she's a few years younger, and we are both college students. We are also staff and beds for several cats (at least, according to them we are).
...but those are just a few basic details. Who I actually am is quite a bit more complicated. I don't believe in labels, or rather, I don't believe in the value of using labels as a means of discussing people. Certainly a label might be technically true, but you cannot use a label to describe or categorize a person without it being taken to mean something it probably doesn't in addition to what it actually means (assuming you are lucky enough for it t be understood to begin with!).
For example, my wife and I are dancers. This means that, with some measure of regularity, we dance. That is all. However, I can virtually gaurantee that upon reading that we are dancers, you made some assumptions beyond the fact that we dance. You probably, for example, assumed that we are likely athletic. That happens to be true of us, but it is not true of all dancers. there are a couple dancers who take classes with us who are decidedly non-athletic.
Perhaps this is such a sticking point with me because my interests are incredibly numerous and varied, and I do not like it when someone makes assumptions about me or thinks they know who I am simply based on a few of my interests. This will lead you into incredible confusion, because I am not defined by my interests, I am defined by me. I don't play by the unspoken societal rules that tell me who I ought to be, either.
However, I must invariably use these labels for ease of conversation. I suppose I could say to you "I dance with some measure of regularity. I can be placed on the autism spectrum. I am moderately capable of singing, which I do on occasion." but that would overly complicate interactions when I could simply say "I'm a dancer. I have autism. I am somewhat of a singer." So I do use labels in order to avoid needlessly laborious conversation.
with the caution not to make assumptions based on my attributes, here are some of them:
I write, I read (a lot), I dance, I sing, I cook, I program, I'm a goth, I play video games, I have autism, I can play half a dozen musical instruments, I speak english and a little mandarin chinese. I am a nude model. I like rock climbing, archery, shooting, biking, swimming, martial arts, swordfighting, and running.
Some of these may seem incongrous, but somehow I make it work. The obvious item in the list that stands out the most would be autism. Many people with autism are un-co-ordinated. I am not. I am quite capable at all of the endeavors listed above.
To briefly discuss autism (briefly because autism is not the point of this post), I will tell you that it has affected my life in more ways than I could possibly discuss. On the spectrum, I am very high functioning. I operate quite sufficiently in dialy life, and most people who meet me would never guess that I am autistic. When I was younger, this was different, and as a result, I was harassed and teased more than you would beleive in school until I graduated early from tenth grade and went to college. That part of my life has dramatically affected who I am today, but to continue with autism, every one of my senses is affected by sensory integration differences.
My sense of taste is very poor. This doesn't affect my life overly much, except that I tend to favor very strongly flavored foods, and am basically immune to spiciness.
My sense of smell is strong, but not tremendously so. I do however, have difficulty with the cleaner aisle at the store, or the perfume counter. I'm also fairly well attuned to the smells of people - it bothers me quite a bit when my wife tries a new shampoo, for example.
My sense of touch is strong in the extreme. I cannot stand to be touched by anyone except for my wife, it drives me up a wall. unfortunately, this can be a bad combination with my martial arts training at times. It is difficult for me not to throw someone into the ground if they touch me unexpectedly from behind. It also makes me very nervous when someone stands behind me, I suspect as an outgrowth of paranoia about being touched unexpectedly.
My sense of sight is simply crazy. I do not have 20/20 vision - I need glasses. However, my brain seems to read the visual signals quite strongly. I can overstimulate from lights, and I have to wear sunglasses at night in order to drive - the glare of headlights renders me almost completely blind otherwise.
My sense of hearing is very strong. not only have I been measure to have very good hearing, but I am capable of hearing and sorting a great deal of inromation at one time, yet, ironically, it is extremely difficult to pick out one chain of sound if there is much interference. after leaving a busy restaurant, I can tell you the gist of the conversations of everyone within 3 tables of us in every direction, but I'm taking in so much information, I might not be able to understand you if you are speaking to me from 3 feet away.
My sense of balance is quite good also. I have better balance than anyone I know, which is extremely helpful for martial arts and dancing, but means I cannot ride roller coasters and I get motion sick easily.
Anyway, I think this is enough of an introduction for now. I wouldn't want to bombard you with too much information at once. However, I am an enormous fan of all things funny, and would like to leave you with a little something to perhaps bring you some amusement.
http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/quotes/er-stories.html
