Due Introductions

Gizmo, not-an-apostle to the Internet, to the churches of... well you know the drill.

Grace to you, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

    I wasn't quite sure how to make a first post on this, or any, blog, since I've not made a serious attempt at consistently uploading to a blog prior to today. But, one must start somewhere, and put the hand to plow... even if that plow isn't all that great. In any case, welcome! I'm sure we'll have a bit more focus and direction in how and what is posted here in no time, but for now this is just a borderline stream-of-consciousness entry to get words on a page. Hopefully, today's post will just give you some further insight into who I am, what I intend to use this blog for, and perhaps network with other like-minded folks, i.e. poetry-inclined Christians.

    To begin, I suppose I'll tell you a bit about myself, for those who aren't all that familiar with me. One may ask, "why Gizmo?" And to be frank, it's just the screen name I've gone by for about a dozen years or so, and to change it now would feel strange. Plus, it would be weird to have this blog linked on my X/Twitter, and for people to see me going by another name. You don't build a brand that way, y'know?

With that out of the way, let's do a lightning round of the basic stuff, shall we?

Religion? Christian, specifically a Reformed Anglican currently in "exile" in the Presbyterian Church of America.

Age and Demographic? 23 (24 in a month) year old white guy who just moved to the Tampa Bay Area. Lived in south-central PA and went to college there, and a born and bred New Englander.

Education and Background? I've got a Bachelor's in Cybersecurity and working in IT. Got a minor in Philosophy too, which gave me a crippling addiction to Kierkegaard and smoking tobacco pipes.

Top 5 Non-Bible Books? Beowulf, The Valley of Vision, The Hobbit, Leaves of Grass, Fear and Trembling.

Biggest living influences? Malcolm Guite, my spiritual father, and I guess my twitter mutuals (lookin' at you, Colors).

Biggest deceased influences? George Herbert, John Donne, Martin Bucer, Samuel Rutherford, Philip Schaff, JC Ryle, Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, Soren Kierkegaard, Walt Whitman, Johnny Cash

Your childhood and mine,
if you're about 20-30.

    So why'd I make this blog anyways? To be honest, keeping a pen n' paper journal would do just as good, as I really just need a place to put my thoughts down so I can come back and look at it. But let's be honest, with a blog you can be a bit more creative than just writing entries in a composition notebook, not to mention the hand cramps. But what good are all the interesting thoughts you've got in your head if you don't have other people to share it with? And how often do we get into meaningful conversations with one another, that the important thing in life get talked about deeply? Trust me too, you really don't want to read the journals I kept in high school and college. Especially high school, wow. 

    What I'm really looking to do with this blog is post some poems or essays I may write on subjects that interest me, whether they be in vogue at the time or something that's been of interest to me in my own time. I may also repost the work of others just so I can share those wonderful works of writing with whoever keeps up with this blog.

That being said, you're welcome to follow me on Twitter or to reach out to me here via the comments or via email at gizmorazaar@gmail.com. I'll sign off here, since I'm just looking to get my feet wet with this entry, and I'll come back swinging with something more interesting next I post. Ciao!