Writing Myself Back In

Hello, everyone. It's been a minute.

At the start of the pandemic, I got serious about my author platform. I was determined to work on my brand in 2020. I created a website, collaborated with a branding and social media consultant, and even hired an artist to illustrate a cartoon version of myself. This cute little moniker was just the beginning of my new brand: Girvanaca.

I was full of little stories about a pretty unassuming middle-class kid like me growing up in the '80s.

I fancied myself a Gen X version of Jean Shepherd. Instead of decoder rings, snowshoes, and Red Ryder BB guns, I had Bikes, Big Wheels, Jams, and Slip and Slides.

These were just anecdotes, really—but perfect for bite-sized Tumblr blogs. I called the series Dead Days—wasn’t that clever?

by Saberdog Art

I found a treasure trove of Polaroids from my childhood that accompanied these Dead Days episodes so well and—bonus—perfect for posting on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I had a memoir to sell, after all. I was building my audience.

That was in the Spring of 2020.

I tried. But by the time summer rolled around, I started losing interest in building an audience—or publicly pining away about my childhood. It just didn't feel good writing about myself anymore. So, I pulled the plug, and life moved on. Joe Biden won the 2020 election, vaccines were released, and as 2021 turned into 2022, the pandemic ended—or at least shifted—and life started feeling somewhat normal again.

But l am a writer.

Eventually, I need to write, and not to be a downer, but it look like if I wait until the country isn’t so polarized — Well, I just don’t have that kind of time.

So, I'm ready to write again. This time, it's not about building a brand or gaining followers. I just want to express myself the only way I know how: by writing about myself—my thoughts, my beliefs, my likes and dislikes, what I think about art, music, culture, and yes, even (ugh) politics.

I need a place to get this stuff out. If people like you enjoy reading it, and if you or someone else gets something positive from it, that's awesome. The world needs all the positivity it can get right now.

Anyhoo—I'm back.

I've learned a lot since 2020. I am a more balanced and complete person. I'll probably revisit some of my old archive, but most of what I'll share here will be new. I can't say the world is better than it was in 2020, but I can say that I am. And that's going to have to be good enough for this Substack.

Welcome to Girvanaca.