I am weird. I've known it for a while now... in the last couple years it really dawned on me, as my self-awareness has grown to a pretty phenomenal level.

Unfortunately, when I was younger, I was not as self-aware and I would imagine as a result I had less success in some endeavours than I thought I should have. As an example, I didn't really realize this, but I never used to smile much, almost at all. I imagine this made me a lot less attractive to the ladies, which definitely sucked, because in high school being someone's potential mate is all that matters (slight hint of sarcasm, but a silver lining of truth there)... Well, that and video games (and in my case, music and guitars).

"Not smilling much" was only the beginning of my social awkwardness, but again, I didn't even really know how socially awkward I was. I did things, physically speaking, that I didn't even realize I did, like looking down at my feet because I was afraid to look into someone's eyes. I would also stumble through sentences like a man falling down a mountain during an avalanche.

You'd hope as time went on I became less weird... Nope. Well, I am definitely way less socially awkward, and I keep getting better with dealing with people. But the weirdness continues... As a musician, I am constantly in bars and clubs where they serve alcohol. Yet I don't drink. At all. Anyone over the age of 19 who doesn't drink is definitely weird, in the eyes of many.

But what if I told you that I don't drink because of my singing voice? Perhaps the demands I place on my voice as a singer are so high that I can't afford to do anything that might jeopardize my ability to sing (they are). Or maybe I went through a period of time where I lost my voice almost completely, for months, and I now do everything I possibly can to stay in good health to keep my voice strong (I did, and I do).

Anyone I know could probably give you more examples of how I'm weird. And the funny thing is that I could offer an explanation, just like the one above, to justify virtually every little "odd" quirk that I have.

Being weird isn't inherently bad. Sometimes it's good. It was once weird to think the Earth orbited the Sun (actually, it was criminal!)

Don't judge us weirdos too harshly. Give us a chance and you might find that we're weird for a reason.

with love,
Thomas