Hello, my name is John Brown and I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago. I've never been good at talking about myself, but I'll try to give you the short and long of who I am as a person. While I would be best described as an introvert, I feel "voluntarily reclusive social butterfly" is a more fitting description. I tend to prefer my own company and often live in my head, so I'm usually mistaken for being antisocial or shy. But once people actually try getting to know me, they seem to think I'm good company and enjoy our conversations. Sadly, this hasn't led to many meaningful connections.
I try to meet people with transparency and sincerity at the door, and If I had to pick two words to describe myself, I'd choose considerate and measured. I think these traits have always made me stand out from others, and that saddens me. I don't know if I would ever consider myself to be an outcast, but I don't think I've ever truly belonged anywhere or found many of a similar cloth. So I find myself wandering through life like a little lost child, continuously coming up short while searching for community and purpose. Maybe I got used to being a man on an island, and that's why I self-isolate so much.
It's not all depression and loneliness over here. I have plenty of interests to keep my mind engaged and provided with nourishment. Admittedly, that's another thing I've never been good at talking about. Because it feels like I'm trying to convince people that the things I like to do are fun. It also doesn't help that I'm largely by myself when doing them. So unless people bring shovels so we can dig up some common ground, it all sounds so vague and basic. There's way too many categories and subcategories to dive into, but in a general sense, I'll say that I like movies, art, nature, technology, and learning. Hanging out is cool too, but I rarely get to.
In case you're wondering, I came up with the name TwitchandMoan back in 2009 for my movie review blog. The inspiration behind the name was the popular trope of angry internet reviewers. And while I wasn't on camera giving loud, hyperbolic, profanity-laced rants, my blog was similarly focused on movies of questionable quality. It was my first foray into both proper blogging and public writing. I learned a lot and enjoyed my time doing it. But I eventually decided to retire the blog because life happens, and I have tunnel vision when things aren't going well. So I repurposed the name as my online moniker.
In regards to this site, I'd like to welcome you to my online cozy corner. Since becoming increasingly more disillusioned with traditonal social media (and the modern internet as a whole), I figured I'd use this platform as a centralized location for "content creation". I know that's become a generic term that means everything and nothing, but that's what I plan to do here. I'm going to type entries. I'm going to take photos. I'm going to create videos. And all of that stuff will be posted here for anyone curious about my life, random thoughts, or ongoing projects.
So while you're here, feel free to read my blog posts or view my photo galleries.