When I was a kid my grandmother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Thinking about it for a minute, typical boyhood thoughts of being an astronaut and such flew by replaced by the one thing that actually mattered.

I was the creative type and told her that it'd have to be something in photography, writing, music or film. Looking askance, I'm sure she expected to hear the usual doctor/lawyer thing, but my heart was always in making something were nothing existed before (like this post), or combining elements into a compelling piece, as in movies.

I didn't write the great American Novel, nor did I end up in film school, however all around me I have a knack for noticing the little things in visual media. When watching a movie, I'll picture where all of the cameras are located and how the scene must have been setup. The inventive use of shadows, patterns and texture, can combine to really help evoke a mood.

For me, life is a slasher flick.

On campus, we have these trees with thin peeling bark that makes them look old and weathered even though they're not. Though I'm not a filmmaker, I've developed the eye for what would make for a good setting.

An abandoned building becomes a great place to film a music video in my mind. The forested hills to the north of the city would make a great spot for an outdoorsy survival flick. A rundown neighborhood morphs into a dystopian, end-of-the-world last stand against an inhuman zombie invasion. The possibilities are endless.

Remember the needle pit trap in Saw 2? (the best movie of the series, in my opinion) I think I felt every puncture along with her, while also considering how it was shot. The lighting, sound, set design, and of course, how I could have made it better.

It was fun creating the image for this post in Canva, as I got to experiment with different looks which allowed me to express the mood I saw in my minds eye. The lighting effect evokes the picture of a giant spider descending from the ceiling, ready to pounce on a very tasty human snack.

So, as I make my way through the world, I see it very differently than most people that I interact with do. i suppose it comes from years of being cloistered inside while dealing with an issue that I eventually overcame.

This caused me to delve into the world of books where my imagination was sharpened by vistas of the world outside my attic bedroom. I was lucky to have the entire attic to myself surrounded by dusty old tomes, wooden steamer chests like out of an old movie, an beautiful building that would have been right at home during the art deco period.

So while I may not have become the next Spielberg, I did end up taking on one of my desired vocations; I write. The same sense of setting and creating a visual texture using words as the medium, fills my days giving me something to share with the world. In two days I'll celebrate five years on Hive. And you can bet, I already have that post half-written in my mind. :)