Hello there.

You’ve clicked here to learn more about this ain’t livin’, and presumably to find out more about me, as well. About pages are always very interesting to me, because it’s hard to sum up a person (or a website) in a page. Does it matter to you that I was born on a Saturday? That I graduated from a college in Vermont? That I really, really like pad thai? In a way, this entire website is my “about” page.

I suppose a few vital statistics would give you a bit of a framework. I live and work in Fort Bragg, a small town in Northern California. I have lived in Fort Bragg (or the surrounding area) for much of my life, except for brief sojourns in Europe and in the Bay Area. I have three cats: Mr. Bell, Mr. Shadow, and Loki. I am a writer and editor (email me if you’re interested in hiring me), I read a lot, and I like to garden. If I was writing a personals ad, I would probably tell you that self-integrity is one of the most important things in the world to me, and that adventuring is a vital necessity for me.

This website was started in 2005, largely on a whim, and appears to have developed a mind of its own at this point. It would be impossible to categorize the contents of this site, although I have attempted to organize posts into tags, so that you can find posts on a similar topic relatively easily. I think that the tags are fairly self explanatory; if you want to read stories from my past, for example, you can look in the history section.

As you read this site, you will probably learn a few things about me, like the fact that my politics are liberal, and that I am very interested in the environment, gender issues, sexuality, and food politics. You may find some of the topics I write about less interesting than others; hopefully the fact that I update every day will help to make up for this. You may also find some of the things I write about rather inflammatory. I will make no apologies for this, as one of my life goals is getting other people as fired up as I am, and if something I write about irritates, upsets, or intrigues you, than I figure I’m fulfilling that goal.

I am glad to have you among my community of readers, and I look forward to interacting with you in the comments. The comment policy on this site, incidentally, is run in the style of a benevolent dictatorship. You are not required to register to comment, and you need not leave any contact information, but I do reserve the right to delete comments which I find offensive, irrelevant, or in poor taste. I am also strongly inclined to delete comments which have not been proof-read for spelling, grammar, and clarity. While I welcome dissent, personal attacks and threats to myself (or other commenters) are not acceptable. Incidentally, leaving valid contact information makes me more inclined to approve your comment. After all, you know who I am, so it’s only fair that I should want to know who you are, don’t you think?

If you want to contact me, leaving a note in the comments is certainly one place to do it. You can also contact me directly at this email address: meloukhia[@]gmail[.]com. I will not share the contents of your email (or your email address) with any person or organization without your express consent. You are also welcome to send me things in the mail:

s.e. smith

PO Box 2764

Fort Bragg, California 95437

If you’d like to find me elsewhere on the internet, my photography site is six:fourteen. I also have a flickr photostream, if you have a passionate need to look at even more photographs. meloukhia.com is my professional site.