And now we take a moment.

Over the past few days, there's been a lot of activity here, and from tonight on, there's going to be more, so I thought I'd take a moment and look at what's going on.

Most of you reading this actually know me. Several of you haven't yet seen me face to face, but 5+ years of mails, messages, posts, tweets...Has anyone else noticed that the content delivery systems just get smaller and smaller? I feel like the comics section of a newspaper...has made an impression I like to consider friendship. You know me, and you basically know what these worlds are.

For the others...Hello! Hi! Come on in! Please! Tell me a little about yourself! How did you find this place? I love your hair! Come in!

You know my name, and let me tell you the other names you might see bandied about in the comments, or in some of the posts:

-Rowan Bristol. This was the name I wrote under, and in many ways still live under. It blends two of my favorite memories into one name. Back when I didn't like the me I was, this was the shield. Now, it's just me as is. I respond to both Steve and Rowan.

-Romuel. The name I had on Gaia Online when I ran a community there. The nickname was Rommy. The gaia community, although I retired from it after 7 years, is still going. Who knew?

About me. I'm in early middle age, living in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago with my boyfriend, and a friend. That friend was the early inspiration for one of the characters in the Burnham Society stories. I work for a large medical advocacy group, keeping track of criminals and dead people. Seriously.

I've been a performer, and a storyteller. I now aid in producing theatre. I work with a local director, and a company out in Milwaukee. They are the most awesome folks I know. You'll hear about them quite often in the course of this journal.

As a storyteller, and with most of my theatre training in improv, many of my stories just came up out of the fly. It's easy for me to just step into the worlds in my head, and ramble about things that have happened there, as if we were discussing your sick cousin. How is she, by the way?

A few years ago, some friends got -really- sick of the extreme 'ramble-to-printed-word' ratio, and I signed on with a good writing group that metamorphosed into another writing group that I think is now a game development company. But I wrote some stories, and learned the value of writing over rambling. However, if you spot me, I am more than willing to ramble again.

The bulk of the stories for now will reflect the Chicago I see on the train every day, which I've put under the umbrella of 'The Burnham Society'. The Burnham Society stories are a gateway to the mythic side of Chicago; a world both as wonderful and as ordinary as the many neighborhoods Chicago has. Our tour guides are Ned Grenier and Tery Lee, the current and sole members of the Occult wing of a secret society that has long since transformed into a 'dinner party and charitable donation' type of club. Ned is very much a reflection of what the city was, or what it imagined itself to be; Tery is quite rooted in the present and the future. I find their tales funny, and full of the beliefs and concepts I used to love in telling fairy tales and arthurian romances.

There may be other stories. Some non-genre stuff, more than a few fairy tales, and maybe a romance or two that requires some dusting off. There may be more media. I am a massive podcast fan, and am really curious about the techniques. There's already going to be t-shirts. Seriously.

So, welcome! Feel free to comment, ask questions (I love questions!) and riff with me. Please spread the stories around.

And let's talk about that.

The stories contained within are presented under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivitaves license. Share it; but don't change it or sell it. Spread my stories, and I'll be more than happy to spread yours.

Love the hat.