Post by THEODORE EVERETT SHERIDAN on Jul 12, 2011 3:36:48 GMT -4
[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image: url(http://i54.tinypic.com/2nqfdd2.jpg); border: solid 5px #d6d6d6; width: 250px; -webkit-border-radius: 50px 4px 50px 4px; -moz-border-radius: 50px 4px 50px 4px; line-height:85%; margin-top: 5px] THEODORE EVERETT SHERIDAN, "every now and again sometimes i get lost on the wind of a dream" TWENTY-FIVE | THE QUARTER CLUB | KEYS & VOCALS | NATHANIEL MOON THE HERITAGE, "please just call me ted. theodore is so formal, even for me. but if you're one of a few that it sounds right coming from, i might enjoy you calling me by my first name, or even theo. but that is pretty much reserved for a love, or my family. i'm originally from washington, dc. i'm half english by blood via my mother. my parents' names are andrew & lisa sheridan, and i have two younger siblings - my brother tanner is 22, and my sister taylor is 20. she's the one who gets to call me teddy, and no one else." THINGS HE LOVES, "loyalty, acceptance, self-reliance, opportunity, dreaming, long walks, deep talks, soft sounds, indie music, playing the piano, my parents, my siblings, time, seizing the moment, being happy, organization, small animals, being himself, logic, libraries, seeing the world, acoustic music, sleeping in, having late nights, little kids, having freedom, flowers, silence, writing, spontenaiety, taking naps, good manners, shakespeare and the classics, books in general, serendipity, moonlight, smiling, pretty eyes, feathers, meeting people, being sweet & polite, reading, studying, success, philosophy, making wishes, keeping promises, sunglasses, sincerity, sugar cookies, phone calls, raindrops, snow angels, observing others around him, gifts, thoughtfulness, bubble wrap, slow songs, vintage photography, necklaces, salads, lying down with someone, the smell of fabric softener, new york city, watching clouds, colored lights, formal dress, v-necks, warm weather, hats and scarves, fitted clothes, the environment, writing notes to people, good morals & doing the right thing, making good choices, weekends, photos, sleeping early, romanticism, being balanced, responsibility, authentic attitudes and genuineness, rules, being faithful, love, thinking a lot, art history, art itself, museums, the color brown, mixed cds, earl grey tea, warmth, emotion, going for drives, stars, the ocean, comfortable pillows, plaid shirts and plaid anything really, faith, commitment, & the idea of a good future." THINGS HE HATES, "yelling/being yelled at, being talked down to, hard drugs, being introverted (but only sometimes), when attention is brought to him, the way his body looks (he's self-conscious as hell about how skinny and tall he is), nerves, pestering, getting angry, being upset, seeing anyone else upset, being the cause of someone being upset, hurting, standing by while something is happening, fights and arguments, total ignorance, rumors, being so damn insecure, when people don't listen, guilt, guilt trips & having a huge guilt complex, control, loud people, flirting, raw food, being really wrong, strong perfumes or cologne, peer pressure, when anyone stares at him for an absurdly long amount of time, jealous people who have no real reason to be jealous, angry people who have no real reason to be angry, talking back to others, obnoxiousness, anyone who tries to bring him or anyone close to him down, anyone who's judgemental about who he is and the life he chooses to lead, posers, fakes, haters, sitting still for too long, superficial people, shallowness, naivety, & being treated poorly by anyone when he makes lots of effort to be knowing and understanding." THINGS HE DOES, "my habits include the following: i use my hands when i'm speaking (and a lot of people make jokes about it), i habitually rub my chin (you know, kind of stroking the beard), i wear ties and scarves even if i have no reason to be formal (for the ties) or even if it's not even weather appropriate (for the scarves), i make a clicking noise with my tongue whenever i give a look that basically says 'what?', i always lose my phone or my keys which sucks, and i dance when no one's looking - or even when someone is looking." ONE THING HE'S AFRAID OF, "losing my sense of self, and falling too hard for a female like i had once before." SO THIS ONE TIME, "i dated and eventually married a girl who cheated on me with my best friend all the time and i was just too stupid to acknowledge it." PERSONALITY, "well, really, how i am as a person can't properly be described in my own words, can it? it's the opinions of others on how i do act that makes my existance. but if i had to talk about myself in lieu of being put in a social situation that didn't just rely on natural interaction, i guess the default thing i could say about myself is that i am always a positive and calm person. personally i always feel peaceful with everything, or i try to be that way even if it kills me, because really, what's the use of being mad over things? they only cause you stress and if you think about your future, all stress that you've had in your life adds up and ultimately shortens the time you have to live. i value life in all forms, nature and humans and animals alike. i suppose i've got a mindset that is a cross of hippie attitude (in terms of loving everyone, not the drug usage part), environmentalism, logic, and existentialism - but i don't limit myself to one field, so to speak - i always make it a point not to put myself in a position to be closed minded and i accept anything. knowledge is something i live for, i'm pretty much the quiet type that you always see around town sitting on a bench or in the library or coffee shop reading a book. sure, i am social when it comes down to it, but i don't go out of my way to impress people or be noticed. peace and quiet and no drama is what i want in my life, and i like to surround myself with things that will bring me that sort of feeling. perhaps because of my demeanor and the fact that i'm older than a lot of the people i've met in the last few years, i make people feel more comfortable than most others who try to make an impression on the people they speak to - what you think of me is what you make of your experiences with me, and you're entitled to that without me tainting that opinion with my own words above your own. i enjoy life and simplicity - viewing things for what they are is what i do, and i find that's how you get to appreciate everything a lot more. i don't believe in labels on a person, i mingle with everyone out there as long as they're a nice person with no malicicious intent towards me, and i also don't believe in materialism in any of its forms at all. really, think aout it - it kind of disgusts me how some people rely on spending a lot of money or leaning so heavily on another person (ie. a person always wanting to have a significant other at all points of their daily life) for happiness. individualism is my thing, independence, and i like being able to express myself freely. that being said, i am a great speaker, someone very good with words and expression, and i've been told that my diction has always been persuasive and logical enough for others to believe me. but let's get one thing straight - if i say something, i mean it and i really do think before i speak. i always have evidence to back it up, and you would honestly know i was lying if that was the case - that one phrase 'watch out for the quiet ones' doesn't apply to me, i promise. and i am a terrible liar, that's for sure. i've got a talent for music and singing, and basically anything you like to associate with any of those - what is the world without music and lyrics anyway? shows are something i indulge in during my free time - i know what it's like to be an artist, so i definitely go out of my way to support the local scenes around here, artistically or musically and whatnot. anything to help out people. i suppose my desire to have an impact on others is probably what most led me to wanting to teach/eventually become a full teacher at a high school or maybe even a professor at my former university, duke. don't you think i'd be good at that? generally, i'm really soft-spoken and i keep to myself. however, i'm very personable, a lot of people like to come to me for advice and counseling since i am that kind of person who will drive hours in the early morning to be with you if you are upset, just to be your shoulder to cry on and ear to listen on. i keep my friends and family close to my heart for happiness. i'm like a good dog that's loyal to everyone until the end. i have a lot of friends, and i go out of my way to get to know them all - i like bonding and all of that nice stuff, it makes me feel good if i know i can make someone's day and be someone that a friend thinks of when they see or do something that reminds them of me. with love, if i love you, i love you genuinely and eternally; i do not give it out so freely and i put a lot of myself into my relationships, both personal or not. i'd like to think that i am a good guy that women could see themselves with for the rest of their lives, but honestly, i'm stubbornly picky with the girls that i meet, even though there are things that i always like about everyone. but yes, i'm a loyal and romantic boyfriend in addition to being a loyal friend - however, my devotion is a great thing but it's also a bad one, at least in my case. yes, i know, i'm aware that some people think i'm too nice and that i'm a total pushover, i know this because everyone always tells me and complains about it. yes, i also act naive and sometimes live in the past - but what's so wrong with preserving good memories instead of ruining them with new ones? and yes, i do give people the benefit of the doubt way too easily and often, but what's wrong with giving chances out? in any case, i try to be a good person, to do the right thing that would be good for my own well-being and also those around me. i let everything go, for the sake of letting it go, but like i said, it's not like i want to not defend myself, there are so many other things in the world that you can be doing or applying your time and effort to. and i guess at some times my behavior makes others think that i'm snobby or that have an air of arrogance around me, that whole 'better than you' attitude, but honestly i never intend to act that way. and i'm sorry if my demeanor comes off as snarky. i am nothing like that, and i hope you would like to get to know me for my honesty instead of judging me based on that or my wallflower actions. i promise, i am worth your time." HISTORY, "i guess my life started on a good note. the way my parents met was unexpected, but unexpected in a good way. he was a travelling businessman from washington, our capital not the state, and she was an international student at georgetown, studying abroad from england for the year. he was 26 when they met, she was 21. but age was just a number to them, and besides, even with the male to female maturity level that plagues most relationships, it evened out despite the fact that my father was already mentally ready to settle down at the time. so, while a relationship seemed a little impossible considering their circumstances - his job requiring him to fly everywhere and the difference between where my mother lived and went to school - it was, according to them, truly quite a love-at-first-sight thing in an indie setting of a coffee shop encounter. two years of dating led to marriage and settling down in the area surrounding dc, and then a year after that my mother was pregnant with me. that being said, i'm the first of three kids, my brother tanner coming two years after me and my sister taylor coming another two years after him, and with our close age difference we've always been close. nonetheless, from the moment i was born i was a quiet child, and i grew into probably the shyest kid that you could ever meet - i was awkward and scared all the time, and actually, i always wanted to stay by my father. you can say that he definitely babied me when i was younger, the parenting a mix of the first-child emotions and also probably because i looked like the spitting image of my mother except in a male version, of course. and this was in addition to being overly loved by my mother and both sets of grandparents - it wasn't just me who had this attention, though, the cycle repeated with each of my siblings. fondly, to my family, i'm always 'theo' or 'teddy' if you're my sister, and i guess that's why we all have a close bond with each other - no one of us got more attention than the others, we were always equal. and that was the best part of my childhood, that even up to this day i know i can always count on my brother and sister to be there for me no matter what (and of course, vice versa). when i grew old enough to go to school, i was already ahead of the other children that were my age. my mother was a big advocate of early learning with all of us children, probably because that was how she was mostly raised in england by my grandparents, and thusly, she taught me how to speak properly and read when i was only three. by the time i was in elementary school they were saying that i should be in the gifted programs and classes, telling my parents to maybe even consider letting me skip a grade. my thoughts? i just wanted to learn, to read, to write, to take it in. and that continued all the way through middle school and even high school, and that's the time when i skipped ninth grade and went straight into my sophomore status. yes, that's right - i was the shy geek, the teacher's pet, but i didn't mind, and no one gave me any hell for it. the girls in my class were always trying to talk to me, and i would just smile and help them with whatever homework questions or problems they'd have, willingly. i was also a music pet, so to speak - in addition to all the honor society extra curriculars i took part of, i was also in all the music department's productions and endeavors, a theater person and a pretty good clarinet player to rival my skill with keys. really, my life wasn't so interesting through high school just because i was always so focused and i didn't let anyone really interrupt me. no fun, no parties, none of that - i didn't exactly avoid them, i did attend some things that my friends would invite me to but i'd be someone's designated driver or the person who would look after the sick drunk people, just because i never really felt right drinking until i was finally in college. i did have high expectations on me, and that was always at the forefront of my mind - i wanted to make my parents proud, and being that i already knew what i wanted to do, where i wanted to go in life, i chose to spent my years working hard for all of these goals in my head. at the age of seventeen i graduated from high school, admitted to duke university under a great scholarship and legacy through my father. that's what i had always wanted, and this was my life at my fingertips, the first part complete. i kept up with my old mentality, working hard and studying all the time, but of course, i was a teenager and barely eighteen during my first year, and i think that was about the time where i started to smoke - it's not really a vice and i wouldn't say that i am addicted, but i look at it more as a relaxer, seeing as i'm not the kind of person who goes through packs and packs of cigarettes in a week. i won't defend my habits, though - it is what it is, and you will probably catch me at some point in the time you know me smoking a cigarette, but anyway. once i had come to duke, it was a new chance to open myself up, be around people who shared very similar thoughts and mindsets as my own, a place totally different from the likes of washington that i had gotten so used to. i started coming out a little bit more of my so-called shell, met others and made many friends through class and other things, and i kept up my relationship with julia. oh, i forgot to mention her. julia graham, my first real girlfriend. she was about a year younger than me at sixteen when i met her, a girl that frequented the local starbucks in durham near my campus that i had started working at the time. i had always seen her with her friends, and she would always stay late to talk to me, and i believed at the time that it was something of a fated meeting, just like my parents had had so many years before. so, this girl occupied my thoughts for some time, and that was definitely a first for me, since it was... well, since it was me. somehow i wondered how i managed to become less awkward with her, but that was the best part of julia, she made me feel comfortable no matter what. i asked her out on a few dates, and after the fifth one we were official. and i know, with all the time we spent after that, getting to know each other so well and better than anyone else in our lives had known us, it was at the time where i knew i was already falling in love with her, even at the age of seventeen. after my freshman year was over, i returned home but being away from her over the course of summer had absolutely killed the both of us, despite the fact there were always phone calls and visits every other weekend if i could manage it. really, you had to see us, we were the fairytale couple, and it was always a laugh to hear how sickening we were. but it was us, and i wasn't paying attention to what everyone else wanted or could say, because they didn't matter. i moved to north carolina that next year, moved to be closer, and by the next two years that we were together we were living together in an apartment in chapel hill, where she was going to go to school at the main university of north carolina campus. she was eighteen, and i was nineteen. i asked her to marry me on her birthday, and she said yes - truly, i think that was one of the happiest moments of my life. you know when you get a gut feeling about someone you love and care about? that was what i had with julia, every single waking moment of each day for three years. and i had no doubt in my mind that she felt the same way, i saw it in her eyes and her smile. you might wonder why i speak in past tense now. since i last spoke about my life at nineteen, it's been quite a few years. six since i married julia, four since i graduated from duke, and almost years since i've divorced her for cheating on me with my best friend and some others in a frat that is close to her sorority. her side of it - well, i'm not exactly sure what it is, and i choose not to talk about it and i try very hard to not over-think or think about it in general, but the bulk of it was that i'm too nice, and after experiencing her sorority lifestyle, there are allegedly other people she would like to pursue after realizing she was too young to get married. what do i think about it? i don't say anything, i did what i had to do and if that makes her happy, then fine - call me stupid for never having the heart to acknowledge what was going on, but it's one of the cases that i let it all go for the sake of my stress levels, despite the nagging feeling in my gut and nagging opinions of a handful of my friends that i shouldn't. but i suppose this is all what i get for being a person who loves wholly with his heart and not his head when the time calls for it. it's taken a few months to come to terms to the events, because losing a girl that you loved is like a death - however, i'm pretty sure i'm back to my normal self, no kinks and screws loose. you live and you learn. sometimes i bitterly think, "how could someone so smart and self-proclaimed as so knowing be so blind to what was going on" - but then i remember, love tends to blind even the most stable-minded and intelligent. c'est la vie. i'm older and wiser now, and though i might be more cautious than i was before while i was younger, i'm thankful for the lessons i've learned and how they helped me find myself. it helped that since my divorce was final years ago, i picked myself up and moved around the country for a little while, only before settling in the busy city of los angeles with a few friends. and while i've reached the age where i should be sitting behind a desk doing something else or some teaching with my degree, i'm not really ready to do actual work from 9 to 5 or pursue my master's. i'm just trying to enjoy the time i have being alive. and that's why i'm pursuing my music career again, having gotten the chance to do that with playing in the quarter club with the lovely friends i've gained through our shared passion along the way. together, we make music for ourselves and those who need it to complete themselves, we do this for you. and that in itself brings me a new perspective, new passion and meaning, just like a renewal of my outlook on life." hey there, the name's steph. i live in the eastern time zone and this is my ugh seventh leave me alone character. |