trashswag86

Ac

Virtual person that exists within circuits in an internet of brains. Treat me well.

The Life Story:

Grew up in South-West Idaho. Preachers son, Pentacostell church, Home schooled, Rush Limbaugh, "Toronto Blessing", etc.

Grew up alone, despite having 4 siblings. Public school for last three semesters of HS. Cloistered church life. Ages 15-20, zero social outlets. Sister made me an email address: mattstayshome@hotmail (now defunked)

At 20, I had my "teen years" in the span of 3 or 4 months. Moved to Boise, made friends with a kids mostly 2 to 4 years my junior. Urban exploring, house shows, stealing wine, street performing. I heard about Ornette Coleman and his plastic saxaphone, and was inspired to take up the "jazz kazoo". Wish I could say I got far with that thing, but nah. Caught a felony, commercial burglary one month before I turned 21. This was my first (and still only) felony, but it's Idaho, so they still gave me the max sentence: 10 years. Got on probation, and absconded every year or two. 6 times I fled the state. Took the name Bozo Jack, and later was given the name Dumpster Timberlake. In all I did 5 years of jail/prison time, 4 and a half on supervision, and 3 years fleeing supervision.

In 2008, met Josh Perez and Jeff (insert Italian last name) in Eugene OR. They took me on my first several trains. Not in contact with either of them any more.

My social life peaked at ages 20 and 22/23. Friend groups were largely based on a shared sense of humor.

In the past, hopping out was primarily a means of getting the fuck out of Idaho, and I kept it to the far Western states, mostly the coast. I did the prison bus 3 times back to Idaho, and that was bad enough. I didn't want to spend several months touring jail after jail on my way to Idaho from some more easterly state, which can take something like half a year in some cases, I've heard.

After 12.5 years, Idaho finally cut me loose. No longer property of that state as of Oct 28, 2019. I got my old pizza job back, in Nampa (Messenger Pizza. Downtown. Check it out) and worked for a few months till I lost my cheap apartment, and decided I'd rather be homeless elsewhere than working 40 hours to make ends-meet in the potato state.

Covid became "real" literally the day after my last shift, so my plan to find kitchen work in P-land or somewhere got set aside, and figured I'd instead winter in some hills, practice outdoor skills, and get in shape for either the AT or PCT next year. (2021)

My political leanings have shifted from conservative to conservative libertarian, to now more of a liberal libertarian. I love Andrew Yangs pitch for UBI, including his point that it's actually a small government solution.

In 2018 I decided I couldn't just be "ok with gays", but I didn't really know what I could do to be an ally. I've experienced more than my share of homophobia, despite not actually being gay. (I'm asexual. People argue weather this category belongs in lgbtqa+. I don't personally care to much about the distinction)

This last time locked up, I witnessed some pretty bad, continual abuse of a gay kid (by his straight "husband") that was totally normalized by all the other inmates. I felt helpless to do anything about it. Got out of prison with the intention to wear makeup and hopefully normalize that a touch in my hometown. Did that for 3 months.

A year prior -2019- I was singled out by a group of 5 homeless guys, after one of them saw me buying pantyhose, which I was actually getting for warmth, since I'd lost all my cold winter stuff and everything else. This whole thing was somehow drawn out into a two week ordeal, partly cause I didn't have the gear to hop a train outa there (it was February), and partly cause I wasn't completely rational during this time. In those two weeks I felt more alone and scared than at any other point in my life. At one point I was struggling to keep warm with a thin blanket and cardboard boxes, and using words from the declaration of independence (we hold these truths to be self evident, that we are endowed by our creator with the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) as a mantra, and I felt like there were thousands of voices saying this with me.
Finally got outa there thanks to my sister buying me a greyhound ticket.

I've been a member of STP off-and-on since 2008. It's a great resource, which is why I'm here. For me, the community is online. I've never hung out with travelers much, partly because I've moreso just been homeless, partly cause I don't drink hardly ever.

A lot of travelers take pains to draw distinctions between themselves and the homeless. (Obv the distinction is there. Like, homeless people tend to be more mentally ill, have more of a history of incarceration and drug dependence, and no doubt tend to have a lower estimation of themselves and their prospects, than your average traveler) This has always rubbed me the wrong way, no doubt in part cause I've been plenty homeless at different times in my life, but -more than that- it just seems completely ineffective and downright stupid to look down on those who already look down on themselves. That's not how you create social change -that's how you keep things the same.

The older I get, the more convinced I become that treating others well is really, really essential. I did my time as an asshole hipster and a troll, and know how both addictive and useless those head-games are.

I'm still a loner, for the most part. This site -for me- is mainly an information source. (the best of It's kind) It's not where I meet people. Not trying to hook up with other travelers. Takes me awhile to warm up to anyone anyway, so I prefer to keep any social possibilities to real life interactions. But on the whole, I'm just looking to figure this living in nature thing out, with a few trains in-between. Not a lotta social ties at this point in my life, so living in society what with a job and apartment just seems more trouble than it's worth.