ABOUT

Chin Musik is…

… an eclectic mix of blog, immersion journalism and first-person essay.

… brought to you by Randy Howard, an adult child of an alcoholic and the survivor of childhood sexual abuse. In his early 20s, Howard suffered two traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). The first occurred as a college baseball player—a line drive to the face broke his cheekbone, giving him a concussion. Then, in 1995, Howard was nearly beaten to death in an Albany street fight.

… conceived at the nexus of sport, trauma and rage against conformity. You might like Chin Musik if you believe in self-actualization via the creative process. Likewise, if you believe that healing from trauma is akin to a razing walls with sledgehammers. Only the tools here are words. Because there’s pain in truth, but old wounds will only heal if you strip off the bandages and let the light of day get at ‘em.

… premised on the hope that one’s past need not be self-limiting. That trauma and illness can be starting points for broader discussions. Surely there’s a redemptive element here. As one reader said, “it’s reclamation work at it’s finest.”

… a place of becoming. It is centered around an appreciation for ever-changing identity. As such, the writing aims to capture the moods and attitudes of a particular point in time. How you tell a story today may be radically different from how you tell the same story tomorrow.

… all about telling the truth in all its manifestations. The next one will be high and tight. Ergo, the truth as far as one writer sees it is coming at your head.

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Randy Howard has held at least 48 jobs in his lifetime, including bartender, magazine publisher, and 8th grade English teacher. He currently lives in Tampa, FL with his dog, Lucy. He can be reached via e-mail at: randyshoward <at> hotmail <dot> com, or on Twitter at: Randy_Howard.