Hey, the name's Justin. I am an eighteen-year-old homosexual from the Middle-of-Nowhere, Ohio. I am a freshman at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

I center my life around three main concepts: Love life, love people, and do everything within my power to do good on this planet. I am of the opinion that if everybody simply forgot about religion, politics, and money and simply focused solely on achieving these three goals, then war, greed, and hunger would all go extinct. Of course, I'm not naive enough to think this will ever happen -- but it's a nice thought.

Activities: playing and watching sports; playing and listening to music; watching movies; hanging with friends; writing songs; studying politics and current events; hiking; painting and drawing; watching people play the guitar; overthinking; underthinking; talking about philosophy, religion, and politics with intelligent people; getting lost; bringing up the rear; laughing; zoning out when I shouldn't; being inappropriate; telling myself I'm clever; observing people; observing holidays; talking to my animals; writing fiction and critical essays

Favorite music: A Tribe Called Quest, AC/DC, The Adicts, Aerosmith, Against Me!, Al Green, Aleka’s Attic, Alexandra Burke, Alice In Chains, Alien Ant Farm, Alison Krauss, The Allman Brothers Band, Animal Collective, Anti-Flag, Apathy, As I Lay Dying, Ash, Atmosphere, Avenged Sevenfold, Bad Company, Bad Religion, BALZAC, The Beatles, B.B. King, Bedouin Soundclash, Beirut, Ben E. King, Ben Harper, Big Black, Bill Withers, Billy Joel, Black Flag, The Black Keys, Black Label Society, Black Sabbath, Black Tide, Blind Faith, Blind Guardian, Blondie, Blood Or Whiskey, Bloodhound Gang, The Blues Brothers, Bob Dylan, The Bouncing Souls, Breaking Benjamin, Bruce Springsteen, Buddy Holly, Bury Your Dead, Bush, The Buzzcocks, Cage, Calabrese, The Casualties, The Charlie Daniels Band, Children Of Bodom, Chris Botti, Chuck Berry, The Church, The Clash, Coldplay, Collective Soul, Cradle of Filth, Cream, Creed, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Crossfade, Danzig, David Bowie, David Gilmour, De La Soul, Dead Kennedys, Deep Purple, Derek and the Dominoes, Descendents, Dick Dale & His Del-Tones, Dinosaur Jr., Dio, Don McLean, The Doors, Dream Theater, Dropkick Murphys, The Dubliners, El Tri, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Everclear, Everlast, The Exploited, Farben Lehre, Fiddler’s Green, Filthy Thieving Bastards, Five For Fighting, Flobots, Flogging Molly, Gaelic Storm, George Harrison, Gordon Lightfoot, Great Big Sea, Green Day, Green Jelly, Griffin House, Guns ‘N Roses, HammerFall, Harry Chapin, Hawthorne Heights, Heart, Herbie Hancock, Hoobastank, Hootie & the Blowfish, HorrorPops, I Killed the Prom Queen, Iggy and the Stooges, Ill Bill, Immortal Technique, In Flames, Iron Maiden, James Taylor, Janis Joplin, Jedi Mind Tricks, Jefferson Airplane, Jerry Lee Lewis, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Buffett, Jimmy Dean, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band, John Lee Hooker, John Legend, John Lennon, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, John Williams, Johnny Cash, Judas Priest, Kaki King, Keb’ Mo’, Kenny G, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Kid Cudi, Kid Rock, Killswitch Engage, Kings Of Leon, Kool & the Gang, L.A. Guns, Lagwagon, Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, Led Zeppelin, Linkin Park, Live, Local H, The Lordz, Ludwig von Beethoven, Machine Head, Mana, Meatloaf, Megadeth, Melissa Etheridge, Metallica, Michael Jackson, Michale Graves & Damien Echols, Miles Davis, Millencolin, The Misfits, Motorhead, My Bloody Valentine, My Brightest Diamond, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Nekromantix, Nickle Creek, The Nightwatchman, Nightwish, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, No Use for a Name, NoFX, Non-Phixion, N.W.A., The Offspring, Operation Ivy, The Other, Otis Taylor, Our Lady Peace, Ozzy Osbourne, P.O.D., Pantera, Papa Roach, Pearl Jam, Pennywise, Pink Floyd, The Pogues, Primal Scream, Prince & the Revolution, Queen, Queensryche, Quiet Riot, R.E.M., Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, The Ramones, Rancid, Ratatat, Ray Lamontagne, The Real McKenzies, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rediscover, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Ricky Nelson, Rise Against, Rivers Cuomo, Rob Zombie, Robert Cray, Robert Johnson, Roger Miret and the Disasters, The Rolling Stones, Rum Rebellion, Sage Francis, Samhain, Say Anything, Scars On Broadway, Screaming Trees, Serj Tankian, Sex Pistols, Sick Puppies, Simon and Garfunkel, Skid Row, Slayer, The Smiths, Social Distortion, Sonic Youth, Sophia, Soul Asylum, Staind, The Statesboro Revue, Stealers Wheel, Steve Earle, Steve Miller Band, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble, The Stone Roses, Strapping Young Lad, The Stray Cats, System of a Down, T.I., Talking Heads, Ted Nugent, 10 Years, The Tossers, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, T. Rex, Twisted Sister, U2, Velvet Revolver, The Velvet Underground, The Von Bondies, The Wallflowers, Waylon Jennings, Weezer, White Zombie, The Who, Why?, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Favorite TV shows: America's Funniest Home Videos; Boston Legal; Chuck; ESPN; Family Guy; Frasier; House, M.D.; The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson; Looney Tunes; Mythbusters; Rocko's Modern Life; Tom & Jerry; Worst Week

Favorite movies: All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), 12 Angry Men (1957), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), The Producers (1968), MASH (1970), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Blazing Saddles (1974), Young Frankenstein (1974), Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Tommy (1975), The Song Remains the Same (1976), Rock 'n' Roll High School (1979), Popeye (1980),Indiana Jones trilogy (1981, 1984, 1989), The Toy (1982), Pink Floyd's The Wall (1982), Explorers (1985), The Breakfast Club (1985), Crossroads (1986), Stand By Me (1986), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Rain Man (1988), Beetlejuice (1988), A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon (1988), Little Nikita (1988), Running On Empty (1988), Batman (1989), Glory (1989), Home Alone (1990), Awakenings (1990), I Love You to Death (1990), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Dogfight (1991), Aladdin (1992), Sneakers (1992), The Thing Called Love (1992), Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Tombstone (1993), Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), Pulp Fiction (1994), The Lion King (1994), Silent Tongue (1994), Jumanji (1995), Toy Story (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), Good Will Hunting (1997), What Dreams May Come (1998), The Waterboy (1998), Life (1999), Big Daddy (1999), Mystery, Alaska (1999), American Beauty (1999), Almost Famous (2000), Digimon: The Movie (2000), Spirited Away (2001), A Knight's Tale (2001), Life As A House (2001), The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003), School of Rock (2003), Anger Management (2003), The Final Cut (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Rock School (2005), Borat (2006), RV (2006), Man of the Year (2006), Flushed Away (2006), Reign Over Me (2007), Across the Universe (2007), August Rush (2007), Ratatouille (2007), Get Smart (2008), Public Enemies (2009)

Favorite books: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Calvin & Hobbes comic strips by Bill Watterson, Different Seasons by Stephen King, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Killing Yourself to Live by Chuck Klosterman, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Favorite quotations: "You're not hardcore unless you live hardcore!" -- from School of Rock

"So flickering is human sanity that you don't even realize when you have lost it." -- Anonymous

"Those who danced were thought quite mad by those who could not hear the music." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

"No man ever became great by not questioning the standards that have been pressed upon him." -- Me

"There's no fun in fundamentalism." -- NoFX

"I know where I've been, I know where I am, but I have no fucking clue where I'm going." -- Me

"You don't have to act stupid just because you know how to." -- Woody Paige from ESPN's Around the Horn

"Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?" -- from A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

"Gentlemen, please! You can't fight in here; this is the War Room!" -- from Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

"Burn.

and that's 'Burn' as in: 'zing' 'pow' 'zam' 'you got her'

not 'Burn' as in: 'I hope you burn in hell'." -- Some random guy on some random Facebook discussion board

"I bet you were as happy as a pig in shit." -- Amanda about my visiting The Swamp

"Sometimes we're so afraid of being seen as weak that we die without having been seen at all." -- Alan Shore (James Spader) from Boston Legal

"Where's our fucking drinks?!"
"Boy, you guys really like to swear."
"No, we like to drink!" -- from Dogfight

"Do you think I'm weird?"
"Definitely."
"No, man. I'm serious. Am I weird?"
"Yeah, but so what? Everybody's weird." -- from Stand By Me

Anything else you want to know? You should probably ask.

Oh, and check out my original stuff here: http://www.fictionpress.com/~s13jshaffer

Current works-in-progress:

Flaming Aground (Stand By Me)
This is my second Stand By Me fic, and also my second Stand By Me one-shot. Based on the positive response I received on my first story, I decided to write this one in a similar style. It deals with the concept of an intimate relationship between Chris and Gordie, but it's not really a "slash" -- in fact, it's more of an "anti-slash". I don't really like the idea of a relationship between the two besides the purely platonic one depicted in the film, and this story reflects that. This thing should be finished pretty soon.

(as yet untitled) (My Own Private Idaho)
Written from Mike's point-of-view, this story takes place shortly after Bob's death. Basically, Scott feels some sort of paternal responsibility to look after Mike and keep him safe, so he comes to free his best friend from the hustling life. I haven't decided if this will be a rather long short story, or if I will separate it into rather short "chapters". We'll see how it goes.

Finished stories:

Apt Pupil (Apt Pupil)
This is a song that I wrote on the cuff one night while watching the Nashville skyline from the top of the highest hill on campus. It's not my favorite song that I've ever written -- but it is the first song of mine that has ever been based off another fictional piece of work, so I decided to post it here regardless.

Epilogue: The Final Encounter (Stand By Me)
This "short story" is actually set up as the epilogue to Gordie's book. It's about the last conversation that Gordie and Chris have before Chris's death. There are some chronological inconsistencies between my story and the film, but they are intentional. Artistic license, ftw.