I am

Hi there! I am the emerald imp (note lack of capitalization). Well, that's not REALLY my name. My real name is Geoff (that's all you get, sorry), and I am a gay 19-year-old musician/actor/programmer/physicist/writer/student. I thought it might be nice of me to show you a bit of the guy behind the web pages.

Well, one of my biggest parts of my life is my music. I play the viola, mostly, though I have also played the cello, the violin, the recorder and the cello in concert. I am currently playing saxophone with a local jazz ensemble.

I also write music. In fact, I have had two of my pieces actually preformed, one by a local community orchestra and one by my high school orchestra. Also, I recently got the music notation program Sibelius and I like it a lot. Plus, I can publish on Sibelius Music. Look for some works at http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/glehr! Also, I am currently in the middle of my "archival" project. I'm inputting "classical" music (such as Mozart and Bach) into a program called "Noteworthy Composer" (http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/) so that you can have access to the scores as well. (There are no copyrights on the pieces I enter.) You can download them on my music pages. I will also be converting those files to Sibelius format soon, and I plan to release further transcriptions in both formats simultaneously.

Another large part of my life is the stage. I like to term myself an actor, but I know (personally) people that can outclass me without trying. But I do enjoy acting, and that's the important part, right?

However, due to the large amount of talent at my school, I only rarely get a part onstage. Mostly, I end up on the tech crew, who are the guys that build the sets and do the lights and everything. Since my sophomore year of high school, I've had the priviledge of being on lights during the performance, first as Assistant Lighting Technician, then as Lighting Technician. However, I had the great honor of playing Mr. Frank in my high school's production of The Diary of Anne Frank. It was the biggest part I've ever played, and I am immensely grateful for such an opportunity. And during the spring of my senior year of high school, was our school's production of Romeo and Juliet, in which I played Friar Laurence, which is really a difficult part. Not as bad as Romeo or Mercutio (thank goodness!) but difficult nonetheless. Lately, I haven't had a lot of time for The Stage, but I am hoping to get back into it soon.

I wasn't sure where I wanted to put this section, because if I put it first it would seem like it was the most important. It isn't, it's just another aspect of my personality. But I didn't want to put it last, either, because it IS a part of me, nonetheless.

I first figured out that I was gay when I was 12. That seems fairly early, and it is. Unfortunately, the area that I live in, while not being smothering, is not terribly gay friendly (what place is?). I repressed my feelings, hoping that they would go away, for four years. Finally, was able to come to terms with it and I now know that it's just one part of me.

Now, you might be thinking, "oh, look, it's another fag. They keep popping up like weeds. I bet he's a real sissy." Well, cut it out. First off, I don't like to be called a fag. I'm not. I'm not a fem, either. Most of my friends, after I tell them, say, "I would've never guessed." To tell you the truth, I feel that those guys who DO act like women are giving the rest of us a bad name. But, it's their life to live.

Anyway, basically, I'm just like most everyone else, maybe a tad smarter. Feel free to email me if you need to talk, any flames will be ignored. Lastly, right now I am looking for a boyfriend, most important traits are intelligence and kindness, looks are important but not overly so.

Nowadays, just about everyone writes, in some form or another. Sometimes one ends up writing for school, like a poem or a short story. Almost eveyone who has gone through high school in the U.S. has had to write an essay. But not everyone enjoys it.

I enjoy writing, though I don't always convey the message that I would like. My writings vary, however, one of my favorite types of pieces to write is plays. Plays are wonderful! They can allow you to focus on dialogue and you can argue a point to yourself or others through your characters. They can be melodramatic, silly, serious, anything you want! And, you can help them grow. Plus (this is the coolest part), you can throw something in that's totally unexpected just to see how they react. You get to play God. (or at least, a god)

The plays that I have up so far are just silly plays, plays that I wrote for school. My favorite type of play is the parody, but I'm hoping to soon move into more dramatic settings soon.

Of course, plays aren't the only ways you can do those things. They're just the easiest way for me. I also write novel-ish stories, though I haven't had much time lately to do so. My main area of story writing is fantasy/sci-fi. But I also try to explore human nature, as best I can, though I often don't succeed. I try to make my characters as real as possible, and let them make their own decisions. It's not easy. Once in a while, I will get bored with a story line or write myself into a corner (oh no!). The best solution is to go back and re-write, which is one of the hardest things to learn about writing (and composing).

I'm not done yet!