Introduction Via Explanations Spawned In The Blood Of Coffee Beans

First, "iknowwheremycrazycamefrom."

I have started this blog at the slight insistence of my father, who has his own, hilarious, intelligent, and all around worthwhile blog as of fairly recently: http://ramblesofthenight.blogspot.com/. So it seemed only fair to name this blog for him, as well as my mother. As funny and smart as I am, I am a youthful wine, and he (and my mother) have aged finely in all regards. My crazy, my weird, and my awesome is completely from them, both by nature and by nurture. I am proud to call them my parents, to speak to them about every subject under the sun, and to agree and disagree with them. It's all about the conversation in my household, and I am finally interesting and autonomous, though their influence is very strong and will remain so for the rest of my life, even when they are gone from it in the realm of the physical. They will never be gone from my heart, my mind, and my soul (also known as the emotional, mental, and something-extra-and-not-quite-defined to the less poetic and more atheistic crowd).

Second, "An Outlet Of Madness."

I do not use the words crazy, insane, and mad with the full weight of mental illness behind it, though my genetic history is far from flawless. Alcoholism, depression, schizophrenia, and god-only-knows-what-else runs in my veins, and I embrace that wholeheartedly. Things would not be the same without my parents' disturbing past and my grandmothers' quirkiness and all of the rest, and I am happy for it (though not always for the negative consequences of such things, such as pain and anguish of yesteryear). In any case, here is where I shall share the crazy, with my father and whoever else cares to pop on by, and try to keep from losing my mind in the days and years to come.

Third (and final), "Mad Maddy MadamMoodswing."

My given name is Madeline, which I adore, and my nickname is Maddie/Maddy, depending on who is spelling it, and after years of swinging back and forth I am truly in love with my name and find that it suits me perfectly. It is not common in my age group, and while it vaguely hints at belonging to an older woman, it is not dated or downright boring like Ethel, Agnes, Estelle, and the like. My mother has a plethora of nicknames for me, including Madness, and I have friends that call me Mad and Mads and everything else that it is possible to shorten or modify my name into. As for the final part, it is a very old and always relevant, slightly negative yet completely loving moniker from Daddy, as I have always been a volatile and passionate little thang. I embrace it now, and am getting better at balancing and surpassing the negative with the positive, and it's all uphill from here.

In fact, everything is all uphill from here, including this blog. At least, that is what I am aiming for. Time for a bit of a cliche which, like most cliches, is cliche for a reason: It is not the destination, but the journey that matters [/paraphrase].

TTFN