Official Tyrannical Disclaimer
I think a fear for writers, or at least a fear I have as a writer wannabee, is that honesty in my writing will offend people I know and who know me. Well, some people write with the intent to offend. I don't.

However, eventually I will write about things in my life that involve other people or mutual situations involving people other than me. And in being honest about how I feel, or what happened, or just in observing situations, people may not like what they read. Part of who I am comes out of things that happen to me, people who have interacted with me, disappointments, frustrations, joys, loss, life. The things we go through in life help determine who we become by how we handle it and what we learn from it. And as these things are a part of my life, I own that, and the freedom to write about it. Scares you, doesn't it?

We've all disappointed someone at some point in our lives. We've all been disappointed by someone at some point in our lives, as well. Yes, it is likely the Cynical Tyrant will disappoint you someday. I'm only human. I think there's a fear about other people knowing those things about us, the times we disappoint or the times we've disappointed others. Especially if the stories are told by people other than us, to people we don't know. I have that fear. There's something to be said for telling a story in your own words, emphasizing what you want to be heard and de-emphasizing the things you feel are less important, or unflattering. Truths can be told in a variety of ways, and still remain true.

I think a lot of creativity comes from what we go through, be it joy or sorrow, anger, fear, or just plain weirdness. I'm inspired to write by the things I deal with daily. Some of our most important moments come from disappointment specifically, because disappointment forces us to deal with joy, anger, sorrow, fear, and weirdness all at once. We are disappointed because something or someone has damaged our trust, and trust is a major building block supporting many other emotions. What we thought something would be turns out not to be what it really is, and that is unsettling on many levels. Sometimes being unsettled is what we need in order to feel. And feeling leads to choices we have to make to move forward with progress and discovery, or to be consumed by the emotions that hit.

So my disclaimer is this: I write honestly. Sometimes it's silly, sometimes it's thoughtful, sometimes it's emotional, sometimes it's spiritual. I write about things I observe, disappointments I've dealt with, situations I've experienced, or things that have happened to create what I am today. I value all of it, because I value what I am. The disappointment and pain isn't pretty to read, and it certainly wasn't pretty to go through. It's definitely not the stuff easily made into something fun to read. But I think it's too important to leave that stuff out, for the sake of pleasing everyone, or pacifying fears we have about reading things about ourselves that we don't necessarily want people to know. I don't think I can write a good blog without tapping into everything.

I'll promise you this: I'll never use real names, or write about people in a hurtful way. I hope to be able to share stories about myself, or things I've gone through, and people that have come and gone and some who remain, in ways that are constructive, yet not blantantly pointing out who may have been involved. Could be tricky since some of you may know each other and certain situations. But I hope you'll be able to read here without fear, and maybe with appreciation for the things I've learned in knowing you. It's a beautiful thing to realize what you learn from people who have really tested you at times. And it's an amazing thing to understand what you learn from the people who have really meant something special to you on many occassions. Sometimes, those are all the same people.

My goal here is not to point fingers or lay blame or point out the wrongdoings of the world around me. I'm not here to tell stories first, or 'my way'. This isn't a forum for me to convince the world, or the few readers I may have, that I'm better than anyone else, or that I have it all figured out, or that I am right. The Cynical Tyrant makes no claims to be wise, prolific, correct, or inspirational at any time. I just write what I know, some of what I don't know, and some of it utter nonsense. How it affects you is up to you.

I'm not here to complain about people I value in my life. Maybe about people I don't value. But definitely not to hurt those of you that I like. I've shared this blog first with the people I trust and who have encouraged me, so please trust that I haven't drawn you here to publicly flog you for any reason. Truthfully, every word I write here is more a testimony of who I am before it is ever a reflection of anyone or any situation. I'll be sharing much more about myself than anyone else here. It's really not my goal for anyone to form an opinion of me, or about the people or situations I write about. My hope is that you enjoy it and to allow me to continue to explore this little hobby of mine. Perhaps read with the understanding that 'them's just stories'.

Bottom line, please don't take things I write here personally. Truthfully, at this point I'm still hesitant to put many 'real' musings in here. It gets a little scary to write real stuff. I want people to know me, yet I don't want to do any damage. Hence the disclaimer, so that everyone has fair warning about what is fair game for me to write about. So far, you can see most of my blogs are silly, and that's the theme I think you'll find more than any other here. I'll do my best to avoid portraying stories in ways that could be taken personally. I will always be discriminitory in the things I share here. This is a creative outlet for me, and hopefully something that will be entertaining to those who read it. I do not intend to hurt anyone's feelings in what I write. But as is typical with me, I do unintentionally hurt feelings from time to time. The exciting thing is that this is an interactive blog, so please, interact.

Should it be the case that you read something here that is offensive to you, hurts your feelings, or tells a story you resemble but would prefer not to resemble, you can respond in two specific and handy ways:

1) Shout Out- I have added a comment section for each posting, and that is your area to respond directly to any post that you like or dislike. That is your chance to be heard on any Cynical Rant blogged here. As always, please keep it clean and appropriate. I can remove posted comments that I deem unworthy to be here, but if I don't need to, I won't. So don't make me.
2) Email me- You'll notice on the right a section with a link to email the Cynical Tyrant. I encourage it. As freely as I speak my mind here, you are free to do the same back at me. Be aware, however, that emails sent to me may be posted if the response is appropriate and if it makes for good content, unless you specify that you don't want it posted. And, don't email me to ask detail or scoop about a story you read here. If you email to ask if that story was really about 'Joe', I will not answer that. Go ask Joe.

You can also ask me to remove something that I've written in my blog, and I will always consider reasonable requests. I have complete control over this blog, so nothing is written in stone. Anything can be deleted with the touch of a button. This blog is an effort for me to become a better writer. That involves feedback, constructive criticisms, and yes, even edits and re-writes.

I do not promise to please everyone. But I do promise that this is a safe and mostly fun environment. Above everything else, please remember this is my blog, and I will write about what I want to write about. My intended audience is the world at large, much larger than just the people I know who read my blog because I beg them to. So for people to get to know me and to understand what I have to say, you may find yourself anonymously and ambiguously resembling a part of a story, here or there. But please trust me that it is a friendly blog. Please be honored to be given a place in my blog if you feel you resemble anything here. And please come often and stay awhile. I am so excited that I have a few readers (as you can see by the counter at the bottom of the page), and I hope to continue to have more. If you like what you read here, please pass it on.

Alas, I am a Tyrant of the people. I mean you no harm. I come in peace.

Now that I've appropriately disclaimed, you can go back through all of my blogs to read yourself into any situations I've already written about and wonder if I meant you. I didn't. Don't be so paranoid.

C.T.

P.S. None of this applies to any stories or recounts of my affair with The Bachelor. I want the whole world to know I met Aaron, The Bachelor. No need to be ambiguous about that.