Steemit veterans, hello! I created my Steemit account over 14 months ago—and promptly did nothing with it. I've been writing on other platforms, but now I want to write everything on Steemit.
I take good writing very seriously.
My name is Pete Keay, and my life story has taken me through extended stints in music, philosophy, foreign language, charity, travel, programming, video and board game industries, and teaching. All of these things have at last culminated in writing, a discipline informed by all the others.
I'll tell you how it happened. There's a tl;dr at the end, so those who don't want to hear the full journey can just skip to "Upgrade Your Writing." But before we begin, here's an Easter egg from the middle of the tale. Mega bonus points if you know both the game and the background music.
I grew up in Pennsylvania, home of pretzel companies and Philly cheese steaks and a few good breweries, like Troëgs, Victory, and Weyerbacher. These and more have a number of fantastic brews. Except Yuengling. Yuengling is to beer as Domino's is to pizza. It's fine when you need something quick, but even your weakest-spined high school teacher's exam curve wouldn't give it anything better than a C-.
Brought up in fundamentalist Christian circles, I would enjoy precisely none of these fabulous brews when I turned 21, but now I love them all. Except Yuengling, if you haven't picked up on that yet.
Most of my energy during my childhood was spent on school and tickling the ivories. Piano was my passion. I nearly played myself to death on those eighty-eight blacks and whites, hoping to be a great performer someday.
Stage 1: Music
Here's a bit from my teen years. I love classical music, but have increasingly played jazz and rock in the past decade, as well.
Alas, it was not to be. My hopes of pursuing a piano career died as I started college, along with violin playing, organized soccer, and most athletic activities.
The doctors announced they didn't know what was wrong in a curious fashion: Each claimed they were certain of the cause, but each proposed a diagnosis different from the last. Whatever passion I was to pursue, it could not involve any sustained strain on my joints and ligaments.
But that career shutdown was one of the best things that ever happened to me. At the time, I hated it, but now I do not regret the blow to my over-inflated ego. Some artists are wonderful, giving people, but others are jerks. I knew which type I was becoming.
I turned to languages.
Stage 2: Languages
I've taken Latin, Hebrew, Spanish, Greek, Russian, and Ukrainian in educational institutions, and have taught the last three of those at various levels. I've also dabbled in Latvian, Hindi, and even the artificial Toki Pona, a language made up of a mere 120 simple words but which can express virtually anything with those words. Language was another means of expression, another way to share emotionally with others, but without the tendon trauma of extended piano practice.
I visited the homelands of each of these languages over half a decade, except for Israel, which I have not yet seen, and ma toki pona, which sadly does not yet exist. Ultimately, I settled in Ukraine for several years, and then in Russia, for in those Slavic lands I had discovered a social calamity that compelled my heart to act.
Stage 3: Charity
A million orphans.
Russia has more orphans than it did just after the Second World War, mostly thanks to various alcoholism-related events involving their parents. I provided for them what I could and taught them English, and even a little piano, and successfully helped place a half dozen of them in foster homes.
This is Vladik. I tried to get him and a few others into a foster home, but sadly, that project fell through. Others found varying degrees of success.
Vladik's orphanage was particularly rife with corruption. The orphanage director built a massive house—everyone in the region knew it could not have been paid for with a director's salary. The mansion was complete with its own café/bar/hairdresser complex and an apiary and a fruit orchard of his own.
The director had a separate home built across his small courtyard where he would "foster" children from his orphanage, bringing them in when government inspectors came so that he could collect the government stipend for fostering. After the inspectors left, he would promptly send "his" children back to languish in the orphanage with the others.
The children had difficulty finding shoes and keeping their clothes from being stolen even though the orphanage had a locked room filled to the ceiling with donated items.
Visiting volunteer teams running camps for the kids had to pay a "fee" of thousands of dollars straight into the director's pockets or be banned from ever returning.
Toilet paper was not provided, and the showers only opened a couple of Fridays a month, but that didn't stop the caregivers from yelling at the children because they smelled.
This is Misha, Sasha, and Oleg. I didn't have a beard back then.
I drove myself into a financial pit, and then even deeper, doing what I could and supporting those I could. It was not enough, and someday I want to use my writing to help this group.
Stage 4: Programming
I had to begin making a living, or I would be in no place to help anyone. Programming was another thing that had held my interest since I was five or six years old, as our family computer ran on MS-DOS and graphical entertainment options were limited.
I still remember one particular day, when I was no more than seven years old. Dad and Dave, a friend of his from work, were troubleshooting some kind of computer problem that no one remembers anymore. He pulled up the blue BIOS setup screen at startup, and my eyes lit up. "I recognize this screen, Daddy!" A groan followed. The root cause of the problem had been found. It was me.
Eventually, my father would ask me to fix computer problems for him, both at home and later at Skydyne. I wonder whether I've fixed enough issues to balance out the ones I caused as a kid.
I wrote my first real computer game before graduating elementary school, in GW-BASIC. I was so proud that the game learned as it went. It was a guessing game. The computer would ask you a question such as "Does it fly?" and then hazard a guess at the mystery object based on your answer of "yes" or "no." If the computer guessed wrong ("It's a bird!"), it would ask you for the correct answer ("airplane") and then for a question that would differentiate that answer from its incorrect guess (for example, "Is it manmade?").
This childhood interest served me well during this phase of my life. I could think like a programmer. Various charity projects and my work at Skydyne taught me Java, HTML/CSS, SQL, PHP, and a few other digital tongues.
Computer languages were another form of self-expression, I suppose. Another way to create, another way to share.
Stage 5: Writing
To supplement my programming work, I began a translation and editing gig on the side. It would soon become my sole business.
Over the next ten years, I would work as a freelance translator and/or editor for Google, HBO, some Winter Olympics projects, EA Games, the U.S. Senate, and hundreds of other clients. The services I offered expanded, and soon I was creating slogans, writing video game text, selling localization service packages, and consulting with clients on issues with specific locales.
I translated several books, including a billionaire's biography and a young author's new sci-fi series. Any project with a compelling story to tell, real or fictional, has my interest.
Writing for board games became a part of life, too, and I soon was quite the board game enthusiast. Good games with friends are among the best things in life.
I was still involved in charity causes, as well. Once your heartstrings are pulled by the darkest stories of the world, they do not easily return to their place. Thankfully, the slogging despair and delight of charity work gave way to hope for sweeping change when a remarkable idea appeared.
Stage 6: Blockchain
Around this time, Bitcoin was released. I mined both Bitcoin and Litecoin in the very early days. Recently, I calculated what I would be worth had I not lost or abandoned those early coins. Hundreds of millions of dollars. But that is, of course, only if I hadn't sold at $100, or $1000, and I probably would have.
We really should not beat ourselves up over missed opportunities, in any case. Learn from them and march forward, or your regret will multiply as it distracts you into missing even more.
I began working with cryptocurrencies and more recently ICOs, helping edit white papers, FAQs, websites, and other articles. I believe that decentralized networks, especially digital currency, have the potential to change the world.
The New World
I'm not sure exactly what that new world will look like.
But I have seen thousands of orphans suffer from corruption, bribery, fraud, and lack of transparency. Even the efforts of hundreds of volunteers were, in great part, swallowed up by these vices.
I want to see these evils conquered. No person or group will succeed in converting oppressors into generous, honest human beings. But transparent, secure records have the potential to change the system for good.
I want to be a part of that.
Upgrade Your Writing
Writing is powerful. Word choice matters. Clarity of language matters. Artistry matters.
So I come to Steem to learn from great writers—and to help good writers become even better. No matter what you're writing about, I can help, and I'm willing to do it pro bono. Or for cryptocurrency tips, if you like the work I do.
I'm looking for good writing from authors with a passion for entertaining people, for educating people, and for inspiring people. It's OK if English isn't your first language. No matter who you are, if you want to see what taking a Steem post to the next level can do for you, send me your stuff. Just go over to steemline.io and paste some text, a file, or a link into the contact form.
I've enjoyed telling my story, and I hope to hear from some who read it. Please point me to some of your favorite stories. Together, we writers can give everyone a little more happiness, a little more knowledge, a little more purpose.