Life is movement. As we move we collect. We are collectors by the necessity of nature. Thoughts, emotions, memories, experiences combine in us to create that very essence of who we are, or rather, who we become. It is a serial journey of no specific length or promise. Each breath a gift. Each stride an adventure. We may reminisce, but we may never return. So it is with this book. SHORTING MYSELF picks random parts of that journey favored for some reason or other to set down and savor. Inside is found an assortment. STORIES sharpened by the edge of fact. POETRY to lay bare the charmed and agless soul of romantic desires. PARTS once stayed with no place to lend their brief and subtle text here no longer linger undiscovered of their solitary touch.