{"id":52,"date":"2025-09-06T01:14:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T01:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ds106.acemolloy.com\/?p=52"},"modified":"2025-09-07T20:05:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T20:05:43","slug":"who-am-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ds106.acemolloy.com\/?p=52","title":{"rendered":"Who am I?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Hi, nice to meet you! Can you introduce yourself?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mind goes blank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Name<\/summary>\n

Ace Molloy<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Age<\/summary>\n

21<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Major<\/summary>\n

Creative Writing<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Minor<\/summary>\n

Disability Studies<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Those come easily enough. But what else? What do they want to know? Maybe turning a question towards them will help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“How are you doing today?” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Great, how are you?”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

And suddenly empty pleasantries are turned my way. I hate this question; there’s never a good answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“I’m great!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the answer polite society wants me to give, but I never was good at lying. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“I’m hanging in there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe an answer that isn’t too honest or a lie is, as fairy tales say, “just right.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“Frankly, not fantastic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is honest and truest to me, but then… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

awkward silence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

and<\/p>\n\n\n\n

questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would have to explain that my chronic pain is flaring up, and chances are the “feel better soon” at the end of the conversation would just make me feel worse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

I can do this. I can play this delicate dance of getting to know another person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple facts are easy enough to start with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“A fun fact about me is that I really like moths, and the<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Luna\"<\/a>\n<\/div>
A Flickr image of a small green Luna Moth is on a red brick wall. It is daytime.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

is my favorite.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then I continue on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I named myself. Playing cards are really important in my family, so I named myself ‘Ace.’ It’s also just a really cool name.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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