Despite it being a little late in the game, there’s no such thing as a bad time for a thorough introduction.

My full name is Brandon Graeme (GRAY-um) Geißendorf (GUY-send-ORF), and I was born on November 18th of ’97 to two beautiful, loving, and vertically challenged parents. Yes. They’re both relatively short. (Also, neither are very German; the Geißendorfs moved from a livestock-herding community in the 1800s and into Texas during the 1860s. Unfortunately, no one in my family speaks German anymore.) Anyway. I was born and grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area in Texas, and I’m super excited to be in Vancouver. It’s a change in scenery, climate, and political environment, all of which have been eye opening.

I like working, music, social media, food, and reading, in that order.

I always have a job. Always. And they’re usually in kitchens, because I like a challenge and I like working in a fast-paced environment. Funny story, I learned what I call “kitchen Spanish” over the summer, because I was a manager at Little Caesars working six days a week. Half those days, I worked with three beautiful women that didn’t speak a lick of English, so I had to adapt. Since most of what we talked about was food, I learned “kitchen Spanish”.

I listen to all different kinds of music, but not very much of it is heard on the radio. I have been to every imaginable corner of Spotify finding things I like. When I do listen to the radio, anyway, it’s usually to the U.S. version of the CBC, known as NPR, or National Public Radio. I play piano, cello, and I sing, but I’m probably best at singing (which is probably because I’m a Southern boy, but please don’t ask me to sing country because I will not hesitate to say no).

I’m on Tumblr (but I don’t really reblog; I just look at everyone else’s stuff), Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (until my iPod got stolen). My favorite is probably Facebook (lame, I know) because I get to talk to friends from home, and it helps a lot with homesickness. A lot of the other international students also don’t have anything but Facebook, and because that’s my main crew, I use it to keep up with all their beautiful lives.

Food is so amazing. I like anything you can put on a plate. Texas barbecue is beyond your wildest dreams and if you try to debate that you’re unfortunately wrong. If anyone ever wants to try out a new place, I would love to go with you. Eating is always a part of any good adventure.

My favorite books are 20th century utopian government fictions. My favorite book of all time is probably Ayn Rand’s Anthem which takes only a couple hours to read, so you should totally do it. After that, I like reading about mythical worlds, filled with angels, demons, faeries, gargoyles, and the occasional vampire.

Aside from the things I like, I am really in love with Christianity. I am a bruised and broken sinner, saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and his love for me. He knew I would be a sinner before I was born, and knew that he’d love me enough to suffer through a perfect life and excruciating death. His sacrifice is what makes me the person that I am. Without it, I would be a very angry, very hateful, and very hurtful all the time. I don’t think anyone would like that, so I’m glad Jesus could change that for me.

That’s about it. If you ever have a question for me, ask away, and I’ll be totally honest. If I ever hurt your feelings, I probably didn’t mean it, and if you’ll tell me what I did, I’m very quick to apologize. If you ever need someone to talk to, I’m very good at keeping secrets, and very good at giving advice in tricky situations, because I’ve been through a lot of bad friendships, so I know what goes down, and I know how to get people out from under it.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my weirdness, and I hope to enjoy all of y’all’s (YES I SAID IT, Y’ALL’S) weirdness, too.

Cheers!

Brandon