Hi, my name is Gordon E. Smith Sr. I am from Northern California. I was born in 1960 in Berkeley and grew up in a small bedroom community near the cities of Oakland and San Francisco. This small city is called Alameda. I attended Encinal High School and studied at Linfield College in Oregon. That is when I met my freshman year English Professor, Mary Ellen Gleason. After getting to know me, she realized I had a unique and funny outlook on life. She told me she thought I could be a great poet someday. She asked me to write her 3 poems and she entered them into a poetry contest without my knowledge. I won a $500.00 scholarship. The first thing I bought in 1978-79 at the age of 18 with the money was some weed. You see where my mind was, at that time! I guess that is what she meant by me having a unique and funny outlook on life. I hope you enjoy getting Poetacized! As Much as I enjoy Poetacizing Your Mind. So God Bless! Thanks, Gordon E. Smith Sr.