All About Shelton "Lee" Bumgarner (Lee S. Bumgarner)
Shelton Bumgarner
online or started a conversation with him on the subway and you find
yourself wanting to know more. Who is this guy?
Well, Shelton "Lee" Bumgarner is many things. In person, Mr. Bumgarner
can be entertaining, funny and thought provoking. Mr. Bumgarner can
also be annoying, irritating and oddly clueless as to how people might
react to what is coming out of his mouth. His writing often reflects
his personality. Anyone -- such as you -- who decides to do a little
digging on him will find a significant "paper trail." Mr. Bumgarner has
written a great deal online.
"I guess there is a fine line between passion for a subject and being
'obsessed' or 'addicted,'" Mr. Bumgarner said. "I'd like to think that
since writing is at least at somewhat productive endeavor that
strangers will be kind and see my output as having a passion for the
writing rather than an obsession."
Given how much Mr. Bumgarner has written, it is inevitable that he's
written something that you, gentle reader, may find objectionable.
"It's really something I can't help at this point," Mr. Bumgarner said.
"I can't go back and remove everything I've ever written that may
bother someone who is interested in me. You can't please everybody."
Mr. Bumgarner expressed his regrets about his general cluelessness.
"The funny thing is, I consider myself to be a 'good hearted person.' I
guess my problem is two fold. Sometimes, I really make a horrible first
impression. Meanwhile, I can also sometimes make a really great first
impression -- and impression only to be ruined by something I may have
written at some point online. It's probably the key conundrum of my
life at this point. A lot of the problems people may have with me are I
have an unfortunate tendency to talk without thinking very much. I try
to express a general idea and the specifics I use can be annoying.
Think of it as the 'shotgun' approach to inter-personal communication.
In my writing, I can sometimes get so rapped up in the 'vision' I have
in my head, I forget I may hurt someone's feelings in the process, or
write something that might turn someone off."
One issue Mr. Bumgarner was quick to address was why he seems to go by
two different names. Why not just go with 'Shelton' or "Lee?" Why
switch back between the two?
"Yeah," Mr. Bumgarner said. "You got me on that one. It is somewhat
odd, isn't it? I guess it's just an example of me having a quirky
personality. In an ideal world, I would simply go by Shelton, but I
decided to go by my middle name so late in life -- and I generally am
pretty lazy about such things -- that I now have two names that I use
depending on the situation."
Mr. Bumgarner said this happened because he likes how "Shelton
Bumgarner" looks in print, but he finds it difficult to exert the
energy to stick its use in verbal communication. So, people are often
confusion -- and maybe even a little suspicious -- of him effectively
going under two different names.
While Mr. Bumgarner started out as a journalist, he now believes
himself to be in his "post journalism phase."
"I'm more of a storyteller now than anything else," Mr. Bumgarner said.
"I write fiction, non fiction and take pictures. It's all about the
story now. How the story is told is immaterial to me at this point."
These days, Mr. Bumgarner has a number of places for him to express his
need to tell stories. After working as a hagwon teacher for about 14
months, as of this writing (Feb. 2006) he works as the copy editor for
EFL, NIE newspaper The EduTimes (www.theedutimes.com). He also has his
own blog, Migukin, (www.migukin.com) and two online efforts at fiction,
A-ssa~~ (ahssa.blogspot.com) and Mae-long (mae-long.blogspot.com).
"The A-sa~~ are where I could get into a lot of trouble if a stranger
were trying to find out more about me. They might take it a little too
literally. It's a blovel. It's fiction, but written in blog form. Yes,
much of the source of the blog is stuff that has happened in my
personal life, but I often fictionalize things. And I often the *way* I
write something is caused by how I feel the story needs to be told. If
anyone finds anything about A-ssa~~ objectionable, I can only say I'm
sorry. It's who I am at this point. It's how I want to write fiction."
And as for Mae-long?
"Right this second, there isn't anything there. It's more of just an
idea," Mr. Bumgarner said. "I have and idea for a blovel and I am on
the cusp of writing something there. Just give me time."
Mr. Bumgarner said he is the first to admit that he can evoke a strong
negative reaction on the part of others.
"A lot of people don't like me. But as I mentioned, I'm generally a
good-natured, goodhearted person," Mr. Bumgarner said. "If you are
patient and humor me, you'll be amazed at what a great friend I can
be."