Where to start.. I guess I'll just give you the break down in two parts: Me and My Mission. Some highlights and a few things that shaped me into who I am today.
My name is Joe Valle and yes it is my real name.. lol long story.. I'm from Yakutat, Alaska. I've lived here for most of my life. The last couple years have been split between Anchorage and Port Angeles Washington for some very over rated "education". But now I'm back and starting to stir things up.
I guess I'll start where it all began..
The movie Almost Famous is largely responsible for me.. Yep, a movie. But it changed my life.I was lost like most other Alaskan youth jammin to rap and tryin to be gangster. Then one day my mom guilted me into watching it with her. She had some dream of me one day becoming a writer/journalist and thought that the story about the young rock journalist for Rolling Stone would motivate me to look into it. It didn't work out. Instead of him I wanted to be more like the guy trippin on acid screaming "I'm a golden god!" on top of a house.
I bought my first guitar one hour later. From there came the obvious: classic rock, tie dye, pot and rebellion. The rest of high school was a blur. My mom was a teacher so I wasn't down with school. I finished high school with a 1.9 GPA because I wanted to prove her multiple "you'll never graduate like this" speeches wrong. And I did. The work wasn't hard or anything I just wasn't gonna do it. A decision I still regret to this day. Looking back I should have just toughed it out. I probably spent more time and effort calculating how to get a exact 1.9 than I would have just gettin the 3.0.
Then there was "college" lol my first year was joke. I decided to go up to UAA with a group of my friends. It's not the wisest decision if success is your goal. We had a bit too much fun. I passed some of my classes and just stopped goin to others. But hey, we all make mistakes. It was fun don't get me wrong, I just didn't get anything done. We all made it back to Yakutat for the summer and I was pretty sure college wasn't for me.
Somehow my mom talked me into tryin out PC in PA. I had no idea where it was or what it looked like. All I knew is that it was across from Victoria BC. She was payin the bills and it was a trip outta Yakutat so I took it. All of a sudden I was all alone in a strange place. This was the start of me.
I didn't change a lot about myself, what I had goin was workin. It was pretty crazy, that was my first time totally on my own. No one had any who I was all they had was their first impressions. At the time I gave a pretty strong one =). I was sportin about 18 inches of long black curly hair that has yet to meet its match, a lip ring, and my Alaska hoodie.
I had no idea what I was gonna do so I was just wingin it. Then I met a girl that changed my life more ways than she'll ever know. I took a Journalism class because she was in it and never looked back. I was pretty good at it. I ended up getting my own column and being paid to go to places like Victoria BC and write about it. Does it get any better? That was fun but eventually I learned that to be a successful journalist you gotta choose between friends and sources and to really make it in journalism ya gotta get close to someone and stab em in the back. I'm not about that. So I dropped it. It was fun while it lasted but I wasn't looking forward to doing that for the rest of my life.
PA was a blast for the first 2 years. I went to mass parties, learned how to long board, made some of the best paintings of my life, picked up a bit on sculpture, took my creative skill to digital photography and expanded my mind through Philosophy and Environmental Science classes. It was a good time but. the third kinda blew because it was cut short but whatever, Karma's a bitch, and that's all I have to say about that.
And now I'm back in the AK on another mission.
The Mission? Maintain local control of Economic Tourism Development in Yakutat Alaska. I've recently started to take an active role in local politics and I think I'm gonna make a career out of it. Senator Valle has a nice ring to it =) One day....
Other than that I just do what pretty much everyone else does in Yakutat: try to make the time pass faster. I like to go camping, chill at beach fires jam out in JP's basement with him and Russ, and do a bit of fishing. It keeps me sane. On the side I'm workin on a book, a movie, and launching my own corporation.
Right now I work for YTT as a Presenter on cruise ships that come into that Yakutat area. It's pretty fun. I get to board a huge ship moving at 12 knotts in variable seas and speak as an "expert" to mass people.
And thats about it. If what you're lookin for isn't here just ask me =)
