I am from Winchester, Va, where I grew up, learned who I was, forgot who I was, got myself locked up, and then rediscovered who I was in jail. But that’s a story for a different time. I love the great outdoors, nature, and getting away from civilization for a while. Some of the things that help me connect with the roots of the world (that would be tree roots) are mountain biking, hiking, camping, kayaking and fishing. Most importantly, I am an animal lover, especially of dogs.

Shortly after I was arrested, I discovered Yoga, Buddhism and Eastern Mysticism. These philosophies helped me to remember what is truly important in life and shed all the changes I made in myself just to please someone else. I re-realised that it is most important to stay true to oneself and not to sacrifice your convictions and personality just to be with someone. Because if you have to do that to be with them, you don’t belong with them.

I also have discovered a love of reading. While I will read a good fiction book for its entertainment and time-killing value, I prefer to read something that will expand my mind and make me think. I tend to read phylosophy, psychology, mysticism, and comparative religion texts. I also open an engineering textbook every now and then. If I’m going to spend time reading, I might as well learn something.

What is probably the most important part of my time right now is my daily (mostly) workouts. I have a fairly varied excersize regimen. I mix up cross-fit, weights, running and boxing training. I used to have an incredibly repetitive regimen and it got kinda boring. But, I recently found a new workout partner who is becoming a very good friend. He needed someone to teach fight skills to so he can have a training partner, and my down to earth and humble attitude was what he was looking for. If I don’t get enough excersize, I become stressed out, and little things that don’t matter begin to really agitate me.

I used to be an academic tutor for the GED students, but that took up too much of my excersize time and the stress that built up ended up getting me in trouble.

When I get out, I probably will move to Vermont. I have family there, (my last living grandparent, an aunt and uncle, as well as some cousins), and I spent a lot of time in the green mountain state on family vacations. I really love the area. I’ll probably start working construction with my cousin to get a paycheck going. But, I hope my main source of income for a while will be renovating and flipping old houses. My end goal and dream is to own a large piece of land that I can be self-sufficeint on. I want to grow and raise all of my own food ( well what I don’t hunt or catch in the wild), mill lumber of my land and have my own custom wooden furniture business. I just want to get back to nature, live off the land, and live like our ancestors lived (but with some modern amenities for entertainment and comfort). That’s the future, but for right now, its one day at a time and improving myself with every step.

Feel free to write me, I could use a few pen pals. The easiest way to contact me is through JPAY. Go to Virginia inmates and type in my state ID number 1915816 and send me a message. I’m 5’8″ tall, athletically built, 200lbs, sandy brown hair that is currently pretty short for the summer, hazel eyes, Caucasian, yet with a moderate tan, and hopefully a picture will soon follow. Right now my release date is around the holidays in 2024, but they state is talking about a new good-time bill that would put my release in August 2022, so I’m really hoping that will get passed this coming legislative season.

Namaste,

Andrew Massoneau
DOC #1915816