Hi, I’m Jamie Lynne Albin.

Before we go any further, I should probably tell you something important.

Brandi Douglas isn’t real.

I made her up.

So are Paradise Island, Cruze, Zulu, and most of the world you’re going to encounter around here.

I feel like this is worth mentioning before somebody starts looking for airfare to Paradise Island.

There isn’t any.

I checked.

This isn’t my autobiography, either, and Brandi isn’t secretly me with a different name. She’s a fictional character who has been living in my imagination for years, apparently without paying rent.

So where did all of this come from?

That’s where things get a little harder to explain.

I’ve always been curious.

I love discovering something today that I didn’t know yesterday. I’m fascinated by people, places, history, music, movies, travel, spirituality, mythology, mysteries, strange theories, ordinary moments, and those wonderfully inconvenient questions that begin with two innocent little words:

What if?

Those two words have cost me entire afternoons.

Over the years, I’ve collected hundreds of notes about things that caught my attention.

Some came from experiences in my own life. Others came from books, television, conversations, road trips, old photographs, history, the internet, and things other people shared with me.

Some made me laugh.

Some made me think.

Some made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

Naturally, those required further investigation.

Eventually, all those ideas needed somewhere to go.

I had history over here, mythology over there, song lyrics somewhere in the middle, strange theories wandering around unsupervised, and fictional characters beginning to demand attention.

Clearly, a filing cabinet was no longer going to solve the problem.

So I started throwing everything into what I affectionately call Brandi’s Blender.

Some ingredients come from real life.

Some come from documented history.

Some come from legends, beliefs, spiritual traditions, mysteries, and theories.

And plenty come straight from my imagination.

Then I hit the button.

This is not a scientifically recognized research method.

What came out was Brandi’s universe.

And that distinction matters.

The stories and essays throughout "Guess What I Learned" are presented through Brandi’s fictional voice.
Sometimes she’ll explore established history.
Sometimes she’ll wander into mythology, spirituality, mysteries, unusual theories, or pure fiction.

Occasionally, I suspect even Brandi won’t know exactly where she’s going.

That’s usually when things get interesting.

There is one thing I want to make especially clear:

Exploring an idea doesn’t necessarily mean I believe it’s true.

Sometimes an idea is simply interesting.

And sometimes interesting is enough.

If human beings only explored things we already understood, our libraries would be considerably smaller.

I created Brandi because I wanted the freedom to wonder about things.

I wanted to ask questions.

I wanted to laugh at the absurdities, imagine impossible possibilities, explore ordinary life, wander down historical rabbit holes, take the occasional scenic route, and see where curiosity might take us.

Sometimes we'll find an answer.

Sometimes we'll find another question.

Sometimes we'll probably wonder how we ended up there in the first place.

I consider all three successful outcomes.

Think of this website as part library, part fictional world, and part invitation to be curious.

The books tell you Brandi’s story.

The library tells you what Brandi learned.

And somewhere behind all of it, you’ll find me—still collecting ideas, still asking questions, still tossing things into Brandi’s Blender, and still wondering what might come flying out when I hit the button.

Welcome to the world I created.

I’m glad you’re here.