Let's talk it out together.

Hi there! I'm Chantel "Tel" Marie Larpenteur and I am here to help all of us talk everything out. I am pretty open so we can talk about anything and everything. I practice not judging others. I work on getting rid of biases, I'm a work in progress and I hope to be until I die. 

Firstly, you might be wondering about my name. My mother needed a French name to go with my French last name, Larpenteur. so I was to be either Michelle or Chantel. She found Chantal, the harlot in a harlequin novel she was reading while prenant with me. She changed the a to an e to be different. My middle name is a family name and quite common where I am from, Lafayette, LA. When my younger brother first started speaking, he couldn't say my name, "Tel" came out, and I've been Tel to those closest to me since 1980ish. I was 5-15 in the 80's.

I was born, trained, and stayed in Cajun Country, Acadiana Parish, where the Acadiens' settled for my first 20 years of life, plus 11 years (30-41), and I've found myself back here again. Thanks to my parents I love to travel and have lived various places around the country from Baton Rouge, LA to San Diego, CA, trying to find where I fit in this world. I was lucky enough to live overseas in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GE for 14 months. 

If I look familiar to you, maybe in San Diego 2016-2017 you saw me working as a Camera Operator, computer, or video tech at the conference you were at, or I was your barista or Lyft driver. Or maybe we met in 2001-2003 when I was helping you enjoy your vacation while working as the curtseying cocktail waitress at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and you might have taken a picture with me or was I working as Assistant Manager at Great Outdoor Clothing Company in Jackson Hole (there's no hole by the way). Or maybe you met me as your bartender at Artmosphere Bistro, Greenroom, or Sticks Billiards, among other venues in Lafayette, LA. Or was I your bartender at the 2004 Kentucky Derby, Jillian's, or Parrot Beach in Louisville, Kentucky. Knowing me it could quite likely be from standing next to me in a grocery line or did I shower you with good vibes online? How ever we met or if we have never met until now, know that I wish you well and I am here to help.

Tel's Timeline:

1975-1995: Lafayette, LA

1995-1996: Baton Rouge, LA

1997-1998: Lafayette, LA

1999-2000: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Bavaria)

2001-2003: Jackson, WY

2003-2005: Louisville, KY

2005-2016: Lafayette, LA, 2008 Graduated from ULL

2016-2021: San Diego, CA

2021-Present: Lafayette, LA

I started this blog/vlog/website to document my life how it was and how it has changed since becoming the innocent bystander of assault and battery in the workplace while setting up San Diego Comic Con Preview Night 2018.  On 07/17/2018 I acquired a TBI (traumatic brain injury), neck and back injuries. This will serve to document my progress and goals in the hopes of helping give others a better quality of life with less pain and anxiety, change negative thought patterns, and attain the ability to love & believe in themselves. I will share what I have figured out on my own, through research, and from others. I lovingly joke that I am a science experiment, when the reality is that I have several experiments constantly going at all times with constant teaks in order to achieve the best results and quality of life for myself. No one came to save me so I saved myself and I'm happy to help you save yourself too.