An overdue introduction

I never know where to start. With the basic details or the batshit crazy stuff? I guess they aren't much different.

People call me Aurast. It's a nickname given to me by a long gone family member. It's from the Russian name Орест, which usually is spelled Orest with Roman characters. I live in Austin, TX and make iOS apps for a living. I live what people tend to fear is a pretty boring life, with lots of books but not many people in it. It suits me well, though. I'm 22, and I know I'm way too young to say this, but I feel old. I'm more or less fluent in German and can read Russian pretty well but can't speak it or write it nearly so well. I've studied a bunch of other languages but few beyond survival level.

I had the first LD of my adult life at the end of 2012. I was in rough shape at the time, pain waking me up several times per night. Like in some fairy-tale, then came this otherworldly gift that almost made it worth it. What to say about that first LD. It was hyper-realistic, truly realer than real, to the point you can't help but question what reality really is. I have been chasing that level of lucidity ever since, unsuccessfully. I tend to have very short LDs, less than a minute long perhaps half the time. My non-lucids however tend to be pretty long, cohesive, and wild.

I very strictly eat something close to the paleo diet. Cake, candy, bread, soda, just the first four things that came to mind, I have not eaten them in more than two years! But I'm like they say a smoker is 20 years after quitting: when I go to the grocery store sometimes I will walk through the bakery and salivate :alien: Currently I am training for a planned trip to Colorado this summer to hike some 14,000ers. I let myself get a little out of shape in 2014 but will be correcting that shortly...

Uh, stuff I like? Reading, writing, hiking, Tarot, programming, beef, biking, skiing, dreaming, video games, green tea, people with good intentions.
Stuff I don't like? Time, people who walk on the left side of hallways, the internet

A belated welcome to you, Aurast!

I'm glad that you discovered lucid dreaming at a time when you were struggling through the night hours.

I'm sure greater levels of lucid clarity will come to you with more experience, although lucid dreams tend to vary in vividness even for veteran dreamers.
Experimenting with the timing, induction method, and in-dream actions/commands can help you find what works the best for you.
For example, I've heard of some people who find that their WILDs are more lifelike than DILDs; some people find WBTB at a certain time of night cultivates the strongest lucid dreams; some people use verbal commands like "increase clarity" or focus more on their senses by rubbing their hands / biting their fingers, etc. Of course, the opposite could be true for some other people, so there's no universal formula.
I hope you find something that works for you!