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My Life (in brief)
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I was born in a ratty shoebox by the side of the interstate and our father used to thrash us to sleep. Uh, no, that's not it...apologies to Monty Python.
I was born and in a major East Coast city in the 60's and grew up in the 70's (same city) and early 80's. My Dad was a conservative Republican and my Mom a moderate with some liberal leanings. So, since the left was unoccupied, I became a progressive liberal (OK, it wasn't quite that simple).
Anyway, I was raised in a home where questioning everything was encouraged, had a traditional Lutheran religious education (although as I started questioning the inconsistencies in the religion from the time I was six, my association with the church ended when I was 13), spent a number of years in the Boy Scouts, and as I'd started reading when I was 3, had more books than some small libraries.
I'm married to a wonderful woman, have 6 kids (two are out on their own), and love my family more than anything.
Professionally, I'm an IT manager for a large government agency. The job can be rather difficult and stressful, but it is also rather fulfilling as I have one of the best staffs in the world working for me, and my fellow IT managers form a great team. (I also edit a significant number of reports, analyze proposals and translate correspondence from various parts of the world).
Interests
- Linguistics
- Political Science
- Theoretical Physics
- Mathematics
- Poetry
- Music
- Philosophy
....
Politics
My "survey" scores:
-5.63 -6.72 Yep, that makes me pretty liberal and damned proud of it.
Philosophy (mostly my own)
Please note that unless otherwise specified, what I write here is my own opinion, based on observation, some experimentation, and a complete analysis of the topic I am addressing. Yes, at least one well-known philosopher will likely have said some of the things I write, but generally speaking, whether a well-known philosopher agrees or disagree with me is not something I care all that much about. But then, that's really the beauty of philosophy: as long as one does not get caught in logical fallacies, all is well.
- I do not think that anything, not one thing, is inherently or intrinsically good or evil. I think that those qualities are merely imposed upon a concept or behaviour both societally and personally, in part as a way of ensuring the survival of our species, and in part because they create both a sense of purpose and of security.
- The meaning of life is that we give life meaning.
 | This user supports freedom of speech. |
Template:User evol-4 Template:User lennonist Template:User freedom
Books (just read and favorites)
Currently Reading
- The Future of an Illusion, Sigmund Freud
- Selected Essays, T.S. Eliot
Recently Read
- Innumeracy, John Allen Paulos; Parallel Worlds, Michio Kaku; :Time Must Have a Stop, Aldous Huxley; Ape and Essence, Aldous Huxley; The Elegant Universe, Brian Greene
Favorites
- James Joyce: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses
- Oscar Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Grey
- Aldous Huxley: Point-Counterpont, After Many a Summer Dies the Swan and A Brave New World.
- John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath and The Winter of Our Discontent
- Robert Penn Warren: All the King's Men
- William Faulkner: As I Lay Dying and The Sound And The Fury
- Robert Graves: I, Claudius and King Jesus
- Isabel Allende: La Casa De Los Espiritus (In Spanish)
- Virgil: The Eclogues (in Latin)
- Dante: La (divina) commedia -- both the original and Ciardi's translation
- Arthur Koestler: Darkness At Noon
- Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises
- Ralph Ellison: Invisible Man
- Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita, Pale Fire and Pnin
- D.H. Lawrence: Sons And Lovers
- Malcolm Lowry: Under The Volcano
...more to come
Music (favorites)
Favorite Artists and Composers
- Beatles
- Beethoven
- Bob Dylan
- Van Halen
- Mozart
- Rolling Stones
- Pink Floyd
- Byrds
- Buffalo Springfield
Favorite Albums and Compositions
- Beatles: Revolver, Sgt. Pepper, Rubber Soul, White Album
- Rolling Stones: Exile on Main Street, Beggars' Banquet and Let it Bleed
- Aerosmith: Rocks and Toys in the Attic
Still in progress
 | This user plays the bass guitar. |
 | This user plays the guitar. |
Links to Other Stuff I'm working on
- /translation1
- /translation2
- /flood_story
- /flood_story_narrative_form
- /London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- /JG_rewrites_history
Interests and other crap
| A, B and C | This user prefers not to use the serial comma. |
he or she | This user considers the singular they to be substandard English usage. |
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