LoBD

Current Chess Record: 36-2-1 (.947 win pct)

Want to play? PM me.


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In a lot of ways, I'm not a very good person. I can be overtly vengeful when I'm upset, for one. Also, I have a problem with pride, and this often gets me into emotional stuggles (or makes existing struggles worsen). These are two examples among many.

I can be a somewhat decent person, too, though. I've been told I'm a great listener and I give spectacular, objective advice. I'm honest. I am usually polite, especially around elders or strangers. I usually think before I make a decision. I forgive (too) easily.

I used to trust quickly; that practice has ended due to recent events. I would hope that, in later years, this practice could be renewed.

I have difficulty leaving people.

I'm often quiet in unfamiliar situations and I keep a constant mental dialogue going. When I'm thinking about it, I can be very good with words. Usually, though, I don't bother to think.

I care a lot about everybody.

I get more girls than I deserve, in general, for my raggedy looks. I'm lucky in that particular department, I guess, or at least I have been in the past. I have recently discovered my own faults in this department... much to my dismay.

I've been told I'm conceited. I'm working on that.

I'm sarcastic a lot. Usually, my voice doesn't change with sarcasm, and nobody understands my jokes. I like to think my jokes are too elaborate for the average mind, when, in fact, they may be too stupid. I have lost friends this way. No joke.

I am still waiting to fall in love. Whenever I think I find it, it eludes me. My optimism in this department is faltering.

I don't know how to dance, but I pretend that I do.

I wish that I could sing; I'm terrible at it. When I'm happy, I "sing" to myself in the car constantly. If I sing around you, I'm sorry. It does mean, though, that I -really- feel comfortable around you.

I have been told that I am too old for my age.

I appreciate beauty in many things.

I rarely feel remorse for my actions, but I do have regrets.

If I were you, I wouldn't bother talking to me.

Nov 2, 2008

This question implies that I have a choice.

English and very, very limited Spanish. I make up words a lot, too.

The Beatles, Damien Rice, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Eric Clapton, Jeff Buckley, Robert Johnson, Elliott Smith, John Mayer, Joshua Radin, Led Zeppelin, Louis Armstrong, Matt Nathanson, Ray Lamontagne, Robert Glasper, The Frames, most Disney music

William Wordsworth, Emily Dickinson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Allen Ginsberg, Lord Alfred Tennyson, George Orwell, Robert Frost, J.D. Salinger, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Barbara Kingslover, John Steinbeck, Carl Sandburg, Lois Lowry, George Eliot, H.G. Wells, John Donne, Sir Philip Sidney, Andrew Marvell, Jonathan Swift, W.H. Auden, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, J.M. Coetzee, Max Ehrmann, Jack Kerouac, Frederick Douglass, Herman Melville, E.D. Hirsch Jr., Noel Carroll, Jacques Derrida, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Immanuel Kant, Emile Durkheim, Richard Rorty, Toni Morrison, Samuel Beckett, Jean-Dominique Bauby, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, O. Henry

Movies:

The Shawshank Redemption, The Departed, Braveheart, Ocean's Eleven, Rounders, Waking Life, Good Will Hunting, Cinderella Man, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Mr. Holland's Opus, Wag The Dog, Bob Roberts, The Breakfast Club, A Beautiful Mind, A Walk To Remember, A Knight's Tale, Crash, The Departed, The Shining, Stand By Me, Stranger Than Fiction, V for Vendetta, Maverick, 300, Love Actually, The Illusionist, Fight Club, Requiem For A Dream, Across The Universe, Cloverfield

TV Shows:

Family Guy, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Good Eats, The Adventures of Pete and Pete, The Wonder Years, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report

Writing, Cuddling, Smiling, Discussing, Midnight Walks in the Woods, Sleepovers, Day-trips to Chicago, Literary Theory, Philosophy, Love, Jazz/Blues music, Egotism, Social Science, Good Kissers, Selling Alibis, Aesthetics, Red Herrings, Deviant Behavior, Friday nights, Dreaming, Kitties, Warm Decembers, People-Watching, Wondering, Good Lyrics, Pretending to know how to dance, Smiling graciously, False modesty, Expressive hope, Dancing in the moonlight, Telling half-truths, Leninism, Lennonism

The small eccentricities of college life and living in a new city. Madison -- a far bigger city than my previous hometowns -- provides a new outlook on life, and a ton of new people to meet.

Spring 2006

I really hate spiders. Other than that, I don't get afraid too often.

I would like to, someday, be a college professor in English or Psychology at a major university, either in the United States or England. If I had a preference on which university, I would choose the University of Chicago or the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

LoBD is becoming a bit of a burden.

"'My idea of good company...is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company.' 'You are mistaken,' said he gently, 'that is not good company, that is the best.'"
-- Jane Austen, Persuasion

In a friendly, creative way

English and Sociology

Effortless Flight

Honesty

In high school, I was President of the National Honor Society. Also, I belonged to Model United Nations and Political Action Club. Occasionally, I showed up to Student Council and Key Club. I constituted one half of the "Chess Club," as my mentor and I would exchange games often.

Now, I belong to WSUM 91.7FM Madison, where I am a radio DJ. Also, I coach little league baseball.

Too many to list. The most prominent and impressive, however, do stand out in my mind. In October 2005, I saw Paul McCartney live at the United Center in Chicago, IL. In December 2005 and 2006, I saw the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. I was blown away by all three shows.

I finally made it up to Summerfest to see Colbie Caillat and the Goo Goo Dolls after living in the Milwaukee/Chicago area my entire life. They were both good.

I'm only interested in summertime (when the living is easy), kids from one to ninety-two, autumn in New York, mystery tramps (want to make a deal?), places I'll remember all my life (though some have changed), blues at sunrise, and someone to watch over me. Everything else can wait.

My shadow is taller than my soul; also, on an unrelated note, big-legged women ain't got no soul (so I've been told).