50 things about me

 

  1. I was born in the great state of West Virginia.

 

  1. I was born on August 15, 1957 (you do the math).

 

  1. I left West Virginia because of economic and employment factors.

 

  1. There’s not a day goes by that I don’t miss it.

 

  1. On hot Florida days I daydream about being hip deep in a cool mountain river fly-fishing.

 

  1. I’ve only been fly-fishing once, in a stream near Seneca Rocks.

 

  1. I’m not even that big a fan of fishing.

 

  1. I have a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in mass communications.

 

  1. I have discovered that neither degree is needed to be a journalist.

 

  1. I began my career working at a country music radio station.

 

  1. I now despise all forms of country music.

 

  1. I know for a fact that the radio business is the only place where people with microscopic amounts of  talent and intelligence are encouraged to have over-inflated egos.

 

  1. I am working on a graduate teaching certificate.

 

  1. I am proud to be a Christian and an American.

 

  1. I was more liberal in my younger days, and even though I am more conservative now, I view myself as a moderate and an independent.

 

  1. I have two children, a boy and a girl, and one wife – as it should be.

 

  1. I have a dog I like a good deal, but I don’t love him – he’s a dog, for pity’s sake.

 

  1. I have never seen a dog nor a cat display any glimmer of human emotion and behavior – as it should be.  They’re animals.

 

  1. Like Thoreau, I am wary of enterprises that require new clothes. 

 

  1. I believe ties should only be worn at weddings and funerals and other assorted church-related functions.

 

  1. I believe the ideal dress for men and women are soft jeans, a comfortable shirt and well-worn boots.  Only the women’s clothes should be a lot tighter.

 

  1. My idea of a good time is going to a play or movie followed by a late dinner of good Italian food. 

 

  1. You shouldn’t argue politics until you have actually read the Constitution.  It wouldn’t hurt to read the Federalist Papers as well.

 

  1. I played trumpet in high school, but I wasn’t very good.

 

  1. I wish I had played guitar instead.

 

  1. I played football in high school.  I wasn’t very good and I didn’t take it very seriously.

 

  1. I like sports, but I don’t spend much time watching them.

 

  1. Nothing’s more depressing than seeing a grown man wearing a professional team’s jersey while screaming obscenities at the opposing team.

 

  1. Meddling parents are ruining sports for little kids.

 

  1. Too many fathers worry too much about their kids’ sporting activities and not enough about their grades.

 

  1. I recently took up golf.  So far I like it, but again I don’t take it very seriously.

 

  1. I am working on a black belt in Akido, which I do take seriously.

 

  1. I plan to earn a pilot’s license once my children are in college.

 

  1. I would like to own a sailboat, but I am unsure if I could keep up with the costs and the maintenance.

 

  1. I was a substitute teacher for public schools for about year.

 

  1. My teaching experience was eye-opening, and not in a good way.

 

  1. I send my kids to private school at great cost and sacrifice to our family, and I will continue to do so no matter what the sacrifice.

 

  1. I think Government-run schools are scandalous, and vouchers systems are only a modest solution to an endemic situation.

 

  1. I believe only parents can change the school system and the culture in general.

 

  1. I hope that a rebellion against the decades of media-enforced liberal indoctrination is brewing.

 

  1. I believe capitalism + democracy = freedom.  Anything else is second-rate, at best.

 

  1. One should view anyone who calls himself or herself an “activist” with deep suspicion.

 

  1. I believe history will rate Bill Clinton as one of the most inconsequential presidents of modern times, while George W. Bush will be one of the most influential.

 

  1. I love museums of all kinds.  My favorite so far is the Art Institute of Chicago -- Free admission on Tuesdays!

 

  1. I would prefer to live in a small town, but I like cities as well.

 

  1. I love New York – I even have a coffee mug to prove it.

 

  1. I’ve never been out of the country.

 

  1. I have two overseas trips planned for this year.

 

  1. I don’t plan to ever retire.

 

  1. I do plan to be self-employed.