“Who the f*#k are you?” (all about me)

I realize that one’s opinion means nothing to someone else really unless one of two conditions apply:

One: that opinion is so eloquently worded AND appropriately timed that it strikes at the heart of some matter important to the reader/listener/viewer and either creates or perpetuates an awakening within that person.

Two: that opinion comes from someone that is trusted or considered trust worthy by the reader/listener/viewer and therefore carries with it the weight of credibility. When condition #2 applies sometimes you then create a situation where credibility creates condition #1.

To that end I should probably tell you something about myself so that you can see that, while I don’t consider myself an expert on everything I say, I’m at least not some quack special interest guy trying to spend oil-company dollars to convince you that we’ll never run out of gasoline. While the writer/artist can never have a hand in condition #1 (that is entirely up to chance and the reader/listener/viewer), maybe I can give you enough information to make up your mind about where you and I stand on condition #2.

I am a 27 year old middle-school teacher living in the DC-metro area. I consider myself to be a rather average-Joe kinda guy with one exception: I like soccer (the un-American kind). I grew up in farm-town Pennsylvania, attended college in Maryland and Massachusetts for my undergrad (a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Endicott College), did AmeriCorps for a year in Juneau, AK (my great claim to fame at this point in life), married a wonderful woman, and have a 2 year old son. I’m politically interested (I’ll refrain from saying “informed”), and generally thoughtful about the world direction and human condition. I’m also a musician and artist of the worst kind (the kind that actually believe it), so that may lend momentum to my belief that it’s okay for me to actually express myself. Despite this I never ask you to take what I say on face value, or even seriously, unless you want to.