Symbollocks

25 Random Things About Me

1. I’m neither an optimist or a pessimist. Regarding the half glass of water example: It’s water in a glass. Based on your perspective you can choose whether to view the glass as half-empty or half-full. Neither of these are “true” in the same sense that we know there is water in a glass. I’m observant enough to see these are both valid perspectives and I would be limiting my awareness to say one or the other is “true”. Regardless, I think both perspectives are valuable and that being able to compare these perspectives internally is a very important skill.
2. I don’t use shampoo (except maybe once a month). I rinse my hair, but prefer to let the natural oils build up, especially when my hair is longer than an inch or so. If I use shampoo I’ll get dandruff.
3. I am anarchist and by extension an anti-statist. I believe the pursuit of power is unethical.
4. I can appreciate most music. I don’t enjoy much popular music, but I can bear it. I don’t have a favorite band or type of music, it varies constantly depending on my mood.
5. I don’t own a car for a lot of reasons, primarily because it’s easy for me to do since I live less than a 10 minute walk away from work. I walk, bike, bus, and bum rides when I want to go somewhere.
6. I didn’t have a girlfriend until after high school. While I was in high school I was bitter about that. But now I can see that most girls avoided me for pretty good reasons: I was arrogant, I didn’t know how to make myself talk (shyness) and couldn’t talk to people well, I had low self-esteem (yes, AND arrogant), I was not outgoing at all, and I was SO AFRAID OF EVERYTHING (of girls, ending up alone, coming off as obsessive, talking to people, etc. etc.).
7. I have been with my girlfriend, Jennifer, for a little over 6 months at this point. We’ve talked about getting married by sometime next year. Though we’re not officially engaged, we’re officially pre-engaged.
8. I had planned on going on a long open ended trip to begin this past May. I have cancelled that trip in lieu of the girl mentioned above, but we plan on travelling together after we’re married.
9. My early childhood (0 - 7) was spent in the inner city of Indianapolis. I remember it as one of the happiest times of my life.
10. My late childhood and teenage years (7 - 18) were spent in the suburbs of Indianapolis. I remember it as one of the most disturbed times of my life.
11. I dropped out of college after freshman year and have been happier ever since. I don’t really regret it, which many have told me I would (or in their minds, should). I value education and learning, but not schooling.
12. I feel a sense of urgency about the future of our world. I feel that our civilization is on a self-destructive path and that as a whole we’re still in denial about it. I hope it’s not too late.
13. I read voraciously, but I go through periods of almost no reading at all. The reading I’ve done in the past couple years has been focused on making sense of the world, trying to understand it better.
14. I do my best to act confidently on the knowledge I’ve acquired. I’m doing my utmost to create the world I want to live in. I think doing anything else would be a waste of my life.
15. When it comes to voting I’m utterly independent. I also reserve the right not to vote. I dislike arguments to always vote or to never vote, in fact…
16. I dislike puritanism. Puritanism is an intellectual crutch that is condescending towards the complexities of reality. Puritan outlooks smack of righteousness, shame, blame, and general “finger-pointy”-ness.
17. I think ideologies are intellectual crutches and that a fixation on a single one is unhealthy (puritanical). Of course, we need crutches when we’re weak, but we should be hunble enough to admit it.
18. I think defending your right to shit on people and the things they cherish, also known as snarking, is a serious personal deficiency possibly representative of extreme righteousness and arrogance.
19. I like attempting to reconcile differing political sentiments. “Liberals hate cars because they destroy the environment.” “Libertarians hate government dependence.” An agreeable solution would be cutting off subsidies for auto-makers/roads and abolishing zoning laws that force businesses to be located out of walking distance of residential neighborhoods. See?
20. I’m a computer programmer, and it’s an alright job, but it’s not as amazing as some industry people might make it out to be.
21. I used to consider myself a geek. I don’t anymore, mainly because “geek” tends to imply obsessiveness or single-mindedness, neither of which describe me much anymore.
22. I mostly don’t like to listen to music when I’m out and about because I highly value the small interactions with the world around me. Headphones often seem to just get in the way, and send an anti-social vibe.
23. I’m (usually) very patient. Lulls in conversation don’t bother me. Sitting in traffic or standing in line is a joy. These occassions give me the opportunity to literally stop and think, which is asolutely a blessing in our fast paced society.
24. I’m an introvert (and read this article to refresh your memory about what exactly that means). Social interaction is exhausting to me. I’m an idea person, not a people person. I am fairly good at suppressing my introvertedness, but that tends to be even more exhausting (and stress inducing) in the end.
25. I claim no religion. However, I feel there is something very spiritual about existence itself. I was raised in a Mennonite Church, and this has had a pretty big influence on my life, particularly when it comes to violence.