What am I interested in?
This page has been blackened as a sign of mourning for one of the
greatest human beings of the Twentieth Century, Mother Teresa of
Calcutta.
This page is about things that are important to me, whether political, artistic, athletic, or spiritual in nature.
Politics:
I consider myself to be a logical centrist, or as is more common, "eclectic" politically. This means that I pick and choose whether I'm conservative on this issue or liberal on that issue. I am very liberal on education: I think school vouchers are A Bad Idea. They give the rich unfair tax breaks to send their kids to expensive private schools and don't compensate poor people enough for the additional time and hassle spent shuttling their kids to and from those same schools. I think that money would be much better spent improving the public school system. Of course, I'm biased: I spent thirteen years of my life in the public school system and am attending a state college. On the other hand, I'm middling conservative on issues such as abortion: I think it's morally wrong, but I'm sure that the stances taken by the Religious Right (or, as most of my friends call it, the Religious Wrong) are far too extreme in their militancy. I voted Clinton, but now I'm having second thoughts. However, he was a better choice than Dole.
Artistic License:
I am a member of the Winona State University concert choir,
directed by Dr. Harry Mechell. Before that, I was a member of the Rosemount (MN) High School concert choir, directed by Mr. Steven Boehlke. I enjoy singing and listening to music, both secular and sacred. I sing baritone, which for you non-musical types is the middle men's voice. A well-developed baritone voice can sing some first tenor parts as well as most second tenor, bass, and all baritone parts. I'm not there yet, and I may never get there, but it won't be for lack of trying.
My favorite piece that I have sung so far is Giovanni Pergolesi's Magnificat. For those of you who don't know, the Magnificat is adapted from the opening chapters of the Gospel of St. Luke. I sang in it at the Dakota Valley Choral Festival at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, Minnesota in October, 1995.
In terms of secular music, more specifically (and obviously) rock music, I listen to a wide range of bands, representing every genre from pop to alternative. Currently, I'm into ska, and my favorite band is The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
I'm also a gamer, but if you didn't already know that, where have you been!? Most of my web page is devoted to the Mekton Zeta RPG!
Sports:
Although I don't pursue athletic activities with quite the same enthusiasm as artistic ones, I do enjoy racquetball, swimming, skiing (downhill), fencing, biking, and rollerblading.
Spiritual Affairs:
I am what seems to be something of a rarity on the Internet: a confirmed Catholic. I, unlike some people, didn't take another name at confirmation. Some people, some of them pagans but an awful lot of them Christians, (whom I'm not knocking, one of my best friends is one), have a distorted view of what the Catholic church is about. My belief is that God loves everyone, making no distinction between color, age, sex, race, or sexual orientation.
Some people appear to have it in for the Catholic Church, as though the Inquisition and its horrors can be blamed on the modern Church. GET REAL!!! The Roman Catholic Church today is an organization that does a LOT of good in the world. Some people criticize the Church for being to big. Well, guess what, people: one out of every five people in the world (or more!) is a Catholic. We're all around you. Live with it.
Well, there's my Moving and Profound section.
Back to the mayhem.