User Profile

So I used to have a couple of drawn out paragraphs of self indulgent metaphysical crap here that I wrote when I was in a really, really, bad mood. Doesn't really seem to fit anymore.

First, the disclaimer: This is a public journal and I keep very few entries private. To that end, there are two subjects I will almost NEVER discuss here. The first is work, and the second is my love life. Both have gotten me in a lot of trouble in the past when people I worked with or women I'd been dating had stumbled onto my little corner of the web. Consequently I've learned to keep my head down in the line of fire. I realize I'm comparing both work AND dating to battle, and that is intended ;)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled profile.

Let's see, now how does one describe the Boogieman? Well other than the fact that he occasionally refers to himself in the 3rd person, here are a few self descriptive words:

Overly-analytical, sarcastic, dog-obsessing, balance-seeking, non-red-meat-eating, wine-drinking, book-reading, movie-watching, video-game-playing, music-listening, religion-loathing, photo-taking, geeky, ex-frat boy, CT-to-FL transplant.

Okay, let's examine those one by one:

Overly-analytical: Sometimes I think too much for my own good; and that is occasionally reflected with innane posts that don't make a whole lot of sense. Can't help it, it's just the way I am wired. Sometimes I spend a little too much time inside my own head and I know that's not good. It's gotten worse since I bought my own home in late 2005 and I have even less interaction with people now that I live alone. But I'm aware of it and I try to do what I can not to let it get out of hand.

Sarcastic: I can be a sarcastic fuck sometimes. When I was younger it used to drive my parents absolutely nuts. It tends to get worse when I'm dealing with arrogant, obnoxious or just plain vapid people. I secretly worship Tim Allen, Jerry Seinfeld, Denis Leary, George Carlin, Billy Crystal and many other sarcastic comedians, and one day hope to have the quick wit that they possess to go along with my sarcasm. At least that way I'd be more fun at parties.

Balance-seeking: Balance is the key to life. About 6 years ago I started to let things in my life get out of control. It resulted in 3 years ago being one of the darkest times in my life. It took a very long period of soul-searching to realize that everything about me was completely out of balance. As a result, I was able to pull up on the yoke and level things out, and since then I've been striving to achieve Balance in every aspect of my life. You will find me in the middle of the road when it comes to almost everything. In my opinion, that's the only position where you can see both sides clearly. True I run the risk of getting flattened by a truck, but that's a chance I'm just going to have to take...

Dog-obsessing: I love my dog. She's a Half Yellow Lab/Half Rhodesian Ridgeback mix named Sandy. I realize Sandy isn't something a heterosexual male names his dog; that's the name she came with and I couldn't very well go changing it on her, now could I?. Right now she's the most important thing in the world to me. I adopted her when she was 4 and I cannot imagine what my life would be like without her. I quote Robert DeNiro from Meet the Parents, "There's something about that ball of fur that just puts a big smile on my face"

Non-Red-Meat-Eating: I don't eat red meat. Not by choice. My kidneys have a hard time expunging oxylates and if they build up, they start grabbing calcium and forming kidney stones. That's something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. No oxylates means, no caffeine, no chocolate, and no red meat. The caffeine and the chocolate I really don't have a problem with. But every so often I just wish I could sink my teeth into a really great cheeseburger. Sigh...

Wine-Drinking: Apparently I'm a man of contradictions. I love wine. I don't drink white wines however except for the occasional Riesling on the rare occasion I might eat desert. So I don't eat red meat, but I only drink red wine. "How's that for being born under a bad sign?" - Ferris Bueller

Book-reading, music-listening, videogame-playing, movie-watching: I'm obsessed with media in all of it's forms. If I can read it, watch it, play it or listen to it there's a good bet that I will spend and inordinate amount of time focusing on it. Thus I have a completely over-abundant knowledge of pop-culture; books, movies, video games and music; well, at least the ones that appeal to me. These will need to be addressed individually:

1)Book-reading: I'm a writer, and it's pretty much impossible to be a writer unless you're also a reader. I read just about anything that's put in front of me. I tend to be reading multiple books at once. I'm not particular about genre but I tend to be drawn more to speculative fiction, or philosophical writing.

2)Music-Listening: At some point in the early ninties, just as hair bands were disbanding and hip-hop and grunge started their explosion I decided that because of the previously mentioned forms of music, that all current music sucked. Then I turned off the radio for a period of about 5 years and refused to listen to anything current, spending most of my listening time learning as much as I could about old Classic Rock, Jazz and R&B. Fast forward to the late nineties when Rock and Roll experienced a resurgence with bands like DMB, Hootie and the Blowfish and Counting Crows, and at that point I turned the the radio back on and have been heartily trying to become more well rounded as far as my muscical tastes go. My favorite forms of music are Folk Rock, and I consider myself a budding Jazz Hound. I will never like music like Hip-hop, Grunge or really hard shit like that where people are just screaming into a microphone.

3)Videogame-Playing: Everyone has their hobby. Some people go fishing, others collect baseball cards or build model airplanes. Still others play golf or run marathons. Me? I'm a gamer. Most people don't realize that video games have come a long way since Pong and Pac-Man. I especially like games with epic, sweeping storylines or games that require a great deal of strategy. However there's something to be said about Pac-Man or playing Texas Hold'em on Xbox Live.

I can usually be found skulking around Xbox Live under the handle "Onion Jack." Here is my gamercard for anyone else who also plays.





If you click on it and scroll a little more than halfway down, you'll find my one gaming claim-to-fame. I'm the #1 Xbox 360 Jewel Quest player in the world. That's right folks. Out of 60,000+ players, the Boogieman is the top dawg. See my entry about being a geek below, LOL.

4)Movie-watching: By now you've probably noticed my bio is peppered with movie quotes. Of all forms of media, I seem to be drawn to film the most. My place of worship is not church, it's the movie theatre. It's a refuge for me from the outside world, where I can go and escape and be silent and reflect.

Religion-loathing: Everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want. I'm certainly no one to scoff any anyone's core beliefs. However, once believers organize themselves into groups, that's when the problems start. This insecure "you can't be right because that makes me wrong" mentality that religion pushes is responsible for 95% percent of the problems in this world. They say that money is the root of all evil? Wrong. It's religion. I have seen not a shred of evidence in all my years to convince me otherwise. It's a shame, because I think there are things about religion that are truly beneficial. Unfortunately they're far outweighed by the bad aspects and that's what's throwing this world out of Balance. I bear no ill-will toward religious people (unless they try to get in my face about it), and I don't let it get in the way of my relationships; it's the institutions as a whole I am not fond of.

Photo-taking: I've recently started to delve into the world of photography. My current axe is a Nikon D40+. I'm still very much a novice but I'm learning. I occasionally post photos I've taken if I think they're good enough. I'm in the market for a good 70-300mm lens but for now I make do...

Ex-frat-boy: I learned a lot in college, but very little of it in the classroom. Most of what I learned about the corporate environment I learned from my fraternity. Most of what I learned about friendship and loyalty and conflict resolution and many other things, I learned from my fraternity. Most of my closest friends were my fraternity brothers in college and I don't think we'd have those solid friendships if it wasn't for Pi Kappa Phi. We weren't your typical "Animal House;" if we were I would never have gotten involved. The bottom line is, my fraternity played a pretty large role in shaping who I am today, for better or for worse. This is something I think a lot of my old brothers just don't understand, but I feel I have a debt to repay. To that end I currently serve as the Chapter Advisor for the Beta Lambda Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi at the University of Tampa. I'm often accused of trying to "relive my college days." Look, it's not like I'm going out to bars or parties and drinking with these guys who are now 10 years younger than I am. I barely "party" with people my own age so that seems kind of illogical. I sit in the back of the room and nod my head, and occasionally dole out some sage advice when it is asked for. I view myself more like Nestor from the Iliad. I'm not on the battlefield, but my wisdom and guidance is helping to win the war.

Geeky: I used to say that I wear my geekiness on my sleeve, but FuriousD decided that description wasn't accurate enough and proclaimed "You sir, are wrapped in a pink bunny suit of geek." Can't really argue that one.

CT-to-FL Transplant: I'm originally from Trumbull, CT. Needless to say, I bolted at the first opportunity I had to get as far away from that place as I could. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and all, it was the place I couldn't stand. It's taken a long time for me to figure out exactly what I was trying to get away from. Eventually I figured it out and I was able to make my peace with that place, but by then it was too late. I'm a Floridian now.

Well there you have it for now. This is a work in progress; expect it to be updated periodically when I find something else I feel should be added...

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