Learning new things; reading; audio books; traveling; friendships; sleeping; LDS history; hacking; TECHNOLOGY; philosophy; religion; religious philosophy; debate; psychology; computers; bio/mechanical&genetic engineering; evolution; wrestling/sparring/sword-fighting; magic the gathering; solving things; discovering loopholes; IQ tests; P2P; helping teens change their lives; games like same time risk, Solaris, warcraft3, Unreal Tournament, Cities/Knights of Catan, etc; friends; falling asleep while typpppppppppppppppppppppppppp
Music
LOTS! I used to be hardcore into rap when I was in Junior High, then I moved on to R&B, and then Rock/alternative and heavy metal through High School, then punk and emo...warped tour type stuff, and pop, some more recent country is alright, especially if you can Western swing to it. These teen girls I work with all day got me liking a lot of the newer half rap hybrids again (not the hardcore pointless rap) so long as they have a point, especially a political/social point.
I don't like Jazz, rarely in the mood for boring...er I mean classical music either.
Movies
LOTS! Mostly the intelligent movies that make you think...also I really like action movies.
Television
CSI's (though CSI Las Vegas is the best); Criminal Minds; Alias; 24; Smallville; Battlestar Gallactica; The 4400; The Simpsons; Southpark; Lost; Prison Break; Numb3rs; Day Break; Heroes; One Tree Hill; Sleeper Cell; The Unit; Torchwood; Vanished; Dexter; Sleeper Cell
Books
Favorite Non-Fiction Books:
God's Debris by Scott Adams; A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson; The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzwell; Radical Evolution by Joel Garreau; More than Human by Ramez Naam; Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor; CS Lewis Books; The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins;
SOME Favorite Fiction Books:
The Religion War by Scott Adams; Harry Potter series (except the 5th book which drove me nuts, and the first book took forever to get interesting); Ender's Game & Ender's Shadow series; Pretty much anything by Orson Scott Card is a good read; The Inheritance Trilogy by Christopher Paolini; JRR Tolkein; Gerald Lund Books; Most books written by Chris Heimerdinger including all the Tennis Shoes Series; I love COUNTLESS other fiction books but this will suffice for now off the top of my head.
Favorite LDS/Mormon Non-Fiction Books:
Most anything by D Michael Quinn, like Early Mormonism and the Magical World View, & the Mormon Hierarchy Books; Evidences of the True Church by Dennis K Brown; The Dead Sea Scrolls and other important discoveries by Vernon W Mattson Jr; Jesus the Christ by James E Talmage; Unpublished Revelations by Fred C Collier; Satan's War on Free Angency by Greg Wright; The Bible Says 1830 by Chris Tolworthy; Encyclopedia of Mormonism; LDS Library 2006 (I know not A BOOK, but it's hundreds/thousands of books I can search through easily); Evolution and Mormonism by Trent D Stephens & D Jeffrey Meldrum; History of Joseph Smith by his Mother Lucy Mack Smith the Unabridged Original Version compiled by R Vernon Ingleton; Black and Mormon
Obviously I could list hundreds of books that I really love, but for now we will leave it with the ones I currently have listed here.
Heroes
Charles Darwin;
Galileo Galilei;
Martin Luther;
D. Michael Quinn;
Joseph Smith;
Leonard Arrington;
Bishop Edward Bunker;
Jeffrey Nielsen;
Richard Dawkins;
Lance Corporal Matt Croucher;
Jack Bauer...oh wait, fiction doesn't count does it?
~~Feel free to ask me why any of these men should be and are heroes
About me: I served a 2 year LDS mission in Haiti and extended my mission. I have gone back once since then and worked a summer with street kids and in the orphanages there.
I used to be obsessed with LDS History/doctrine and can sometimes be found in many of the Mormon Groups debating though not as often as I used to. My "Interests" section will also give you a decent idea of "About Me".
I want to write a few books. I have been working on one (for several years) about the LDS issue on "Blacks and the Priesthood" and I've been writing a fiction novel as well dealing with bio/mechanical and genetic engineering, religion and the future (especially detailing a technological singularity) that is also kind of loosely inspired from some dreams I had...mixed with a lot of meaning socially, politically, religiously, etc.
I'm a pretty easy going guy even if it sounds like I'm forceful when debating...that's just how I argue. I love to argue against my own beliefs/opinions as well. It helps me understand my own views better and the weaknesses in my own views, so if you came here from reading my arguments in the group forums, don't always assume they are what I believe...though it is so some of the time. :) You'll never know.
My political stance is moderately permissive in regards to economics, but I have some strong libertarian tendencies in regards to the government. I am pretty socially permissive when it comes to politics. As a general rule, my view stands as "if it doesn't hurt someone else or their choices, then the government has no business interfering and neither does anyone else."
I now work for a division of a nonprofit organization where my wife and I live with 8-10 teenage girls while they're essentially away from home at a boarding school type place for varying reasons including behavioral modification. I really enjoy it. Sometimes it's really stressful and takes up a lot of my time nowadays, but I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be.
Who I'd like to meet: OPEN MINDED, friendly INTELLIGENT PEOPLE (I know, I'm asking a lot...) who like to have fun and a good laugh. Especially those interested in religion, philosophy, metaphysics, technology, telecommunications, hacking, religious philosophy, travel, culture, sociology, psychology, LDS history/doctrine, etc. Anyone that wants to talk about Haiti? I'm game! Love that PLACE/people! Don't just add me as a friend without sending a message to go along with it unless I really know you. If I don't know you and haven't ever talked to you in the group forums we're in together then I'll assume you're a spam bot or a friend hoarder and you're probably wasting your time. I am not here to help boost people's popularity contests of adding as many strangers as they can. I think that's a retarded part of myspace culture. If I know you, or we talk/debate in the forums together a lot great, I'll accept. If I don't know you but you have a valid reason for considering me a friend (maybe we think alike, have similar opinions, etc), send me a message so I know what's up. :) If I do actually know you...why on earth are you admitting it? j/k
I know huh, Yeah I have been having fun, I know I never see ya. Ya dont show up at family stuff anymore ha ha. I dont even know where you live. goober!
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." U.S. Declaration of Independence
"It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment, Independence, now, and INDEPENDENCE FOR EVER." John Adams
On the one facebook group, I really need your help now. I called this one guy out for being a bigot, and now I need someone to second that. Here's the topic.
Hey Jon how's it going? I have a question for you. I have my wedding announcements in and I was wondering if you would like one. If you do then I need your address. So send me a message or something if you want one. Alright, talk to you later.
Good man, good man. You only think you'd go crazy because you don't actually know it. :) Stereotypes...I guess they're still believed in some schools. If you ever want a place where you can really think and discuss and learn, come for a visit. :) But either way, it sure is good to hear from you! And I'd love to hear more!
