| Bio: |
I Live in the 21st Century,
I Vacation in the 15th Century,
I Dream about the 22nd Century ... and beyond ...
(* this applies only to those using the Common Era / Anno Domini system, if you still use the Anno Urbis system (which makes this the year 2760 AU) please shift everything seven centuries upwards - or if you prefer to use the space age system, this is the year 36 Anno Astra, the third epoch)
I have embraced my inner Nerd.
Sometimes, that means hands around the neck, but it won't go away. I am, by any measure, NOT the nerdiest on the block. Now I'm not talking Urkel-nerdy, more like John Cleese nerdy (I even *get* British humor) and maybe someday I will invent something that will make me ubergeek-on-high for a day.
After being exposed to (admittedly, now one of my favorites) Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" video, I was amazed - I have had the opportunity to score pretty damn high on the stereotype. I don't speak Javascript OR Klingon, but I have so many friends that do...
Ok, for the record, I consider myself a somewhat "reformed" nerd, along the way I met and married a fashion designer / artist (who specialized in historical costuming, which is it's own form of nerdiness) at the Renaissance Faire (we even got married at a local medieval faire). After 16 years together (now divorced), we have two daughters and lived in Long Beach, California with all the normal concerns and family issues and I NEVER tried to roll with the homies. No, true to nerd fashion, I tried to counsel those I knew personally, to help them make better decisions (Like not shooting pellet guns at the neighbor's kids). But it does help explain how I made the decision to move to Oklahoma. Just a little bit. California is nice to visit, but I don't really want to live there anymore. Getting too crowded, too expensive and living next to the ocean (which I really miss..) isn't "all that" if you never have time to go out and relax on the beach. If you are into testing (and I am a serious believer in testing) I am ENTJ / Pioneer (and a little bit ENTp / Inventor)
This is one of those nerdy organizational things I do. My life broken down into segments (Social, Career, Politics, Religion, Philosophy)
Medievalist / Bocce Player / Archer
Been doing RenFaires, MedFaires, Fantasy Faires and the like for over 20 years.
This last summer, I was the Organizer for the Woodland Forest Festival. in Shawnee, OK.
Been playing (occasionally) with the Society for Creative Anachronisms (SCA) since 1981.
Mostly in the Kingdom of Caid and now in the Kingdom of Ansteorra
Did a few years ('94-'99) with the Kingdom of Esperance in the Adrian Empire where I was the founding / 1st Baron of the Kompanie Lagersuufer, a mercenary force to be reckoned with for several years. Alas, Hans and Frans are no longer here to tap your keg. (I was Frans...) but I still manage to get a little "taverning" in here and there.
Spent ('92-'03) as a fringe member of Tribe Roman Morga , a middle-eastern style dance troupe honoring the Rom ("Gypsy") culture.
Being half-Italian, I learned to enjoy Bocce (lawnbowling), It's genetic (and very entertaining when using the entire faire as our gamefield).
I'm not the best at Traditional Archery , but I find it very zen/relaxing. And I hope to build another ballista soon enough to lay siege. Medieval Siege Engineers, hoo-yah
In the kingdom of Ansteorra, I am formally known as
Lord Niku ho Choriskardia
~ or, more commonly as (in english)~
Nicu (the Heartless)
My "persona" is of a Byzantine Empire refugee, forced to flee the greatest city in the world, Constantinople, when the Turks moved in (c.1420). Given my partial Scandinavian heritage, I found that the Nordic Varangian Guard and the Italian mercenary Condotta's known as the Catalan Company could have come into contact in what was a very interesting time. Especially given that the refugees from Constantinople were partially responsible for the European Renaissance - having brought a renewed appreciation of the Greek Classical Thinkers to Italy, where they landed.
Computer Geek (Technician)
It all began quite harmlessly in 1979, when my buddy's dad bought a Sinclair 4K RAM, membrane-keyboard, cassette tape storage "computer" from the back page of Popular Science.
In HS, I had a friend with an Apple ][ and we got together to create what might have been one of the very first "trainer" programs - We hacked Ultima I to give us unlimited resources. I also took extracurricular programming classes at the local Rockwell Aerospace plant - Basic and Fortran 77. It was enough to get me started. I entered the local Junior college as a Computer Science major - but changed when they insisted that Cobol and Ada were relevant, useful languages (if I had only known about Y2K then...)
Did a 6 year detour into the Navy (Nuclear Power plant Electrician on the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson stationed in San Fransisco, CA) I bought my first computer while in school - a Franklin ACE1000 - the Apple ][ clone that was so good that Apple sued them out of business. When I got to the ship, I found the Atari ST - An Apple Mac knockoff, but actually better... I ended up being the user group organizer on board, (we had about 40 users) where I did my first mod - we soldered some F-14 (yes, the fighter plane) memory chips piggyback to expand memory from 512K to a full Megabyte. Also installed my first 8-node (with Zenith 286's) 10B2 Network. There was some interaction with the Berkeley Mac User Group (BMUG) and even had an opportunity to join Pixar. If I had only known...
After the Navy, had my own BBS (Digital Dementians) and did some small business and personal consulting on the side but didn't have my heart in it. On the arrival of our second kid, I took a corporate job for the benefits - a Datacom sales job at Creative Computers (they publish the PCMall catalog). I lasted a year before defecting to D-Link, where I upgraded to a 10 state Territory Manager (still sales, but lots of training) in Networking. After only a year there, I got lured away to Infosys Corporation , a small Oracle consultancy that had some big name clients. They made me a "Technology Specialist" which meant I did all the hardware sales and licensing in a shop that made it's money on services. It was the red-headed step-child effect until it was my efforts to reconfigure a hardware bid that landed us a major Toshiba contract. Got certified in Sun, Cisco, Oracle and Veritas and led the effort to re-position ourselves in Remotely Managed Databases. Ended up walking away when the company imploded.
Now I am a corporate tech support geek at Dell. Working the graveyard shift for the extra money and training. It was the best thing I could find in Oklahoma (for now), but I have hopes to eventually work my way back into pre-sales engineering, where the REAL money is...
Independent Film/Video Producer
I own Digital Dementians . Got the Degree (B.A. - Radio/TV/Film), did the Hollywood Film school, crewed on features, commercials, TV Pilots, documentaries and shorts. I even have an imdb entry (that I wrote myself after seeing that two of the crappiest films I ever worked on actually gave me the proper credit.
Wrote and Directed PSA-style safety shorts for the US Navy. I actually have two 8mm films from when I was 18 but they're practically lost in a box somewhere. I volunteer to work on indie productions when I can, but in Oklahoma, it's still pretty rare thing.
Progressive Libertarian (Non-Objectivist)
Expose & Eliminate Corruption, both Corporate and Aristocratic
... Judicial Watch / Transparency Int'l
Promote Diversity, both genetic and cultural.
Help others understand how & why belief in corporate / fascist-style capitalism undermines the so-called American dream. (It's called the American DREAM because you have to be asleep to believe in it...)
The Aristocracy does not invite competition for limited resources willingly.
Saying something ought to be done is not enough, help make it happen
Sign a Petition Today! (or Make your own...
SAVE DEMOCRACY! PROTECT YOUR VOTE!
Vote Fraud (suppression, dumping, changing and ignoring) is a well-known tactic in the fight for majority rule.
ENSURE EVERY VOTE COUNTS - Keep your local voting booth honest! Don't let "officials" steal the vote!
Freedom and Security are generally mutually exclusive. Make your choice and stick with it.
Democracy works best in plurality - abolish the 2 Party system!
Secular Humanist / Evolutionist / Hedonist
I don't KNOW if there is a Designer, nor do I care.
The Evidence / Humanist Manifesto / Declaration of Interdependence
Warning: To Evangelicals of any religion, that doesn't mean I am ignorant of faith, I was raised a catholic (by a father who studied as a Jesuit seminarian) and have studied enough comparative religion and psychology to understand why some people need faith. I'm lucky, I don't.
I am also a Registered Celebrant for non-religious ceremonies.
Also check out: Center for Inquiry (West) +++ American Humanist Assoc Int'l Humanist & Ethical Union +++ The Secular Web
And send your kids to Camp Quest !
Enjoy what you can, when you can, for tomorrow may never come.
The Pursuit of Pleasure, the Avoidance of Pain.
Read Epicurus as a primer.
Transhumanist / Astronist / Hedonist
Human nature, the evolutionary psychology of our past must be both embraced and relinquished. All of our social and economic systems are predicated on the way we are now and the future should not be burdened with the evolutionary baggage of pre-civilized thought and beliefs.
Seeking options to death and physical limitations through Re-Engineering & Modification ....
It's not even a new idea.
First, Understand & Live THE PROACTIONARY PRINCIPLE
and then Read World Transhumanist Assoc., Nick Bostrum, Betterhumans , Immortality Institute
Humanity's Destiny lies in the Stars - this planet is too small and too unstable to sustain us indefinately. Borrowing from the chapter on financial security - the key is to DIVERSIFY. And there is a peace dividend - conflict is directly proportional to the psychological density of humans.
Envisioning a Transcendent, Innovative Society
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