If they were alive today?

I miss Dan Fogelberg and John Denver.  Two Colorado environmentalist who were influential in my life as a youth and still as an adult.  They both died way too young.  I sit here and wonder what they would say today.  I have no proof, but I believe they would be at places like the Dakota pipeline standoff.  I believe they would be writing songs, even in their old age about how to honor the land.

A love for good TV

It's rare that I find much on TV to get excited about.  My past loves have been (chronologically from childhood) Ellery Queen, The Night Stalker, Murder She Wrote, the original CSI series, Star Trek the Next Generation, Six Feet Under, the Battlestar Galactica series on SyFy, Medium, and now Elementary on CBS. I may have left out a few, but this is what comes to mind right now.

You may notice a theme here.  A good story line always involves some type of intrigue and mystery.  Elementary has proven to be a great show so far.  I hope it remains well done and exciting, without becoming stale.  My pet peeves with "who done it's" is I could usually solve the mysteries based on the bad guy/girl being a frequent guest character actor I recognize from either NYC based drama guest spots (Law and Order, CSI, Sex in the City, etc) or made for TV movies, thus, ruining my enjoyment of an intricate plot line.  Other shows I have enjoyed until they became too formula, Longmire, in Plain Sight, Castle, and the Mentalist.

So it's no surprise that I love genealogy as it is more of the same type of intrigue and research.  When I was young I secretly dreamed of joining the FBI and/or going to West Point.  Circumstances made that pursuit impossible.  So, I pursued my other just as strong passion, music.  I also thought of being an architect or archeologist.  After taking a course in mechanical drafting this was not quite my passion, but I found another interest by taking this class, cartography.  Unfortunately, this field has been dying ever since the computer go ahold of design.  Then there is my love of writing.  You're starting to see a problem here, right?

I fall into the category of too many interests which leads to following too many directions instead of focusing on one.   I have many successful musician friends who live and breath nothing but music.  That's very hard for me.

I am mostly left handed, write right handed, throw a ball left handed, play tennis right handed, shoot a basketball left handed, kick a ball with my left foot.  What am I?  By taking a not so reliable quiz on being right or left brained, I pretty much came out almost even, with a slight preference for being left brained.
It's taken me most of my life to figure out that I don't fit many molds.  I think differently, mostly like a seclusive geek, but I'm quite well liked and do well in one on one conversations and small gatherings.  I'm quite uncomfortable making small talk unless I can find a common interest, then just try to shut me up!
From an early age I've been obsessed with intrigue, research, athleticism, and artistry.  My weakness has always been having a deep interest in too many things at once.  My day is always being torn between hyper focus on several interests.  I'm a musician, so a big part of my day has to be spend practicing this craft.  I'm a genealogist, so quite often something will catch my interest and I will go off on a research tangent.
There is no doubt that I will never experience boredom for the rest of my life.  What I find myself having to do is choose what NOT to pursue.  This sounds like an easy problem to have, but I find myself trying to leave certain things alone such as certain family lines I know I could not possible have enough time to spend researching.  Low and behold, I will find something on this line and.....there I go.

I'm different....This has always been very apparent to me throughout my life.  I see things from a different lenses and I feel from a different place.  Everyday is deciding whether it's a curse or a blessing and pretty much deciding, in a general retrospective analysis, it's a bit of both.

I'll spend many posts talking about my lenses and giving you a glimpse of my world.  So I begin with what is affecting me today.  I have been watching one of my all time favorite movies on Netflex during lunch in 30 minute increments.  This movie has and will always be controversial because there is a distinct phobia and misunderstanding of socialism.  That movie is "Reds".  Many would say that this movie was shear propaganda, but while being a hollywood movie, it had some very inherent qualities.  Showing how Lenin had good intentions starting out and that activism in general is an idealistic form of passion, and most importantly Communism is not socialism.

I read the book "Ten Days that Shook the World". (you can read this for free on google books)

I believe reading this book and seeing the movie back when I was barely 20, and taking a college religion course, was influential in developing an interest in the world and how it works. Looking back, this has influenced my thinking more and more profoundly over the years.

I came from a conservative southern family that was complex and complicated.  My father was really my step-grandfather.  When I was young, I hero worshiped this man.  As a young adult I started to see his flaws and judged him harshly for it.  He was politically conservative and racist in someways and not in others.  He was very well read for someone with just a high school education.  He had worldly views on some things and very biased conservative on others. He believed in reincarnation and never attended church.  He was a war hero of WWII, yet never talked about being on the frontline in Germany, and yes, killing other human beings.  I never saw this man be violent or ever raise his voice.  It dumbfounded me!

So yes, I'm idealistic, passionate, strong willed, stubborn, emotional, and pessimistic.  You may never know which one will strike first, but I do my most human best to be understanding, tolerate, loving, caring, and humble..........