Me, myself and I

This is a bit of a test post, and as is appropriate for all first meetings, an introduction in order.

I’m Joel. Gen X-er, born and raised in the world’s high five, Michigan. I am, quite possibly, scientifically proven to be the whitest man that ever whited - even have the genetic tests showing that the swarthiest I get is French in my ancestry - there’s Quebecois settlers to the area in there, but mostly English/Irish/Scandanavian, including some, I shit you not, Mayflower folks.

Nothing to be proud of what humans did the deed who eventually make me by any means - I live an incredibly privileged life. Cops are nice and polite to me, jobs and money just sort of show up when I need them. I like to compare being white in this rotten country to having your game of life difficulty slider set way down - I didn’t choose it, but I have come to really center the idea that I’m “competing” with those playing on ultra hard, and I have an obligation to at the very least recognize the injustice of that, and to do what I can to carry that with me in daily life.

Born in a rust belt southeastern Michigan city, moved to a very rural part as a kid where I grew up shooting bb guns, helping neighbor farms, biking for miles and playing with the neighbor kids until mom whistled you home from dinner. Tech was a big part of my life, before I was 10 I could code BASIC on our family TRS80 computer, and tech and gaming continues to be to this day. Been married a couple of times, once young, once older, 2nd time was the charm there.

Adore cats. Like dogs, but don’t feel I can offer one enough constant attention to be fair, so them, much like children, occasional visits are enough.

I’ve gone through a lot of philosophies over my life. Never very interested in organized religion, although I’ve played around with it. When I was a dumbass 19 year old, I thought libertarian bootstrap crap was just the bees knees. Today, and what I hope this place to be, is an exploration of where I’m at now and where I’m going - I’m a leftist. I believe in society, and in the innate goodness of most people, but those bad people in the mix tend to hoard money and power to the detriment of others. I study history, people, trying to figure out what, if anything, I can do to help make this a better world.

In short, my operating philosophy that I try my best at, but sometimes fail at, is don’t be a dick. It’s the right thing, adds positivity to the world, and from a purely logical standpoint, is free and often personally profitable.

So that’s the introduction to this page I thought to write on a lazy Wednesday morning. Be well all of you, and you’ll see me again.