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After 30+ years in the Jehovah Witnesses Cult I am now very proudly a philosophic, open-minded honest and clear Freethinker, an Academician, an epicurean, an anti-imperialist, a sybarite, a materialist, a proud Secular Humanist, a fire breathing progressive, A Political and Social Progressive, An unapologetic believer in meritocracy, democracy, secular government, rationalism and that doubt, logic, reason and intellectual curiosity are very good things. I am a declassed gentleman, and somewhat of a cultural anachronism. I am also a Poet and an Essayist, a cinephile, an avid collector of Good Music, Books, and Films.
I am a truly great raconteur who realizes that biological evolution has been scientifically proven, that Ayn Rand’s immoral governing and social philosophy, Ronald Reagan’s ‘trickle down’ economic policies and the social and foreign policies of both the Neo and Theo Cons have both been wildly uncompassionate and destructive. As a developing scholar I believe in personal reflection, education, pragmatism, existentialism, altruism, and philanthropy and that all human societies must continue to strive for utopia or we must soon meet with oblivion. I am a voice over artist. I love to debate ideas and issues and love learning and/or making people laugh or think.
I am trying to be a genuine polymath and one who has both a zest for life and an insatiable appetite for adventure and intellectual growth. I, like my beloved father before me, was born on the Chinese calendar ‘Year of the Dragon’. And like my father I AM A DRAGON! And like all ‘dragons’ I draw strength and inspiration from beauty and thrive on challenge and adventure, and have often found living life on principles a real battle, one which I often find myself relying on my own personal code and reservoir of strength, intelligence, and courage to surmount. I believe in trying to be totally honest, true to oneself and to one’s vision and convictions, even if that means standing alone. Honesty, integrity, personal honor, and authenticity, these now, are my only ‘gods’.
I am kind, generous, erudite, loyal and deeply sentimental but I can be tough and sardonic. I loath liars, leeches, phonies and the pretentious, and I am as set in my ways as a streetcar. I have a sensible and realistic outlook on life with my two feet usually planted firmly on the ground [although I may, on rare occasions, seem to have my head in the clouds]. I am very consistent and am gifted with considerable powers of endurance but I am very flawed and will admit that, all to obvious fact, to anyone such as finding betrayal very difficult to forgive, not suffering fools gladly, having disappointed family and friends and having been something of a libertine.
Though I have been told that I possess a gentle, even soft, nature, I can be enormously strong-willed and stubborn. I can be coaxed and persuaded by charm, beauty, love, truth or affection – but I can never ever be forced by ANYONE ever. I rarely resort to actual fighting. I just will not cooperate with anything that I passionately disagree with or feel is illogical, impractical or morally dubious and will not be pushed into anything before I feel certain about its merits. Although it was truly one of my great wishes to inherit some part of my father’s glorious, mellifluous, magnificent, ‘once-in-a-lifetime, melodious, operatic singing voice (I didn’t) I am, at least grateful to have been told by family, friends and even complete strangers that I do, at least, possess a deep, soft, expressive, articulate, well modulated speaking voice (thanks Dad.)
I am both a sensual hedonist and a true heartfelt romantic, an optimistic pessimist, as well as being a bitterly disillusioned and brooding loner yet a true champion of the human spirit [Go Figure]. but I refuse to be a hypocritical conformist. I Love both Red and White Wine, cold beer, good liquor, sweet iced tea with lemons, Impressionist Art, Russian Literature, Irish wit, English stoicism, Stimulating Debate & Conversation, Sam Cooke’s, Ray Charles’, Marvin Gaye’s, Bobby Darin’s, Nat King Cole’s, Tony Bennett’s, Frank Sinatra’s, Roy Hamilton’s, Little Willie John’s, Levi Stubbs’, Billy Eckstine’s, Johnny Hartman’s, Brook Benton’s Mario Lanza’s, Michael Buble’s, Luther Vandross’, Sammy Davis Jr’s, Dinah Washington’s, Sarah Vaughan’s, Nina Simone’s and Ella Fitzgerald’s voices wrapped around almost any lyric. Dining Out, Live Theater, Going To Concerts, Comedy Clubs, Backyard Barbecues, Young Ladies, Sweet Romance, Soft Kisses, Hot Hard Sex, and the very thought of ‘Making Sweet Love’. Cuddling [either with a hot girl or a good book]. I Love the political humor of Jon Steward, Stephen Colbert, Bill Hicks, Lewis Black, John Oliver and Bill Maher and the humorous insightful genius of the early Richard Pryor and the later George Carlin. I also love both the Beach and the Mountains equally and I hope to see every corner of this remarkable planet before I take my last breath (hopefully arm in arm with my ‘Soul Mate’).
I am an aesthete, an eager autodidact, and a terrible dancer. I believe in the Bushido Code, the Ethics of Marcus Aurelius, The ‘Golden Rule’, (hard-learned) personal self-control, collective bargaining, and that I am my ‘brother’s keeper’. I believe that abstinence and celibacy are wildly unnatural and that the libido should be exercised like a healthy muscle, in Soul Searching, Meditation and Yoga. I believe in holding doors and chairs for women, standing by true friends, protecting families and the environment, defending the young, the old and the weak, speaking (or acting out) against injustices, leaving the world better than we found it, and that when we fall or are knocked down that we should (indeed we must) get back up quickly.
I Love gentle spring showers, cool summer breezes and the color of leaves in the autumn. I like waterfalls, the deep woods, the Aurora Borealis, Seasonal Zephyrs, wildlife, Sail Boats, Yachts and Lighthouses. I love Sunsets. I love the reflection of the moon on the lakes and ocean at night and mountain views. I love Paris at night, The Swiss Mountains, Germany’s Black Forest region, The American West, The beaches of Brazil, Tahiti and Bora Bora, the British countryside, British Columbia, the Fjords of Norway, and the Mediterranean Sea at sunset. I Love Mountain Views, Golden Delicious Apples, Ben & Jerry’s ‘New York Super Fudge Chunky Ice Cream, Mexican, Chinese and Italian cuisine, Peach Cobbler, Chicken Alfredo, Beef Stroganoff, graphic novels and Erotica, bongo drums, African Ceremonial Masks, Frederick Douglass’ narrative, Richard Wright’s novels, James Baldwin’s essays, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s and Rev William Barber II’s sermons, Roger Ebert’s film reviews, Rachel Maddow’s political analyses, Fred Astaire’s grace and my Uncle Alvin’s poetry, witty banter, and bawdy humor (I miss him so.)
I do love Classical Music, Classic ‘Old School’ Soul, Early Rock, Doo Wop Harmonies, Operatic Arias, Jump, Swing, Cool and Acoustic Jazz, Boogie Woogie Piano, Gut Bucket Blues, Early R&B Music and The Motown Sound. And as incredible as it may seem for a Non-believer like me I also love Negro Spirituals, Black Gospel, Christmas Music and Gregorian Chants. (The vocal music at the Kingdom Halls truly sucked!) I also love Brazilian and Cuban Jazz, Salsa, Mambo, the Bossa Nova, The Rumba, Meringue, soft Spanish Guitar Music, some Funk, and Calypso, Reggae, old Hollywood and Broadway musicals and the great American Songbook. But I also love, the sound of gentle rain on the rooftop, waves breaking against the shore, water flowing in brooks, birds singing before the break of dawn, and the pure joy in a child’s innocent laughter.
I love Star Gazing (to inspire me with awe and remind me how very small I am in the immense scheme of things), Singing in the Shower, great documentaries, and Old Hollywood Movies, especially Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, James Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra, and Billy Wilder Movies. I love watching PBS, MSNBC, CNN, C-Span I and II, NPR, The BBC, Jeopardy, The Discovery and History Channels, and Turner Classic Movies. I Like Sunsets more than I like Sunrises. I Love the feel of a woman’s hair after it has been washed and dried. And the scent that a woman has after bathing. I love to Travel, Water Ski, Sail and Hot Air Balloon. I plan to learn how to Scuba Dive, Ski Glide and Fly an Airplane and (although I am no adrenaline junkie) I want to try Skydiving [at least once].
I have been fortunate to have been related to and that known some truly brilliant personalities as well as the opportunity to become a genuinely well read, well spoken bibliophile who just loves reading with a preference for great literature, history, science, great architecture, ethics, great biographies, social tomes, current events and politics, art, philosophy, and Freethought enlightenment. I absolutely love the sport of baseball, the music of Louis Armstrong and Louis Jordan, the Muppets, Summer water balloon and late night pillow fights, The United States ‘Bill of Rights’, The UN Charter and Declaration of Human Rights, The French ‘Rights of Man’, The US “Wall separating ‘Church and State’, The Red Cross, The World Health Organization, The ACLU, Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders and walking my dogs.
I Enjoy being a Voice-over artist, studying Oratory, Post-Aristotelian Logic and I Love the best of Buddhist and Confucian Wisdom, Eastern Art, Tai Chi, Blackberry Sage Tea, Lemons, ‘Bit-O-Honey’ Candy Bars, Ice Cream sandwiches, Porterhouse Steaks just off the grill, baked potatoes, Coke Cola, gelato, sherbet, sorbet, White Castle Hamburgers, chili with beans, chocolate marble cake, sweet potato pie, fudge brownies with nuts, freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, raisin bread, English muffins, cheese burgers, New York style pizzas, egg rolls, tacos, hot pastrami sandwiches, all variety of nuts (especially hazelnuts, cashews, pistachios, and almonds), all fruits (except watermelons and cantaloupes), Bumper cars, roller coasters, motorbikes, swimming pools, spending my day pursuing Intellectual, Cultural and Ethical growth, Museums, Libraries, Bookstores, observatories, recording studios, Beautiful Poetry, Eloquent Prose and Inspiring Speeches; although I am learning the value of diplomacy I will always try (depending on the reason) to boldly speak the truth as I understand it. I can be easily provoked to action by those who are cruel, stupid, judgmental or intolerant.
I dislike Sleeping Alone (although I most often do), eating my vegetables (shame on me), but I absolutely detest Cigarette Smoke, Dishonesty, Disloyalty, Persons who are unhygienic, Selfish, Rude, Impatient, Conceited, Unappreciative, Fatuous or Dishonorable, Fascists, Oligarchies, Imperialist, Whiners, Quitters, Thieves, Sycophants, Myrmidons, ‘sagging pants’, Gansta Rap, Heavy Metal, or Acid Rock ‘Music’, ‘Thug’ culture, Televangelists, Religious Hypocrites, Dogmas, Delusions, Sophistries and Superstitions (I now much more prefer the sobriety of informed and logical reasoning to any and all religious inebriations). I hate Human Mandated ‘Theocracies’, Theocratic Fanatics and Metaphysical Zealots who haven’t the honesty or courage to question silly or dangerous indoctrinations or every sort (and yet I truly admire ‘Spiritual’ Persons who are sincere, humble, and made compassionate by their faith – Go Figure!).
I passionately dislike Fox ‘News’, Right-Wing Dishonest, Hate radio and newspapers, Corporate Greed, Circular ‘Reasoning’, Nihilism, Bullies, and Vain, Deceitful, Fickle, Spiteful, Petty or Bitter Women; Hateful, Stupid, Dishonest, Brutal and Violent Men, Obtuseness, Arrogance, Narcotics, War Profiteers, Environmental and Human Exploiters as well as National, Racial and Religious Bigots. I truly admire those who are reasonable, open minded, talented, intelligent, intellectually curious, creative, compassionate, practical, logical, honest, courageous, kind, keep their word and to the integrity of their highest convictions, and who champion both Honest Rational Inquiry and Human Dignity everywhere. Like Thomas Paine I believe that ‘Every Good Man is my brother, That the Entire World is My Country and to do what is right is (now) my only Religion’. My greatest hopes are both to soon find a girl who will justly make me fully believe in love again, feel my heart tremble each time we touch and kiss or even when I see her face. Dedicate myself to making her smile as often as possible. And to find myself truly living up to my own credo that this one brief life – of which we are certain – should be lived to the very fullest. It feels great to be completely free of All superstitious nonsense!