Roseyland

I was born on June 6, 1977 at 6:55 PM at St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Lincoln, NE.

I am an only child.

I’m 5′11″ (5′11.25″ in the morning, and 5′10.75 in the evening).

I’m a straight male.

Rosey is a nickname I picked up in college.

I have a deep voice.

I’m an INTJ. You can read my personality profile here or here. I agree with most of it, but I feel like I’m a littler warmer and goofier than the profiles describe.

I lived in Lincoln, Nebraska until I was 6. Then I lived in Edmond, Oklahoma for a year. Then I lived in Grand Junction, Colorado until I was 18.

My Dad and his side of my family have always lived in Nebraska, where I spent every summer as a kid.

In 1995 graduated from Fruita Monument High School in Fruita, Colorado.

I swam in High School. I had a school record in the 200 year freestyle (1:58.32).

I went to Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. In 1999 I graduated with a double major in Physics and Mathematics and a minor in Computer Science.

After Doane, I attended Washington University in St. Louis for three semesters. I graduated in December, 2000 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.

After WashU, I attended the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. I graduated in August 2002 with an M.S. in Electrical Engineering.

I stayed in school as long as I did mostly to avoid getting a real job.

When I refer to “college” I am talking about Doane. My best friends today are they guys I lived with at Doane. Below is a picture of me with some of them in college.

I was in a fraternity at Doane, but I was not and am not at all the typical frat guy.

Since September 2002 I have lived in St. Louis, Missouri.

I work in the aerospace industry. I like it a lot and I feel that my work is important. My job is more technical than the average engineering job, but I wouldn’t say that it is hard core technical. I basically spend my time creatively solving mathematical story problems, which I think is really fun.

My Dad and Aunt live in Nebraska. My Mom and Stepdad live in South Carolina. I have two aunts, two cousins, and two grandparents in Florida. I also have three cousins and an uncle in Minnesota.

Below is a picture of everywhere in the United States that I have been. I have also been to London, Paris, Italy, and on three Caribbean cruises.

My favorite two vacations are Disney World and warm weather cruises (sorry Alaska).

I love big cities. I especially like ridding subways in big cities.

I really want to see Barcelona, Italy, Switzerland, and Australia.

I have a cat named Earl. He is wild and crazy. He runs, jumps, attacks, and talks. My right arm is Earl’s favorite toy and I have the scars to prove it.

I am a cat person, but I like other people’s dogs.

I visit www.icanhascheezburger.com multiple times a day.

I love roller coasters and thunderstorms.

I’m fascinated by tornadoes. I’d love to be a storm chaser.

I’d like to go skydiving someday, however, I’m a little uncomfortable with the idea of having a guy strapped to my back.

I have vivid dreams and I usually remember them.

I love to rollerblade.

I own golf clubs, and I hit balls at the driving range a lot, but I don’t play much.

I love miniature golf.

I have a Wii, Tivo, and iPhone 3G, and I love them all.

I like board games and trivia.

I like shoes.

I buy most of my clothes at Eddie Bauer, but I’m trying to expand my clothes shopping options.

I drive a Honda Accord.

I own a condo in Brentwood, Missouri.

I’m a member of Mensa, but I’ve never been to a meeting.

I’m not a quick thinker. I need a few moments to process information.

I am a horrible speller.

I have bad handwriting.

I’m not the greatest at small talk, but I can fake it.

I have a blog, you are reading it right now.

I procrastinate, but doesn’t everybody?

Generally I am very organized, but there are exceptions.

My favorite colors are Purple and Green, but not together, that would be weird.

I think simplicity is beautiful.

I like balance and symmetry, but I’m not obsessive about it.

I hate cleaning.

I think philosophies and ideologies are wonderful starting points, but they need to be blended with practical realities to be useful.

I say “pop”, “soda” is wrong.

I cringe when people refer to their mother-in-law and father-in-law as “mom” and “dad”.

I don’t like catchphrases and buzz words.

People who slap American flags on anything and everything they can scare me a little.

I am always thinking about something inside my head. Sometimes I think of something funny and I start laughing, which is hard to explain to anybody near by.

I often have trouble falling asleep, because I can’t stop thinking.

I’m a night owl and not a morning person. I can always stay up later and sleep in longer.

I generally work from 9am to 6pm.

I love going to movies. My favorite movie is Good Will Hunting.

I loved the Harry Potter Books.

Usually I don’t like fantasy or sci-fi books or movies. I need a small level of real world believability to enjoy something. There are exceptions though, like Harry Potter.

If I had to pick had to pick a favorite music genre, it would be alternative bands that have sold out. When people say “They used to be good until they sold out”, I think to myself “Hmm, I’d probably like them”.

I like all sorts of music. If the mood strikes me, I’ll listen to anything from Brittney Spears, to Classical, to Techno, to Country. Seriously, I’ll listen to anything.

I really like collegiate a cappella.

I like the song Barbie Girl by Aqua, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

I like reality TV and reality TV like documentaries.

My favorite TV show is LOST. I also like Chuck, The Tudors, Dexter, Mythbusters, Man vs. Wild, Big Love, The Simpsons, The Family Guy, Flip That House, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Little People Big World, Good Eats, and lots of other shows.

My favorite TV channels are: The Discovery Channel, TLC, The Travel Channel, and The Food Network.

I watch reruns of Frasier.

I’m a little bit of a Disney fan. I have seen most of the Disney cartoons, and I have a small collection of pre-1980’s live action Disney movies. You know, like “The Shaggy Dog” and “The Absent Minded Professor“.

The only sport I follow religiously is college football, more specifically Nebraska football.

I did not like Steve Pederson, and I admire Tom Osborn a lot.

I love going to baseball games, but I don’t really follow baseball unless the Cardinals are in the playoffs.

I have trouble watching sports like Soccer, Basketball, and Hockey, because it’s hard for me to pay constant attention to the game. My mind drifts, then something big happens, and then I’m mad that I missed it because I wasn’t paying attention.

I love the Olympics.

I like to cook, but I don’t do it very often.

My favorite restaurant is Spaghetti Works in Nebraska. I always order spaghetti with white clam and beer cheese sauce. I have a recipe for the beer cheese sauce, but it is not as good as the real thing.

My other favorite restaurant is Sonny’s Bar-B-Q. I always order a big deal with sliced pork, bar-b-q beans, and unsweet tea. I prefer the original Sonny’s sauce.

I love Lindt milk chocolate.

I am addicted to iced tea, more specifically unsweetened fresh brewed black iced tea. Green tea is okay. I can’t stand the “tea” that comes from the fountain like pop.

I’ve never used nicotine in any form.

If it wasn’t for social occasions, I would probably never drink. I do like the look of bottles of alcohol though. I browse the alcohol section of the grocery store just to look at the cool bottles.

I’m trying to get into wine. I love the look of a bottle of wine, and I’m starting to appreciate the taste.

I’ve never used any sort of illegal drug.

I tend to think that marijuana should be legal. Not because I want to use it, but because I think our laws should be consistent. I can’t think of a good reason why alcohol and nicotine should be legal but not marijuana.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that all drugs should be legalized, but I do think we need to significantly shift our approach to the drug problem.

I almost always agree with Penn Jillette. I love Penn and Teller’s show “Bullshit!” on Showtime.

I believe that J.F.K. was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald who acted alone.

I love stories and TV shows about ghosts or UFO’s, but ultimately I do not believe in ghost, UFOs, or conspiracy theories.

I do not have any personal objections to gun control or the death penalty, but I think both are a waste of time and resources.

I’ve never fired a gun.

I can not stand Michael Moore. While I am often sympathetic to the point he is trying to make, he uses false information, over simplification, and an inflammatory tone to support his views. I do not like that.

I think Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh are very similar. They are good at inflammatory rhetoric, but not much else.

I have always voted Democrat but I’m not so much a Democrat as I am not a Republican. I like to consider myself a passionate moderate.

I like democrats from red states and republicans from blue states.

I think Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are annoying and outdated.

I can’t stand Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell.

I am pro-choice.

I think that republicans spend way too much time thinking about homosexuals.

I will not vote for a candidate who does not believe in evolution, does not support stem cell research, or frequently uses the word fetus.

I was okay with Bush administration until Hurricane Katrina. Now I think the Bush administration might be the worst administration ever.

I have great respect for the Men and Women of the Unites States Military. What they do is amazing and often under appreciated.

I was raised a Methodist and I consider myself a Christian, but I don’t really believe that any religion is completely right or wrong. I do not think religious text should be taken literally.

Generally I do not consider myself a very religious person, but I do have a passing interest in spirituality.

When it comes to science vs. religion, I choose science. That being said, science has its religious beliefs as well.

I believe there is more to reality that energy and matter interacting.

I do not believe that life is a side effect of the laws of physics, rather the laws of physics are a side effect of life.

I believe that consciousness is more fundamental that the physical universe.

I believe that duality is an illusion.

I love the books “Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” and “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach.

I liked the movie “What the Bleep!“, but it is filled with several factual inaccuracies.

Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog is my spiritual theme song.

I like Buddhist philosophy, especially the concept of “The Middle Way“.

I think it is unhealthy to hate people, even really bad people.

I don’t like extremes.

Evangelicals used to really bother me, but I’ve come to accept that spirituality is an important aspect of life and that different people are driven to experience spirituality in different ways. As long they are not going to force their beliefs on others or bomb something, I’m okay with them.

I view evangelicals and homosexuals the same way. I see them as people driven to live a certain kind of life. It could be genetic, it could be epigenetic, it could be environmental, or it could be a combination of all those things. Regardless, as long as they are not hurting anyone else, they should be free to live their lives as they choose.

As I get older, I get less and less cynical.