User Profile

I'm a thoughtful, urban, african american social scientist in training. I'm a creative, compassionate, passionate academic and all around fun guy. I was born and raised in Detroit, MI, but I've lived in Florida, Pennsylvania, D.C., Minneapolis and I'm currently in Digne les Bains, France, spending a year teaching English. I came to France to challenge myself. American life wasn't providing sufficient excitement, so I had to cross the ocean. I'm a competitive type who likes to challenge social norms. I'll probably do that until my dying day.

Generally, my interests and motivations in life fall into two categories: people and ideas. I’m seemingly shy at first, but my toughness, my strength, my straightforward nature, and my resilience all emerge with time as you get to know me. I recently finished my undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota with a major in geography. and plan to do big things! I want to continue seeing the world, and lead a purposeful life. What that life looks like, I’m not completely sure. But I've got some ideas:

Top Eleven List of Things I Want in Life (in no particular order):

1. A Partner
2. Ph.D
3. Debt-free and financially secure
4. To be a professor
5. To be in really good shape
6. Unique and well decorated house
7. Strong Family
8. At least five total years of foreign travel
9. To have a book of essays that people actually read.
10. To be a social touchstone and bridge-builder between the ethnic and cultural groups of which I am a member.
11. To have fun in life along the way!

I'm into a lot of things; fun and serious. I like to game; listen to music (always open to hearing new things); write; have meaningful discussion or silly discussion; play with words; and just generally run my mouth. I love to cook. I’m into fashion and dressing well when I can. I’m always up for dinner, drinks, or dancing with friends. I dig sports (football, rugby, basketball, tennis, whatever), Sex and the City, America’s Top Model, HGTV, and other entertainment that nourishes me and my gayness.

I wasn't really raised religiously, but I call myself an Episcopalian now. I've been a student of astrology since age 12, so that factors into to my spiritual thinking quite a bit too. I like the idea that we all play a role in this life, but I'm often tempted to elevate certain roles over others :)

The title of my journal comes from the idea of "Double Consciousness," discussed by W.E.B. DuBois in The Souls of Black Folk. He spoke of “this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity”, and of a two-ness, of being "an American, a Negro; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder." Add gay to the mix, and you've got me, or at least some of the social labels I'm working with.

I'm an earnest guy with a sense of humor. As I've climed from one height to the next, I've been made VERY aware of many social issues. I'm man enough to write about them and be vulnerable about how they affect me.

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