John Paul McCord III, born in Macon, Georgia, on July 18, 1982. If you didn't wish me a happy birthday, I'll accept belated birthday gifts in the form of Barnes & Noble or Best Buy gift cards at any time of year. I also drive a 1994 Pontiac Grand Am with 140,000+ miles on it; it's still in good shape.

I'm a recent graduate from Macon State College with an associate's degree in political science, a bachelor's degree in information technology, and enough overall course credits to choke a registrar. I like to spend my spare time with friends, on the internet, watching a good movie, listening to good music, or participating in some kind of sporting event (baseball, basketball, bowling, ping pong...). I'm a nerd and a dork, but I wouldn't call myself a geek. I'm attentive to detail, I'm an agnostic, I prefer third party candidates, I'll eat almost anything that's edible, and I'm annoyingly open-minded (i.e., sometimes I care so little that I'm accused of lacking compassion or emotion). Did I miss anything?

No, I'm with Jen. She's beautiful, intelligent, motivated, and just what I want in a girl. She makes me happy, and I was already a happy person. Let's just say I'm happier than I've been in a long time!

I write because it allows me to express my thoughts when no one else is around, and the public nature of the internet encourages me to stick to professional verbal conduct. So not only do I have an outlet for my thoughts about this, that, and everything between, but I also have an accurate portrayal of what I was doing and thinking at random times of the day for the last five years -- including the spelling and grammar mistakes. Progress is fun, especially when it can be tracked in hindsight. I didn't live in the same house growing up with notches in a doorframe marking how much I'd grown every few months, so this is how I make up for it.

No. I am what you would call an impulsive blogger -- I blog when the impulse hits me if I can get to my web site. One side effect of this: I often forget what I was going to write or that I even had any idea to write before I get to a computer. Most of my writing falls into one of these general categories: politics, philosophy, culture, entertainment, humor. Occasionally, I'll write something personal or I'll tell you how I've spent the last few moments in time.

This site functions as a final resting place for my past thoughts. Critical statement: this site is mine! Mine, mine, mine! When I started archiving all my posts on September 1, 1999, the purpose was to have something I could look back on any time in the future. I put it on the internet because I value the input of others, and I love attention, but don't be fooled: that's still for my benefit, not yours. So keep it coming!

Well, yes, but with good reason: I am an egoist (not egotist -- the missing "t" makes a huge difference!). I believe that no human being knows anything about what's really on someone else's mind. The only correct decision you can possibly make considers your values and yours alone; making decisions for others, even if you think it's in their best interest, equates to authoritarianism. To put it simply: you don't really know anyone but yourself, so how can you really think for anyone but yourself?

You wouldn't think so, would you? But they do -- or at least they appear to from my perspective. Let me explain why I think it works: Yes, I am selfish, but I am also compassionate. Yes, I act to serve my own interests, but I understand that this requires serving the interests of others to some degree. This may sound hypocritical, but it really isn't. I don't really know what you think, so I'm not really acting on your behalf; rather, I am only acting to encourage a good response. Manipulative? No, I don't think so. That would require me to know what you're thinking. I just explain the same way you think in a completely different way, because I believe all humans are innately selfish.

Of course I do. I'm really quite compassionate and (apparently) fun to be around, but I'm still a selfish bastard. You'll find that it makes me a very honest person, sometimes brutally so. This helps to keep things simple because people who aren't worth my time are invariably those who can't handle the truth. I'm not offensive; you're defensive. For example: does the word "fuck" really hurt anything? Or is it just some sound that people inexplicably attach meaning to, like the words "sex", "cookie", or "polynomial"? Hmmm...

First thing's first: I call them quotes. Most of the linguistic authorities agree that they are properly called quotation marks, but screw that. I've spent the last six years attempting to master how to use the English language properly, and in my efforts I have decided to apply my own stylistic customizations. This includes adopting the British rule of placing punctuation outside the quote unless the punctuation is part of the quote. Of course, I'm not perfect, and some of my grammar "mistakes" are actually mistakes. So, please, tell me if you spot one!

Either my plan worked, or you're just that bored/interested. Either way, you apparently you have nothing better to do at the moment, so you may as well keep reading, because the rest of this is contains the meat of what it means to be me.

I've never been that good at describing myself, so I'll just go and you'll tell me when to stop. Cool?

The best video game ever is Super Mario World or Super Mario Bros 3; take your pick. Runners-up include any Gran Turismo or Grand Theft Auto titles for the PlayStation 2, and Goldeneye and Perfect Dark. Great bands include, but are not limited to: Pink Floyd, Tool, The Postal Service, Frou Frou. I still haven't finished reading Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide trilogy. The Matrix and the Lord of the Rings are the greatest movie creations of all time. Word to the respective mothers of Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith. Anything Natalie Portman does is magic. And Michael Moore makes good movies through dishonesty. Baseball, ping pong, bowling, and basketball are the only sports worth my time, but I am hopelessly addicted to watching college football. "Family Guy" and "24" are the greatest shows on TV, and Fox News is my news network of choice (except that godawful "War Stories" program). Jon Stewart is the funniest man on television. I like caffeine and sugar, but they make my heart groove in funky ways. Bad assumptions and bad drivers piss me off. When are you going to tell me to stop?

I subscribe to no religion or ideology but my own; I believe in ideas, not ideologies. I find the ideas of theists and atheists both to be quite presumptuous. I am agnostic because the answer is 42 and no one really knows why. I am a skeptic to the end, but I accept some pragmatic assumptions in order to mesh with society, lest I should pick every nit and impale my mind with a pins-and-needles attack of denial. I am fiercely independent in thought, but unfortunately entirely dependent on my physical surroundings. I ponder various ponderings on various occasions: Some like Kant; I prefer Hume. Some like Plato; I prefer Socrates. You may say there's no such thing as Santa, but as for me and grandpa, we believe.

Take the On the Issues Quiz!

I'm a libertarian with a little "l", because political parties are inherently bad, but people are inherently good. Good and evil do not exist outside of your mind; they're just ideas. We only have control at the conscious level, which is not control at all, because our lives and our consciousnesses are governed by natural (perhaps supernatural?) biophysical forces beyond our objective control. I like long paragraphs, and if you've read this whole thing you deserve a cookie. Find me and tell me you read that on my web site, and I'll buy you a cookie. Republicans are bad, Democrats are worse, and I believe in three simple concepts that should be held above all others: truth, toleration, and love.

I support meritocratic capitalism; oppose derision, division, and hate; support independent, individual thought and rational, sensible discourse; oppose emotive, manipulative rhetoric; support responsibility and accountability; oppose the idea of protection without education; and support, above all, the idea that all persons should enjoy rights to life and choice, and it is the responsibility of government to protect those rights -- not grant them. Government exists to protect us from force and fraud, domestic and foreign -- nothing more. Additional government functions merely eat away at our individuality and our rights and ability to make our own decisions.

I'm a geek. But you already knew that.

I concluded long ago that I am a nerd, and I'm proud of it. After years of rejecting the label, I actually looked it up in the dictionary, and I was surprised to find that the nerd stereotype only fits half of the definition: sure, a nerd can be defined as one who studies excessively and is likely to be socially inept, but that's only half of it. Besides, while I certainly study excessively, it isn't necessarily for the things people tell me I should be studying for. I only live life once, and I'm not as interested in living it according to everyone else's demands. And I am certainly not socially inept.

About four years ago, I endured a sharp increase of social clashes and sharp decrease in the number of people who I could call friends, which is what prompted me to discover more about who I really am without everyone else in my life. So I looked it up, hoping to find that my reputation as a "nerd" would help me to define myself. And in the third edition of the American Heritage Dictionary, aside from the stereotype that we all accept as being nerdy, I found this:

[A nerd is] someone who knows what's really important and interesting and doesn't care to be distracted by trivial chatter and silly status games.

After mulling this over for a short while, I decided that I needed to know more about how the rest of the world classified people, and I eventually ran into Keirsey's Temperament Sorter, which has provided the most accurate description of any personality analysis to which I have willingly subjected myself! According to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter, I am an Artisan. There is much more to this than a label, though, and I go into that below. (Keirsey's generic details are in italics; my comments follow in brackets.)

All Artisans (SPs) share the following core characteristics:

(1) They are fun-loving, optimistic, realistic, and focused on the here and now. [This is definitely true of me. I used to describe myself specifically as an optimistic realist or a realistic optimist... either works. I certainly don't dwell on the past or worry about the future; such pursuits are a waste of time and effort. Of course, "carpe diem" or "live like you were dying" isn't exactly my style; reason comes first.]

(2) Artisans pride themselves on being unconventional, bold, and spontaneous. [Yes, yes, yes! I try not to "pride" myself for it, but I let my ego get the best of me here and there. I don't try to be bold or unconventional, but I abhor the idea of maintaining traditions for their own sake. As for spontaneity, let's just say... I like to keep the chaos and structure in my life balanced.]

(3) Artisans make playful mates, creative parents, and troubleshooting leaders. [Playful, yes. Troubleshooting, definitely. Creative parent? Well, that remains to be seen, but I won't bet against it.]

(4) Artisans are excitable, trust their impulses, want to make a splash, seek stimulation, prize freedom, and dream of mastering action skills. [I don't really want to make a splash; I just want to be an ordinary person. But some of my other aspirations can't be met without making a splash, and I admit that I don't mind the attention because I feel like I can handle it. And I'm not all that excitable; I like that I'm in control of my emotions. Otherwise, right on.]

Consistent with this view, Artisans are described as adaptable, artistic, and athletic -- as very much aware of reality and never fighting it -- as open-minded and ever on the lookout for workable compromises -- as knowing what's going on around them and as able to see the needs of the moment -- as storing up useful facts and having no use for ignorance -- as easygoing, tolerant, unprejudiced, and persuasive -- as gifted with machines and tools -- as acting with effortless economy -- as sensitive to color, line, and texture -- as wanting first-hand experiences, and in general enjoying life. SPs (Artisans, as seen by most, are very much like one another and very much different from the other types, the SJs (Guardians), NTs (Rationals), and NFs (Idealists). [I fall in best with the Artisans, but I believe I am fairly strong in the other categories as well. If I had to make a rough estimate, I would say that I am 40% Artisan, 30% Guardian, 20% Rational, and 10% Idealist.]

There are four Artisan character types: composers, crafters, performers, and promoters. While I show qualities of all four, I believe I would fit in best as a promoter.