Michael S.

My musical interests are broad: I've gone through a phase of absolutely adoring 1930s-1950s jazz/blues female vocalists (Sarah Washington, Etta James, Billie Holliday, Nina Simone is a little more modern), some Marie Laforet, anything popular from 1930 to 1965 (big band, early rock, Motown, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Elvis Presley, The Beatles) because I'm fascinated with the cult of personality -- what can make people go crazy when one person steps onstage, Led Zeppelin, I listen to metal (Living Colour, Rammstein, Disturbed) when working out, I like Spanish music (Los Lobos, Julio Iglesias, the Gypsy Kings), Hindi music (some Ravi Shankar, Asha Bhosle, and -- what the hell -- I'll throw Krishna Das in there), Classical, film soundtracks, Puccini, Andrew Lloyd Webber ... wow. I think it would easier just to say I despise modern Country (though I like Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, Sr. -- the old stuff) and Jazz, because it bends the rules of music theory beyond enjoyment.

There isn't a whole lot out there worth reading. Even The Da Vinci Code was too slow for me. I write for people with ADD, so I prefer fast-paced rocketsleds thatt tell rich stories. I read Michael Chrichton and the overuse of passive voice killed it, so ... I guess I used to like Stephen King before he became ego-bloated. People just write -- they don't think about how to use language anymore. There's too broad a definition for excellence in art anymore.

The Matrix, because it tells us we live in a reality shaped by our choices (and the martial art aspects); Star Wars and the Indiana Jones movies, because they deal with classic archetypes which have stood the test of time; Casino Royale (the most recent one), because it makes James Bond so much more real -- it's a more thoughtful portrayal; I like Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig because there aren't enough real men anymore -- a guy who can be a groomed gentleman in a high-class setting, but really get his hands in it when he needs to -- it's a lot of sissy-boys who are playing tough; I like nearly every genre of film, with comedy being my least favorite, followed by musicals being my rock bottom least favorite. I have never been in a situation with someone and said, "Well, what I'm thinking could best be expressed in song. GIMME A C! A BOUNCY C!"

I don't really like television. I can figure out the plot halfway through. I can tolerate Law & Order, Monk, and Psych. Mostly, I keep CNN on for noise that occasionally attracts my attention.

Home.

I like world history, great personalities of history, the social structure of civilizations, religions (I have read the Bible, the Qu'ran, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Srimad Bhagavatam, the Upanisads, I have been to Catholic church, Protestant Church, Buddhist temple ...), the roots and formation of religion and law, psychology (mass and individual), languages (Russian, Arabic and Chinese, I'm continuously learning all three), anatomy and physiology, earth sciences; I write books with illustrations, drawing (graphite and charcoal), painting with oil and water based pigments, writing music (I just connected my MIDI mapper to my computer!) mostly for symphony orchestra and some for band, martial art (Jeet Kune Do, aikido, hapkido, some muay Thai and Krav Maga), weightlifting, elliptical trainer (the most awesome workout to me), study-study-study!

To really hit big with meaningful novels, to write the screenplays and soundtracks for them, to pass on knowledge and make it easy to understand, to contribute to the enrichment of the sum total of humanity (not too ambitious, eh?) so that they may use their own power to build their lives in a way which is meaningful to them individually and thus transform everyone around them into a better world as a whole.

Everyone goes to drugs, alcohol, television, movies, other people, to try to make them feel a certain indefinable SOMETHING -- a joyful fulfillment -- and the more it feels generated and untrue, the more and harder they search. There is nothing outside of you that will give you joyful fulfillment -- not helping the poor, not helping the rich, not greagiousness, intoxication, addiction, freedom -- only you can determine what you feel, think, and focus on, but no one ever uses that power. Enlightenment is waiting to be discovered INSIDE YOU, to be experienced every moment of every day.

Conservative.

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prior Department of Homeland Security, I now work at an unnamed hospital

University of Phoenix

Unidentified

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