Quixotic Perspectives

Daily Kos: Cheney & Classification

An excellent blog post at DailyKos covering VP’s authority to declassify information and use it to build the case for the Iraq war.

It’s about challenging my perceptions and assumptions. It’s about exploring the depths of my interests and probing the foundations on which I construct my reality. Through events and news of the world around me, at times through personal experiences, I want to probe and reflect upon how I develop my values. Feel free to follow my journey. If you care to join me or find here a space to begin your own self reflection, welcome.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I attended one of the prestigious land-grant universities in the Midwest, studying philosophy and social studies education. One of the driving forces for me now is that I fell short of completing my degree. While I earned sufficient credits in pursuing a dual degree, I became burned out and did not complete some specific courses required in the two programs of study. From that experience, I now try to push myself to excel, but not so much that I overstretch my limits. While I try to continually push against and extend those limitations, I also try to be conscious of when the price is not worth the gain.

Since then, I studied massage therapy, and through massage became interested in Chinese medicine. Though I knew I ultimately wanted to study Chinese medicine, it was several years before I found myself in a position to pursue that desire. Taking that final plunge involved stepping away from a low-paying but secure job and committing to a lot of financial aid debt. I had not been able to manage a career sufficient to build any savings to take with me. With little safety net, I have now been studying Chinese medicine since April 2003 and have a little over a year remaining to my Masters degree. This doesn’t completely define me, but it is a sizeable component of who I am now.

There are additional bits and pieces that are significant. Though I have some leadership skills and a variety of talents, I can be socially challenged. Awkward even. I hope that I will be able to explore my difficulties in interpersonal relationships in an honest and open manner that also helps me grow.

I have a friend who, among other things, considers me tech support. Odd that, especially given that my formal computer training consists of one Intro to Computers and a single Access Database class at a community college a few years ago. Mostly I surf the web for news. But my dad is a computer tech, so I grew up around computers. I’m also patient and can read and make sense out of most instructions. That combined with how user friendly even Windows systems have become means that I can be reasonably technically proficient with patience and the right help files. Thus I get to be massage therapist as technical support. The renaissance-man/jack-of-all-trades thing went a bit far though, when she suggested I could be a fashion and design consultant. I mean, there has to be a limit, right?