A Few Items About The Misanthrope

“What is the answer? In that case, what is the question?”

 Gertrude Stein, 1874-1946, Writer

Read a couple of blogs posts at Tosy and Cosh that inspired me to start posting again. We’ll see how long it lasts. Not sure why I stop and start. I enjoy publishing them on Toner Mishap, but then stop just as suddenly as I start.

Let’s be optimistic and say this time, we’ll try to post more frequently. Now I am careful to emphasis that I am not going to post every day, which is just too much effort. We did it for one year in 2005 until 2006 and we had fun and gathered a bit of attention. Most of the posts from me were political in nature. While in hindsight the posts were rather too full of hyperbole, but then again that was my aim to call attention to the views and get comments.

Photo by RJW

So in the spirit of starting anew here are a few things you may or may not know about me. Me being the Misanthrope, I would rather not use the pseudonym, but I have almost 20 followers under that name.

Here are a few things about me:

1.     I enjoy reading

2.     I’d rather go by the initials RJW

3.     I like to write and like to be read as well

4.     I go to the gym more often than not

5.     I work from home and rather happy about that since I spent years driving to downtown Los Angeles from a far away suburb

6.     I often make notes while reading I underline in light pencil in my books or I write down a phrase or sentence I admire

7.     I play darts with a buddy, but not in bars

8.     I play ping pong and have yet to find any one who can beat me on a regular basis

9.     I am pretty good at darts

10. I like more drama type movies over silly slapstick movies

11. I am not a fan of slapstick, except for the old time greats: Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, W.C. Fields

12. I love Godfather and Godfather II

13. A close second or third depending on how you count is Django Unchained. My favorite scene is when Christoph Waltz is surrounded by a crowd after shooting a marshal and then ends up getting paid

14. I like to golf, but rarely do

15. Happily married, finally

16. I feel very grateful and thankful for all I have

17. I am looking forward to retiring in five years at most, but hopefully sooner

18. Photography is of interest to me. I would like to get much better

19. I write poetry, but have no idea if it is any good

20. I love music and my tastes have evolved over the years (this will be a post in the near future)

21. I have hundreds of books and have turned our living room into a library

22. I dislike cheap, stingy people

23. I have no interest in religion or fairy tales that people believe verbatim

24. I have more than 23,000 songs in iTunes

25. I have playlists based on moods

26. Politics have gotten even more ugly over the years. Yes, in the early days of this country it may have been even worse, but we are suppose to be more civilized

27. I don’t think American is as good as it once was

28. We, America, have no business being the world’s sheriff

29. I like scotch before a steak dinner

30. I like red wine. Melbec is rapidly becoming a favorite

31. Utah has a lot of beauty, but far too many narrow minded people

32. I do not like pretentious people

33. I have written short stories, but have never submitted any for publication, mostly because I don’t think they were good enough

34. I have written essays and I had one published in the Seattle Times, but upon rereading it I can't understand why it was published

35. Arrogant people make me sick

36. Don’t understand why more young people don’t listen or learn from their elders

37. I have been burnt out in my job for a few years now, but keep going because I have no choice

38. My favorite rock band was the Rolling Stones beginning in 1971 with Sticky Fingers and growing with Exile on Main Street

39. Discovered the poignancy of Bob Dylan after the break up of my first love

40. Enjoy many of Woody Allen’s movies. One of my favorite's is Midnight in Paris. I used to love Annie Hall, but not so much any more

41. I tear up too easily for anything emotional

42. I wish I set a better example for my daughter in many areas

43. I’m very proud of my daughter who has a bachelor’s, master’s, and a law degree

44. I miss my dad, my grandparents, and my uncle

45. I met my wife on Facebook. We knew of each other since the 7^th grade. We were on opposite pages in our school year books through junior high and high school, but never hung out or talked much

46. Now my wife and I are together most of the time

47. I love puttering and hanging out around the house

48. I love my wife’s grandchildren. Daughter has none yet

49. I don’t go to many concerts any more because I’ve seen most everyone I want to see and they are too expensive these days

50. I have a great idea for a short story that I have been toying with for years

51. I appreciate and thank you for reading through all of the above