All about yourself!

[anvi]

Age: 41
Gender: Male
Race/ethnic composition: White. Ethnic background is German-Russian-Hungarian
Religion: Atheist
Location: Illinois during work; Halifax, Nova Scotia when on break
Where you were born: Dickinson, North Dakota
Occupation: university professor
Languages: English (native); German (partly native-fluent); Chinese, Japanese (elementary knowledge), Sanskrit (reading knowledge)
Person you most admire: from my experience, my dad; in terms of my ideals, anyone who serves the poor; from history, Johannes Kepler
Favorite Band: George Gritzbach (Sweeper and the Debuttante album
Favorite President: Abraham Lincoln
Favorite Sports figures:  Sugar Ray Leonard, the most complete fighter I've ever seen in the ring; Garry Kasparov, world chess champion, 1985-2000 
Favorite food: all manner of Japanese fish; fillet mignon
Favorite drink: favorite beer: Stone Ruination IPA; favorite wine: 2005 Chateau Montelena Cabernet; favorite non-alcoholic drink: Taiwanese lotus tea

[anvi]

Hey generic,

You're 24, German-Irish, a history major, a philosophy buff and a fan of Carl Sagen?

In my book, that run-down is all-win.  Cheers!

[anvi]

The only real updates I'd make after one year is that I'm one year older and my favorite band/musician has become Neil Young, especially the old-fashioned acoustic Young of the early to mid 70's.  I've been learning to play his songs on guitar all year and can't stop listening.  The rest is pretty much the same.

[anvi]

So you're saying your birthplace is the same?

Pretty much. 

[anvi]

Doing this again just because it's been a while, but answering a new framework of questions this time...what the hell...

Age:  44

Gender: Male

Race/ethnicity: Caucasian, mostly German (maybe German Jewish, but not confirmed) background,
                                       with some Russian and Hungarian thrown in

Religion: atheist, I guess, but I admire different aspects of a number of religious traditions.

Languages: English, German (reading and fairly good oral), Sanskrit (reading),
                  Chinese (good classical reading competence, intermediate modern reading/oral)
                  Japanese (elementary reading and oral)

Occupation: university professor

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia till next August, then back to normal residence in Carbondale, Illinois

Where were you born?  Dickinson, North Dakota

Political figures you most admire: I don't admire any contemporary political figures anymore

Favorite President:  Lincoln, with honorable mentions to TR and FDR

Political Orientation: Independent, center-left leaning on many policy issues, but with an
                              admittedly weird mixture of both communitarian and liberal stances on
                              different social issues

Favorite music:  70's folk, some classical, jazz and some religious hymns/chants

Favorite book: I still like Robert Hass' Twentieth Century Pleasures: Essays on Prose and Poetry
                      a lot, but the Dao De Jing is slowly inching upward on a more consistent basis.

Favorite shows: Cosmos, Carl Sagan (1980),
                       The Living Planet, David Attenborough (1984)
                       Cheers, first three seasons
                       The Civil War, Ken Burns

Favorite movies: Good Will Hunting (1995)

Other interests besides politics: Indian and Chinese philosophical traditions, chess, guitar,
                                              science, travel, beer (*politics is no longer an interest of mine)

Favorite color: darker shades of blue

Do you live by yourself? Not at the moment, living with my significant other,
                                    but in Illinois, I live alone.

Do you have any siblings? Six older brothers

Relationship status: in a relationship

What year did you join Atlas? 2008

Do you have any nieces or nephews? 4 nieces, 4 nephews

Have you ever been attracted to a person of the same sex?  Not sexually, but in other ways, yes.

If you could pick your own nationality, which one would you pick?: German, I guess;
                                                        I sometimes think of myself as an "adopted Chinese" person,
                                                        given that I was previously married to a Chinese woman,
                                                        had a Chinese step-daughter, my current partner is from China
                                                        and I go there often--but I'd probably never reside there.