gullyfoyle

Hello. This is my first entry on Dreamwidth. I feel a little out of place because I've gotten the impression that DW is populated with artists -- writers, critics, painters, prognosticators, prestidigitators, and orators -- and I'm not an artist. I'm just a guy who likes to read and occasionally spout off about something I've seen or experienced. I've written a few stories over the years and published none. Had a poem I'm a little proud of -- or at least I was at the time, not having read it in probably 25 years -- published in a college magazine when I was at UNC-Chapel Hill in the Paleolithic days. I've done some editing. I like editing quite a bit more than creative writing. Creative writing is hard, especially if, like me, you can't plot. Anyways, I beg your indulgence as I try to find my voice here. There *are* things I'd like to say, that I'd like to be heard. If I start to get unruly and underfoot, kindly re-direct me to the newspapers on the floor -- wait, are there still newspapers? -- to the pee pads on the floor and I'll try to keep it off your pants cuffs.

To start off, I plan to post some things from back in the day with I was The Interrociter on LiveJournal. LiveJournal's now a Russian asset, so I'd advise staying away from it. But Dreamwidth has LJ code in its veins so it seems appropriate to bring back some of my old LJ posts here on DW as I figure out what new things I want to say here and how I want to say them. So, from Nov. 17, 2006, here is the oldest LJ post of mine that I can find. And it actually still seems pretty relevant, unfortunately.

[	Tags	\|	politics, sociology	]
[	mood	\|	inquisitive	]
[	music	\|	The Who, "Won't Get Fooled Again"	]

Been thinking about the U.S. Congress lately. So many questions:

How many members of Congress are--
alcoholics?
convicted felons?
religious fanatics?
sexual deviants? (define it yourself, but I'm using this term to keep this list shorter)
spouse abusers?
drug addicts?
racists?
homophobes?
atheists?
Creationists?
scientists?
clergy?
millionaires?
veterans?
non-white?
female?
over the age of retirement?
mentally ill?

Since Congress is in transition right now, let's be generous and include as subjects of our questions anybody who held a seat in Congress in 2006.

Now, ask all these questions about the entire population of the United States.

Compare and contrast your answers.

Relax, it's just an intellectual exercise. Isn't it?