Hi! I'm Colin.

I consider myself a student of a lot of things. Poli sci, sure. Life, why not? I people watch too. I just like to listen and learn, really.

I like helping however I can. I feel better about myself when people have a lighter load. I think it's because I recognize I have time, especially in my youth, to do for others, and so it usually seems like the right path to take. Got someone having a hard time moving? I'll get some boxes! Someone need a study partner? I may have some time! Giving someone else a helping hand means you get others to help you, too, so think about helping out more often. If we did that on a regular basis, this country and world would probably be a lot nicer all-around.

Why don't more people just chill out? It's easy, fun, and costs so little, for the folks I know at least. I love just talking, and talking about all sorts of shit, too. Life's not such a big deal that we have to have a big frown on all the time about it.

A lot of people know languages other than English. In part because I couldn't stand French class, I took Japanese in high school. Check out what little I remember!

私の好きなものはたくさんでは、政治やテレビゲームーや技術や料理や日本語を勉強することやスピーチゅライーチンです。

その言葉は日本語の勉強のぶんだけでした。

I am active, smart, and amazing. Or so I've been told.

Trying to be studious while retaining my spontaneous spirit. I love to meet new people, and I'll probably always feel that way.

My long term goal is to become a lawyer, or something else like working for a think tank, a issue-based campaign, another type of nonprofit, etc. I need an education to make that happen, so here I am.

Being a listening friend
-I get lots of compliments on how much I listen, so I take that to heart. I wonder how much being a friend is dependent on not listening, but saying something yourself, though.

Non-Fiction Writing
-I like to take time out less to read than I do to write, especially things that I see around me as real. If I could spend my time just writing, I just might.

Coming up with ideas
-I admit that people have probably thought of every idea I've thought of and will think of, but I still think it's great that I can constantly think of new ways to do most anything. Really helps me get jobs when I need one. Yeah, I'm kinda awesome that way.

how willing I can be to approach people and engage others I may not otherwise know.

I have always been known for how much I like to talk to new people. Whether I'm in a bar or campaigning for something/someone, I have an ability to talk to people I don't know and yet have friends and contacts with lots of people. It's strange how many people one can meet with a little confidence.

It's easier, it must be said, to be this outgoing in person than over the Internet, though I like the relative anonymity of the Web.

I have beautiful eyes, I've been told as well.

Books:

-Star Wars: Legacy of the Force
-Bearing the Cross
-Guns, Germs and Steel

Movies:

-The Shining is interesting, though kinda funny for all the odd juxtapositions.
-Iron Man
-Fahrenheit 9/11

Music:

-Stevie Wonder
-Lupe Fiasco
-Immortal Technique

Food:

Non-veggie:
-Deep dish pepperoni pizza, brats, BBQ ribs, (I had these great mango BBQ ribs once at RibFest in IL --so good!) burgers

Veggie/vegan:
-coconut curry, tofurkey, grilled cheese, omelettes

I like video games a lot more, honestly.

My 5 faves are:
-Fallout
-Super Smash Bros.
-Madden
-FIFA
-Civilization IV

I also have a favorite speech.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Mountaintop Speech is one of the most inspiring pieces of oration I've ever heard. Listen to it. Seriously, hearing one of the greatest inspirations of my country speak wistfully about their own oncoming assassination is beyond belief. It's scary, scared, stoic and angry. It's like MLK was eager to die.

My family, Friends and housemates
-They're there to love me when no one else is.

Computer
-I am on my computer every day, either managing my email, making fliers/meeting agendas for work, doing some social networking, etc. It's also a great alarm clock.

My job/education
-I need to be doing something much of the time. When I'm sitting down, I get anxious and nervous.

Pizza
-I have been getting more and more into veggie foods and vegan food, but I am still an omnivore. Healthy? Perhaps not. Tasty? You better believe it. By the by, what exactly is healthy?

Books
-I'm not a big fiction person. Non-fiction is so much more relatable because it's the section of literature that I currently actually live in. I am a part of non-fiction, so I want that to be notated a little more often.

Inquisitive spirit
-It's the only way I know to have a truly independent mind. I think intelligence is about knowing any sort of ideas and being able to put them together in a way that one can use in daily life. Wisdom, to me, is about understanding what you don't know and seeking that knowledge out. What do you think? Am I way off? Is intellect different from wisdom?

Ways to leave the world better than I found it. I don't think we're here to use up the planet and other people; we're here to enrich and make everything around us better.

On a smaller scale,

I think about what I can do to help out around the house, what to cook for dinner (made veg. pizza last time!) or how best I can help a friend. I think about the times I've been able to make someone else's life better, like when I helped get a child who just moved to a new town into class on the first day, and it makes me smile. Whenever I'm down, I think of these things, these memories and recall why it's so important to think outside of oneself from time-to-time.

Race, gender, and sexuality are topics on my mind on a constant basis, and I hope to meet someone who's at the very least able to hold a convo with me on this.

Finding a party or bar special, going to a drive-in movie when I have the money, helping cook dinner, talking with my friends and chilling, taking people out for a picnic, playing sports in warm weather, going to the Terrace for some free music and strange-looking pitchers of beer, volunteering when an opportunity opens up, and rarely, going on OkCupid for a few minutes.

I'm very afraid of spiders. Really, those things are menacing, deadly, creepy, eight-legged killers, people! Killers! I mean, how many eyes do they have? Lots? A bunch? A crapton? I can't trust something with eight legs and even more eyes. Nope. Not gonna do it.

Is there one redeeming thing about spiders? I mean, really?

You have:

-a dry sense of humor,
-a thoughtful mind,
-a good philosophical question, or
-something else interesting to add.