Hi there:

I've been a member for quite a while but haven't posted much. I'm more of a reader here than a contributor. But sometimes I feel smart and that I might have something worthwhile to say. I'm usually here when I want to learn about what's really going on behind items in the news.

I've been a Californian all my life, a child of the 80s, mostly. I was born in San Diego, grew up in Silicon Valley and went to college in San Diego, where I now reside. My life is built around writing and publishing -- I am a freelance writer and editor working out of an office in my home.

I'm a moderator over at debatex.com, a religious-themed debate site, which fellow AD member Otseng set up last year. He's the one who told me about AD. (I thought I'd mention it in case there's any MLM benefit for him.) I usually describe myself as an agnostic and believe that questions regarding metaphysics are irrational in the absence of metaphysical evidence. Curiously, I find myself married to a Catholic.

I also edit and publish a literary magazine with a very very very small circulation. It's generally what you might call post-modernist and post-post-modernist. I have also written and published a few books of poetry and fiction, the latest of which will be coming out this fall.

Politically, I have mostly been a Democrat my entire adult life. Like everyone, I guess, I experimented with alternative lifestyles in college -- I voted Republican for a couple of years. I wrote a letter of apology to Dianne Feinstein for voting for Pete Wilson as governor in 1990. Haven't heard back. I'm what might be described as a Clinton Democrat, a centrist on many issues though in general socially liberal and economically conservative.

I'm currently studying to become a professional taster, though I don't expect to make a living at that. I'm also an avid gardener, living in Sunset Zone 23 where just about everything grows. Hmmm... I make my own liqueurs, and my favorite music is world music. You know, as I'm writing this, I find it necessary to state that I'm not as bohemian as I sound. I'm really a computer geek who can't find it within myself to work in a computer field.

Amen brother.

I look forward to reading your posts

I'm not familiar with a genre call "world music," which may be the true for many of the older "cats" here. Perhaps you mean music native to a particular country. Although I was a total clutz, I was once a member of an international folk dance club at a local university. My affiliation didn't last long.

Rock, which grew out of American R&B, is now international. Examples:

The Beatles and The Rolling Stones-England
U2-Ireland
Nazareth-Scotland
AC/DC-Australia
The Scorpions-Germany
ABBA-Sweden
A HA-Norway
April Wine-Canada
Etc.

From your intro, I think you have much to offer and would enjoy seeing you post more and I would like to know what you mean by, including some examples of, "world" music. Why? Because I don't have any idea what you are talking about. It's probably a generational thing.

I use the term "world music" because it's the most descriptive and -- believe it or not -- well-known way of describing the kind of music I listen to. I guess I could use "eclectic", but that doesn't really cover it, since there is music I don't care for.

I don't much care for the pop/rock bands you listed (although U2 has some interesting stuff), I'm talking about: Afrobeat, rai, Scandanavian fusion, bhangra, dub, "roots" music and other ambient/techno-type stuff. Stop me if you've heard of any of these: Fela Kuti, Transglobal Underground, Ekova, Varttina, Natacha Atlas, Manu Chao, Aterciopelados, Cafe Tacuba, Gjallarhorn, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, DJ Cheb i Sabbah... Most of this music is post-1990, although Fela Kuti was 60s & 70s funk.

I started listening to it because I needed background music to do book editing, but if I understood the words, my brain wouldn't allow me to move through the manuscript. So if the lyrics were in a foreign language I didn't understand, that part of my brain can concentrate on the manuscript. Eventually, I began listening to it whenever because I liked the way the music was put together & a lot of it is very infectious.

still.............I enjoyed reading your post. It made me feel old however and I think I might be one of the "old cats", BoF mentioned on here.

I had no idea what "world music" was either. Never heard of it. I prefer smooth Jazz, Rachmaninoff, and Michael Mcdonald. His Aint No Mountain High Enough really does it for me. I love Motown.

Keep up the posts !!!!!