New Beginings

Today was an odd morning, my routine has been disrupted and I find myself wanting to express myself. So with the help of a friend who posted on her blog and then made a comment on the facebooks that caught my attention I find myself following links and trails and here I am in the blogasphere posting my own ramblings.

While I doubt there will be many who read this it feels somehow important to me that I justify my position and explain who I am from my own perspectives.

• I am Ryan
• I am married to a wonderful and amazing woman, who is slowly dying of metastatic breast cancer and although she is fighting the process with vigor and a great attitude, the doctors inform us it is an eventuality.  This fact is a part of my life, it isn't hard or sad, it is life.  Its been a part of my reality since 2002 so it has become my norm and while I don't wish it on anyone, I am a realist and an optimist so I know when and how to find joy and happiness. Do not think I am sad (even if in the future I make comments regarding my sadness, those will more than likely be me just venting)
• I am currently a foster parent, my wife and I figured we didn't have enough stress in our lives so we took in my nephew while his parents get their "act" together.  He has been a blessing to our home for over a year now and while the bureaucracy of state organized child rearing can be burdensome, his best interests are always met and how could anyone complain about that?!
• My wife and I have owned and operated a Montessori school since 2001 we have staff and students a plenty, and of course all the stresses that come with such an enterprise.
• I believe in responsibility, public and personal.  A belief that shapes most of my philosophies and approaches toward life.  Whether political, spiritual or environmental, looking for fault or cause is only another way of saying who is responsible.
• I live in Oregon, locally I am a moderate, which makes me fairly liberal on a national level. but don't be surprised if I show a bent toward the conservative, just look at the bullet point above this one.
• I am an equalist, (my spellchecker tells me there is no such word).  I believe there are hot topics such as feminism, religion, race and anything the anti discrimination acts protect that seem to fuel themselves by segregating themselves into subcultures and while I understand purpose it appears to lack forward thinking, they are why we can not all just get along.  If everyone treated everyone with dignity and equality and stopped asking for or giving special recognition things would be a lot better off, again, I am not only an optimist but a realist as well so I can recognize purpose and appreciate maintained diversity.
• Ryan is a geek and a nerd, just ask anyone
• I am "chatty" I like to think I can talk to anyone about anything and even if I am not aware of subject manner I can nearly always follow and provide input to any conversation.  I also know when to keep my mouth shut... normally.  This bullet point could also be referred to as the "BS Factor"
• I am horrible in debate, not because I can not make informed arguments or because I am easily swayed, but because I tend to look an general pictures from as many angles as I can and thus I loose the ability to utilized specifics such as exact words, I see more of the inferred.  I don't like being locked into a position because it generally means an inability to change and learn.
• I am (or technically was) a Boy Scout and still try and act accordingly.

so don't take anything I might say personally without talking to me first, odds are if I offend it is a miscommunication on some part and I have failed to properly express myself.  however, if that fails then obviously you are wrong and need to change :)

no apologies (as of yet)

Ryan