Hello, people!

I’m excited to announce yet another blogger to QNT.  Neil is a great person and has a lot of opinions.  He will be focused on writing primarily about life and developing our commentary section.  Some things he has to say are very controversial, but we know he will bring a professional, polished, and fact-driven perspective on some hot topics.

Enjoy!

Michael

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It was only a few decades ago that an inexperienced writer like myself would have to endure years of education and training to become a credentialed journalist before they could have access to a medium that would circulate their authoring to millions of readers around the world. But here in the information age any ass-hole with a library card can publish his useless ranting about black helicopters and his latest achievements in world of war craft. In the year 2009 you can find blogs about anything written by everyone. There is tremendous talent floating around out there in cyberspace but there is a sea of crap that has to be sifted through first. So which am I? it doesn’t matter because I have a venue and I’m going to use it. Besides the hardest part of journalism is not having the self confidence to publish your work. The real challenge is not letting the many(and there are many) voices of negative criticism convince you that your self confidence was unfounded. Knowing this full well from my own experience I am choosing to once again offer up my thoughts and observations in an effort to create a dialogue on the matters of life that stir my passions. My posting will not be excluded to, but will often return to matters of politics and my impossibly idealistic philosophies. Those that know me best will tell you that I take a passionate stance that borders on pacifism. My 2012 Senate slogan will be “Not for a party, but for the people” Vote for me or give me money!! All joking aside, I simply believe that America is nothing more than what we the people allow it to be. I believe that hatred and bigotry could be extinguished in a generation and that peace is only a revolution away. With that in mind I try to see the patterns in our society that can be altered for the betterment of all citizens, and I try to look for the means and the courage to do so. As Gandhi would say, I want to be the change that I wish to see in the world.

I should probably share a bit about myself to answer the inevitable question from readers ; “Who the hell does this guy think he is?” I think I am a slow learner that spent most of his life looking for the easy way out. I’ve always tried to avoid responsibility at every turn, even when it was thrust upon me by my own decisions. I am by nature a quitter that cuts bait and runs when times are tough.  So now at twenty….something, married with two children I am finally trying to grow up. As an exercise of self-improvement I am going to write for Quarter Note Triplets so that I can, on occasion, finish something that I start to remind myself that success is a choice. I want this unpleasant self reflection to be public here so that when I speak of change in the world, in society and in government, I do so as a broken man that is painfully aware of the high cost of complacency. Don’t let this somber honesty lead the conclusion that I am too serious to observe the lighter side of humanity. I like to eat, drink and be merry as much as the next guy. There are even a few people, with the exception of my wife of course, that think I am funny. Since the heart of this blog is in music I should say now that I am as snobbish as I am eclectic. My taste in music has such a wide range that I won’t waste time trying to quantify. My favorite artist is Sting and you would see a significant portion of my taste that also comes from the UK. I probably won’t write much about music because I prefer just to listen.  I suspect most of my submissions will either be in the Food & Wine section or in the Life sections as that is more where my passions lie. The truth is I like to observe the more passed over aspects of life and go on tangents.

So that is me. I am looking forward to hearing what our readers think of our little experiment. And I am counting on you all to keep me honest. Cheers!

Neil

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