I'm Paladin and I've been here on WF since the beginning. I have my own smiley: I'm an electronic hardware/software engineer by trade and, no surprise, I live in the Silicon Valley region of California. I'm male, 43, and of largely Scots-English descent. I'm a conservative-leaning libertarian who thinks the ideal world is the one that makes the initiation of violence illegitimate. I believe free people are fully capable of working out mutually beneficial agreements with each other and those who can't shouldn't be free. Naturally, I support capitalism and reject all forms of coercive collectivism. Some call me a "market fundamentalist," but I make no claim that the market it perfect, only vastly superior to all extant options. I enjoy studying languages, though I'm not particularly adept with them; my Spanish is rickety, my German varies but is often passably good, and my Russian is, well, an ongoing struggle. I'm a movie nut and have a large collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays, although I don't actually spend as much time as I'd like watching them. Reading is another of my favorite passtimes; history, economics, biographies, and the occasional sci-fi or classic fiction tale are my usual fare. I collect and shoot guns and am a huge proponent of the Second Amendment. I have an art thread in The Workshop and occasionally do digital drawings/paintings just to hone my meager skills. And I travel as often as I'm able, with Europe, China, Russia, Australia, and India being the highlights of my journeys to date. I've met several WordForgers in real life and look forward to meeting more of you. This place brings in people from all walks of life and from all over the world, giving us all an opportunity to know people who would otherwise be completely outside our experience. Isn't that wonderful?
Yeah, pretty much. And while the idea of a Welcome Forum is well intended the lack of participation makes it off-putting to new members.
Are you serious?? This is the Paladin, man! The guy who killed that rock 'n' roll star who became a Sith! He's a hero to the world!
