Hello. I’m Jason.
Hi. I’m Jason, but my friends call me “Swad.” I’m a 23-year-old graduate student at the University of Chicago studying social and political thought. I graduated from Drury University in 2007 with degrees in Political Science and Communications, along with a minor in Global Studies; I returned to Drury as an adjunct faculty member in 2008. I’ve lived and studied in London and Volos, Greece. I was born just outside Springfield, Missouri and I still love the Ozarks.
I’m passionate about faith, music, technology, nature, politics, literature, old movies, people, travel, history, philosophy, chess, Age of Empires, hanging out with my grandmas, Sunday naps, used bookstores, BBQ, and sweet tea.
25 random things about me.
1. My great uncle Paul, who is a Baptist minister, baptized Brad Pitt.
2. I can do a pretty decent Sean Connery impression.
3. I shook the hand of George W. Bush in the East Room of the White House in 2003 as a part of the US Senate Youth Program.
4. I’ve visited Canada, the Bahamas, Mexico, England, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Ecuador, Kenya, Tanzania, and Brazil (floating the Amazon). I’ve also been to more than 30 U.S.
states (including Hawaii and Alaska).
5. If you visit my apartment after 4 p.m. on an evening when I’m free, I’m probably in PJs, slippers, and a robe.
6. I was a Boy Scout and can still recite all the mottoes. I also went to Space Camp. Twice.
7. When I grow up I want to be an author, inventor, a champion of justice, a loving father and faithful husband…
8. … as opposed to my childhood, when I told my parents I wanted to be a fire hydrant.
9. I started a website in 2005 (insanelymac.com) that I recently sold for just enough money to make it through grad school.
10. If I could have dinner with one famous person from history, it would be C.S. Lewis.
11. I graduated in a class of 50 from Fair Grove High School.
12. I play (or used to play) the trumpet, baritone, guitar, and piano. I’m also a classically-trained vocalist and sang the title role in an opera (Amahl) when I was 9 and 10.
13. My sense of humor is like something you’d overhear from the dinner conversation of Aaron Sorkin, Woody Allen, and Mark Twain discussing New Yorker cartoons and making fun of Oscar Wilde.
14. I enjoy taking my grandmothers, both of whom live alone, on dates.
15. My first name means “healer.” I hope to live it.
16. I have a freakish memory for random (i.e. pointless) facts and relationships between things/ideas, but really suck at remembering names and the course of events, regardless of their importance.
17. I’ve built several Windows computers in the past. Now I use a Mac.
18. I’m outgoing when I’m around friends but consider myself a fairly private person and, in general, am not terribly self-confident. I’m most content in a warm room with a fireplace, a thick book, and a cup of hot tea.
19. I consider myself a connoisseur of biscuits and gravy, a dish which my grandma fixes every Sunday morning. I’m also a chocolate chip cookie purist.
20. If there existed a never ending flow of orange juice, I probably still couldn’t get enough. My monthly supply of OJ is about 10.5% of my monthly food budget.
21. I’ve forgotten how to write anything in cursive other than my name. The few checks I write are always in print.
22. As a sweeping (and not terribly accurate) generalization, I think old movies are better than new movies, old books better than new books, and old music better than new music. But I enjoy it all.
23. I want never to fit a simple stereotype.
24. My parents took me on my first date in the 5th grade. 1970’s brown, orange, and red RV. Shag carpet. 3 beds. It was our only working vehicle at the time.
25. I want the world to remember me as a man who led, challenged, and served.
About the site.
For any interested parties, this site uses a custom-developed theme, based loosely on the excellent Tumblelog theme for WordPress. Thanks to John Gruber, Jason Kottke, Paul Stamatiou, and Joshua Sowin for design/content inspiration. This blog is powered by Wordpress, an iMac, a Macbook, and several dozen cups of Earl Grey.
Oh… and the answer is 42
