Greetings and Salutations!

Your humble blogger...at least in his own mind. LOL!
(With apologies to both Edgar Rice Burroughs & Frank Frazetta.)

Well folks, after years of internal debating over the idea of "should I start my own blog?" I finally decided to break down and make one.

I suppose I should begin with some details about yours truly, the blogger.

My name is Carl W. Roden (esq.)
 

Okay, before I go on perhaps I should clarify a few things:

I don't presume to give myself a title, the "esquire" thing is sort of an inside joke my sister Olivia and me had growing up in the late 80s and 90s. One of our favorite movies was "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and its subsequent (though not quite as excellent) sequel "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" and for some time the two of us would totally rip off Bill and Ted's intro.

Hence the (esq.) part. I just like to use it to be funny. I'm totally a child of the late 80s and early 90s.

Anyhow, back to the intro.

Name: Carl W. Roden (esq.) ....wait, we did that didn't we? Okay, moving on.

Born: Yes. (Pfft sorry, inside joke with some Nickelodeon fans I know.)
I was born in the Great State of South Carolina, the living breathing heart of God's Country: Dixie (aka the American Southeast), in the Good Ole U-S of A, on the morning of Thursday, 24th day of June, year of Our Lord 1976 (as in the "Spirit Of 76"). 

Nationality: I proudly call myself an American by birth and a proud Southerner by the grace of God.

Race: I don't personally accept the concept of "race" being defined by skin color, but for identification purposes I am "white" Anglo-Celtic. My family's ancestry is Ulster Irish (possibly Scots-Irish) with maybe a little bit of Austrian thrown in there somewhere.

Political Affiliation: I am a Reagan Conservative that holds Moderate to Conservative/Libertarian views of several key social issues.

Religion: I have no "religion" so much as I have a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That being said I am no fundamentalist, and I'm non-denominational. I also won't preach to you on this blog -- and I fully expect the same courtesy to be returned, especially with foul-mouthed atheists who may not like my constant references to my faith and can go fuck themselves. (Yes I cuss, and so what? These are my UNCENSORED thoughts.)  All that being said, if anyone should ever desire to know more about my faith, I would be happy to respond and talk to you about it, but I won't try to "convert" you, only one being can change a heart, all I can do is point you in the direction. So-called "Christians" who claimed they've personally "saved people" have a few priorities out of whack in my opinion....and since this is my blog, it is MY opinion.

Hobbies: I am a writer. Well, starting out as one. I wrote fanfiction stories for over a dozen genre's once upon a time including: Nicktoons (Nickelodeon TV Cartoons) like Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, As Told By Ginger, for Dreamworks animation, and a few Science fiction shows like Stargate SG1 and Battlestar Galactica under several pen names. Sadly I've fallen out of fanfiction writing about 8 years ago though I still get messages from fans who enjoyed my work, and frequently help other aspiring writers to edit their work. Now I am currently working on several writing projects. Most of my writing is on facebook, various other social media sites -- and now this humble little blog.

Other hobbies include (but not restricted to) mountain trail hiking, tennis, bicycle riding, reading, fossils & paleontology, geocaching, coin collecting, and collecting postcards from tourist sites. 

Other Interesting Facts About Yours Truly: I'm anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-socialist, and anti-political correctness (and other such wrong-thinking, scientifically disproved ideologies). 
I practice a Straight Edge Lifestyle -- I abstain from alcohol, tobacco and illicit narcotics for the benefit of those who don't know the term.
I have high functioning autism. 
I am bisexual/pansexual and practice safe sex ALWAYS! 
I also support turtle rescue efforts and animal rights causes -- though I am not fully supportive of the more radical elements of the Animal Rights Movement. 
I also proudly support a number of American Veterans organizations. 
I am also active in Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefield and grave preservation efforts, and in Southern Heritage Defense causes. 
I am also a huge supporter of the reading and literacy initiatives for children and young adults, and a major fan of graphic novels. 
I am a former librarian and security guard, and a denizen of my local library -- where I have pretty much lived most of my pseudo-adult life. 
I am a huge fan of 80s and 90s animation and Japanese anime. 

Let's see anything else?

Oh yeah, and sometimes I wear a kilt.

All of these will probably come up in discussion at some later date on my blog connected to some story or issue I want to talk about. 

Now I do have four rules for posting on my blog:

(1) No trolls or cyber bullying.

(2) No excessive profanity. I will allow the occasional profanity (and probably use it myself at one point or another) but I will not allow posts laced with obscenities. Also God's last name isn't Damn people. God's name will not be taken in vain on my blog.

(3) You can talk about whatever you want, provided it's on topic and even post the occasional meme, or photo so long as they are in good taste.

(4) Don't feed bloggers after midnight. (Sorry folks, I had to say it!)

While I won't censor comments (unless they contain abusive language, or ad hominem character attacks) I promise you I will get the last word, so if you have something critical to write, I suggest you get it out of your system the first time because you won't get a rebuttal. However, as long as someone offers constructive criticism, I don't mind a good debate....in fact, I welcome a challenge.  I will be fair to anyone who posts something I disagree with so long as that disagreement is presented in a fashion that isn't disagreeable, you have my word on that; but violate any of the rules I set and I your post won't even make it to the page. Let's be adults here....that is if you consider me an adult (I admit I'm still working on that one myself). But make no mistake, I will block anyone who continues to be a constant troll. I don't suffer trolls and bullies, never have and never will.

Okay then, I think now I've broken the ice sufficiently, laid down the ground rules, and gave you enough to know what to expect from me. Fasten your seat-belts, put your 3-D glasses on, get your popcorn and soda ready....it's time to start blogging.

And may God have mercy on your souls.