I've never really ever been good at doing introductions - but I will give it a try here, and get it over with so I can get on with everything else. In truth, I've always found that an introduction is always the hardest part about writing. There's just so much that you can get wrong - you can set the wrong tone, you can piss the wrong readers off, you can pull in the wrong crowd. I don't want to do that. I like writing, and I like the idea that some people might like reading what I write. Whatever, though, if you don't like it - don't read it. Or tell me how much you hate reading it, criticize me, so we can talk about how much it sucks that you keep reading my horrid writing. I'd enjoy that, too.

Anyways - my name is Brandon, and I go by the screenname of VirInvictus and SirDX.

I like playing computer games, though my tastes tend to stick with certain realms. I love strategy games (GalCiv II, Civilization IV, Warcraft 2, Age of Empires 1-3, Rise of Nations, Alpha Centauri, Europa Universalis 2 & 3, Hearts of Iron 2 & 3), roleplaying games (Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Entomorph, Dark Sun: Shattered Lands, Knights of the Chalice), roguelikes (DoomRL, ADOM, Diablo I/II), platformers (Spelunky, Super Mario Bros), and first-person shooters (STALKER: Shadows of Chernobyl, FEAR, Modern Warfare 2, Half-Life, Quake IV). This isn't all the games I enjoy, just the ones I could name off of the top of my head.

My interests range from programming, to operating systems, to psychology, to economics, to sociology, to philosophy, to theology, et cetera. There's no limit to my interests, really. I just enjoy learning new things, and so long as humans remain humans, there's always something to learn. My favourite things include music, movies, and books, though I am really strict about these things.

When it comes to music, I focus on four genres: Rap (50 Cent, Eminem, Tech N9ne, Eyedea & Abilities, Lecrae, Atmosphere, Cool Calm Pete), Ska (Streetlight Manifesto, Choking Victim, Leftover Crack, Five Iron Frenzy, The OC Supertones, Big D And the Kids Table, Capdown), Post-Rock (God Is An Astronaut, Explosions in the Sky, This Will Destroy You), and Electronica (BT, Infected Mushroom). Here`s my top 10 in no order: Eminem, Royce da 5'9", Eyedea & Abilities, Cool Calm Pete, Streetlight Manifesto, Sage Francis, Brand New, Bright Eyes, mewithoutYou, and God Is An Astronaut.

When it comes to movies, I really like a movie that poses a moral dilemma or causes debate among the viewers, like Hard Candy. That`s not a requirement, though. I just really enjoy it. I like most movies, though `stupid` comedies tend to piss me off. I like a little satire, a little irony, a little smart jokes. I don`t like Dumb And Dumber style humour. I like action, but not pointless action. Here`s a selection from my collection: The Dark Knight, Office Space, Scarface, Good Will Hunting, The Road, Thank You for Smoking, The Kite Runner, American History X,The Last Samurai, and District 9.

I`m reallllly picky about my books, and that topic is enough to warrant a blog post of its own, so I`ll just leave a top 10 from my favourite authors, and you can figure most of it out (though I do think it should have a post of its own in the future): Frank Herbert, William Gibson, R. Scott Bakker, Neal Stephenson,Fyodor Dostoyevsky, George Orwell, Douglas Adams, George R. R. Martin, Steven Erikson, and Stanisław Lem.

Now, that should give you my likes. I should also mention that the computer languages I am focused on learning are: go-lang, Common LISP, C/C++, C#, Python, Ruby, Lua, and PHP. I use Windows 7, OpenBSD, and Funtoo on my computer. My browser is Chrome (I use the stable release after the dev branch made it impossible to install plugins for whatever reason - as in, it bugged out my XP computer (which is now a Windows 7 computer Yay!)), I use iTunes for music and VLC for movies. I have an 8gb ipod nano (pink) which is something I don't wish to ever replace.

I am not a fanboy of any kind, though I used to be a linux fanboy, a Fallout fanboy, and a punk fanboy.

I am a single father, a stay-at-home dad, and a all-around awesome guy

Anyways, there's my introduction. See you next post.

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