Who Am I?

I have been told that I need to do the obligatory "Who am I?" post. Well I'm a little late, but better late then never. I didn't want to do the various lists of who I am so I'd rather just try to explain it. I guess I'm going to start with this picture:




Yes, I'm wearing a Packer Jersey, a Kilt, and work boots. I think that sums up my personality a lot.

Husband: I am married to the most understanding and accepting woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting or hearing of. She puts up with more of my bull shite more then anyone should ever have to. We've been together since 99 and are still going strong. Even though one of these days she is going to beat me over the head with a frying pan. Although I do try my darndest to spoil her as much as I can. She goes by Ktreva. Some of you may have seen her comments on this and other blogs.

Father: Together we have two boys, our oldest is in middle school and our youngest is almost 2 years old. I love both of these boys more then anything else and would do most anything for them. However I don't feel I'm a good father. My parenting style is rather harsh. And I tend to tell them stories just for the heck of it. Bou refers to this as "Calvin's Dad syndrome". To give you an example, my oldest was proudly explaining how gravity holds us to Earth and I went on to explain, "No gravity doesn't hold us to Earth, gravity only holds the atmosphere in place. It is air pressure that actually holds us to Earth. The weight of the atmosphere pushing down on us keeps us from floating off". On the other hand I also teach them non-revisionist history. I've already been called to the teacher's office once over this.

Socially: I'm not the most sociable person, In fact due to my previous career(we'll go into that later)I have a distinct distrust and dislike of people. I am however fiercely loyal to my friends. Once I've decided I like and trust someone, I view them as a friend. They will be a friend for life, unless they do something to destroy that trust. And then I will never have anything to do with them again. I am not a forgiving person. I also am not the easiest person to get along with. I've found that most people hate me or like me. There isn't a lot in between. I'm a loud, annoying, obnoxious, tactless individual. I have a very hard time socializing with females. I am completely clueless, oblivious and insensitive in dealing with them. My wife likes to make fun of the fact I can't tell if I'm being flirted with. But she also gets mad because I can't tell that she is flirting with me.


Re-enactor: I currently belong to a living history group called Clan Chattan. We portray Jacobites from the Scottish Rebellions. We have portrayed time periods from 1,100 AD (Prior to the Jacobite Rebellion) all the way up to the war of 1812. However we currently focus on displaced Scots (After Culloden) in the American Colonies during the French and Indian War. I have a site dedicated just to that hobby called "The Spoon and Blade". While re-enacting I go by the name Seamus MacPhail and my wife goes by Nessa MacPhail. (Not our real names)

Work life: I have a BS in Law Administration. I spent 3 years working in Law Enforcement, which I really enjoyed. However I quit when my oldest son asked me, "Dad, Why don't you love me anymore? All you want to do is work and sleep." I was working 60-80 hours a week at night, so I had to sleep all day, and if I got a day off it was more often then not during the week. So I didn't get to see him much. I decided my family was more important to me then my career. The next day I worked I put in my 1 month notice (Yea, I gave them 1 month to be prepared to loose me). I didn't have another job lined up, but I only went with out work for 2 weeks when I took a temp job, just to keep money coming into the house. Well 5 years later I'm still at that "temp job", with a Fortune 500 company. I've promoted up through into a management position and it's hard to start over. My career has nothing to do with my degree, and I don't enjoy it as much as my old career. But I'm happier with the extra time I get to spend with my family.

Football: I'm a huge football fan, mainly the Green Bay Packers. They are my team. I grew up a Packer fan, and I'll die a Packer fan. My father raised me a Packer fan and I'm raising my boys as Packer Fan's. Although the oldest is currently insisting he is a Denver Bronco Fan. I don't keep up with stats or anything like that for other teams. But I know how my players are doing.

Myself: How do I view myself? When I was in High School I had an English class where the teacher was trying to go over writing styles so she had the class describe each other. I was described as a "Big, ugly, evil, scary bastard". I have always thought of myself that way. I'm not svelte, nor spry. Hell the word graceful would never be used to describe me. I'm trying to lose weight for health reasons, but there is some vanity involved. It's been hard, but I dropped over 60 pounds in the last year and a half. I like to think I have a good sense of humor, but I know it tends to lean towards the dark, dry and morbid side. Sarcasms is a friend of mine.

Handle: Contagion. Why? I'll just let the dictionary do my work for me:

con·ta·gion (kən-tā'jən) pronunciation n.

1. a. Disease transmission by direct or indirect contact.
b. A disease that is or may be transmitted by direct or indirect contact; a contagious disease.
c. The direct cause, such as a bacterium or virus, of a communicable disease.
2. Psychology. The spread of a behavior pattern, attitude, or emotion from person to person or group to group through suggestion, propaganda, rumor, or imitation.
3. A harmful, corrupting influence: feared that violence on television was a contagion affecting young viewers.
4. The tendency to spread, as of a doctrine, influence, or emotional state.

I'd bore you with more details. But this is a really long post as it is.