User:Rcollman

The userboxes on right should tell you something about me. Evidently pages I cared about in 2018 are related to Lake Street Dive and related band members. Took care of some old messages (I still hate bots).Rcollman (talk) 02:49, 5 January 2019 (UTC)

My subpages in this Wikimedia
Put this on the top because I use my subpages all the time (being a 'bear with a very little brain'.

•User:Rcollman/useful templates •User:Rcollman/common references •User:Rcollman/Userboxes/NH NorthCountry •User:Rcollman/Userboxes/Franconia College •User:Rcollman/Userboxes/Moodle •User:Rcollman/Userboxes/RPCV •
 * My Library citations
 * Userboxes - my design
 * My Subpages
 * •User:Rcollman/sandbox
 * User:Rcollman/sandbox1 Navajo Nation land after 1868
 * User:Rcollman/sandbox2 Barboncito
 * User:Rcollman/sandbox3 Navajo Geography
 * User:Rcollman/sandbox4 CoffeeBar
 * User:Coffee/bar should I use something like this?
 * User:Coffee/bar should I use something like this?
 * User:Coffee/bar should I use something like this?

My primary areas of interest
I am interested in oral history, cross cultural topics, genealogy, and mentoring people who train others using distance learning technologies. Early in my life, I spent 5 years living and working in 3 different cultures. I have used personal computers since 1984 in businesses, hobbies and education.

In Wikipedia, I tend to contribute to pages on history or biographies. Some of these relate to my cultural experiences with Annang-Ibbibio, Navajo and Somali. My other contributions involve genealogical research around my family. I learned a great deal about wiki's and international participation by contributing to a mediawiki for Moodle.org.

I tend to edit first sentences and ethnocentric opinions (usually unintentional insulting words). Usually I give a lot of thought before I reorganize a page or section because my own bias is towards timelines and facts, with a touch of simple English words. I like to think I am sensitive to content that maybe written by non-native speakers of English. Since 2010, I have tried to include references in my edits.

Biographies
I have added a page about my great Grandfather Thomas Davidson Christie and a page about my great Grandmother Carmelite Brewer Christie. Carmelite was an amazing person in her own right. I initially received some static from men, who suggested the new page should be deleted because she was not that special and she belong on her husband's page. I thought this was humorous, because I have also created pages concerning Navajo Scouts and the so called Apache Wars with little fanfare. However, the Wikipedia process continued, the page was not deleted and it received some outstanding editorial help. I redoubled my efforts to provide more documentation about Carmelite's remarkable time in Tarsus Turkey as the only American there during WWI.

Apparently I am a big fan of Lake Street Dive. My personal LSD folder contains over 140 files of interviews and reviews. I decided to add a LSD page in Jan 2014. Previously there was a redirect that sent a query for Lake Street Dive to Rachael Price, the lead singer. While I was at it, I updated Rachael's page, but did not do it justice. Currently I am watching others polish a page on Bridget Kearney that I started in my sandbox. I have edited pages of musicians that have collaborated with members of Lake Street Dive and created a few related album pages.

In 1973, David M. Brugge gave me some Navajo Scouts depositions about their service. That re-triggered my interest in oral history. David was the Non-Navajo expert on Navajo settlements and history. He was also generally respected by the Navajo.

Football and other Controversies
Contributors to pages about Somalia, Apache Wars, Navajo History, Indian Scouts, Turkish History can have diverse opinions. For example, considered the words "murdered", "killed", "died" that could describe the same event. Over the years, I have made contributions and edits on these and related subjects. It is not easy.

I grew up a 49's football fan, with YA Tittle, John Brodie and the great Joe Montana as quarterbacks. After moving to the East Coast, I became Patriots' and Celtic's fan. In my contributions to Deflategate page, I have tried to keep the dialog factual. I agree with Roger Goodell that Tom Brady is "maybe one of the greatest player of all time". The air pressure in a football does not make any quarterback, the greatest or worst of all time.

Templates also know as graffiti
Soapbox Alert: I strongly dislike banners on an article page which are generalities. "This article needs more citations" is completely useless. More better is to take the time to place:. Lazy people who place banners on the article page without comments on the talk page are guilt of the sin they are preaching about. In fact, I considered this lazy behavior as harassment. If I were the ultimate authority, I would have a bot automatically delete the offending banner and place a warning on the user's page.

I don't mind banners on the talk page because the talk page is where we discuss opinions.

Whew. I feel so much better now! Off the soapbox.