User:SimonATL

I'm Keith Simon who used to live in Atlanta, GA - hence SimonATL.

Wikipedia allows anyone to add to the sum total of human knowledge and is also a great outlet for budding writers and editors. I am proud to be associated with Wikipedia and consider it a truely amazing human resource all humanity can be proud of.

As a child growing up on a farm in the midwest USA, I used to enjoy reading encyclopedias up in the upper reaches of a maple tree. Little could I have imagined at that time, in the mid- 20th Century, that one day, I would actually contribute to a encyclopedia of revolutionary scope and import, a truly international project that all editors ,(vandals excluded), can be proud to be associated with.

One of the things I most like about Wikipedia is how research in one area leads to others and one never knows where the trail of information will take the reader. This is way cool, and one of the most mind-expanding aspects of Wikipedia, nes pas?

Wikipedia is an opportunity to give back something of my life experience and education in history, languages, philosophy, geo-political-military issues, miltary science, history (ancient, military, US and european) and information technology as well as language skills in English, Spanish, French (and occasionally Latin and a little Greek) with a wider audience of fellow info junkies.

Homeland - Midwest USA-Ohio raised - Currently Pacific NorthWest USA. Wet in the winter but beautiful in the summer and 2 snow-capped volcanoes to admire from the window. Retired US Marine Officer, historian, systems analyst and trustee of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, and member of its technology committee. Looking for innovative ways to inform people of the life, accomplishments and legacy of 26th US President, Theodore Roosevelt. I've contributed a number of photos and some copy in the wikipedia article on TR as well as edits on articles on his large and extended family.

Life Story and Stream of Thought musings

'''Canadian by Birth. American by Adoption.'''

Born in Montreal, Canada. Canadian by Birth. American by Adoption.

Adopted by a 3rd generation Irish-German Ohio, farmer (tool-and-die (40 year union United Auto Workers UAW) man, and his wife, a 2nd generation Czech farm girl with an 8th grade education. When I was 11, my adopted mother Frances, died and Jack, my adopted dad married an English teacher, Pat.  Suddenly my "I ain't got no(s)" became unacceptable and I was lovingly told that I was expected to learn to speak and write English correctly. My father, a WW-II US Navy vet, and Ohio-born and raised farm boy, become tool-and-die maker, was still at the "What did they learn ya in school, son?" stage.

Education - I didn't really learn English in any organizational or structural way in elementaty school. It was not until I studied Spanish and Latin in high school and college and learned all about declensions, conjugations, parsing verbs and all kinds of painfully boring stuff that English took on any shape. In college, when I used to complain to my English Composition teacher, Msgr. Leonard J. Fick, that I was struggling to turn in a paper that didn't return with more red ink then black, his sensitive response was, "Keep working... Knowledge maketh a bloody entrance." Armed with that inspiring admonition, I marched forth into Latin class where I used to whine to an exasperated Latin teacher, Msgr. Clarence Klausing, "but I'm trying, Father!" His response was, "Oh Mr. Simon, you are very trying. Trying I was, but with 4 years of high school, 7 years of college including 2 years of law school and a lot of hard knocks, I began to grow up at about age 40.

Hard Lessons - One thing I did learn - you can learn from your mistakes but will repeat them until you learn the lessons that they impart and actually change your behavior and outgrow outmoded ways. Its the easy left or the hard right. The wrong way is just that - wrong. Trust your instincts but get quiet enough and still enough to listen for inspiration.

Military - 24 years as a US Marine Corps officer challenged me as a young turk out of college and really helped me to grow up. I also met some incredibly interesting and talented men and women in the Corps as well as a few real "stinkers." I got to about age 25 emotionally, as a result.

Cummulative Effect - Emotionally, at least I've "grown" beyond Theodore Roosevelt about whom, his friend, Henry Cabot Lodge said, "You see, you have to understand...Theodore is about six." Come to think about it, actually, TR's childish wonder and sponge-like curiosity is something many of us Wikipedians share in common.

My Nature - A self-proclaimed historian, info junkie, IT professional with more than 23 years US military service as an officer in the US Marine Corps. Currently working in the IT industry in the Northwest USA.

Values - Judeo-Christian-Monotheist. Studied the history of Christianity in all its forms for many years, from Roman Catholicism and the Protestant Reformation with its derivatives to so-called non-traditional aspects such as Christian Science, Latter Day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses. I'll take 'any sincere believer in G_d as he/she sees it or at least a person with a moral compass with a sense of right and wrong or a code of ethics to the secular relativist who believes no absolutes at all.

Politics - conservative democrat or liberal republican - what's the difference and where's the middle, anyway? In media stat virtute. as the Romans used to say. Politically, I'm an independent and not a registered member of any political party.

Email: SimonATL(at)yahoo.com http://www.linkedin.com - LinkedIn ID: Keith Simon

 